14 Cart Abandonment Solutions to Increase Your Sales

Thinking of cart abandonment solutions is very important for e-commerce owners. Having someone visit your website, browse through the products, add them to the cart, and give up on the purchase in the final moment is a more common situation than you would probably desire. After all, the main goal is converting these website visitors into customers and closing sales. 

But what drives customers to take a step back and not finalize a purchase? Understanding this is important to developing effective strategies that will diminish the cart abandonment rate and grow your profit as a consequence. 

You can take several actions to improve customer experience and encourage them to buy. Learning them will enable you to enhance your online store performance,

9 Commons Reasons for Cart Abandonment in E-commerce#

According to Statista, online shopping cart abandonment rate worldwide increased from 59.8% to 70.19% between 2006 to 2024. This means an increase of 10.39%. 

The categories with higher cart abandonment rates worldwide in 2024 are home furniture, health and beauty, and luxury apparel. While it's worth considering the particularities of each sector and how it influences people to give up on their purchases, some reasons can be applied to e-commerce in general. 

1. Complex Checkout Process#

A checkout process that is difficult to understand or has too many steps discourages customers from proceeding with the purchase. A Baymard report pointed out that 22% people abandoned their cart due to a complicated checkout. 

This issue affects user experience and may cause website visitors to distrust the online store. It affects the e-commerce credibility, and can even prevent people from returning to your website. They may buy from a competitor.

Customers are looking for a satisfactory shopping experience that is simple from beginning to end and doesn't take too much of their time. 

2. Not Mobile-Friendly Website#

In the second quarter of 2024, 94.1% of internet global users accessed the internet through smartphones, while 62.8% used laptops or desktop computers.

It's simple logic to assume that they use their smartphones to make purchases as well. Now, imagine if they enter your website and the pages don't have a responsive design and are difficult to navigate through on mobile devices. 

They will likely close your website and look for another online store that is mobile-friendly or has a smartphone app that facilitates the process of browsing through products, checking their details, and closing sales. 

3. Mandatory Account Creation#

The need to create an account to buy a product is another reason for cart abandonment. In Baymard research where more than 1.000 US adults were interviewed, 26% revealed that's what made them abandon the checkout process. 

Creating an account takes time and adds one more process to the experience of making a purchase instead of simplifying it. Besides, people may not want the company to store their information and have one more password to remember. 

4. Expensive Shipping Costs#

The shipping cost can be a decisive factor for someone to buy a product online. If the cost is too high it may not be worth it, mainly when the shipping cost is higher or closer to the product price. That’s one of the main reasons for cart abandonment, pointed out by 48% of the people interviewed in Baymard research.

5. Long Delivery Times#

Buying online is practical, you don't have to leave home to go to a store, the desired product is just a few clicks away, but this can lose its appeal if the sending and delivery times are too long. Customers want to receive their purchases as soon as possible. 

6. Lack of Payment Options#

Another strong reason for cart abandonment is when the customer payment option of preference isn't available. If they can't find a desirable way to pay for the product, it's obvious they won't buy on your online store. Using methods that facilitate online payment such as digital wallets and post-purchase plans are good encouragement.

7. Security Concerns#

Having sensible data exposed, such as credit card numbers, is a great concern when buying online. If your website doesn’t seem secure, people likely will avoid buying from you. 

Another common worry, mainly when buying from new and less-known brands is whether they are reliable and will deliver the products correctly. You need to show why your online store is trustworthy. 

8. Website Speed#

When you are buying online, do you have the patience to wait to access a page that is taking too long to load? Neither do your customers. In the digital era we live in, where we can seamlessly browse through e-commerce sites and pages take less than a second to load, slow pages are a great discouragement.

While they take too long to open, the customer can go to your competitor's store and buy from them. Besides, slow websites also affect the brand's credibility and may cause people to distrust your online store.

9. Non-Satisfactory or Unclear Return Policies#

Not being able to see or try products can make people afraid of buying online mainly when we are talking about expensive products or wearable items.

If your e-commerce doesn't have clear return and refund policies, customers don't have the assurance that if they don't like the product they won't lose their money or get stressed with a difficult process to return it. 

14 Cart Abandonment Solutions that Will Improve Your E-Commerce#

Once you understand what are the main reasons for losing almost close purchases, it's time to look for cart abandonment solutions. Some tactics are very simple and may cause a huge difference in converting website visitors into customers. 

1. Provide a Simplified Checkout Process#

How can you simplify the checkout process? Invest in creating a user-friendly interface with an intuitive design where people can easily complete each step with clear information. 

Include a summary of what the person is buying so they can certify the order is correct without having to go back to the product's page. That's especially useful when the customer is buying a personalized item, where they have to choose the color or size, for instance. 

Another useful feature is putting a progress bar showing what step of the checkout process the buyer is in, and what are the next ones. 

