Current sales figures may seem fine to many merchants out there but these can always be improved. You just have to know where to look for obstacles that have been preventing your store from registering even better sales. And when you find these obstacles, do not panic. A solution is always close at hand.
Here’s an example. For those of you who do not check your aborted order list, it might come as a shock to you that as many as 7 out of 10 orders are aborted. That means for every 10 visitors that begin the checkout process, only 3 actually go ahead and complete their orders with a purchase. It’s a “so close yet so far” scenario. This is a frustrating situation but fortunately there are steps merchants can take to remedy this problem.
Read on for quick shopping cart abandonment remedies …
Potential customers don’t complete the checkout process for several reasons. Fortunately most of these can be remedied by simply tweaking the product, shopping cart and checkout pages. Many surveys have been conducted on this subject, and though the results may vary in terms of individual statistics, the main reasons for shopping cart abandonment remain the same.
The Checkout Process Is Too Long And/Or Too Confusing
This is usually a problem that airline customers encounter, but since most airlines require most travelers to go through generally the same process, consumers don’t have much of a choice. However for ordinary web stores, the checkout process should be a breeze. Merchants should ensure that visitors need no more than 3 steps to complete a purchase. All data should be concise with the purpose of helping the visitor complete the checkout process as fast as possible (before she or he changes their mind). At InstanteStore, merchants also have the option of activating the EasyCheckout option to enable customers to complete the checkout process all on just one page.
Item Out Of Stock
This is one of the most, if not the most frustrating messages a visitor can encounter at a checkout page. At this point, customers will usually no longer be in the mood to make another selection at your store. If you use the InstanteStore online shopping cart software solution, you can choose to have the stock availability of a product displayed on every product page so visitors can avoid being frustrated later on. Being informed that a product is out of stock early on also gives the customer the opportunity to select an alternative product before his or her mindset changes. You can even activate the stock count feature to create more urgency especially if the count is low.
Site Requires Visitor Registration Before Purchase
Many visitors find it too cumbersome or may not have the time to fill up registration forms. With the InstanteStore online shopping cart solution, merchants can get around this problem by opting to allow visitors to checkout without registration. This gives customers who couldn’t be bothered to register at your store the option of going ahead with their purchases anyway.
Customer’s Interested, But Needs Some Convincing
There’s a reason why sites use “Add to Cart” instead of “Buy Now”. Most visitors do not like to be forced into buying something. They prefer to be assured after making a decision. Some shopping cart pages even feature one or two features and benefits of the product that has been added to cart. This reminds visitors why they selected the product in the first place and the benefits assure them that they’ve made the right choice.
Shipping Charges
Many visitors are sometimes taken aback by shipping charges. Visitors appreciate being able to view shipping charges or at least close estimates early on in their visit. Visitors of web stores using the InstanteStore online shopping cart software solution will have an idea of what their shipping charges will be like right after they add an item to their shopping cart, before even reaching the checkout page, thanks to the Shipping Calculator function. All they need is to key in their shipping address information and hit the Calculate Shipping button at the Shopping Cart to get a shipping estimate.
Comparison Shopping
You may be surprised that many visitors to your site are just there to compare prices (product and shipping) and benefits. If your prices are marginally higher but you offer guarantees, discounts on bundled purchases or some other incentive, you might actually have the upper hand. You should try to convert all visitors, whatever their reasons for visiting your site. If you are confident your prices are lowest in the business, then you can try linking your site to shopping bots or shopping comparison sites. This saves visitors time and if they decide to purchase from your store, it’s only a quick click away. Sometimes the products displayed on comparison sites are updated once a month so some products on other sites may be out of stock but aren’t shown as such; this can work to your advantage as well.
Take a look at your site and see if some of the shopping cart abandonment issues mentioned above look familiar. Make changes if necessary and let us know how these work for you.
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