We’ve all done it. Lying in bed after a long day, browsing new items online, adding them to the bottomless cart of things that you’ve been contemplating since Tuesday. At last, you’ve finally added everything you want, you review your cart and begin the checkout process. Screen 1, name and address — fine. Screen 2, credit card information — a breeze. Then, you get to that ever-so tempting “complete purchase” button and for one reason or another, you close your laptop or set your phone on the nightstand and let your items spend another night in the cyber shopping cart.
Shopping Cart Abandonment — when shoppers put items in their online shopping carts, but then leave before completing the purchase — is the bane of the online retail industry.
According to Baymard Institute, 67.45% of carts are abandoned. cpcstrategy reports these astonishing facts:
1. 90% of leads go cold after an hour
2. Retailers lose $18 billion annually due to shopping cart abandonment
3. Most cart abandonment happens between 8-9pm
4. Most people abandon carts on Thursdays
5. 71% of organic site traffic comes from Google
6. 93% of online buyers are encouraged to buy more products if free shipping is included
Why do shoppers abandon their carts? With an estimate of $4 trillion worth of merchandise to be abandoned in online shopping carts this year, Business Insider Intelligence reports the top reasons are:
1. Shipping costs are higher than expected or purchase did not qualify for free shipping
2. Customers are not ready for purchase, only researching costs
3. Customers are saving items for later
4. Estimated shipping time was too long
5. Customers are forced to create an account with retailer
6. Preferred payment option was not available
Many brick and mortar only retailers once thought that the major market share of the industry was shifting to online channels, but the belief that shopping online will eventually negate physical locations is false. After all, when is the last time you went into a store, spent 30+ minutes filling your cart, then decided to leave it in aisle 5?
Each channel has its drawbacks, so having a full understanding of who your customer is, both online and within physical locations, will ultimately determine your success. Without customer insights, it is much more difficult to meet customer expectations or optimize marketing and sales channels.
The Bottom Line
The shopping experience must be personalized to who your customers are – both in store and online. A generalized strategy amongst all channels will not suffice. Customer data and insights are essential when shaping acquisition strategies and marketing activity. With the proper analytic solution, it’s possible to achieve the type of understanding to successfully bring your brand to new heights.
Let’s discuss how customer analytics can help optimize your efforts.