For small online retailers, shopping cart abandonment can be frustrating and potentially threatening to sales goals.

Learning why people abandon shopping carts can reveal operational inefficiencies that can be improved.

Look at the infographic created by Milo below to see some of the reasons consumers abandon their purchases. (via Econsultancy.com)

To highlight some statistics:

• 2/3 of the time, online shoppers select the most economical shipping option. For small businesses with online retail stores, a flexible and informative shipping or pickup process may be the key to developing repeat business.

• Nearly 1 in 4 online shoppers stopped short of buying because the estimated delivery date wasn’t available, while 38 percent also opted out if delivery would take longer than a week.

• The longer online shoppers have to wait for their delivery, the more likely they are not to buy.

• 38% of shoppers abandoned carts based on estimated delivery time of 8 days or more

• 24% of shoppers abandoned carts based on estimated delivery date not provided

• 60% of respondents said an estimated or guaranteed delivery date would encourage them to purchase

• 32% of respondents said suggestions for other items would encourage them to purchase

So, how do you reduce shopping cart abandonment? Of course there is a process of re-marketing to those customers- sending emails or calls to remind them to finish their purchase or to even offer special incentives to complete their purchase.

If you looked at the infographic and the first six of the highlighted statistics, you’ll see a large factor in why consumers abandoned their cart before checkout has to do with shipping-the inability to meet a delivery date or not enough cost options. Other reasons include not enough payment options, not having the option to login to save purchase preferences, not seeing an order history and not offering related items.

SalesWarp, our Storefront Management System helps retailers streamline their back-end E-Commerce operations by connecting their suppliers, fulfillment and shipping partners to their online stores. Retailers are able to provide shortened and estimated delivery times, more shipping cost options, and even suggested items that help customers not only commit to purchasing the items in their shopping cart, but add new items, thus increasing cart size.

What I want to do now, is address three key areas that retailers can improve on to reduce cart abandonment.

1. Know the Estimated Delivery Date & Estimated Cost by Connecting to Suppliers

By connecting your back-end suppliers and warehouses to a storefront management system, communication is delivered across all of your online and POS channels. Real-time inventory updates from the supplier are automatically uploaded to the system, providing essential information for determining delivery dates. Retailers are made aware of fluctuations in inventory that could cause prolonged delivery time, which they can then communicate to the customer. Also, by establishing this relationship with the supplier, shipping options and the estimated cost of each become immediately available to the customer.

2. Shorten Delivery Time with Automation

Automatic routing to the appropriate warehouse or fulfillment center once an order is placed is one of the biggest time savers for retailers, resulting in a quicker delivery times for customers. Manual processes of consolidating, organizing, and approving orders to be sent to the supplier are eliminated. Slip-ups that can result in late shipments, overselling, or cancellations are prevented with automatic issue detection and corrective actions.

3. Increase Conversions by Cross-Selling

Cross-selling tools can help increase conversions by automating recommendations using data on what other buyers have bought. The placement and description of cross-selling related items is not to be overlooked. Using “Other people who bought this also bought” can increase sales up to 35%. By showing customers products they are likely to enjoy, they are more likely to develop trust and follow through with the purchase.

Has shopping cart abandonment affected your business? What are you doing about it? SalesWarp can help. Ask us now!