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Stop the (cart abandonment) madness! Discover 7 ways to improve your Shopify cart optimization strategy.
Updated May 2024. Originally published July 2022.
Cart abandonment. It's an issue that should be at the top of every brand’s priority list.
A simple Google search for ‘cart abandonment rates' yields a myriad of results. While some sources estimate rates of around 65%, others argue it's higher—around 85%.
Most industry experts go with Baymard Institute's study which found the average abandonment rate was 70.19%. Roughly translated, seven out of ten shoppers abandon their shopping cart—even after adding products.
Regardless of the percentage, it's a known fact that shopping cart abandonment is costing ecommerce stores thousands, if not millions, of dollars every year. Most brands lose an astounding $18 billion in yearly sales revenue. And it's predicted that $4 trillion worth of merchandise will be left abandoned in digital carts in the upcoming year.
The good news for retailers is that by following best practices and creating a clear checkout optimization strategy can decrease lost revenue and increase conversion rates by 35.62%. What it all boils down to is understanding where customers are abandoning their carts, why, and making a concentrated effort to remedy the issues.
Below, we'll dive into why shopping cart optimization is so important, the benefits it brings, and examples of companies getting it right. Then, you'll learn how you to start optimizing the shopping cart for your ecommerce site.
You Need To Optimize Your Shopping Cart
So why is shopping cart optimization so important?
The answer is simple: customer satisfaction.
Think about it: how many times have you left a store because the lines were too long or the cashier was going too slow? Chances are at least a few.
And you’ve probably done the same thing online too. Maybe the checkout process was too complicated. Or the extra costs were too high. In those situations, shoppers often take their business to another store. One that offers a better and more seamless user experience.
Online shoppers expect a quick and secure checkout process. Prioritizing shopping cart optimization can help you meet these expectations.
Remember, today’s shoppers are all about speed, security, and accessibility. The easier it is for customers to get in, find what they need, and check out, the more likely they are to make a purchase.
Here's the thing: your shopping cart represents a big part of the checkout process. It can make or break the customer experience. So it's crucial that your cart provides a seamless experience for every shopper. If it doesn’t, you risk losing customers.
The Silver Lining Of Cart Abandonment
Believe it or not, understanding why online shoppers abandon their carts actually reveals an upside to shopping cart abandonment. It highlights customer behavior and the reasons behind their decision to leave without making a purchase.
Whether it be slow load times, no guest checkout option, or poor mobile design, your cart abandonment rates show exactly where friction is occurring. These insights allow you to quickly resolve friction points, optimize the checkout process, and boost customer satisfaction and conversion rates.
A seamless checkout experience enables you to reduce the amount of cart abandonments, allowing you to reclaim some of that 70% of lost revenue. And you already know your conversion rates can increase up to 35%.
Now, you're probably asking...
What Does An Optimized Shopping Cart Look Like?
An optimized shopping cart is crucial for ecommerce success because of it's ability to boost sales, minimize checkout abandonment rates, and boost conversions. It does this by addressing customer concerns and facilitating a seamless checkout experience.
Here are a few examples to aspire to when optimizing your shopping cart.
Let’s start with…
Magic Spoon
Their shopping cart is simple and 100% on brand, from the color scheme down to the fonts and button style. All calls to action are clear and easy to use.
The 'subscribe and save' button drives major revenue for this popular brand, and reminds shoppers that a significant discount (25%) is available only to subscribers.
The cart itself is packed with smart product add-ons (all of which display star ratings when available), and the 'continue shopping' button replaces the typical 'X' that closes the cart. The language 'more for your bowl' is a nice touch and fits the brand perfectly. They even offer an option to 'Get $5 Off' which can help convert those who are on the fence.
Have a look at this case study to see how Magic Spoon increased AOV by 14.75% with onsite personalization.
Every Man Jack
The cart for Every Man Jack is exceptional for a few reasons. The free shipping bar at the top of the cart gives shoppers an incentive to fill their cart with more products.
Every bit of real estate is used to showcase product recommendations, and every recommendation is amplified with social proof via star ratings.
While not a feature of the shopping cart, EMJ offers an option to change accessibility options for the whole website (text size, fonts, spacing, etc.) which goes above and beyond your typical online store.
EMJ swings for the fences (and achieves next-level optimization) by giving shoppers the option to choose a variant for every product. As you can see above, this shopper is offered the Body Wash and has selected the Activated Charcoal / Standard product variant.
Giving your customer the option to choose product variants directly from the cart minimizes cart abandonment and improves cart UX in a big way.
The cart is minimalist, clean, and well-organized, with a reminder to shoppers that a tree is planted with every order placed. Nice touch!
Alleyoop
The shopping cart for Alleyoop is easy on the eye thanks to effective visual merchandising. The cross-sells are enhanced with star ratings and stand out with a uniquely shaded background. Want an extra "Multi-Tasker?" It's easy to add with the quantity selector.
