Forum Moderators: buckworks
I have a home-made shopping cart that stores sessions in a database, so I can see what people put in their carts.
Never really looked at the data until now, and I'm shocked at what I see! In a 3 day period I see a total of 483 items placed in carts. In that same period I've actually only sold 6 items of those 483! This can't be normal, can it?
Where do I turn? I tested the site many times, our shipping is lower than all competitors and the amount is displayed up-front, our prices are lower than just about anyone.
I can't thing of what could be turning people off between the time they place items in the cart and checkout. Any ideas?
Find out if they're abandoning before they get to the checkout page. If so, when you add an item to your cart could my 81 year old grandmother figure out how to get to the checkout? After they add an item to their cart, do you entice them to shop more or try to get them to checkout immediately?
See if they're abandoning on page 1,2,3, of the checkout pages. Analytic software should allow you to set up a funnel so you can check which step people are abandoning. Do you have a "locked navigation" checkout process or do you allow them to click any navigation links when they're checking out? If they're abandoning on step 2 or 3, try redesigning your form so it only takes 1-2 pages to check out and see if the abandonment rate goes down.
Do visitors not know shipping costs until they've gotten to checkout? Maybe your rates are too high or even displaying wrong (we had the displaying wrong one happen before...not good).
Just some quick things you can check but if you're not running analytics you should be.
I thought the checkout was pretty simple. There are no distractions and really no enticements. The cart shows 3 buttons... update cart, checkout and continue shopping. Standard stuff. The checkout has a name and address collection page, then a credit card page. That's it. No required registration or anything.
A couple of questions from a shopper's point of view:
Do you have any way for people to keep a wish list or is adding things to their cart the only way to keep track of what they looked at and thought they might like?
If I visited your site and put some items in my shopping cart then had to leave for some reason, would they still be in my shopping cart when I returned or would I have to start over?
Are the forms where the customers leave secure?
I will definitely look into some kind of analytical stuff. But I'll tell ya... this makes me really want to implement a premature exit popup survey of some kind. I know everyone says they're obnoxious and a good way to lose a customer, but hey... in 3 days I've had almost 500 items in a cart dropped and only 6 items ordered. I don't see how I can drive away any more business than I am now. At least as a temporary basis to try and find what the problem is (if there is one).
If you're confident functionality is all working well, even more reason to not look too deeply. But don't forget to review your work with an open eye - if you built it yourself, you've been staring at it through one set of eyes. Have a complete stranger walk it through, one that will give you an honest op. Also don't forget to test it all with Javascript disabled. Very important, it should function as well with it off as on.
Also I don't see what payment methods you're using? Any cards not allowed? Paypal only? Any of these restrictions could account for a percentage of abandonment.
However. I will say this, the largest part of your percentage will be for reasons out of your control. Many people "window-shop," dropping items into a cart with no intention of ever buying today, or maybe they're cross-shopping between two or three sites. Sometimes they build a cart and are thinking "14.95 + 18.95 + 9.95 + "a few bucks" for shipping is "about" $30, but it winds up being closer to 45 or 50 and didn't plan on spending 40. Sometimes it's competitors. Sometimes it's kids screwing around. The list goes on and on, there are hundreds of reasons why people abandon carts that have nothing to do with your prices, functionality, or anything you're doing on your site.
this makes me really want to implement a premature exit popup survey of some kind.
Bad idea. A marketer will tell you the opposite, but this is a bad idea. I know the curiosity is killing you, but first consider if they are leaving, in their mind they are already gone - and you try and grab them by the shirtail and yank them back in. Not just obnoxious, rude and annoying. If they were just price checking and were tottering between you and someone else, or had planned on returning later, they most certainly won't now.
Secondly you have to wonder exactly WHO would take the ten seconds to poll your site, see "leaving" above. Overall IMO the annoyance factor far outweighs the need to quell your curiosity.
Here is what I did: I found ten semi-reliable people who I trusted to give me an unbiased opinion and offered free printed Tees for their trouble. I provided them test CC #'s and sent them at it, then asked ony for honest feedback.
Besides finding no significant fault with the site or ordering process, they verified my suspicions or provided new reasons I hadn't thought of why someone would abandon the cart, and one of them had to do with functionality.
Don't dwell on it too much, it will drive you crazy.
