Harmony Hollow Software

Shopping Cart Abandonment - Discover 5 Things you can do to Lower Cart Abandonment


A common frustration among merchants who sell online via a shopping cart is the percentage of people who abandon their cart and leave the site never to return. This is known as the shopping cart abandonment rate. It is not unheard of for companies to experience as high as a 99% abandonment rate. Getting the abandonment rate under control can go a long way towards increasing the income your company earns from their online venture.

1. Don't make them register until they have to

A common complaint amoung web shoppers is the irritation and invasion of privacy they feel when they have to register for a new account before they can even use the shopping cart. If people have to share their personal information with you before they even know if they want to buy from you, they'll often click away never to return. Whenever possible, get them to register after they know how much something will cost them including shipping. This will help them to feel good about your company and will result in more sales.

2. Make it easy for your prospect to find out how much it will cost them

Many people will use your shopping cart to price out what your product will cost them after shipping. On the web, everyone knows that a tangible product must be shipped. Knowing this, the number one cost people are always reluctant to spend on is the shipping. People want to know what the final price they will pay to get it to their door. If this price is reasonable to them, only then will they go through the trouble of registering for an account.

3. High Shipping Costs

Almost anyone who has purchased a product online has run into a company that was charging a sky high rate for shipping. Do everything you can to keep your shipping costs as low as possible. Shop around for a good rate. Try to include a shipping estimator from the company that will be handling your shipping featured on your website. Make it easy for your customers to find it.

4. Keep the number of steps they need to take at a minimum

Many shopping carts take people through four, five or six steps before they can finalize their purchase. Every extra step you force people to take in your shopping cart system is one more chance they have to abandon the shopping cart. Collect as much information as possible in as few steps as it is reasonable for you to take. This will encourage fewer people to click away.

5. Keep outbound links to a minimum

Don't give your prospects an easy way to exit the shopping cart process. Forcing them to click the back button will at least make it more of an effort for them to click away. People can sometimes have second thoughts that an extra link on your website may encourage. For this reason, keep any links on your order pages to only the most necessary.

Overall, if you treat your prospects with respect, make it easy for them to find the information they need, and streamline your checkout process to make it easy for your prospects to buy from you, you'll succeed at making more money and lowering your shopping cart abandonment rate.

This article was written by Joe Duchesne, president of http://www.yowling.com/, a web hosting company that specializes in helping online business owners increase their website traffic. Copyright 2004 Yowling. Reprint Freely as long as you link back to my website from this resource box.

Add to these social bookmarking sites:

Add to: Mr. Wong Add to: Webnews Add to: Icio Add to: Oneview Add to: Folkd Add to: Yigg Add to: Linkarena Add to: Digg Add to: Del.icio.us Add to: Reddit Add to: Simpy Add to: StumbleUpon Add to: Slashdot Add to: Netscape Add to: Furl Add to: Yahoo Add to: Spurl Add to: Google Add to: Blinklist Add to: Blogmarks Add to: Diigo Add to: Technorati Add to: Newsvine Add to: Blinkbits Add to: Ma.Gnolia Add to: Smarking Add to: Netvouz Information

MORE RESOURCES:

The Hindu

E-commerce & idli profitability
The Hindu
There is nothing that conjures a sense of schadenfreude more than seeing the mighty fall. Or from watching an industry reach for the stars, and fall sharply short. Accordingly, much ink has been spent over the near drought-like conditions that Indian ...

and more »


Powerful e-Commerce Solutions to Grow Online Business, Asahi Technologies ...
Newsday
Asahi Technologies, the New York based leading e-commerce service provider today announced the release of Batavi e-commerce solutions to help businesses unlock the potential of the platform to grow online sales and achieve a sustainable competitive ...

and more »


Practical Ecommerce

Good, Bad Email Design for Ecommerce Merchants
Practical Ecommerce
Email design has changed over the years. It has evolved from basic text, to beautiful design with great images, to hybrids that balance images and text. With the majority of shoppers previewing or reading emails on their smartphones, many ecommerce ...



Livemint

E-commerce start-ups in struggle for survival
Livemint
Bangalore: As investors become increasingly parsimonious about giving money to e-commerce start-ups, sites are shutting down at a faster pace than before if they can't stay alive by allowing themselves to be acquired at rock-bottom rates, executives ...



eCommerce Reinvented for Today's Global Economy
Wall Street Journal (press release)
With an easy sign-on to SnapConsole, any merchant can have immediate access to BlueSnap's extensive global payment processing network, along with the comprehensive eCommerce offering and eMarketing tools all designed to convert more shoppers to ...
BlueSnap is on the Move - PRWebPR Web (press release)

all 3 news articles »


E-Commerce Trade Association Opposes Slew of Pro-Consumer Proposals
ThinkProgress
NetChoice, a “trade association of eCommerce businesses and online consumers” representing big tech names including Facebook, Yahoo, eBay, NewsCorp, Reed Elsevier, LivingSocial, and Aol, released a list of what it considers to be “the worst internet ...



eCommerce Web Design Firms Awards Names RazorIT 1st Rank by 10 Best ...
PR Web (press release)
10 Best Design (10BD) is a top of the line ranking and reviews organization for web design firms. The 10BD Best Web Design Firms awards have grown to become one of the most notable online today, and in their first expansion into awards for ecommerce ...

and more »


AdAge.com

Walmart Disappoints But Stays Course on Price Ads and Ecommerce
AdAge.com
The company is also seeing signs that big investments in e-commerce and related digital and social-media technology are paying off. Its e-commerce sales rose more than 30% last quarter, ahead of rival Amazon's 22% growth, which disappointed analysts.

and more »


Report: E-commerce a big boon for Whatcom County
MyNorthwest.com
BLAINE, Wash. (AP) - A new report from the state Department of Revenue shows that online commerce is a big boon for the Whatcom County towns of Blaine and Sumas on the Canadian border. The Bellingham Herald reports ( http://is.gd/seFJUq) that many ...

and more »


Moneycontrol.com

Accenture Plc (ACN) Acquires E-Commerce Company Acquity Group For $316 ...
Pulse 2.0
International IT consulting company Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) has acquired a Hong Kong-based e-commerce public company called Acquity Group for around $316 million. Acquity Group is known for focusing on strategy, digital marketing, and social media ...
Accenture to Strengthen Digital Marketing and eCommerce Capabilities with ...PYMNTS.com
Accenture Buying Acquity Group for $316 MillionMotley Fool

all 15 news articles »


Notice: Undefined index: TITLE in /var/www/vhosts/harmonyhollow.net/httpdocs/webmaster-resources/ecommerce/inc/rss.inc on line 103
Google News

Home | Site Map
© 2006