Lead generation is no easy feat. Many businesses operating in the real world and/or the online arena struggle to find their consumers and get them in the door. You might think that once you’ve accomplished this feat you can breathe a sigh of relief. After all, the leads you’ve curated are customers already interested in what you’re offering and your products or services will speak for themselves.
Unfortunately, anyone with an online store knows this isn’t true. Many shoppers load items into their carts and even get so far as the checkout page before abandoning their carts and navigating away from your website. Why does this happen?
It could just be a case of window shopping, much like browsers in a retail store walking up and down the aisles and even considering purchases by putting items in their cart before simply leaving the store empty-handed. Or maybe you’re charging too much for shipping, or your pages load too slowly, frustrating shoppers.
Whatever the reasons behind cart abandonment, you need to find ways to curb this practice. If you’ve already put a lot of money into custom website design to appeal to target consumers, along with premium SEO services to ensure that you’re reaching your audience, it’s time to take the next steps and ensure that shoppers follow through with purchases. Here are just a few ways to engineer the outcome you desire.
1. Remind Shoppers What They’re Buying
A picture is worth a thousand words.Stellar pictures on your product pages can entice buyers to pull the trigger and place items in their carts. Then, when they get to the checkout process, all they might see is dollar signs adding up.
A good way to avoid this anxiety-inducing confrontation is to include product photos on your checkout pages.This way you can remind customers of exactly why they wanted to make a purchase. In other words, you are reinforcing the visual appeal that caused them to place attractive items in their carts in the first place. This can help to curb abandonment and increase speedy sales.
2. Offer Reduced Shipping Rates
Customers might feel okay spending up to a certain amount of money on items they deem to be a fair value. They might not even be bothered by the addition of sales tax. However, when they suddenly see the price spike by $10-20 for shipping fees, it’s no wonder they abandon ship, so to speak.
For this reason, it’s always a good idea to offer a variety of shipping options. Some people are certainly willing to pay beaucoup bucks for expedited shipping, but not everyone will want to blow their hard-earned dough for this privilege.Instead, they prefer to wait a few days for arrival if it means saving some money.
You should also consider free shipping options, say for purchasing over a specific dollar amount worth of goods. This could not only encourage shoppers to place a few additional items in their carts, but also make them feel like they’re getting a real bargain by avoiding shipping costs.
3. Include 1-click Purchase Options
Calls to action (CTAs) are an important part of letting the customers know what they’re expected to do. Including a 1-click purchase option for members is the ultimate CTA, especially if you include language like “buy now”.
4. Clear and Appealing Return Policy
Shopping online can be something of a gamble from the consumer perspective. Not only is it impossible to check out or try on the items they’re purchasing before they buy, but there’s always the possibility of damage during shipping.
Customers want assurances that they will be able to return unusable items for exchange or refund without penalty. By including your return policy as part of the checkout process (or at least singling out the high points), you can put the customer’s mind at ease and facilitate the purchasing process.
5. If All Else Fails, Remarket
Despite your best efforts, there are bound to be times when consumers simply change their mind before completing a purchase, for whatever reason. In these instances, all hope is not lost. You still have the opportunity to bring prospective customers back.
With remarketing you can remind customers of the carts they abandoned and refamiliarize them with preferred products via photos, or you can offer them related items that they may like better based on their browsing history. Both can help you to nab sales that might otherwise be lost.