As an ecommerce store owner, abandoned carts can be a frustrating reality. If you’re running an online store, chances are you’ve experienced the frustration of abandoned carts. Customers add items to their cart, but for one reason or another, they leave without completing the purchase. This is a common problem for online retailers, but it’s also a huge opportunity.
Abandoned carts represent potential revenue that you can still capture. With the right strategy, you can recover some of those lost sales and even turn some of those abandoned carts into loyal customers. Here’s how to create a BigCommerce abandoned cart strategy that works. It’s not uncommon for a potential customer to add items to their cart and then leave your website without completing the purchase. In fact, research shows that the average cart abandonment rate is around 69.57%.
However, there are steps you can take to recover these lost sales and increase your conversion rates. In this blog, we’ll discuss your BigCommerce abandoned cart strategy and how to win back those customers.
Step 1: Understand Why Customers Abandon Carts
The first step in creating an effective abandoned cart strategy is to understand why customers are leaving in the first place. Some common reasons include:
- Unexpected shipping costs
- Complicated checkout process
- Lack of payment options
- Security concerns
- Technical issues
By understanding the reasons why customers are leaving, you can take steps to address those issues and improve your checkout process.
Strategy: Set Up Abandoned cart emails
One of the most effective ways to recover lost sales is by sending abandoned cart emails. These emails are automated and sent to customers who have added items to their cart but have not completed their purchase. In the email, you can remind them of the items in their cart, offer a discount or promotion, and include a call-to-action to complete the purchase.
To set up abandoned cart emails in BigCommerce, go to the Marketing > Automated Emails section of your dashboard. From there, select “Abandoned Cart Email” and customize your email content and design. In this case, you’ll want to follow these best practices:
- Use a clear and compelling subject line
- Remind the customer what they left in their cart
- Provide a direct link back to their cart
- Offer an incentive to complete the purchase (such as a discount code)
Personalization can also go a long way in encouraging customers to complete their purchase. Use the customer’s name in the email subject and content and remind them of the items they left in their cart. You can also recommend similar products or offer a personalized discount based on their previous purchases.
Step 2: Optimize Your Checkout Process
Your checkout process may be causing customers to abandon their carts. Make sure it’s streamlined and easy to use. Include guest checkout options and minimize the number of steps required to complete the purchase. If your checkout process is too complicated, customers are more likely to abandon their carts. To optimize your checkout process, you should:
- Simplify the number of steps required to complete the purchase
- Offer guest checkout (so customers don’t have to create an account)
- Provide a progress bar so customers know how far along they are in the process
- Remove any unnecessary fields or distractions from the checkout page
Strategy: Monitor and Analyze Your Abandoned Cart Data
To continually improve your abandoned cart strategy, you need to monitor and analyze your data. BigCommerce offers built-in analytics that can help you track your abandoned cart rate, as well as other important metrics like conversion rate and average order value. By analyzing your data, you can identify patterns and trends that can help you improve your strategy. For example, you might find that customers are abandoning their carts more frequently on mobile devices. In that case, you can focus on optimizing your mobile checkout process. You can also choose to hire BigCommerce developers from award-winning agencies like CodeClouds. From theme customization, app development, store setup to migration to custom checkout implementation, enterprise solutions development and more – their team of experts come with proven experience to ensure that your store is the next big thing.
Step 3: Offer Multiple Payment Options
Customers have different payment preferences, so it’s important to offer multiple payment options. BigCommerce supports a variety of payment gateways, including PayPal, Stripe, and Square. By offering multiple payment options, you can make it more convenient for customers to complete their purchase.
Strategy: Offering a discount or promotion
Customers often abandon their carts because they’re not ready to pay full price. Offering a discount or promotion can incentivize them to complete their purchase. In your abandoned cart email, include a coupon code or offer a percentage off their purchase.
Strategy: Provide free shipping
Shipping costs can be a major deterrent for customers. If you offer free shipping, make sure to include it in your abandoned cart email. This can be a major selling point for customers who were hesitant to complete their purchase.
Step 4: Create Urgency
Creating a sense of urgency can also encourage customers to complete their purchase. Include language in your abandoned cart email such as “Limited time offer” or “Only a few items left in stock”. This can create a fear of missing out and push them to complete their purchase.
Strategy: Test and Refine Your Abandoned Cart Strategy
Finally, it’s important to test and refine your abandoned cart strategy. You might try different subject lines or incentives to see what works best. You might also experiment with different checkout processes or payment options. By testing and refining your strategy, you can continually improve your results and recover more lost sales.
Strategy: Retargeting Ads
Retargeting ads can be a powerful tool in recovering lost sales. Use tools such as Facebook or Google Ads to target customers who have abandoned their carts. You can create ads that showcase the items they left in their cart or offer a discount to incentivize them to return to your website.
Abandoned carts are a common problem for online retailers, but they also represent a huge opportunity. By creating an effective abandoned cart strategy you can curate personalized and a seamless shopping experience to turn your viewers into customers. While the above strategies are useful, it is important to understand your viewers’ apprehensions first. With fair return policies, multiple payment options, optimizing checkout options, you can ensure that your consumers get a frictionless checkout experience.