Abandoned Cart

“Abandoned cart” is a scenario in which a customer initiates a sale but doesn’t complete the transaction, leaving one or more items in their online shopping cart.

How common are abandoned carts?

Online cart abandonment is common—nearly 80% of shoppers abandon their carts before completing a purchase.

What causes abandoned carts?

There are several reasons customers might abandon shopping carts, such as the following:

No intention to buy

Shoppers who are comparison shopping may visit several websites to compare prices. Sometimes, they add items to their carts just to compare shipping times and fees.

Unexpected costs and delivery times

Shipping costs are a top reason for cart abandonment, as are long delivery times.

Too few payment options

Businesses that don’t accept mobile wallet apps like PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay may lose shoppers that prefer not to provide their debit or credit card information to make a purchase.

Poor UX

Shoppers are unlikely to complete a purchase if the checkout process is too complex, or the page load speed is painfully slow.

What’s the impact of abandoned carts?

When shoppers abandon carts, the most obvious impact is that businesses don’t make a sale. But another problem is that abandoned carts can temporarily skew inventory availability. For example, when a shopper adds an item to their cart, e-commerce software places a temporary hold on the item, so no one else can buy it. If that item happens to be the last one in stock and the shopper abandons their cart, the next person who attempts to buy it may see that it’s unavailable.

What is abandoned cart recovery?

Abandoned cart recovery is an automated sequence of actions a business uses to reengage a shopper and close a sale. For example:

Marketers set up “If this, then that” abandoned cart recovery rules within a CRM platform.
A shopper leaves an item in their cart, which triggers the first action: An email that reminds the shopper about the item.
The shopper clicks on the product page link in the email and returns to their cart but still doesn’t complete the purchase.
The CRM sends another email with a coupon code.
The shopper clicks through to the product page and completes the purchase, using the coupon code.

How to reduce cart abandonment

Use Persado Dynamic Motivation

Dynamic Motivation uses Generative AI alongside the brand’s session data to serve the highest-performing messaging to each customer in the online cart. It can also be applied across the entire website and email. When used in the online cart, Dynamic Motivation reduces cart abandonment by delivering a personalized online cart experience that turns browsers into buyers.

Optimize the checkout process

Collect only the information you need in the checkout process, and give customers shortcuts. For example, a guest checkout option tends to improve conversion rates, compared to checkout processes that require shoppers to create an account.

Offer real-time support

In the final stages of the checkout process, you need to be ready to answer shoppers’ questions. An interactive chatbot can answer common questions, but there will be times when a chatbot should transfer conversations to a live agent.

Add trust factors

No one wants to fall prey to a data breach. Make customers feel more secure by including your security certifications, a secure checkout icon, and even product reviews from happy customers.

Clarify your returns and refunds policy

Shoppers want to understand any potential risks associated with a purchase—such as being stuck with a product they don’t want. A simple return policy could help boost conversions, as well as improve customer satisfaction.

Abandoned Cart Recovery

Adaptive Algorithm