Make Cart Abandonment Less Painful

I work in eCommerce and an SEO Specialist and this growth hack is nothing new but I wanted to emphasize it because it is something that every online retailer should be doing.

Although I mostly cover SEO Hacks throughout this site, I also cover eCommerce growth hacking methodologies as well; and this one fits neatly into this category.

People quit shopping carts for the most common reason: unexpected expenditures, such as shipping, tax, and other taxes.

While this may not be a straightforward remedy for some shops, it is critical to recognize the harsh reality: customers do not want to pay for delivery.

• Be upfront about all charges.
• On the checkout page, include progress indicators.
• Include product thumbnails throughout the checkout process.
• Make it simple to navigate between the cart and the store.
• Improve website load times.
• Make guest checkout alternatives available.

Here’s the deal: many potential customers get distracted and/or have a last-second doubt and cancel the process.

This is known as “cart abandonment”. We can lessen the painful blow that this inflicts.

Often, this phenomenon happens for reasons beyond our control; and there’s little that we can do about it, however, by simply tweaking the transaction flow we can at least capture the potential customer’s details.

The first step is to obtain the email address of the interested buyer.

That is critical. To accomplish so, ensure that the web form has fundamental programming “logic.”

The first stage of the payment form, for example, would include three (and only three) input fields:

• first and last name
• and, a valid email address

Your “close to paying” prospective consumer will more than likely feel compelled to input this basic information and click ‘next, and that’s great because we’ve gone ahead and captured their data in case they drop off.

By clicking ‘next’ the logic within the cart payment flow will then activate the credit card fields.

So, in summary, if you haven’t set up this payment hack then go for it, you’ve nothing to lose!