| You've spent a good deal of time creating an | | | | meter is absolutely necessary to help reduce shopping |
| awesome website with very enticing advertising copy | | | | cart abandonment. 3. Show the product (or products) |
| that is very successful in getting your customers to | | | | in the shopping cart: This can be a small picture, or a |
| click the "Buy Me" button. However, after examining | | | | very brief (but specific) description of the product. |
| your websites logs you've come to notice a very ugly | | | | Make sure the picture or description of the product |
| pattern - your customers are abandoning your website | | | | contains a popup link that shows all the details and |
| after they decide to buy your product (after they click | | | | benefits the product has to offer. Remember, as |
| the "Buy Me" button). This is called shopping cart | | | | customers fill out the purchase form they need to see |
| abandonment, because it is usually the purchasing | | | | what they are actually buying - so they know exactly |
| process within your shopping cart that scares the | | | | what their purchase consists of - and you'll also find |
| customer away. | | | | that many just need to reread the benefits before |
| Let's go over 5 ways to reduce shopping cart | | | | they continue with their purchase. 4. Provide the |
| abandonment: | | | | shipping & handling costs upfront: It's a good idea |
| 1. Be crystal clear as to what needs to be done: | | | | to include the S&H costs in the first step of the |
| Complex shopping carts are a sure way to scare | | | | check out process - or even better, include the costs |
| away potential customers. Make sure the instructions | | | | in the product description page. Even though they |
| on what needs to be filled out are simple, easy to read, | | | | were well aware of the S&H costs, potential |
| and easy to edit. Also, if the checkout process is | | | | customers get quite annoyed when they spend 10 |
| multi-paged, make sure the button or link to get to the | | | | minutes of their time typing all their checkout |
| next page is clearly displayed. 2. Add a progress | | | | information to find that the total cost just shot up $15 |
| meter: The typical purchasing process for a given | | | | for S&H on the last step. 5. Add some comfort |
| product on a website is multi-step (multi-page). While it | | | | logos: Do you belong to the BBB? If so, display the |
| is good to keep these steps to as few as possible, it's | | | | BBB logo on the website. Another good logo is the |
| even better to let your customer know what step | | | | Hacker Safe logo ( indicating that your website is |
| they are on. A progress meter simply tells the | | | | Hacker Safe certified. Simple Verisign and credit card |
| customer what step they are in within your purchasing | | | | logos are also beneficial in adding more comfort to the |
| process. You've probably seen them in action on | | | | process. |
| some of your favorite websites. It could be a graphical | | | | There you have it... five good ways to help put the |
| meter or a simple text-based indicator. A progress | | | | brakes on your shopping cart abandonment rate. |