5 Things That Help Merchants Avoid Shop Cart Abandonment
It is a shocking statistic, but according to the article published by Fundera, the average eCommerce shop cart abandonment rate in 2020 was 69.57%. But what is shop cart abandonment? It’s simple. The term refers to the practice of consumers filling up their shopping baskets but then leaving the site without purchasing anything. So, what can merchants do to reduce that worryingly high percentage?
First, we have to remember, there will always be shop cart abandonment, as let’s face it, the human race is pretty fickle. But if we could reduce that rate, even by a small percentage, then merchants would see a meaningful increase in their turnover and profit margins. According to that same article, better checkout design has the potential to increase conversion rates by a whopping 35.26%.
What constitutes a good checkout experience?
Merchants and online businesses spend time developing their user experience, making sure that they keep their potential consumers engaged and online, but sometimes the checkout process is overlooked. As payment experts, we know what works and have compiled some of the main reasons your customers abandon their shopping carts and don’t complete a purchase:
- Forced account creation: there is nothing worse than being forced to create an account and supply your reams of information when all you want to do is buy a new pair of sunglasses. We are not saying don’t create profiles, but allow guest checkout for those who prefer to keep their star sign to themselves.
- Hidden charges: additional costs (taxes, shipping, etc.) added at the time of payment gives the consumers a chance to second guess themselves and throw in the towel. Make sure your pricing is clear.
- Complex and confusing process: simplicity is the name of the game for online payments. Provide a quick and seamless checkout experience and reduce the likelihood that your customers will get bored and buy elsewhere.
- Branding: Make sure your payments page is in your brand. Sending users off to complete their payment in a new tab, with no company branding, risks them thinking it is fraudulent. Which brings us nicely to…
- Security: A customer needs reassurance when they are entering billing, shipping, and personal information. Provide it to them by displaying security badges when possible and offer a secure experience when using your shop. Customers are also more likely to feel secure if you provide them with a payment method they are comfortable with.
You can read more about the optimal checkout experience in our article for The Paypers here.
An Optimal Checkout Process
Offer the right payment methods for your consumer
First things first, a payment method is simply the way in which the customer pays for their purchases. More about this can be found in our payment method article here. As transactions become more digitized, it is best practice for merchants to provide a relevant mix of online payment options such as card payments, domestic payments, alternative payment methods and so on, to encourage customers to make a purchase and increase sales. If you offer the right payment methods for your consumers, they are more likely to complete a purchase. According to a PayPal and BigCommerce report, 70% of shoppers would prefer shopping at a merchant that provides their preferred payment method.
How can merchants easily provide multiple payment options?
An efficient way to provide your customers with multiple payment options is by using a payment orchestration platform. A payment orchestration or payment management platform provides merchants access to a variety of payment methods via connectors. These adapters/connections are all managed from one simple integration. Of course, a merchant does not need to use a payment orchestration platform. They can build integrations directly with payment service providers/acquirers. However, this option may not be compatible with expansion and does not allow for much flexibility or independence on the merchant’s side; find out more about the issues merchants can face here. As a company grows and adds more products or expands into new markets, they need to provide different checkout experiences to match their products and/or markets. A payments provider that allows merchants flexibility over what payment options to use and develop on top of it will have an advantage.
Now that you have a few ideas of how to lower your abandonment rates, why not hop on a call with our sales team who will be able to tell you more about payment orchestration and how it can not only help you convert more transactions but also future proof your payment stack by providing a flexible payments infrastructure that grows with your business. Get the most out of your online business with IXOPAY.
About IXOPAY
IXOPAY is a payments orchestration platform enabling independent, flexible and global payment processing. As a highly scalable and PCI-DSS certified “fintech enabler”, IXOPAY fulfills the needs of large merchants as well as those of “white label” clients: payment service providers (PSPs), acquirers and independent sales organizations (ISOs). The modern, easily extendable architecture offers smart transaction routing & cascading, state-of-the-art risk & fraud management, fully automated reconciliation and settlements processing, comprehensive reporting as well as plugin-based integration of acquirers, payment service providers and alternative payment methods (APMs).
IXOPAY is part of the IXOLIT Group, founded in Vienna, Austria in 2001. With local entities in Austria and the USA, IXOLIT supports national and international customers across various industry verticals. The owner-led and -financed company has grown from 2 to more than 75 employees and is focused on building innovative solutions for eCommerce.
Please find more information about IXOPAY here: https://www.ixopay.com