Guide to Fewer Abandoned Carts on WooCommerce

Successfully selling your products to your target consumers doesn’t end the moment they hit the checkout or “add to cart” button. In fact, it’s only half the battle. You also have to make sure that they complete the process and actually pay for what they’ve chosen. That’s why abandoned carts can be such a headache.

A study shows that shopping cart abandonment triggers $18 billion worth of losses in sales revenue for e-commerce brands annually. Losing a sale when it’s nearly within your grasp is a huge missed opportunity, but it’s one that can be avoided.

In this guide, we’ll go through the steps you can take to reduce the number of abandoned carts on your WooCommerce store and establish sustainable sales growth.

7 Key Reasons Consumers Abandon Their Shopping Carts

Before anything else, let’s first explore why shoppers abandon their carts in the first place. Here are the seven key reasons:

Overcomplicated Checkout Process

Most of the time, the problem arises when the customers are already on the checkout page. Many online stores have a complex and overwhelming design for their checkouts, resulting in shoppers having difficulty navigating through and completing the process. This can be a major deterrent for potential shoppers, especially if you’re catering to a young audience who prefers a more straightforward approach.

Not to mention, the presence of too many steps during the checkout process can be confusing to first-time customers. Aside from having a high cart abandonment rate, it can also lead to a decrease in conversions and cost you potential repeat buyers.

Additional or Hidden Fees

Have you ever experienced buying something online, only to find extra fees at checkout? Quite disappointing, right? It’s a common complaint among shoppers, and if you want to avoid having abandoned carts in your WooCommerce store, it’s something that you need to watch out for.

Make sure that the total cost of a purchase is spelled out clearly during the checkout process. This includes taxes, shipping fees, and other miscellaneous charges. Consumers may feel cheated if they have no idea about the additional fees until they reach the payment page.

Poor Delivery or Return Policies

Another factor that discourages online shoppers from completing a purchase is poor delivery or return policies. People are more likely to abandon their carts if they feel uncertain about the delivery time of their product, or if the return policy is too strict. This is especially the case if the products being sold are on the pricey or more delicate side.

You Don’t Offer Their Preferred Payment Method

Of course, one major deal-breaker for online shoppers is when you don’t offer their preferred payment method. Technically, this isn’t something that you can blame the consumer for. After all, there are now different payment methods available and it’s your responsibility as a store owner to provide them with options that fit their needs.

Lags and Loading Problems

Did you know that a single-second delay in page loading time can have an impact on your sales? According to studies, even the slightest delay in loading time can lead to a 7% decrease in conversions. Issues in your website’s performance can be extremely frustrating, and even the most patient of customers can easily hit the back button if they encounter lagging or loading problems.

Lack of Promos and Coupons

Consumers nowadays have a number of options they can easily access when shopping online. This is why coupons and discounts have almost become a necessity for e-commerce stores. While it’s not something that you need to do all the time, strategically offering promos and coupons can help you build loyalty among your customers and encourage them to complete their purchases.

Too Many Promos and Upselling

While coupons and discounts can be beneficial, too many of them can have a negative effect. This is especially true if you’re using aggressive tactics such as bombarding customers with too many upsells or cross-sells. Not only can it be annoying and overwhelming, but it can also lead to confusion, resulting in a higher cart abandonment rate.

10 Strategies To Decrease Abandoned Carts

Now, how exactly do you avoid abandoned carts in your WooCommerce store? Here are a few strategies that you can try:

Simplify Your Checkout Process

From the interface design to the actual checkout steps and the payment method, make sure that your shoppers have an easy time when they reach the final stages of their purchase. The fewer clicks, the better. Having an intuitive and straightforward checkout page will make your customers feel more secure and confident about completing the purchase.

Optimize Your Mobile Checkout

Mobile users are proven to be more likely to not complete a purchase with an overall cart abandonment rate of 85.65%. It’s much easier for them to leave without warning and find alternatives, so make sure to optimize your checkout process for mobile users. This means having a clean design and easy navigation on both smartphones and tablets.

Be Transparent About Your Costs

Transparency is key for any online business. Make sure that your consumers understand the total cost of their purchase before they reach the payment page. From the shipping costs to taxes and other fees, include it all in the total cost so they won’t be surprised at checkout. Being upfront and honest will help build trust with your customers, which can bring more conversions in the long run.

