Putting multiple items in an eCommerce shopping cart is just as easy as putting multiple items in a “real” cart in-store. But different from the in-store experience, many online shoppers will place multiple items in their cart only to leave your website prior to checkout, leaving you high and dry.

Shopping cart abandonment is one of the biggest obstacles that online retailers face. The issue has only been made worse in recent years by the economic recession, which challenged customers to think carefully about their money and spend more wisely.

According to a report from Baymard Institute, which consolidated relevant results from 19 different sources, the average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate lies at 67.35 percent.

Moreover, pinpointing the exact reason customers leave shopping carts without completing purchases can be difficult. Were they not ready to buy? Did they find better deals elsewhere? Was your checkout process confusing? Was your product selection not deep enough? These are all potential deal breakers.

However, abandoned shopping carts is also an issue that merchants can fix with the right data, the right software and proper testing.  You must first identify potential problems and then try different solutions to address these issues.

Fortunately, tools and analytics programs exist that can help merchants reduce shopping cart abandonment, win back sales and identify reasons consumers didn't buy in the first place. Using the right combination of eCommerce software, retargeting software like SeeWhy and Listrak allows merchants to improve the overall shopping experience to become more relevant to consumers' needs and reduce abandoned carts.