When strategizing how to increase sales on your eCommerce website, we need to talk about abandoned carts.

The hardest and most costly challenge is to find leads and get potential customers to your website. But once you’ve got them through the metaphorical door, your investment and efforts to date could be completely squandered unless you lead them through to purchase.

Honing the user journey from landing page to order confirmation page is one of the most important factors in increasing sales on eCommerce websites. Today we’ll talk about 5 key reasons why your customers are leaving your eCommerce website, and what actions you can take to keep them from jumping ship.

Why people are leaving your eCommerce website and how to fix it to increase sales.

1. They’re shopping around.

Sure, there are plenty of impulse buyers out there, but there are also many among us who need to research their purchases. Those who read a few best buy reviews, open several tabs and do everything short of making a spreadsheet to check they’re buying the best of the best.

These people are likely to “sleep on it” before making their purchase, and in that time they might forget about you altogether.

What can you do to help convince them to make the purchase or come back soon?

Fix I: Put your USPs front and center of your website.

What sets your brand or product apart from your main competitors? Are you the most economical? The best quality? Do you offer a customer satisfaction guarantee? Now’s not the time to be modest. State your USPs clearly and explicitly on your website and in your product description.

Fix II: Use Custom Audiences by Facebook

Custom Audiences allows you to send targetted Facebook ads to people who have visited certain pages on your website, for example, people who have visited product pages but didn’t complete a purchase. It’s fairly simple to set up and it might just be the prompt needed to get those indecisive customers back to their shopping cart.

2. Poor first impressions

Is your website more like a classy department store or a sketchy side street in a dodgy neighborhood? Before handing over their card details, your customers need to feel that they’re in safe hands. Your website should be up to date and free of bugs and glitches. If it looks out of date or poorly maintained, who’s to say that website security hasn’t also been neglected?

Fix: Make sure your website feels professional, safe, and secure.

Use a clean, modern design, and ensure you have updated your website and all necessary plug-ins. Check your website regularly for broken links, and fix them as necessary.

3. They can’t find what they’re looking for

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On average, users spend fewer than 15 seconds on your website, if they can’t find exactly what they’re after within that small window of time, they’re out of here. So we’ve got to do everything within our power to make sure they can find what they want as quickly and easily as possible.

Fix I: Make sure your ads direct them to the product page

If you use targetted ads, that’s fantastic. Make sure that the links in your ads lead directly to the product page and not to a general home page.

People who click through on ads might have done so on a whim, they’re not necessarily in the mindset of buying something. Why put further barriers in place? It’s important to make the experience as smooth as possible. Try and get them from ad to shopping cart within 2-3 clicks.

Fix II: Include categories, subcategories, and filters

If your customer is after a product with a particular feature, or in a certain style or color, how easy is it for them to find it? Adding categories, subcategories and filters will help your users find the exact product they’re after, faster.

4. Sketchy product descriptions and images

There’s no doubt about it, eCommerce sales make up an ever-increasing percentage of overall sales, but brick-and-mortar stores still take around 84% of all retail sales. Brick-and-mortar shops are still hard competition. To increase your eCommerce sales you’ll need to close the gap between an in-store experience and shopping on your website by giving as much information on the look, feel, and features of the product as possible.

Fix I: Make sure that you have good-quality product images

Include high-resolution product images on a white background. If it is available in several colors, show all variations. Include shots from different angles. If it’s an item of clothing or jewelry, include a shot of a model wearing it for perspective. If it has an interesting texture, use a close-up shot to showcase it.

Fix II: Give them the full schpiel

Include as much information in your product listing as possible. What colors is it available in? What are its main functions? What are the dimensions? Care instructions? What materials are used? Is it suitable for vegans/ people with allergies/ children under 5?

5. Unexpected shipping costs

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Your customer has added your product to the basket, they’ve clicked continue, they’re almost there! Then they are hit with a hefty and unforeseen shipping cost. Unexpected costs are the number 1 reason people abandon their purchases. It’s the reason why 56% of eCommerce shoppers abandon their carts.

Fix I: Introduce estimated shipping costs earlier in the buying process

To reduce the element of surprise at the final stages of the purchase, some eCommerce platforms allow you to include estimated shipping costs in your product pages. This is particularly useful if you’re using live shipping rates.

Fix II: Include a delivery calculator

Include a field on your website where people can enter their ZIP code and calculate the cost before adding a product to their cart.

Fix III: Include delivery options

This option lets shoppers decide whether they want the fastest or most economical service. Include options for standard, express or next day delivery, or a free click and collect option. That way, shoppers feel in control of the decision, and the transparency lets them know what they are paying for.

There you have it. These few simple steps can really help to increase sales on your eCommerce website. Taking the extra time to ensure that your website is optimally designed for shoppers is more than worth it. If you need further advice on how to improve user experience on your website, or you just want someone to take the reigns, we can help you out. We design custom eCommerce websites to suit each of our clients’ needs. Get in touch for a free consultation and we’ll be happy to help you out in any way we can.