5 Tips To Cure Abandoned Shopping Carts
 By B.J. Addington

Online retailers are coming up short. They’re getting plenty of shoppers at their Web sites. But those shoppers often leave before pushing their shopping carts through checkout.

To highlight the problem, Scott Hornstein, co-author of “Opt-In Marketing: Increase Sales Exponentially with Consensual Marketing” (McGraw-Hill, 2004), cites a Doubleclick survey. The survey found that 50 percent of goods placed in online shopping carts are abandoned before checkout.

“Tolerance of such high abandonment rates sends a clear message that marketers don’t care about catering to the individual customer. They’re banking on making it on volume,” says Hornstein. “This deficit of attention translates to a loss of trust and respect among customers, leading to lost long term revenue potential.”

Banking on volume might be fine for Amazon and other huge online retailers. But if you sell online, your small business can’t afford to let customers leave unsatisfied.

Here are five tips you can use to make sure your online customers stock their shopping carts and wheel their goodies home.

1. State costs up front
Surprising shoppers with costs is one of the main reasons customers fail to complete their online orders.

They find what they need. They put the items in their carts. And then at checkout they discover a load of new fees in shipping and handling costs. Boom! They abandon their shopping carts, and you lose the sale.

Give customers the opportunity to evaluate shipping and handling costs at the front end of their ordering process. Let them click to a “Shipping Cost” page before they shop. Provide at least estimated shipping costs based on weight, shipping destination or number of item purchased.

2. Request only the information you need
Hornstein points out that asking for too much customer information can stop online shoppers in their tracks.

When shoppers are ready to checkout, they want the experience to be as fast and as painless as possible. This is not the time for you to try to capture customer data. It’s the time to collect only the information you need to process and ship an order.

Think of your checkout process as an express line. Make it run smoothly. Make it easy to navigate. Keep the line moving by asking for only the most necessary customer data.

You can speed up checkout by letting frequent customers save their data. Allow shoppers to store their credit card numbers, shipping addresses and other information on a profile page. When they’re ready to check out, automatically provide that information.

But don’t force customers to create a saved profile page. One-time shoppers may want to give their information for one order only. They may not plan to return to your site. If you force them to complete a profile, they might abandon their shopping carts.

3. Give more product information
Scarcity of online product information is another sales killer, says Hornstein. Customers can’t touch and feel products online. It’s up to you to fill those gaps with loads of information.

Try these tips:

• Use product photos that show different angles

• Provide a list of features and benefits

• Give detailed information, such as weight and dimensions

• Offer product reviews from independent sources

• List awards the product has garnered

• Offer choices of colors when appropriate

• Allow shoppers to easily compare similar products

By giving more information, you’ll get more sales.

4. Offer shopping help
Don’t leave your online customers alone to fend for themselves. Provide a toll-free telephone number they can call to ask questions about products. Or offer immediate online help via a chat line or prompt e-mail responses.

5. Protect your core business
Findings from the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI) found that in 2004, consumer satisfaction with e-commerce began waning.

The reasons for the dip in satisfaction vary. But one big culprit was the diversification of products by online sellers.

For instance, Amazon has diversified from its main product, books, into an assortment of goods, from kitchen gadgets to apparel. Amazon found great ways to cater to and satisfy book buyers. But as it offered more products, the online giant had to appeal to a wider customer base. And service to that base suffered.

The lesson for your small online business? Stick closely to your core business. By doing so, you have the opportunity to create a loyal customer base, one that you understand and can serve. If you decide to expand your online offerings, be sure new products and services are a good match with your core offerings.

(Posted April 2005)

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