Abandoned Cart Recovery: Proven Strategies to Boost Sales by 30% or More!
We know what it’s like – you make countless efforts to get a prospective customer to your website, browse through your offerings, and add your products to their cart.
And just when you think they’ll check out, they go poof – disappeared, gone!
All these efforts… for waste! But let’s not lose hope.
Source: Sellers Commerce
Up until a couple of months ago, the average cart abandonment rate was nearly 70%, but trends show that there has been a steady increase in these rates globally in the past two decades.
Average Rate: Approximately 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned.
It’s definitely not a good statistic for online retail stores – did you know that cart abandonment causes e-commerce businesses to lose about $18 billion in revenue? Talk about a BIG loss. (Source: Tidio)
Even though your potential customers abandon their carts more often than any of us would like, there are ways to get them back. That’s good news, right?
In this blog, we will dig deep into the reasons why customers abandon their carts and understand the strategies we need to have in place to reduce shopping cart abandonment and convert them to actual sales.
Let’s get started!
What are the reasons for abandoned carts?
While it depends on customer behaviour, there are a few common reasons for abandoned carts.
Source: Sellers Commerce
48% of users abandon their carts because of extra costs, 26% because of mandatory account creation, closely followed by other reasons. Let’s check out some of these in detail.
#1 Compulsory account creation
Suppose your potential customer finds you through a social media platform. They check out your website. They like a few products.
But, as soon as they add items to their cart, your website requires them to create an account to move ahead. This is an inflexion point where customers can lose interest.
This is because creating an account takes effort. If your customers are coming across your online store for the first time, they might not really want to create an account instantly.
Especially if they simply want to browse or make a one-time purchase, mandatory account creation could chase them away as they might not be on board with the whole idea.
This increases the shopping cart abandonment rate SIGNIFICANTLY.
Even so, many e-commerce businesses often make it compulsory to create an account – and it’s obvious why.
Having a customer create an account can help you retarget your customers with messages, notifications, and emails.
However, this can be solved without making account creation mandatory. You can salvage a lot of revenue by offering guest checkout options.
#2 Better price with competitors
It can also happen that users might check out your website along with a few of your competitors.
It is a common practice for users to compare the products and go for the best deal – this ease has led to a surge in the e-commerce industry.
However, sometimes they could find better deals elsewhere, leading them to abandon their cart on your site.
#3 Complicated checkout pages
Another reason for checkout abandonment is confusing checkout pages. Ideally, the flow of the checkout process should be:
- Add to cart
- Add billing details
- Add shipping details
- Choose shipping method
- Payment
- Confirmation of purchase
As an e-commerce website, one of your primary goals should be providing the customer with a smooth user experience – if the flow of the website confuses the user even a little, it can drive them away.
You should also make sure not to ask for too many unnecessary details at the time of checkout.
#4 Excessive shipping costs
Here’s another key factor to consider –
Nothing can shun customers away more than the unexpected costs of shipping – if you levy heavy fees at the time of checkout without notice, shoppers will turn away.
Source: Tidio
Wondering how to optimise a website for voice search in 2025?
About 48% of users with the intent to purchase abandon their carts because of the high added shipping costs. Imagine how much revenue that can cost you!
To prevent this, ensure all your communication is transparent right from the beginning. Also, disclose all potential costs early, so the customer knows the amount they have to pay.
#5 Website performance issues
Let’s circle back to what we discussed earlier: it is important to ensure a smooth user experience.
If your website has a slow loading speed, is confusing to navigate, or lags a lot, the user loses interest and confidence in your brand to continue their shopping.
To avoid abandoned shopping carts because of your website performance, you can monitor the speed of your website regularly and optimise the images and scripts to make it load faster.
Source: mailmodo
How to reduce cart abandonment?
Now that we have broadly understood why most people abandon their carts, let’s dive into some proven strategies for customer retention.
Ps. Save this, because you definitely want to implement these!
