23 Feb, 2016

Outsmart the Idle Shopper and Get More Online Conversions

The reckless abandonment of basket items is something most online retailers can empathise with. The buying journey on e-commerce sites is the key component that will make or break an online business. After all, competition is rife and the digitally sophisticated user expects a lot more from online retailers; at a time that is convenient for them. 
A recent consumer trends report from Kibo shows that 80% of consumers prefer to buy online. However, half of those will not buy from you if you do not have their preferred method of delivery. If you want to get more users past the basket and into conversions then you need to make sure that the rising expectations of the digital consumer are accounted for in your checkout process. 

Take a look at our top tips for outsmarting the idle shopper: 

1)    Keep it Simple  

This is really obvious but so many retailers get it wrong. Overwhelming users with too many steps in the checkout process will encourage them to abandon the site without making a purchase. Consider integrating with third party payment providers such as PayPal to speed up the checkout process. 

2)    Design it well 

A clean simple interface will ensure buyers don’t get overwhelmed and bail out. Offering a visual timeline of the buying journey will help those short for time to see how long the checkout process on your site will take. Also, showing your customers a running total cost throughout every stage of the checkout process will put a stop to any shocks at the end of the buying process and ensure they don’t abandon at the end of the journey. 



3)    Guest Checkout 

Although a guest checkout reduces the amount of data that can be captured from your buyers, it can be a great way to reduce the amount of time it takes to make an online purchase. It can also prevent you from losing up to 23% of conversions due to users abandoning their shopping baskets when asked to create a “new user” account.

4)    Delivery Options 

Whether you run a small boutique online shop or are a global distributor; it is important that you consider all your delivery options. Adding functionalities such as ‘track my order’ or options for next day delivery will increase the amount of users purchasing from your site. 

Making delivery costs clear throughout the checkout process is key too. Adding on unexpected delivery charges at the last moment is one of the most common reasons for basket abandonment, so make these fees clear up front.  A staggering 28% of shoppers will abandon their shopping basket for this reason. 

5)    Session times

Take a look at the amount of time a product stays in a basket before the session times out and how much information cookies on the site store. There are two types of session, a browser cookie and server-side. 

A cookie is stored on the user’s computer and browser with small parts of information about the user’s journey which could be the basket items and other site specific items (e.g. email address, name, etc.). Cookies aren’t very reliable as some browsers disable cookies which breaks site functionality and therefore potential to lose business. A cookie can last for days, months and maybe years.

A server-side session can hold the same information without the drawbacks of browser limitations. A session can last as long as the user is on the website, however some servers may apply a timeout which tend not to be longer than a few hours.

Want more help attracting customers? 

Google have conducted a lot of valuable research into online consumer trends and coined the term the Zero Moment of Truth or ZMOT– a phrase used to describe the exact moment a consumer commits to purchase an online product through a direct need for something. ZMOT is all about being there at the right time. It’s about being at the forefront of the buying journey in the research stage where over 67% of consumers make critical buying decisions. Take a read it's interesting stuff! 

Get in touch with our technical experts today and see how we can help you get those basket items into sales!