Be Transparent With Your Return Policies

Another way to build trust with your customers is by having a clear return policy. Consumers need to have confidence that they can get their money back in case the product is defective or not as expected. Make sure to spell out your return policy in a way that’s easy to understand, and be clear about the timeframes and any other details that they need to know.

Recommended Return Policies for POD

If you’re working with a print-on-demand partner like Awkward Styles, make sure to set up your return policies in accordance with their own. For instance, if your POD partner only allows up to 30 days for returns, then you should also set your own return policy to the same time frame so your shoppers can file for their refund without any worries.

Use Trustworthy Payment Methods

As mentioned, not finding their preferred payment method on the checkout page can be a major turn-off for shoppers. Make sure to include a mix of payment options that you know your customers will be comfortable with. This includes credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more. The more options you provide, the lesser the chances of an abandoned cart.

Create a Sense of Urgency

One selling strategy you can use to make sure your customers complete their purchases is creating a sense of urgency. You can do this by pointing out the limited-time offers or discounts that you have or by adding a countdown timer to the checkout page. This will make shoppers think twice about leaving their cart and hopefully complete the purchase before time runs out.

Use an Abandoned Cart Recovery WooCommerce Extension

The great thing about WooCommerce is that you can extend its functionalities with extensions. A great tool to have in your arsenal to decrease abandoned carts is an abandoned cart recovery plugin. This will help you identify shoppers who left their cart and give you the means to send them reminder emails or discounts to encourage them to finish their purchase. Some of the popular ones you can check out are Retainful and Abandoned Cart Recovery by Addify.

While some of these extensions do come with a subscription fee, they can be well worth the investment if they help you increase your conversions and reach your revenue goals.

Monitor and Test Your Website’s Performance

From the speed of your website to customer service, all of these factors play a role in whether or not customers will complete the purchase. Make sure to regularly monitor the performance of your website and test the features so you can identify any issues that may be causing abandonment or preventing conversions. If you’re planning on adding a plugin or feature, conduct an a/b test first to make sure that it will improve the customer experience.

Use Promos and Upselling Techniques Wisely

As mentioned, promos can be a great way to further entice customers to complete their purchases. However, make sure to use them wisely and not bombard shoppers with too many offers or discounts that may give them buyer’s remorse. In addition, use upselling techniques sparingly. Customers should never be forced to purchase more than they need just to get the deal.

How To Check Cart Abandonment Rate on WooCommerce

Curious about your current cart abandonment rate? Here’s how you can check it on WooCommerce:

Choose a Cart Recovery Extension

Unfortunately, WooCommerce doesn’t provide an in-built feature to track your cart abandonment rate. But you don’t have to worry – there are a number of plugins that can help you do that such as Cart Reports. The subscription fees of these extensions range from $49 to $79 and are often billed annually. Hence, make sure to compare the features and pricing of your preferred choices before making a decision.

Set Up the Extension

Once you’ve chosen your preferred plugin, you can now purchase it and download the .zip file from your account. After that, you need to log into your WordPress dashboard and go to the plugin page. From there, click on ‘Add New’ and upload the .zip file that you just downloaded.

To finally activate the plugin, you need to click on the ‘Install Now’ and ‘Activate’ button, then you’re good to go.

Track Your Abandoned Carts and Progress Regularly

When you activate the plugin, it will start tracking the progress of your cart abandonment. This data will be available in the WooCommerce section of your WordPress dashboard. You can check it regularly to track your improvement over time. However, if you really want to see changes, you need to take certain actions like sending out reminder emails, offering discounts, and improving the checkout process. The key is to find out what works best for your store and use it to optimize your cart abandonment rate.

Here’s to an Abandoned Cart-free WooCommerce Store

Having abandoned carts is inevitable and it’s almost impossible to have a zero percent abandonment rate. But you can certainly do things to optimize it and turn more of your shoppers into customers. With the right amount of effort and tools, you can create a better WooCommerce store and reduce your number of abandoned carts while establishing a strong customer base. Good luck!

For more print-on-demand and e-commerce tips and tricks, be sure to check out our blog!