One of the biggest challenges that online retailers face is shopping cart abandonment. Despite considerable efforts to attract and engage customers, a surprising number of them leave online stores without completing their purchases. According to the web research company Baymard Institute, 69.99% of online shopping carts were abandoned by consumers in 2022. The fact remains that a large portion of online shoppers still never makes it to checkout.
For small online business owners, these figures may seem daunting, but understanding the root causes of cart abandonment can provide valuable insights on how to combat it effectively. Some customers, for instance, leave their carts due to unexpected shipping charges, taxes, and other fees that crop up during the checkout process. Other customers may find themselves turned off by the complexity of the checkout process itself. If they have to deal with multiple redirects, large numbers of steps, or unnecessary hurdles such as mandatory account creation, they may decide that their purchase is ultimately not worth the inconvenience.
Fortunately for business owners, there are many strategies to reduce the rate of cart abandonment and boost sales for online stores. If you’re an entrepreneur based in the Philippines who’s just getting your online business off the ground, you’ll definitely want to implement the following tips:
Streamline Your Checkout Process
A complicated checkout process is one of the main culprits behind high cart abandonment rates. Simplify your checkout process so that customers can complete it in the smallest possible number of steps, avoiding unnecessary form-filling or redirects to other pages. Make sure that this new process runs as smoothly on mobile platforms as it does on desktop, as more users than ever are shopping from their smartphones.
Integrating a Shopify payment gateway or other similar technology is another tried-and-tested way to improve checkout flow. In essence, a payment gateway is an online interface you can use to collect your customers’ payment information, whether they’re paying with credit or debit cards, e-wallets, QR codes, or some other digital method. Because the gateway handles the transaction process end-to-end, it enables secure, instant transactions while minimizing the effort required on your part to manage these transactions.
By using a Shopify payment gateway Philippines-based businesses trust, such as the cutting-edge Maya Shopify plugin from the fintech company Maya Business, you set yourself up to capture more sales and boost your enterprise’s profitability.
Offer Multiple Payment Options
Different customers have different preferred payment methods, and one of the surest ways to make more sales is to ensure that all your clients can pay in the ways they find most convenient. While some customers may prefer traditional methods like credit cards, others might favor digital wallets or bank transfers. And in many places in the Philippines, even cash on delivery is still a popular option. As such, offer as many payment options as you can manage and your business is sure to see generous returns.
Keep in mind that security is a critical factor when it comes to online payments, especially now that the rise of digital technology has also made cybersecurity incidents like data breaches more common. Invest in digital payment gateway solutions with cutting-edge security features like encryption and tokenization. It will also benefit your business to communicate your security policies to your customers so that they know exactly what you’re doing to protect their money and information.
Make Provisions for Guest Checkout
Forcing customers to create an account can seem like an unnecessary roadblock for users who are new to your site or those simply looking to make a one-time purchase. Many such customers will simply not be willing to fill out a sign-up form or think of a unique username or password for your store. Providing a guest checkout option, on the other hand, will allow potential customers to complete their transactions without the commitment of account creation.
Be Upfront about Total Costs
No one likes hidden costs. Finding additional shipping and handling fees, taxes, and other charges stacked onto their bill at checkout is sure to turn off your customers. The unpleasant surprise may even cause some of them to abandon their carts. Therefore, it’s vital to be transparent about all costs from the beginning of the purchasing journey. If your customers feel informed and in control while they shop, they’ll be less likely to leave midway.
Disclose any additional charges as early as possible, preferably on the product page or at least before the customer proceeds to checkout. Some e-commerce sites have also found success by offering flat-rate shipping or free shipping above a certain purchase amount. This strategy not only eliminates surprise costs but can also incentivize customers to add more to their cart to qualify for free shipping.
Add User-Generated Content (UGC) to Your Store
User-generated content (UGC) such as reviews, ratings, and customer photos can play a pivotal role in encouraging users to complete purchases. Seeing real reviews and photos from past buyers can help mitigate doubts about the quality of your product and of your store’s service. This social proof, in turn, will reduce the likelihood of cart abandonment due to uncertainty.
Encourage your customers to leave reviews and ratings, and perhaps even to share their photos of the product. Make sure to showcase this UGC prominently on your product pages, so that potential buyers can find and peruse it easily. Such content will not only enhance the credibility of your products but it will also build a community around your brand.
Whether you’re doing business from a social media site, a self-built online storefront, or a dedicated e-commerce site built around a popular platform such as Shopify, the above tips should help you combat and even eliminate the problem of cart abandonment. By focusing on simplifying the buying process and catering to the needs and preferences of your customers, you’ll surely be able to complete more sales.