2. Enable Guest Checkout#

Allow customers to buy without having to create an account on your website. It will save their time, and simplify the process encouraging them to complete the purchase. This way you respect the customer's choice to preserve their personal information. 

You can also give the option to create an account with features like making a wishlist or participating in a rewards program. But this mustn't be obligatory. Let the customer choose what they prefer, enabling them to have a more personalized experience.

3. Optimize Your Website#

To avoid problems such as pages that take too long to load, product images that aren't displayed properly, or a website that is difficult to navigate, you should keep your website always up-to-date and optimized. 

It's essential to choose a hosting service that guarantees your website won't crash when there is too much traffic. You should also invest in developing an intuitive interface where users can quickly find the information they want, easily search and view the products, add them to the cart, and complete the checkout. 

An optimized website helps you to gain more visibility as well since search engines like Google analyze aspects such as load speed, and user experience when ranking pages to put them in the first search results.

4. Create a Mobile-Friendly Website#

Creating an optimized website also includes using a responsive design that is mobile-friendly. Make sure that people can enjoy your online store just as well as they would if they were using a desktop computer. 

Each page element must be resized to fit a smartphone screen, providing a great user experience. Another option that many brands are using is creating an app for smartphones, you can provide several tools to engage even more with your customers and conquer their loyalty.

5. Be Transparent About All Costs#

Clear communication is essential not only to prevent cart abandonment but also to encourage customers to buy again from your customers. Ensure that all the costs are shown clearly when the customer adds a product to the cart, including shipping price, and any other fee. 

This information must be written in a way the customer can understand every detail and be displayed to be easily seen. Transparency shows your brand is trustworthy, and is crucial to develop a long-lasting relationship with your customers,

6. Be Clear about Shipping and Delivery Times#

Explain exactly what is the expected time for the order to be shipped and how long it will take to be delivered. The customer must know precisely when they will receive their product to not be frustrated, or feel misled by your company. 

In the case of handmade or personalized products where the product will be produced after the purchase, it’s important to explain that to the customer. This way, they will understand why the delivery will take longer. 

If there is any problem that may delay the delivery, explain it right away and express your apologies. You may even try to compensate the customer by offering a discount, for example. 

7. Offer Multiple Payment Options#

Analyze how you can provide different payment options on your e-commerce that are worth it both for you and your customers. It's interesting to enable payment gateways such as Paypal, which many customers feel safer using than sharing their credit card numbers on your website, and digital wallets that speed up the payment process as well. 

Facilitating the payment with systems such as Klarna, where the customers can pay the purchase before they buy it is another strategy to avoid cart abandonment. 

8. Establish Clear and Simple Return and Refund Policies#

Create a section on your website where you explain clearly how the return and refund process works in your e-commerce. Search for ways to simplify the process and make it easier for customers to return products when necessary. 

By doing that, you show your case about your customer and this may even encourage them to buy again from your brand because they know you respect their rights. 

9. Show Customers Your Website is Secure#

You must comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) and show your customers that their data is protected. You can add an SSL certificate and other seals that prove you follow safety protocols.  

10. Add Social Proof#

Product reviews and ratings sent by your customers add credibility to your brand and encourage customers to buy, acting as social proof. Add comment and rating sections on all your product pages, and ask your customers to send feedback.

11. Implement Exit Intent Pop-Up#

Another cart abandonment solution is adding a pop-up when the customer is about to leave the page. You can add a personalized message to convince the person to stay and proceed with the purchase. You may offer a coupon discount, gift, or free shipping as an incentive, for instance. 

12. Provide Live Chat Support#

Live chat support is a valuable tool when it comes to convincing customers to complete a purchase. You can add this feature to every page, for example by installing JivoChat to your website. A chat window will be displayed on the corner of the screen and the customer can click at any time to solve their doubts by talking with a live agent. 

They can ask about the product features, and size, and will have personalized assistance to make the best choice. This enhances the user experience, straightens brand engagement, increases sales, and helps you to know your target audience better.

13. Retarget Cart Abandoners#

You can retarget cart abandoners by sending them an email or a text message asking why they gave up on the purchase. Write a captivating message that catches the customer's attention, shows how you value them and offers incentives to convince them to go back to your website and finish the purchase.

14. Promote Retargeting Ad Campaigns#

You can use the information gathered from the abandoned carts by creating social media ad campaigns that target this audience. Enjoy the data gathered to create highly personalized advertisements that can connect to people who have already expressed interest in your online store. 

Enjoy JivoChat Features to Diminish Cart Abandonment Rates#

JivoChat can be the cart abandonment solution you were looking for. With it, you can add a personalized live chat to your website, and create proactive chat invitations that are triggered by the website visitors' actions. For example, if the person is about to abandon their cart, you can send a message to engage with them.

Besides, you will be able to offer customer support 24 hours by adding an AI-powered chatbot along with the live chat. You will also count on analytics tools that allow you to analyze customer interactions to get to know them better and create an online store that provides a great user experience, increasing conversion rates.