There has been an increase in the number of people abandoning their online shopping basket without completing their purchase, compared to the same 4 month period in 2014.
Leeds based It Works has recently performed an in-depth study analysing over 300 ecommerce sites both in the UK and USA confirming that although the global abandonment rate has actually declined, the number of customers deliberately leaving their purchase has significantly increased.
Steve Pritchard, founder of It Works says “Though retailers are becoming more aware of abandoned baskets, their approach to the issue is to retarget customers that leave by offering them discounts to return. This approach is becoming less about conversion optimisation and more about ‘savvy shoppers’ getting a discount for free, resulting in a reduced profit for the retailers”.
Consumers are becoming more aware of the fact that if they leave the site (and have entered an email address) many sites email them automatically with a voucher code to encourage them to return. In fact this tactic was even promoted in a national TV advert for Barclays Bank.
In addition, the research also highlighted a number of points that can impact upon shopping cart abandonment rates, including:
• Mobile devices have the highest abandonment rates at 88% – but this has reduced from 92% YOY.
• 33% of consumers we asked stated that delivery cost was their reason for not completing a purchase.
• 23% said that they did not like being forced to create an account before the purchase could be completed and 18% were concerned about security issues.
Pritchard continues, “Though the existing, retargeting technology is an efficient way of attracting customers back, the data suggests that consumers may be abusing this approach in order to obtain a reduction in cost. We would recommend that retailers focus on reducing their abandonment rates as much as possible and also look at the nature of any deals they offer to retarget customers back to the site.
Source: http://itworks.agency