12 abandoned cart recovery strategies for marketers

12 abandoned cart recovery strategies for marketers

If you don't know how to reduce cart abandonment, you could be leaving money on the table. According to a Baymard Institute analysis, the average ecommerce company loses 70.19% of checkouts to shopping cart abandonment. Many of these losses can be recovered by implementing a proactive abandoned cart strategy. Baymard estimates that companies taking steps to improve checkout processes can enjoy a 35.26% increase in conversion rates, while US and EU companies could recover $260 billion annually by prioritizing abandoned cart recovery.

In this blog, we'll show you how to improve cart abandonment rates. We'll explain what abandoned cart recovery is, examine why customers abandon their carts, and discuss how to calculate cart abandonment rate and evaluate cart performance. Then, we'll share 12 abandoned cart best practices to help you convert abandoned carts into successful purchases.

What is abandoned cart recovery?

To lay a foundation, let's start by answering the basic question: what is cart abandonment recovery? Online shopping cart abandonment occurs whenever a customer initiates a digital checkout but fails to complete the process. Abandoned cart recovery is a proactive strategy for preventing abandonment incidents and intervening when they occur to promote checkout completion.

Abandoned cart recovery strategies consist of steps to reduce abandonment at every stage of the checkout process. These include steps for:

• Preventing abandonment before the checkout process

• Catching abandonment during checkouts

• Responding after abandonment occurs

Strategies for reducing abandonment include improving checkout usability, offering various shipping options, and sending emails and texts to encourage checkout completion. Cart abandonment solutions support these strategies by enabling companies to send abandoned cart emails and texts and track checkout performance.

Ecommerce companies prioritize abandoned cart recovery because it represents one of the most efficient ways to increase sales. Customers who abandon their carts are already leaning toward making a purchase, making them more likely to buy from you than prospects who haven't even started the checkout process. 

You have to invest considerably more time and effort into acquiring new leads and persuading them to buy than you would in salvaging abandoned sales. Making the extra effort to win over customers who abandon their carts can be one of the least costly marketing strategies to generate more revenue.

Why do customers abandon their carts?

Baymard research (linked above) has identified the top 10 reasons for online shopping cart abandonment. Factoring out window shoppers who were just browsing, the most common reasons customers cited for abandoning their carts were:

1. High extra costs, such as shipping, fees, and taxes (48%)

2. Account creation requirements (26%)

3. Credit card security concerns (25%)

4. Slow delivery times (23%)

5. Long checkout processes (22%)

6. No up-front total calculation (21%)

7. Unsatisfactory return policies (18%)

8. Website errors (17%)

9. Limited payment options (13%)

10. Declined credit cards (9%)

As these results indicate, customers typically abandon carts due to cost, convenience, security, or shipping concerns. Abandoned cart recovery strategies focus on mitigating these issues.

How do I calculate cart abandonment rate?

Shopping cart abandonment rate can be calculated over a given time frame by applying the formula:

    CAR = [1 – (CC/TC)] * 100

Where:

CAR = cart abandonment rate
CC = completed carts
TC = total carts

To illustrate, let's say that over a month, customers opened 1,000 carts and completed 250 purchases:

    CAR = [1 – (250/1,000)] *100 = 75%

In this example, your cart abandonment rate for the month would be 75%.

When interpreting shopping cart abandonment rates, marketing teams should consider them in the context of other factors. For example, the quality and volume of visits can affect rates if your site is attracting window shoppers. Likewise, technical problems with your site or checkout process can increase abandonment rates. To put the cart abandonment rate in context, consider other important key performance indicators (KPIs) such as site speed and conversion rate.

What is a good abandoned cart recovery rate?

Baymard's research indicates that cart abandonment rates average 70.19%. This means that, on average, recovering more than 29.81% of abandoned carts reflects an improvement. The average large ecommerce site can increase recovery rates by 35.26% by improving checkout process usability.

Average rates vary by industry, company, and product. For perspective, monitor and benchmark your internal numbers and research competitors' performance.

