Don'ts
Unexpected shipping costs
The most frequent reason for shopping cart abandonment is unexpectedly high shipping costs. These unexpected costs account for 28% of shopping cart abandonment. It’s not so much the shipping costs themselves it is when they are presented to the user for the first time during the checkout process. The increased cost associated with Ecommerce shipping charges can result in people not purchasing that product because the cost was not expected. One easy way to avoid this is to build the shipping cost into your product price, and promote the fact that the price the visitor sees is the total price of the transaction if they were to purchase.
Forcing new users to create accounts
On many Ecommerce websites that we see there are still checkout process in place that force a user to create an account before they are able to complete a purchase. While getting people signed up (so you have their contact details) is always great, it can deter the many impatient internet users that could be customers. Allowing users to purchase products without an account will dramatically decrease shopping cart abandonment, as 23% of users would abandon their shopping cart if they have to create an account. This is referred to as "Guest Checkout" and is a common feature on most new Ecommerce online stores.
Do's
Offering discounts to abandoned carts
There is nothing more frustrating for eCommerce shop owners than seeing a user add a product to their shopping cart but decide not to purchase it. There is a way to alleviate this, by sending an email offering just a little incentive to buy that product that you know they are seriously considering buying. 56% of people said they would likely purchase what was in their abandoned cart if they were offered a discount. This is not always possible and is dependent on the stage in the checkout process that the user elects to leave, the Drupal Ubercart Ecommerce engine captures partially completed details entered by a user during the checkout process, even though the cart may be abandoned, there is often enough captured information to allow the store owner to contact them and offer the incentive to complete the sale.
Reviews
Product and company reviews can boost any sites conversion rate, with 55% of shoppers saying reviews are important for making purchase decisions. Allowing users to leave reviews is important for eCommerce websites, as a medium that does not allow the user to physically see or test the product, reviews help ensure peace of mind, and provide a certain level of credibility to the website and the products being sold.
Follow up Quickly
An online sale is a transaction based on a certain level of trust, the purchaser has to feel that the product they have purchased is what it purports to be and that the website selling it is in fact going to deliver. Contacting the purchaser as soon as possible after the sale to confirm that their order has been received and to also set an expectation on when they may expect delivery is critical. The contact in many Ecommerce engines can be automated, with customised messages able to be triggered based on certain states associated with the transaction (like Payment received, order shipped etc). By opening a dialogue with the customer you are more likely to retain a happy repeat customer in the future.
Mobile Friendly
We talk about the need to ensure your website is mobile friendly constantly, it is the single biggest feature required of any modern web platform. Ensuring that potential customers are able to navigate your Website effectively on any device is a fundamental requirement of any modern online store. While sometimes the content displayed on the desktop version of the website may not lend itself to a responsive theme, there are mechanisms able to be applied that will allow the content to be tailored to the device being used. - This is a key consideration for ensuring you maximise the effectiveness of your online store.
The Koda team have a wealth of experience in the development of modern Ecommerce websites, if you would like to find out more feel free to get in touch for a no obligation free consultation with one of our web design specialists