How to dramatically reduce shopping cart abandonment 

You have a great online shop, fantastic products, and a brilliant marketing strategy. Many customers find their way to your shop, browse through its various categories, add items to their cart ...and abandon their purchase. That might be a sign for at least one conversion killer lurking in your checkout procedure. It's about time you track them down and increase your sales figures!

Killer No. 1: Account creation

It’s essential that customers are able to finalize their purchase without having to create an account. Many customers aim to keep their online accounts to a minimum and bail on their purchase when they have to open an account.

Killer No. 2: Confusing checkout

Studies show that online transactions tend to be completed if checkout is limited to one page. That gives customers an indication as to how much they have left to complete. However, if you have to or would like to spread the checkout procedure over several pages, you really need to convey that information visually so customers can see how much progress they have made and what remains to be done. In both cases, add more convenience for the customer by highlighting mandatory fields, or use geo-tags to populate address fields.

Killer No. 3: Dead end on mobile devices

Mobile devices being used to shop online bring their own set of challenges with them. Customers are more impatient on mobile devices, making it crucial that your site is mobile responsive, suitable for touchscreens, and does not ask the user for too much information. The fewer details a customer has to enter on their mobile device, the better. Mobile devices are often used for making quick, impulse buys on the go - who doesn't grab for their phone to browse the web when waiting at the bus stop, in line at the store, etc.? As soon as the bus rolls up or it's your turn in line, your phone disappears into your pocket, along with the intention to buy something. If the buying process isn't quick enough, businesses miss out on such opportunities.

Those who want to stand out from the crowd in that respect should optimize their online shop to allow for access even when there is little or no internet connection, with Sycor.OfflineAccelerator, for example.

Buttons should be about the size of a finger and located apart from each other so that customers don't accidentally click the wrong one. That is frustrating and can make customers abandon their cart. Services such as Amazon Payments make mobile shopping ridiculously easy as they take information already available on the customer's existing Amazon account to help boost conversion.

Killer No. 4: Hidden costs

Provide customers with real prices including any additional costs. It's not advised to reduce prices artificially and wait until the checkout to display delivery costs, tax and other supplemental charges. That undermines your credibility and disappoints your customers - giving them the perfect opportunity to abandon their cart. Display all costs prior to checkout in a clear and understandable manner.

Killer No. 5: Risks to credibility

During checkout, your customers need to enter sensitive information. Customers obviously want to do this in a secure environment. One of the best ways of killing a conversion is to have a checkout page with a URL different from the online shop's URL. You should avoid that at all costs! Choose well-known payment providers that show your respectability and display their logos during checkout. Another way of increasing customers’ trust in your company is to provide a brief overview of the return procedure.