An average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate is close to 70%. Part of it is natural abandonment which happens when customers search for products, compare prices and save for later. Another part reveals problems on your website or in customer service.
Understanding the reasons for cart abandonment gives us an opportunity to win clients and reduce abandonment rate. The most popular reason for cart abandonment is window shopping. Website visitors do not intend to buy now, but they can buy later. Good first impression, recognizable website design, positive reviews and helpful staff will bring these visitors back in the future.
A big part of online shopping cart abandonment is abandonment during checkout. This may happen due to the following reasons:
- Extra costs, such as shipping, tax, fees, turn out to be too high.
- No way to purchase without creating an account.
- Checkout process is too complicated.
- No way to see the total cost before checkout.
- Website errors, that do not allow checkout.
- Slow delivery.
- Return policy is not satisfactory.
- There is no suitable payment method.
- Credit card is declined.
Follow-up emails are the most popular way to remind website visitors about the abandoned cart. For preventing shopping cart abandonment, use HelpOnClick live chat. When your e-commerce website is already optimized for self-service, live communication would be the best solution for further reduction of cart abandonment rate.
The best chat tool for recognizing a problem is automated invitations. Based on the reasons for cart abandonment we can use various triggers to set up invitations. Log in to your HelpOnClick chat account, go to Admin -> Customize -> Invitation Window, and click Add under Invitation rules. You can set up as many rules as you need. The first matched rule will trigger a chat invitation.
Create rules based on the above list of cart abandonment reasons. For example, set up “Will open for all visitor after 30 seconds” when they are reading your delivery terms or return policy (add pages URLs under Conditions). Find out the average time on checkout page on your website, and create an invitation rule for the visitors, who stay longer. Initiate chat when visitors go to your Contact page.
Talking to your website visitors via live chat will help you understand what prevents them from a purchase and offer a timely solution.
Sometimes it does not matter how perfect your website is, and how full the information is. Many people simply want to make sure that they are doing business with real people. That is why providing online chat support is important. People want to be sure that if any issues arise, you will help them. They want someone confirm, that they understand terms and conditions correctly. Live chat is a great alternative to phone support, and huge number of customers prefer it to phone calls today.
Live chat support is a great way to prevent cart abandonment. Follow-up emails and calls start working when a customer has already left your website. Live chat support can make a customer stay and close a sale.
