Driving people to your website is one of the biggest goals that eCommerce business owners have. Even bigger, however, is making sales. Unfortunately, over 88% of online shopping carts are abandoned! That means there are tons of people out there putting items into their shopping carts and then leaving the store without buying them. This can be incredibly frustrating for business owners – it’s clear that people want what you’re selling. Why aren’t they buying it?
There are many reasons for cart abandonment. Luckily, there are also many tactic that you can use to reduce shopping cart abandonment and increase sales.
Shortening processing time as a dropshipper
- Shipping costs
Unexpected shipping cost is a huge reason for why your customers might be abandoning their shopping carts. It might feel like a heavy burden to them to pay for the items and then pay another hefty fee on top of that. With many online retailers (like Amazon) offering free or flat-rate shipping, you have to keep in mind that you’re competing against that, and that’s what people are becoming accustomed to.
Solution: The best way to avoid high shipping costs is to offer flat-rate or free shipping. You can attempt to offset the shipping cost by slightly increasing the prices of your products. If that isn’t feasible, be as transparent as possible. Fully disclose how shipping costs are calculated in product descriptions so there won’t be a surprise when your customer gets to check out.
- Requiring an account
People generally shop online because they want speed and convenience. If they have to fill out a form before they check out, they might feel as though it’s too much of a hassle to purchase from you – even if filling out the form takes less than five minutes. The fact of the matter is you’re asking your customers to spend more time on your site than they had planned. Unexpected requirements are an inconvenience to them.
Solution: Offer guest checkout and the option to create an account. Guest checkout will speed your customers through the checkout process and help ensure that sale. If you really want people to sign up for an account, you can set a prompt to appear after checkout. Ask them to sign up for an account so they can review their purchase at their convenience. Present it in a way that’s going to add value to your customer’s experience – not take away their time.
- “Just looking”
Some cart abandonments are going to be unavoidable. There are always going to be those customers that are just browsing your website to get an idea of how much their ideal purchase will cost or use their shopping cart as a sort of “wish list.”
Solution: Have a lead generator on your website that asks them to enter their email in exchange for a coupon code or some other small “gift.” Once you have their email address, you can send them a notification to come back to their cart after they’ve abandoned it. Add incentive by offering an extra percentage off their total or free shipping.
Final Thoughts
End Cart Abandonment on Your Dropshipping Site
Take these problems and solutions into consideration when thinking about how you can decrease shopping cart abandonment on your dropshipping website. Here at Obor Desk, we are all about offering practical solutions to any and all of your eCommerce needs. Check out our blog for more advice and be sure to follow our social media accounts to stay updated on new posts!
Written By
Jane Hardt
April 14th, 2021