#1 Retargeting ads
Yes, a user has abandoned their cart on your site but it doesn’t mean they’re gone forever!
That’s the magic of retargeting ads – you can reach out to your potential users who checked out your products but didn’t go through with their purchase.
Retargeting them can subtly remind them about you and the products they liked but didn’t purchase.
You can show them images of the products they left behind through strategically placed display ads optimised for all types of devices and target them based on their preferences and user behaviour.
Source: Moosend / Drip.com
Through retargeting ads, 26% of users return to their cart, making it the most beneficial abandoned cart strategy for recovering lost sales.
Retargeting can renew their original interest and get them back to the same intent of purchasing once again, this time completing their purchase.
#2 Add pop-ups on checkout
Picture this: a user has added your products to their cart and for some reason, they decide to exit. This would cause you to lose them and the sale.
If this sounds like something that happens to you, here’s what to do next –
One of the most effective ways to retain your potential customers is to show them an exit pop-up.
It can display if the customer’s cursor goes out of the active area of the window. This will require you to track the mouse movement of the user on a page.
You can pop a compelling message with a discount coupon to urge them to checkout. Such a pop-up can be a last resort to convince the user to go through with their purchase.
It is one of the most effective shopping cart abandonment solutions as it can stop a potential loss and convert it into a sale.
Source: WP Beginner
The data doesn’t lie – about 53% people can return back to shopping upon seeing an exit-intent pop-up. That’s worth a try!
#3 Offer personalised product recommendations
Another proven strategy for customer retention is to offer them customised recommendations based on what they’ve shown interest in.
You can analyse their browsing history to recommend relevant products. You can also cross-sell your products to make it a promising purchase for the user.
Display these recommendations in the highlighted areas of your page so the customer doesn’t miss it.
This can be a good addition to your website to improve the user experience on your website by making the shopping experience better for users.
Personalised product recommendations can reduce the abandoned shopping cart rate by creating a more engaging experience and driving users to make more purchases.
#4 Provide discounts
Sometimes, some users need a final nudge to make a purchase – and more often than not, it is a little discount! Believe me, it goes a long way in convincing customers to get your product.
I mean, who doesn’t like discounts?
You can also offer them free shipping to push them a little more. Offer them exclusive, limited-time deals to show them that now’s the time to buy.
You can also add relevant product giveaways for more impact – this can reduce the shopping cart abandonment rate.
#5 Send reminders
Some customers might just need a small reminder, making them one of the most effective ways of recovering your abandoned carts.
You can have efficient email marketing campaigns in place to regularly send such reminders.
You can also send them WhatsApp messages to remind them about the products in their carts, or simple notifications that work wonders.
Make sure these reminders are personalised, based on their user behaviour, purchase history, and more.
You can have CRM automation set up to do this for you – you just have to set it up once and can keep bringing people back to their carts.
#6 Offer easy returns and refunds
If a user is making a purchase on your website for the first time, it is only logical that they look for an easy returns policy that can insure them from potential loss.
If a customer abandons their cart, you can reach out to them with a returns and refund policy that can assure them of your credibility.
To do so, have a smooth process already set up to provide them easy steps to follow in case of any issues with their products.
Remember, clear communication goes a long way.
Source: WP Beginner
In fact, an efficient returns policy can get 35% of shoppers to go through with their purchases.
Final thoughts
To sum it up, for e-commerce businesses, one of the most pressing concerns is an abandoned shopping cart.
But just because a user leaves your website once does not mean you cannot get them back. You can put certain strategies to use to ensure that these abandoned carts are not lost forever!
Go for retargeting ads, exit-intent pop-ups, discounts, recommendations, reminders, returns – basically everything that can make the customer think they want to complete their purchase.
At Nethority, we specialize in eCommerce SEO and conversion optimization to help businesses like yours reduce cart abandonment and maximize revenue.
Want to turn abandoned carts into sales? Contact Nethority today!
Let’s strategize your success together!
