Losing a customer at checkout can leave you feeling deflated – especially if it happens a lot. You’ve done all the hard work, you’ve got them to your website, they’ve clicked ‘Add to Basket’, they’ve loaded the checkout page, they’ve SEEN the ‘Pay Now’ button and then, they’re gone.
However, don’t despair – we have 5 handy tips to help reduce the number of times you have to face this frustrating scenario.
Yes, you could do damage control and send out an ‘Abandoned Cart’ email if you have the customer’s email address, or you could retarget these very customers with a Google or Facebook Abandoned Cart Retargeting Campaign.
However, although these are vital for Checkout Abandonment recovery, prevention is better than cure, which is why we’re focusing on how to avoid losing transactions, customers, and cash in the first place.
It Only Takes a Minute
It only takes a minute to lose a sale at checkout. 21 percent of online shoppers say they abandon checkouts that don’t meet a one-minute deadline. So, if your checkout is still loading after 60 seconds, you may have to brace yourself for another deserted payment.
The good news is that with every problem brings an opportunity, and with a quicker checkout, you can easily boost your conversions. Try checking out on your site and time the whole process. If it’s on the slower side, consult your web developer and get your checkout updated for supersonic spending.
They Couldn’t Find Their Preferred Payment Method
Visa, Klarna Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Paypal, Mastercard, Digital Wallet, Bank Transfer, Invoice… did we cover them all?
Most people have a preferred way to pay and although you don’t have to offer all ways to pay, because let’s face it, there’s A LOT, it’s still good to offer the most popular options to customers. Over 15% of consumers abandon checkouts if they don’t see their desired payment option available, so make sure your checkout clearly shows a variety of accepted payment methods!
No Address Auto-Complete
It would be a shame to have a customer at the brink of checking out and then to lose them just because you didn’t offer auto-address. You wouldn’t be alone though, as over 61% of checkouts don’t offer this simple conversion-driving feature.
Adding auto-address to your website might sound like a small change and you may wonder how it can truly make an impact, but this tiny tweak is proven to boost conversions by up to 30%.
Not only is auto-fill a massive time saver with Google reporting auto-fill lets customers fill out forms 30% faster, it’s also just easier and more user-friendly. Typing in intricate address details on a mobile device or tablet is just fiddly and mind-numbing.
Also, what if the customer makes a mistake and the item is shipped to the wrong address? Don’t make forms an ordeal for yourself, or your customer, just add auto-complete, make checkout seamless, and get ahead of your competitors.
Not Defaulting Billing Address as Shipping Address
Nobody wants to do twice the amount of work and enter the same address for billing and shipping – especially if there isn’t that handy auto-address feature we spoke about earlier.
To prevent this, you can have one address form titled ‘Billing & Shipping Address’ and if the customer wants to enter separate addresses, simply provide a checkbox that they can select, which brings up a second form if need be.
Or display a checkbox with text above like, ‘My Billing & Shipping Address Is the Same’ and if they populate the checkbox, make sure only one form appears.
This way, you’re asking as little as possible from your customer and speeding up the checkout process, which means seamless online checkouts and easy transactions.
Consider Your Shipping Costs
A whopping 60% of online shoppers leave checkout because of shipping costs. If you have high shipping costs, or don’t offer free delivery where you can, this is most likely what is the reason for your abandoned checkouts. Most shoppers would rather pay slightly more for a product that offered free delivery than click on a low-cost equivalent and be slapped with a high delivery charge at checkout.
Offering free delivery is also a great USP that you can shout about anywhere on your website and on your social media pages. So, if you’re torn between keeping prices low and delivery high Vs slightly higher prices with free delivery – choose the latter.
Alternatively, if you think adding the delivery charge to your product price will inflate it too much, consider offering a low delivery fee, like ‘Saver Delivery’ and then increasing your product price very slightly to maintain competitive.
Go for It!
We hope our 5 Ways to Reduce Checkout Abandons has given you some advice on how to make your checkout seamless, easy, and straightforward for customers. By speeding up your checkout process, offering a variety of payment options, keeping forms short and sweet, and offering low or free delivery, you will make customers feel at ease completing transactions on your site. This checkout optimisation will make transactions simple and easy, and you’ll be rewarded with conversions and returning customers.
Don’t worry if you are unsure how to implement some of these steps. We recommend consulting a professional Ecommerce Agency to take care of your website, especially if you are unsure how to add some of these features to your checkout and apply them effectively. That way, you can leave it to the professionals, while you focus on the important day-to-day running of your business!
