A customer adds items to their shopping cart but fails to complete the purchase, the best reasons known to them. This is cart abandonment.
This can be frustrating for the retailer as it results in a loss of sales and potential customers.
However, it is not entirely bad news, as businesses can still recover some of these abandoned carts by implementing various strategies.
In this blog post, we will look at what causes cart abandonment, abandoned cart recovery strategies, and some popular WooCommerce cart abandonment recovery plugins.
What causes abandoned carts?
According to Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate across all industries is 69.57%. Various factors can lead to cart abandonment, including:
- Unexpected costs: When customers see unexpected costs such as high shipping fees, taxes, or additional fees, they may abandon their carts.
- Complicated checkout process: A lengthy and complicated checkout process can discourage customers from completing their purchases. They do not have the patience or time to go through multiple pages or forms to complete their purchase.
For WooCommerce stores, you can simplify this by using one-page checkout or direct checkout using the Cashier plugin. - Security concerns: Customers may hesitate to provide their personal and financial details due to security concerns. Or if they find their preferred payment gateways missing, they may abandon the cart.
- Lack of trust: Lack of trust in the retailer, website, or product can also cause cart abandonment.
- Technical issues: Technical problems, such as slow-loading pages or error messages, can frustrate customers and lead to cart abandonment.
- Comparison shopping: Customers may leave items in their cart while they shop around for better prices or deals.
Top 8 abandoned cart recovery strategies
You can try some of these strategies and see your results. However, we recommend using the cart recovery email series without fail.
StoreApps, our other brand witnessed a whopping 185% increase in sales from the cart recovery email series. Here’s the case study.
Send reminder emails
One of the most effective ways to recover abandoned carts is by sending reminder emails. This could be a simple email reminding the customer that they have items in their cart, or a more personalized email offering them a discount or free shipping.
You can run a maximum of two emails to keep on nudging customers to make a purchase.
Simplify the checkout process
Simplifying the checkout process can reduce cart abandonment rates. This can be done by removing unnecessary steps, such as account creation, and providing a clear progress bar to show customers how far they are in the process.
If you are offering only digital products, you can eliminate the shipping details. For frequent shoppers, provide them an option to choose from multiple saved addresses.
You can also use the checkout field editors to add, remove, and modify shipping and billing fields based on conditions wherever necessary.
Offer free shipping
Free shipping is often seen as a valuable perk by customers, as it helps to reduce the overall cost of their order and can make them feel like they are getting a good deal.
Customers are more likely to return to a company that offers them added value, such as free shipping, and may be more likely to recommend the company to others.
Keep transparent pricing
Make sure all the costs are displayed to customers even though you offer free shipping. There may be taxes and additional fees. So do not hide prices.
Use exit-intent pop-ups
Exit-intent pop-ups are a powerful tool that displays a message to customers when they are about to leave the website. This message can be a discount or a personalized offer that encourages the customer to complete their purchase.
You can use the Icegram Engage plugin to show an irresistible offer or a resource to prevent visitors from abandoning your page or cart.
Not just for offers, but you can also use exit-intent popups for list building, creating scarcity and taking feedback.
Retargeting ads
Retargeting ads are ads that target customers who have abandoned their carts. These ads can be personalized and can be displayed on various platforms such as social media or search engines.
Offer multiple payment gateways
Customers have different preferences and may prefer to use different payment methods, so providing a variety of options can increase the chances of customers completing their purchases.
This may include credit or debit card payments, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, other digital wallets, installment payments, and buy-now-pay-later options, to help customers make larger purchases more manageable.
However, it’s important to ensure that the payment options offered are secure and reliable which boosts customer confidence to use that payment method.
WooCommerce stores can also enable / disable payment methods for more targeted conversions.
Use of AI for photos
AI-powered image recognition technology can help identify the items that a customer has abandoned in their cart, and include photos of those items in follow-up emails or other communications.
This can be particularly effective for visually-driven products such as clothing or jewelry, where customers may be more likely to make a purchase if they can see what the item looks like on them.
Tools like Zeekit allow customers to try on clothing virtually and how it will exactly look on the customer.
Other popular AI tools for photos that can be used for cart recovery strategies are Clarifai and Adobe Sensei.
Conclusion
Abandoned carts are a significant challenge for businesses, but they can be overcome by implementing effective strategies.
Additionally, plugins such as AutomateWoo and Abandoned Cart Lite for WooCommerce can automate the process and increase the chances of recovery.
It is essential to remember that no single strategy or plugin can guarantee 100% cart recovery. Still, by implementing a combination of strategies and plugins, businesses can significantly reduce their cart abandonment rates and increase their sales.