Month: October 2024

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Building Online Stores

20 Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics To Help Improve Revenue in 2024

No matter how much conversion rate optimization you do, are you tired of those potential customers who browse your store and then do a virtual U-turn, abandoning their cart at checkout? You’re not the only one! If you’re wondering about the average cart and checkout abandonment rate statistic, according to the Baymard Institute study it’s 70%! Yep, you read that right. This is where abandoned cart recovery strategies are so important, as a way to re-engage those lost customers.

But first, you need to understand the stats and reasons behind why people abandon their carts in the first place, which is why we put together this report!

But why aren’t buyers hitting the ‘Confirm and Pay’ button?

We’ll give you all the details on why people are ditching the checkout and how to get those customers back! Because there’s always something your business can do to foster happy customers who commit to the checkout.

Key Statistics

  • The average rate of checkout abandonment is 70% across all industries
  • Ecommerce brands lose $18 billion in revenue each year due to checkout abandonment
  • Improving checkout design can increase the conversion rate of the average large e-commerce website by 35.26%
  • 85.56% of cart abandonment occurs when customers use their mobile phones
  • Hidden costs on websites account for 48% of unfinished orders and are the biggest reason behind cart abandonment

What Is The Average Cart Abandonment Rate?

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The average rate of checkout abandonment is 69.82% across all industries. Another way to look at it is that for every 100 customers, around 68 of them will abandon their online shopping cart – ouch!

Unfortunately, ecommerce checkout abandonment is pretty common. In fact, each year, brands lose $18 billion in revenue – roughly $4 trillion in sales is expected to be abandoned in 2024 alone.

By just creating a better checkout design, the average large e-commerce website can gain a 35.26% increase in conversion rate. The EU and US have a combined e-commerce sales of $738 billion, if we add the 35.26% conversion rate increase that equals $260 billion worth of lost orders that can be saved by changing the checkout flow & design.

After spending countless hours creating your business, building a website, and marketing it, the last thing you want is to fall at the last online hurdle. It’s super important to know what causes people to hit the digital road and resolve it. This will help to boost your profits in the long run.Read on and we’ll show you exactly how to do this.

What Is the Average Cart Abandonment Rate by Device?

Research shows that about 85.56% of cart abandonment happens when customers use their mobile phones. This could be due to a less mobile-friendly user experience or because people are more likely to put a smaller screen down than with a desktop.

Mobile had the highest cart abandonment rate, while tablets had 80.74% and desktops 69.75%.So, the smaller the screen the more likely shoppers will quit at the checkout! That’s why it’s important to make sure your website is mobile friendly and just as easy to navigate on other devices.

More Information

  • Are you looking for the best website builder to get your store online?
  • Or the best ecommerce website builder to help your business reach the right customers, with very little coding knowledge?
  • Need tips on how to identify your target market, so that you can market your business effectively? Take a look at our expertly researched tips!

Reasons for Cart Abandonment

The reasons for cart abandonment involve three main areas of the customer journey; hidden information, time taken to checkout, and poor website design.

There will be a small few who are just browsing for the sake of it, but a large majority of your visitors will turn tail as a result of one of the three factors mentioned above. Below, we’ll take you through each reason, and what it is that causes someone to bounce off your site:

#1. Long forms result in 17% of abandoned shopping carts 

Your customer is ready to purchase, they’re short on time, and they need what you have quickly. However, they get to the checkout and find that they need to fill in long or complicated forms. Cue a quick exit!

The frustration this causes accounts for17% of abandoned shopping carts. When you also factor in having to create an account just to buy a few products, that increases the abandonment rate by an extra 24%.

#2. Websites with hidden costs account for 48% of unfinished orders

There were 16% who stated the reason for cart abandonment was that they couldn’t see the total order of costs upfront.