And how about those color swatches? Alleyoop shoppers can select the color variant of any recommendation and add it to the cart with two clicks. Boom, boom!
Like Every Man Jack, this cart features a free shipping bar, but with a heart icon to indicate you've hit the free shipping threshold. (Would you believe the heart turns red when you hit free shipping?)
Alleyoop tops things off with reminders about their free shipping threshold and their return policy.
Overall, the cart is perfectly branded with great UX and gives shoppers the options they need to fill their cart and be on their way. Sharp!
For more shopping cart examples, view our Inspiration Page.
7 Shopping Cart Optimization Tips to Improve Conversions
1. Include an Order Summary
2. Use clear Calls-to-Action
3. Include Multiple Payment Options
4. Offer Support
5. Remember Mobile Shoppers
6. Ensure Fast Loading Times
7. Offer Complimentary Products
Now that you understand the importance and benefits of shopping cart optimization, and have seen a few examples, let’s talk about optimizing your cart.
Understanding the role of your ecommerce site in minimizing shopping cart abandonment is crucial. By enhancing the checkout process and providing multiple shipping and payment options, you can significantly reduce cart abandonment rates and improve the customer experience. This helps you retain potential customers and convert visitors into buyers by catering to their specific needs and preferences.
What's more, the process of shopping online is greatly simplified when customers are provided with a seamless shopping cart experience, including the option for guest checkout, which many find preferable for quick transactions without the need to create an account.
1. Include an Order Summary
Give your shoppers full transparency over their order by clearly showing what’s in their cart. Provide them with details such as:
- Name and photo of each item
- Color, size, and price of the item
- Total cost, including a breakdown of shipping, fees, taxes, discounts, etc.
- Payment options
- Estimated delivery time
2. Clear Calls-to-Action
Baymard Institute found that 17% of shoppers abandon their carts due a long or complicated checkout process. Including clear CTAs like ‘Proceed to Checkout', ‘Continue Shopping', or ‘Contact Support' help to eliminate confusion and seamlessly guide users through the checkout process to order completion.
3. Include Multiple Payment Options
These days, your online shoppers expect to have various payment options. That's why offering preferred payment methods is essential. Shoppers that can quickly select their preferred payment method complete their orders with more ease and convenience. (And that means more conversions.) One source found that 42% of shoppers abandon their cart if their preferred payment method isn't available.
ℹ️ Rebuy Users: To add payment options to your Rebuy Smart Cart™, click here.
4. Offer Support
One of the primary factors for winning customer trust is providing clear, easy-to-find options to connect with your support team. Offering live chat support or displaying customer service contact information is an easy way to build trust, increase conversions, and boost your brand identity.
5. Remember Mobile Shoppers
Shopping cart abandonment is significantly higher on mobile devices with an 85.65% abandonment rate. All of the shopping carts in the examples above are optimized for mobile. Why? Because ecommerce stores that don't offer a mobile-friendly checkout process risk losing loyal customers and missing out on sales.
6. Ensure Fast Loading Times
Same-day shipping. Video on demand. We value speed these days, don't we? It's true. Site visitors who have to wait around for your site to load are 75% more likely to abandon their shopping cart.
It makes sense when you think about it. As shoppers, we don't like to wait in line. And as online shoppers, we don't like to wait for pages to load. (Yawn.) So don't sleep on your site speed! If your ecommerce store doesn't load within three seconds, potential shoppers will likely head to a competitor. What to do? Boost conversions (and customer loyalty) by prioritizing super fast page speed.
7. Offer Complimentary Products
Upselling and cross-selling are powerful growth levers for ecommerce stores, and the shopping cart is the perfect place to use them. Offering personalized product recommendations in the shopping cart can increase your average order value and your conversion rate.
But don't take our word for it. Every Man Jack increased average order value by over 10% and saw 53.56% of their orders include an upsell or cross-sell. Bottom line? When you deliver a personalized experience for your online shoppers, you gain a competitive edge.
So what product recommendations strategy is right for your online store? We're glad you asked.
Optimize Your Cart with Rebuy
Even with all the strategies we’ve mentioned above, you may still feel a bit lost in getting started with shopping cart optimization. In that case, we recommend upgrading your existing cart to the Rebuy Smart Cart.
From boosting AOV to converting more user traffic, our platform allows you to build personalized shopping experiences with each and every customer.
And because our platform leverages industry best practices, you’ll have a robust and future-proof intelligent shopping cart that will increase your AOV, boost conversion rate, and leave your customers wanting to shop, shop, and shop some more.
Try Rebuy For FREE
See for yourself why 10,000+ fast-growing brands use Rebuy to save time, streamline their tech stack, and accelerate sales growth.
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