11 eCommerce Tips To Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment

Even if your eCommerce store is thriving, shopping cart abandonment may still be costing you significant revenue. 

For many online retailers, cart abandonment remains a major challenge, with global abandonment rates averaging over 70% and contributing to an estimated $18 billion in annual losses. 

The good news? While cart abandonment may be difficult to eliminate completely, it presents a prime opportunity to optimize your checkout experience and capture more sales. In fact, research shows that optimizing checkout usability alone can increase conversion rates by more than 35%. 

In the following guide, we’ll discuss 11 actionable strategies for optimizing your shopping experience, reducing abandonment, and boosting your bottom line. 

What is shopping cart abandonment?

Before diving into specific strategies for reducing cart abandonment, let’s first define what it is. 

Shopping cart abandonment occurs when a shopper places items in their online cart but leaves your site before completing the purchase. At this stage, they’ve already demonstrated a strong interest in your products, so what’s stopping them from following through?

Several factors may be responsible, from unexpected costs and complicated checkout processes to concerns about site security, or simply being distracted. 

While each website has its unique challenges, understanding these common causes is the first step toward effectively minimizing abandonment. With this understanding, the following tips will help you tackle cart abandonment and improve your site’s checkout experience.

Tips to reduce shopping cart abandonment

Reducing shopping cart abandonment starts with understanding the common barriers that prevent shoppers from completing their purchases. By addressing these obstacles head-on, you can create a smoother, more engaging checkout experience and increase your conversion rates.

1. Be transparent about shipping costs

Unexpected shipping fees are a top reason shoppers abandon their carts, with nearly 50% leaving due to high costs revealed late in the process. 

To combat this, be transparent: display estimated shipping costs early, or use a shipping calculator in the cart. Brands like Crate & Barrel do this effectively, reducing unpleasant surprises. 

If possible, offer free shipping as an incentive or tie it to a minimum order amount, which can both lower cart abandonment rates and increase average order value. Transparency builds trust and encourages shoppers to complete their purchases.

2. Offer a guest checkout option

Forcing shoppers to create an account is a major deterrent, with nearly 35% of users abandoning their carts as a result. 

To prevent this, provide a guest checkout option that streamlines the process. You can further simplify by adding express or single-page checkouts. Additionally, if you want to encourage account creation, offer convenient social login options, which will make sign-up faster and more user-friendly.

3. Include “save for later” or “wish list” features

Not all shoppers are ready to commit right away, and many abandon their carts to consider their options. 

By offering a “save for later” or “wish list” feature, you make it easy for customers to return to their desired items when they’re ready to buy. These tools keep your products top of mind and increase the likelihood of a future sale, while also providing valuable insights into customer preferences and popular items.

4. Use retargeting emails

Shoppers often abandon their carts due to distractions or uncertainty. Retargeting emails are a powerful way to re-engage these potential buyers and nudge them toward completing their purchase. 

Sending follow-up emails that include incentives, such as a discount code or free shipping, can be highly effective. In fact, research indicates that nearly two-thirds of consumers are more likely to complete a purchase when offered a promotion or coupon, especially if they are undecided.

Personalized reminder emails, like those used by successful brands such as ModCloth, can further boost engagement by tailoring content to the shopper’s interests. These emails serve as a gentle reminder and can help reignite interest in the items left behind.

5. Build trust with security features

Security concerns account for 25% of shopping cart abandonments, underscoring just how critical it is for online retailers to build trust and assure customers of a secure checkout process.

To reassure customers, prominently display trust signals such as SSL certifications, security badges, and clear messaging about your data protection practices. You can also highlight additional trust-building features, like a “100% money-back guarantee” or a statement that credit card information is never stored. 

These measures help instill confidence in your site’s safety, making customers more comfortable completing their purchases.

6. Offer multiple payment options

Providing a range of payment options can significantly enhance the checkout experience and boost conversion rates. 

While credit cards remain popular, many shoppers prefer using alternative methods like PayPal, Google Pay, or Amazon Payments, which offer greater convenience and a sense of security. Some customers may even gravitate toward newer digital wallets or buy-now-pay-later services. 

By accommodating a variety of payment preferences, you reduce friction in the checkout process and make it easier for customers to complete their purchases, ultimately increasing your chances of securing the sale.

7. Optimize for all devices

With more than 75% of global retail website traffic coming from mobile devices, having a seamless, device-agnostic shopping experience is essential. 

While conversion rates may still be higher on desktops, mobile shopping continues to rise, and today’s consumers expect a frictionless experience whether they’re browsing on a phone, tablet, or computer. 

To ensure your site adapts beautifully to any screen size, implement responsive design and rigorously test your checkout process across multiple devices. Additionally, consider an omnichannel strategy that integrates both online and offline touchpoints, creating a cohesive shopping journey for customers no matter where they interact with your brand.

8. Make cart adjustments simple

A complicated or cumbersome cart editing process can frustrate shoppers and lead to abandonment. Ensure your site users can easily modify their carts directly within the checkout page, whether they’re adjusting quantities, removing items, or saving products for later. 

Providing an intuitive, user-friendly cart design that doesn’t require unnecessary navigation keeps the experience smooth and encourages shoppers to complete their purchases. Remember, the easier it is for customers to make changes, the more likely they are to stay and finalize their order.

9. Provide immediate customer support

A lack of accessible support can be a major factor in cart abandonment, particularly when shoppers have urgent questions or concerns right before making a purchase. Offering real-time assistance, such as live chat, can make a huge difference by addressing issues instantly and boosting customer confidence. 

Make sure customer service contact options, like phone numbers or email, are prominently displayed throughout your site, especially on checkout pages. Additionally, ensure your support team is responsive and well-trained to provide timely, efficient help that keeps the purchase process smooth and hassle-free. 

The faster and more effectively you assist shoppers, the more likely they are to complete their transaction.

10. Automatically apply discounts

Shoppers often abandon their carts to search for discount codes, and many never return. To keep potential customers focused and minimize distractions, consider auto-applying available promotions or discounts directly at checkout. 

This small but impactful gesture can significantly reduce abandonment rates by making the purchasing process smoother and more enticing. Brands that automatically apply discounts report higher conversion rates, as shoppers are less likely to get sidetracked or leave your site.

11. Ensure your site is scalable and fast

Page speed is crucial to your eCommerce success, as it directly impacts conversion rates. Nearly half of consumers expect a site to load in under two seconds, and any delay can lead to frustration, cart abandonment, and lost sales. 

To keep your customers engaged, you should optimize your site by compressing images, leveraging a content delivery network (CDN), and minimizing your code. However, for sustained growth and high-traffic events—like product launches or sales—your site needs more than basic optimizations. 

Managed hosting providers, such as WP Engine, can give your eCommerce store the speed, reliability, and scalability it needs to perform seamlessly, even during traffic spikes. With WP Engine’s powerful platform and tools, you’ll deliver a fast, secure, and exceptional user experience to all of your shoppers. 

Ready to level up your online store? Learn more about WP Engine’s eCommerce solutions and discover how to optimize your site for maximum impact!