Cart Abandonment Statistics: What It Means to Your E-Commerce Site

Shopping cart abandonment rates on the rise

One reason for the high levels of shopping cart abandonment is comparison-shopping by online buyers—this is true for e-commerce as well as m-commerce. In a white paper by Listrak, Shopping Cart Abandonment Practices of the Internet Retailer 1000 Companies. Many retailers, however, are recovering revue with shopping cart abandonment email campaigns—and it’s not just the list toppers who benefit: 14.6% of Internet Retailer 1000, 18.5% of Internet Retailer Top 500, 10.7% of the second 500. How many emails are too many for shopping cart abandonment campaigns? 77.5% were single email messages. 15.8% sent two, and only 6.7% went to the trouble of sending out three.  But timing of the emails is crucial. Optimal first-time follow up is one to three hours after abandonment. There are benefits to both time strategies: after one hour results in highest open and click rates but those sent at three-hour mark have the highest Average Order Values. The second message is sent optimally 24-48 hours after the first and the third, 48-72 hours after that. [Source: Listrak]

Report for July 2013—Statistics on Real-Time Marketing Effectiveness

http://www.triggeredmessaging.com/blog/real-time-marketing-report-for-july-2013

For the first time Triggered Messaging measured results in real-time to measure marketing effectiveness for their e-commerce clients. They intend to publish this information on a monthly basis from now on. In a test sample of 1.2 million from a representative sample of their clients, which covered cart-recovery and browse-recovery statistics over a 30-day period, (June-July 2013) they found that 61.48% of carts were abandoned. 14.8% were recovered in subsequent click-through email campaign/cart recovery emails and the purchase rate after click-through averaged 30.98%.

Internet Retailer 500 Company Recoups Cart Abandoners with Automated Email Solution and Social Proof

VintageTub.com, America’s largest family-owned retailer of claw-foot tubs and bath fixtures, and an Internet Retailer 500 company used Social Proof  (86% customer review ratings four stars or higher) and a Shopping-Cart Abandonment Campaign to solidify customer-purchasing decisions. This led to a 122% increase in their email-channel revenue.

The company’s offerings are not typically impulse sales. They discovered that customers were returning several times to review items before adding them to the cart—resulting in an abandonment rate of 80%. By implementing an Email Abandonment Program and using the Social Proof within the copy (quotes/reviews) they obtained a 15.8% average conversion (13.85% email one, 7.58% email two, 26.09% email three). The company also tested a series of three emails without the reviews, and while the results were still good, they were lower with an average conversion rate of 11.16%. (7.75% first email, 11.94% second email, 13.79% third email.

Another strategy for a client such as VintageTub.com would be to implement a Personal Shopping Assistant Application (PSAA). Since consumers view the remodeling of their bathroom to be a singular and somewhat irreversible decision, PSAAs can help neutralize Buyer Remorse by guiding them through the process. The perception that all information they need to finalize their purchase resulted in buyer procrastination and revisiting the site multiple times. PSAAs cue the shopper with valuable information throughout the decision-sale process so they have insight into their purchase in terms of how well it suits their particular needs.

Shipping-Related Issues Top Reason for Shopping Cart Abandonment

Shopping cart abandonment stats do fluctuate. Whatever the abandonment rate, the reason why online shoppers abandon their cart is always valuable. ComScore.com data illustrates why shoppers avoid the finish line: Online shopping carts are abandoned right before the transaction is complete 67 percent of the time with a majority doing so because they were “either unprepared to buy at the moment or were deterred by shipping fees.” [Source: GetElastic.com] Shipping and limited delivery options derailed purchase commitment in 38% of abandonments. Two-thirds of online shoppers select “the most economical shipping option”.  When it comes to shipping—despite the 45% of online retailers who lose money on shipping costs—over half (55%) of shopping carts abandoned in e-commerce is due to high shipping costs.

If having a shipping standard is unavoidable in your e-commerce it is imperative to have a shipping standard less than seven days, either that or do not disclose it upfront—“38% of online shoppers said they would abandon a cart with delivery of eight days or more while only 24% would jump cart when no standard is given.” [Source: GetElastic.com]

Seven Abandonment Stats from 200 Leading Global Brands: April, May, and June 2013[Source: Dominic Edmunds, SaleCycle President]

Cart abandonment is on the rise. Over three-quarters of online shopping carts (75.5%) were abandoned in Q2 2013. This is up from 69%. Almost half (45.7% of all basket abandonment emails were opened. The Click-Through Rate for traditional marketing email campaign vs. Shopping-Cart Abandonment email campaign reveals a significant difference in the rate of return based on SaleCycle client data. (Data gathered from global brands included Sony, Millennium Hotels, and Ralph Lauren.)

The traditional email campaign yielded a 4% Click-Through Rate while the Shopping-Cart Abandonment email resulted in a 14% Click-Through Rate. Over a third (34.9%) of Email Click-Through led to a purchase back onsite.

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