Finding the silver lining in online shopping cart abandonment
Although online shopping has taken off in the last few years, there's still a lot more browsing going on than buying. According to a recent eMarketer report, two-thirds of shopping carts are abandoned, which means that ecommerce shoppers place items in their carts but don't follow all the way through to the sale. Rather than indicating something about ecommerce software, though, this figure points to customer habits. And it might not be such a bad thing.
Shopping cart abandonment
EMarketer noted that the rates of shopping cart abandonment haven't really changed over the last few years, demonstrating that retailers should be less concerned about preventing abandonment and more focused on how to make the online shopping trip useful to them anyway. The rate is even higher in the United Kingdom, Biz Report noted, referring to a OnePoll survey that found 75 percent of shoppers abandon their cart.
What drives customers to put items in their cart that they ultimately don't buy? Biz Report pointed to the likelihood that consumers are shopping around, checking prices on items at other retail locations or websites. This isn't all that much different from in-store behavior – many patrons will check product prices at a few stores before making a purchase. What's different is how they use the online shopping cart as a way to track the items they're interested in buying.
Opportunities for retail marketing
This behavior can actually be beneficial to retailers, who gain from insights into retail customer trends. EMarketer explained that even abandoned shopping carts give merchants data about shopping habits and consumer interest in specific items. At the first level, Biz Report suggested, this information is a useful tool for re-marketing and customer engagement.
"By abandoning their cart, the customer is inviting you to open a conversation via a triggered email and, 20 percent of the time, close the deal," James Critchley, CEO of Cloud.IQ, told Biz Report. "This opportunity is unique to ecommerce businesses which can foster a one-on-one relationship with their customers in a way bricks and mortar establishments can't."
By combining shopping cart information with other data, merchants have even more opportunities. EMarketer described how using website analytics and customer information in conjunction with cart abandonment data can provide a more comprehensive view of shopping habits. For example, with a customer-centric approach, retailers can discover whether customers are more likely to make purchases on return visits, whether being able to save items for later in their carts could drive sales and whether changes in their ecommerce software have made an impact on buyer activity.
