Why Shoppers Abandon Cart Online

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Mrs. Yeye Arogundade is an online retailer. According to her, one of the problems plaguing online retailers is cart abandonment. But for many buyers, Arogundade said, this is part of shopping.

Findings by Mrs. Arogundade have it that 81percent of online shoppers have left items in a cart and not gone through with a sale. “The most-abandoned product category is apparel,” she said. On her online retail platform, 40 percent of respondents have jumped the shipping segment while buying a cloth. Tech is second, at 18 percent, followed by home goods (16 percent). Women are slightly more inclined to abandon their carts than men 41.1percent vs. 37.5percent, she said.

According to Mrs. Arogundade, cost issues are the most cited reason for abandoning a cart; 74percent of respondents included reasons like the final price being too expensive or finding a better deal elsewhere. Very few cited factors, such as too many options (8.9 percent) or poor user experience (7.3percent).

The “finding a better deal” factor might hold a clue to this behavior. In a June 2017 survey by Jiji.ng, the leading reason for abandoning a cart was simply that digital shoppers wanted to shop around more (45percent). This commitment-phobic attitude is common where hidden fees and delivery charges are the leading motivation to leave a shopping cart.

Adding an item to a cart signals intent, but some shoppers use digital baskets as a bookmarking tool in lieu of a “save to favorites” button or even to try and trigger a promo email offer.

According to the same survey by Jiji.ng, add-to-cart rates were on average 9.7percent, and higher for desktop (12.0percent) and tablet (11.5percent) than a smartphone (7.6percent). The difficulty with small screens and entering necessary details still hold back mobile commerce.

Whatever a shopper’s reason for abandoning a cart, it’s a behavior that seems to be rising according to online retail experts.

 

The NationOnline