If you’re selling online, you’re likely losing money as we speak, no thanks to the dreaded abandoned cart. Just over 69% of online shopping carts are abandoned. That means for every 100 potential customers, nearly 70 of them will leave without making a purchase!
Why Do Customers Abandon Their Carts?
It shouldn’t come as much surprise that December is the month where cart abandonment is at its highest. Black Friday and holiday sales mean there are more people shopping and, hence, an increase in cart abandonment.
When would-be shoppers hit the “close” button instead of the one labeled “checkout,” that’s lost revenue for your business. It has been reported that e-commerce stores lose some $18 billion per year due to cart abandonment.
One of the biggest reasons for cart abandonment is extra costs. Nearly 55% of those surveyed say they abandoned their cart before completing the checkout process because extra costs, like shipping and handling, were too high. About 34% of first-time customers say their cart was abandoned because an account was required before purchase. Additionally, 26% say the checkout process is too long.
How Do Abandoned Carts Impact Your Business?
Cart abandonment is about more than just lost revenue. It can impact your e-commerce organization in a variety of ways. This can include customer retention. Abandoned carts can artificially reduce inventory levels. This will make those items in a cart unavailable for genuine users. This could lead customers to move on to shop at your competitors’ sites instead. In the long run, losing a potential customer can cost you much more over time, due to lower customer lifetime value.
Additionally, abandoned carts can interfere with your ad audiences. Every time someone adds an item to their cart, it creates history and cookies that could go on to mislead your ad targeting. Ad platforms like Facebook would identify those users as engagements, and could then deliver ads to more people who look like those users.
What To Do About It: The Abandoned Cart Email
An abandoned cart email is a follow-up email sent to a would-be customer who makes it past the checkout page without purchasing. These follow-up emails are typically automated and include the items left in the cart. This way, people can easily go back and purchase them.
The average open rate (the rate at which a recipient opens an email) for abandoned cart emails is 38%, which is two times higher than the industry average for all emails. Most e-commerce emails have a click-through-rate (the percentage of people who clicked on at least one link in your email) of 2.5%. However, an abandoned cart email sees an average 22% click-through-rate.
SIVA Inc. Can Help
At SIVA Inc., we can automate your abandoned cart emails in our sleep! Our marketing experts can not only ensure your would-be customers get a reminder to complete their purchase, but we can also craft an entire client journey. One that begins before a customer even makes a purchase, reminds your customers to leave positive online reviews, and follows up for subsequent purchases.
Get in touch with SIVA Inc. today to discuss your client journey options.
