Abandoned carts!

Please help

[PhilsGiftShop]

Hello! I have discovered that I have pages and pages of abandoned carts, but not one sale! I was wondering if somebody could take a look at my websites checkout process and let me know if they see any errors, or possible causes!

I won't post the link until somebody responds.

Thanks,

Phil

[not2easy]

Hi Phils, welcome to the Forums. Abandoned carts are a problem for many ecommerce sites and fine tuning different aspects of the checkout funnel can usually make a difference.

There is a private area of the Forums where you are welcome to post a link and request review and advice for your site, but out here we aim to keep discussions more general to be beneficial to others who share the same kinds of issues. For that reason, the Forum Terms do not permit posting a link to your site in this forum and we ask that you substitute example.com in place of your own URLs used in discussions to prevent accidental linking.

[PhilsGiftShop]

Ok, thanks. I assume the review area is for paid users only, and I'm not able to do that at this time.

So if anybody wants to message me and take a look, that would be much appreciated.

[PhilsGiftShop]

Two changes I've made that I think may have to do with it:

1. I had a "proceed to checkout" button above a "checkout with paypal" button. There was no "or" between. I was thinking that maybe people were under the impression they could only checkout with paypal, or clicked on paypal and didn't have an account. I've since removed the paypal button, because I couldn't find where to edit my shoppingcart.asp page's HTML, and I'm able to accept direct credit card payments so that shouldn't be a problem.

2. On the checkout page, the form had required a phone number. I'm going to get rid of that requirement as I could see how that would turn some people off.

3. I wanted to mention that I DO have SSL, and it is clearly stated on the site.

4. I do have some customers in different countries. The shipping is pretty expensive, perhaps that turns them off. However I do offer free shipping domestic.

Other than that the checkout is fairly seamless. And the design is clean.

So I don't know. ::crosses fingers::

[LifeinAsia]

Hi Phil,

What testing have you done so far? Besides yourself, you should always use other testers to get a fresh set of eyes looking at things.

Are you using Google Analtics (or some other analytics) to investigate your sales funnel to look for dropoff pages?

[PhilsGiftShop]

I am hooked up with Google Analytics. I'll have to take a look. I'm not sure where to look on there, though.

The only testing I've done is with myself and my own credit card. Perhaps I could get one of my family members to make a purchase.

[buckworks]

Do you have a wish list feature so that users have a way to collect things they like other than putting them in their cart?

Sometimes potential buyers who are at the look-and-compare stage will fill their shopping carts because that's the only way to track the items they're considering.

[LifeinAsia]

If you ahven't done so already, you'll need to setup a goal (most likely your sales/payment confirmation page).

After that, GA can show you a sales funnel that shows how users go from landing pages (large amount- like the top of a funnel) through intermediate shopping pages (smaller amounts as people drop out) and finally to the goal page (which will the smallest amount)- so it looks like a funnel.

This is especially useful for sites with multiple-step checkout procedures to help them see which step (or steps) have the largest cart abandonment. Then they can check that page (or pages) for technical errors or ways to improve usability.

The shipping is pretty expensive, perhaps that turns them off. However I do offer free shipping domestic.

Where do you communicate that to users? Do they know about that from the first page, or do you wait to tell them on the final checkout page? If the latter, that's probably a big reason for cart abandonment.

Do you have details (e.g., IP address, and user details) about the abandoned carts?

[not2easy]

I'm pretty sure Paypal now allows users to check out with their credit card even if they have no PayPal account, but if the two choices are not clear (and separated) it can confuse some.

If you have a way for shoppers to find, or even estimate their shipping costs before adding to cart (no commitment) it can reduce abandonment.

If you are selling items that offer discount coupons you should try to have a current offer visible in checkout if you accept a coupon. Sometimes shoppers momentarily leave the cart to go search for a coupon if they see a space to add it and don't have one. They usually get redirected to a merchant associated with the site carrying the coupons.

[PhilsGiftShop]

Free Shipping is indicated on the homepage, however it does not state whether or not it's only for domestic, and the website says nothing about shipping worldwide.

I am able to see details on abandoned carts, such as IP Address and the items that were added to the cart.

Shipping costs are not calculated prior to adding to the cart, or even at the cart, only at checkout, when they are filling out their payment information.

I do have promotional codes, but not at checkout.

Will need to check my Google Analytics settings.

[edited by: PhilsGiftShop at 6:12 pm (utc) on May 19, 2014]

[PhilsGiftShop]

I'm also trying to figure out what a decent flat rate for International Shipping would be.

[PhilsGiftShop]

Thanks guys I really appreciate your help.

[PhilsGiftShop]

Oh, and I do have a Wish List.

[LifeinAsia]

I am able to see details on abandoned carts, such as IP Address and the items that were added to the cart.

Definitely check the IPs. See if they are mostly international IPs. They could also be proxies- potential scammers.

A secondary check would be on the items. Are you seeing 1 or more items that are prt of a lot more abandonment than others?

Free Shipping is indicated on the homepage, however it does not state whether or not it's only for domestic, and the website says nothing about shipping worldwide.

Definitely need to work on that- specify that free shipping is for domestic shipping only.

[PhilsGiftShop]

Will do. And the IP that I did check was from Google, because I read somewhere that sometimes it simply records the search engine they came from.

