E-Commerce Shopping Cart Statistics To Help Your Conversion Rate

You’re going to want to check out the following E-commerce shopping cart statistics if you’re looking to optimize your site for a higher conversion rate.

optimize conversion rate

 

If you’re the owner of an e-commerce site, you probably know the importance of maintaining a low shopping cart abandonment rate.

Just because a shopper adds a product to his or her cart doesn’t necessarily mean they will buy it. There are many on-site factors that can affect a consumers decision to buy causing those shoppers to abandon their carts without following through with the purchase. Well, we’ve compiled a list of several important statistics associated with e-commerce shopping carts. Using this information, you can optimize your site for a higher conversion rate.

 

26% of Shoppers Abandon When Presented with Unexpected Shipping Costs

There are dozens of reasons to buy a product online as opposed to in person. The one benefit associated with buying a product in person, however, is the simple fact that it doesn’t require shipping. According to the eCommerce Survey 2014, 28% of online shoppers will abandon their cart when presented with unexpected shipping costs. There’s nothing wrong with charging shoppers for shipping, but you should use transparent and upfront pricing.

 

Abandonment Typically Occurs on Tuesday

According to a study of more than 1 billion abandoned shopping carts, consumers are most likely to abandon their cart on Tuesday.

So, which day of the week has the fewest abandoned carts? The study cites Saturday between 8 and 9 PM as having the fewest abandoned carts. Furthermore, abandonment rates are lower during the holiday, as consumers often rush to buy those last-minute gifts.

 

Forced Account Registration Kills 23% of Conversions

The same eCommerce Survey 2014 study mentioned above found that 23% of online consumers will abandon their shopping cart if they are forced to register an account. Rather than forcing shoppers to register an account, make it optional. Shoppers should have the choice to buy a product as either a guest or registered user.

 

Discounts Can Turn Abandoned Carts Back Around

You can often convince a consumer to go back into his or her abandoned cart to buy the product by offering a discount. One study found that 54% of online shoppers will purchase products left in their carts if those products are offered at a discount price. Amazon sellers are known for using this tactic, many of whom will lower the price of products left in shoppers’ carts.

 

Retail has Lowest Shopping Cart Abandonment Rates

Salecycle reports that retail has the lowest shopping cart abandonment rates, while travel and finance has the highest rates. This is presumably due to the fact that returns are easier with retail e-commerce sites, whereas making a return on a travel or finance-related purchase could be quite difficult.