Reduce Cart Abandonment by Enhancing Customer Service

If your business is experiencing a significant drop-off at checkout, it’s in your best interest to learn how to reduce cart abandonment.

Many of the reasons shoppers abandon their carts — such as price comparison, window shopping, researching gift ideas, and bookmarking items for later — seem unsolvable or unavoidable for ecommerce brands. However, several factors in the shopping experience that contribute to abandoned carts can be addressed.

In the following guide, ecommerce brands will discover why customers aren’t following through with purchases, how to calculate shopping cart abandonment rate, and how to reduce lost sales through customer service.

What Is Shopping Cart Abandonment?

Shopping cart abandonment is when customers add items to their online shopping cart and then leave that website without purchasing.

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Reasons for Cart Abandonment

Shopping cart abandonment causes you to lose sales and indicates a lack of effectiveness in your online shopping experience. Since 45% of shoppers purchase directly from ecommerce websites, shopping cart abandonment can significantly impact your profitability.

As mentioned earlier, some shopping cart abandonment is unavoidable because of the inherent ways consumers interact with online businesses. Comparing prices between products or brands, browsing or window shopping, researching gift options, and saving ideas for later are all natural factors that contribute to shopping cart abandonment.

However, there are some causes of shopping cart abandonment that ecommerce brands can identify and avoid:

• Overly expensive taxes, fees, and shipping
• Confusing pricing details, especially while running sales or promotions
• A complicated checkout process
• A required account to checkout
• Payment security concerns
• Lack of or an undesirable return policy
• Too few payment options
• Long delivery times

By fixing the above, you have the opportunity to improve your ecommerce infrastructure and your bottom line. Providing personalized customer service during the checkout and shopping processes can help detect and address these issues before they ever lead to cart abandonment.

How to Calculate Cart Abandonment Rate

Nearly 70% of online shoppers abandoned their carts in 2023, according to Baymard Institute. Calculating your cart abandonment rate allows you to understand how your shopping experience shapes up against the industry average and your competition.

To calculate your cart abandonment rate, use the following formula:

Shopping cart abandonment rate = 1 – (total purchases / total # of shopping carts created) x 100

How to Reduce Cart Abandonment With Customer Service

Once you’ve identified your shopping cart abandonment rate and its potential causes, you have the chance to improve your experience through customer service. Using the following tools, you can simultaneously reduce your abandonment rate and make customers’ lives easier.

Make Returns Hassle-Free

Simplifying and making your return process customer-centric helps shoppers feel confident in their purchases. A clear return process makes customers feel less trapped in their decision and more likely to say “yes” at checkout. Some ways to optimize your return experience include:

• Communicating it clearly throughout the entire customer journey
• Ensuring each channel is consistent in messaging, quality, and experience
• Using intelligent routing to get your customers to the right agent the first time
• By making it easy to return an item, customers feel more comfortable buying from you again without the dread of a complicated or expensive return process if they change their mind.

Offer Help With Chatbots

Providing a live chat tool gives customers real-time assistance when they come up against an issue. This reduces frustration and guides them through the shopping process. Using the live chat feature with Gladly, you can even proactively answer questions and prioritize campaigns through order and trigger functions.

For example, say you have two campaigns running simultaneously — one to reduce drop-offs at checkouts and one to reduce customer service questions regarding a certain product. Setting up an order will prioritize which of these conditions will fire your chat tool first. Adding a trigger will set a timer on how long a customer will be on the page before receiving help for each issue through chat.

Offer Rewards or Motivation Through Email or SMS

By adding incentives at checkout — such as free shipping, discount codes, or complimentary bonus items — customers are likely to spend more or return to take advantage of future offers. Tools like email and SMS are also useful for alerting customers that items are still in their cart, potentially prompting them to complete their purchase.

Provide a FAQ Page

FAQ pages give customers quick answers to common questions that may persuade them to make a purchase. Not being able to easily find these answers online makes customers frustrated and cautious, which is why FAQ pages are so beneficial to their experience.

Accept Payment Through Messaging Channels

By accepting payments through multiple channels, you maximize the opportunities for customers to make their purchases without needing to complete a multi-page checkout flow. The more payment options that are available, the less excuses a customer has for abandoning their cart. This is especially critical for brands with younger shoppers. Millennial and Gen Z shoppers prefer purchasing over social media, SMS, and chat, rather than direct-from-site.

The Upside of Reducing Cart Abandonment (Besides Sales)

Using customer service to reduce cart abandonment doesn’t just mean securing existing sales. In fact, 72% of shoppers are willing to spend more with a brand that provides a great customer experience.

Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment With Gladly

By using Gladly tools to improve your shopping experience, you can reduce your shopping cart abandonment rate. Using channels with chat, email, and SMS allows your team to connect with and support customers during their shopping journey. Payment tools and FAQ pages provide clarity and ease for customers as well, reducing their likelihood of cart abandonment.

Learn more about how our powerful, all-in-one platform can reduce cart abandonment and empower your customer service team.

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