So far I've added the coupon to the checkout, estimated shipping rates to checkout, detailed shipping information to the easily accessible shipping page.

[not2easy]

I'm also trying to figure out what a decent flat rate for International Shipping would be.

Depending on your preferred shipping method, the size, weight and durability of items should be considered. Allow for extra cushioning for International shipments, and give shoppers some idea of wait time to expect.

For lowest cost and dependable documentation I always used USPS, their site can give you all the options and costs to figure out rates with. There are many other options, it does pay to check (and offer) more than one.

[makeonlineshop]

Paypal is not clear and does not allow EVERYBODY to checkout without Paypal accoutn and even when allowed most of the times the option is written in small letters at the bottom of the screen ! This is not by accident that they now have 150 millions acounts opened...

[PhilsGiftShop]

Awesome, I've integrated USPS' Live Rates to my cart, and the rates seem reasonable from what I see so far.

As for PayPal, personally when I go to a website and see it that button at checkout, I'm a bit turned off. I feel like it looks like somebody who just put together a website. And I think customers having to leave my website is a turn-off. So until I can create a custom button or make it clear that there are two options, I'm just gonna leave it out.

I had my Mother do a test checkout and she said everything went smoothly.

Lots of improvements made today. I think this is really gonna help.

[dpd1]

You just have to explain somewhere how PP works, as far as the 'don't have to be a member' thing goes. If you make that clear, few people will have a problem with it. There's always going to be somebody somewhere, that has a problem with how something is setup. At some point you have to consider your cost. While you might lose a couple people here and there, it would possibly cost more to offer a whole separate option. Obviously it depends on your volume. Contrary to the very vocal people who are anti PP, there are plenty of people that actually prefer it. So hiding that you have that, probably isn't a good idea. I made a living off a site with nothing more than PP for years, so I wouldn't blame that for not having sales.

[PhilsGiftShop]

Ok, thanks. I'm kind of lost, because I have so many visits and abandoned carts, I offer free shipping, the design is clean, I think the site looks trusted, the products are in demand, everything is secure and I've added all these suggestions and still not one sale. I wish somebody could look at it.

[makeonlineshop]

we can look at it ?

[PhilsGiftShop]

I don't want to break the rules on this forum. But the link is my username dot com. I would love if anybody could take a look at it.

[PhilsGiftShop]

I put the link in my profile too. Didn't realize I could do that.

[not2easy]

Might want to review the Charter for this Forum: [webmasterworld.com...]

[PhilsGiftShop]

Alright it won't happen again. I just thought it would be nice to have someone look at it, as I had already tried to explain my issues.

[dpd1]

I think you can have it in your profile, unless they changed that.

The site looks fine to me. I sent one item through and that all looks fine. The two buttons for checkout are fine. I doubt your issue is technical. Your issue is probably the same issue everybody has... It's hard getting people to buy stuff on the internet.

My feeling as that, referrals are by far the #1 most important thing in sales. The site may look technically trusted, but when you're starting out, people still have no idea who you are. So if there's somebody they have bought from before, or somebody that is recommended, they'll probably go with them. It takes a lot of effort to build up a following. Anybody can setup a site, FB and Twitter account, and millions do. So it takes more than that to woo people. In my opinion, the more personable you can make it, the better.

Hang out in forums that deal in this kind of stuff. Try and sneak your URL into your sig. Try and help people by answering questions. Don't be blatant about selling your stuff... Just participate as a regular person. People will catch on. You can also do articles and videos. Give people a reason to come there, besides just selling stuff. A site that only sells stuff is going to look like a million other sites selling stuff. You have to find ways to elevate yourself out of the noise.

[PhilsGiftShop]

Thanks for your comments. I appreciate your feedback on the front end. I've yet to get too much of that thus far. It's only a few weeks, or a month in, so I don't expect to be Bill Gates, but I'd like to address as much as possible from the get-go.

Regarding my products, there is a large following, and I do intend to be part of that community. It is one of the most fulfilling things about owning a business. I've been building some relationships on eBay which I hope will carry over. It will take time as you said.

But I appreciate you testing that bad-boy out, you're a gentleman and a scholar.

[PhilsGiftShop]

So I've made a lot of updates per our discussions here and private discussions. I was informed that some browsers were asking to enable certain scripts. I had a Live Chat feature and facebook widgets, etc. I've since removed them just to make sure. I now require that a user registers an account. And many more updates.

I still have many abandoned carts throughout the day. What do you think the most important factors are? What are the things that make people follow through? What are the things that make them trust your site? I mean, they as far as to put something in their basket...

[tangor]

Most abandoned carts come at checkout when they click through just to find out what the final cost will be. That and "buyer's remorse" when they realize they will actually have to a) pay money b) compromise their privacy. For some businesses a fail rate of 75% is expected, in others it's 20%. IN all cases a fail rate of 10% is just statistically normal for what humans may or may not do.

If folks have to register just to play with the carts, expect a rather low turnout. Vast majority of people want to play with things before they commit.

[dpd1]

I personally hate forced registration of any kind on sales sites. It's one of the few things that would potentially make me abandon, and not come back. I have to constantly purchase countless items, and often switch sellers... Maintaining that many passwords is a giant pain.