How to reduce cart abandonment

Strategies for reducing cart abandonment address common reasons customers abandon carts. Cart abandonment solutions help implement these strategies by streamlining checkout processes, monitoring performance, and supporting recovery emails and texts. Let's look at how to put these strategies into effect.

1. Show clear calls to action (CTAs).

CTAs can guide customers through the checkout process. This reduces the risk of shoppers abandoning carts over confusion about how to proceed. Use CTAs to:

• Help customers add items

• Initiate checkouts

• Enter shipping and billing information

• Choose shipping options

• Select payment methods

• Complete transactions

2. Display shipping options on your product pages.

If customers know their shipping options before they initiate checkout, they're less likely to abandon carts over shipping issues. Allow them to select their shipping location on product pages so they can see the available shipping options.

3. Give customers a guest checkout option.

Requiring customers to create an account before checking out adds an extra step that can dissuade them from completing transactions. Even customers with accounts may hesitate to check out if they need to spend additional time retrieving credentials and completing login procedures. Simplify your checkout process by allowing customers to check out as guests without logging in.

4. Be transparent about total costs.

Fees that exceed expectations prompt more customers to abandon carts than any other factor. Avoid sticker shock by being up front about total costs. List itemized costs early in the checkout process so customers can see what they're paying for and choose less expensive options before abandoning orders.

5. Include a thumbnail of cart contents.

Shopping cart thumbnail icons help customers see what's in their cart and what it costs while also enabling them to remove or add items. This reduces the risk of customers abandoning carts due to price concerns or unwanted items. Increase conversions by including a highly visible cart thumbnail image at the top of your customer's user interface.

6. Use analytics to monitor cart abandonment.

Analytics tools let you track abandonment activity using KPIs and reports. This enables you to see how often customers are abandoning carts and identify trends that may indicate the reasons for cart abandonment. Ecommerce platforms and shopping cart software typically include these analytics tools.

7. Include progress indicators on the checkout page.

Progress indicators reassure customers that they're taking the correct steps to complete their purchase, which decreases cart abandonment stemming from confusion about the checkout process. Break your checkout process down into clear steps, such as selecting items, entering addresses, choosing shipping methods, and selecting payment methods. Use indicators to show customers which steps have been completed and which actions still need to be taken.

8. Utilize exit intent pop-ups.

Exit intent pop-ups are overlays that appear when customers are about to abandon their carts, giving them a second chance to reconsider completing their purchase. Increase the likelihood of conversion by offering incentives like discounts or special offers for finishing their order. 

9. Save cart contents.

Customers who abandon cart items may have been interrupted by technical problems, distractions at home, or temporary financial issues. In such scenarios, they may be inclined to order the items later when they resume shopping. Give them the opportunity to pick up where they left off by saving the contents of abandoned carts.

10. Offer several payment options.

Customers may abandon carts if their preferred payment option isn't available. Accommodate them by offering multiple payment options. This can include allowing customers to add multiple credit cards to their account so they can choose which one to use.

11. Create a comprehensive return policy.

Customers may abandon carts if they're concerned about refunds for returned items. Remove this barrier by creating a clear return policy, posting it prominently, and making it easily accessible. Include links to your return policy in page footers, on product pages, and within checkout carts.

12. Send cart recovery emails and texts.

Apart from window shoppers, most customers who abandon carts initially had an interest in making a purchase. This presents an opportunity to rekindle their interest by reaching out with email and text offers. Cart abandonment solutions support this strategy by providing tools for automatically sending personalized messages to customers who abandon carts. 

To assist you with sending recovery messages, Twilio offers tools for texting and emailing customers, along with text message examples and abandoned cart email templates that you can adapt to your needs.

Reduce cart abandonment and re-engage customers with Twilio

Cart abandonment doesn't have to cut into conversions if you apply the recovery strategies recommended in this article. Successful implementation of these strategies depends on using the right tools. 

Twilio's text marketing solutions support cart abandonment recovery by enabling you to reengage shoppers with SMS texts. Recapture conversion opportunities with automated, personalized messages. Implement an effective abandoned cart SMS strategy by signing up for a free Twilio account to start reengaging customers today.