It may seem logical to add extra costs like VAT or shipping at the end of the buying process. After all, you don’t want people to be put off by a hefty price tag in the beginning. However, in an effort to entice buyers, you could end up making your customers feel like they’ve been tricked.

They thought they were signing up for one price, only to find that the extra costs keep tallying up. Unsurprisingly, they then jump ship for better prices.

#3. 18% of customers abandon carts due to security concerns

Around 18% of people abandon a shopping cart because they don’t trust a website with their credit card details.

This can be because of the overall design of the website, requesting too much information, the perceived quality of products, or first-time website shoppers.

#4. Shipping issues cause 22% of customers to abandon carts

Whether it’s the length of shipping, if it can be delivered at all, or other limitations on delivery, shipping is a big reason why people quit at the checkout with a 22% cart abandonment rate. If buyers make a last-minute purchase and need it to arrive by a certain time, they’ll turn their nose up at a three-week wait.

There was also 12% that noted that the “returns policy wasn’t satisfactory.” Either it wasn’t shown, or they didn’t offer returns on items, which can put buyers off.

Similarly, if your business doesn’t deliver to a customer’s area then you’ll likely see them seek a store that does.

#5. 30% of shoppers will abandon carts if they have to re-enter payment or shipping information

Like the previous points, customers might give up on their shop if the checkout experience makes them jump through extra hoops. Make sure your checkout page is fully optimized and as streamlined as possible. It’s best to keep things simple and brief.

#6. Website performance accounts for a 13% cart abandonment rate

If websites have many performance issues like crashes, errors, slow servers, poor coding, traffic spikes, or just plain bad optimization, customers might seek a better user experience elsewhere. Although minor performance issues can bounce back quickly, it’s still worth keeping an eye on.

#7. Payment issues account for a 13% cart abandonment rate

Issues like slow loading on payment pages or lack of credit card options can also stop a shopper in their tracks.

It can be frustrating if a customer is ready to purchase and is sat furiously clicking the “Buy” button, but cannot complete their order because of issues like these.

5 Tips for Reducing Cart Abandonment

So now you know what the main causes are for cart abandonment, but how can you prevent your customers from turning tail and leaving behind unfinished orders?

Spoiler: if you’re thinking “the more pop-ups and ‘Buy Now’s! I put everywhere, the more likely it is that customers will give in and commit to a purchase’, we can confidently say that’s not the best strategy to reduce your checkout abandonment rate.

The best approach is to create an effortless user experience, fostering trust and ease for buyers.

Think about your own experiences with checkout. Does it annoy you when you need to give every detail about your life before you can purchase? Do those hidden fees that triple the price aggravate you? Well, good news – once you’ve identified these key pain points, you’re halfway to finding solutions for them!

If you need a helping hand, though, take a look at some of our recommended cart abandonment remedies below:

#1. Don’t Hide Anything

The Etsy homepage delivers on showing you faster delivery options

From extra fees to returns policies, don’t hide them from the customer. This will only lead to that feeling of deception we mentioned above.

The online retailer Etsy provides little “fast shipping” icons on their prices to highlight which items offer a faster delivery than others. Being upfront is the best way to earn trust and get people to purchase.

#2. Create Short & Easy Checkout Forms

The simpler the form the easier it will be for your customers to make the purchase

Keep the steps really simple. Only ask for the details you absolutely need to complete the purchase.

In this example, Dunelm has created a two-step process for customers: address details, payment details, and then it’s complete! Notice, they’ve also attached their “Terms and Conditions”, “Privacy Policy”, and a tick box to opt-out of promotional content. These are all vital for fostering customer trust.

Advice from the Experts

A top tip is to also add your Returns Policy in here so that the customer can see if they can return an item that doesn’t suit their needs.

#3. Check Your Payment Options

How many ways have you got for your customers to pay?  Do you accept the big names like VISA, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, and Apple Pay?

The more options you have, the easier it is for a buyer to commit and enter their payment details to complete their purchase.

Regularly checking that your website’s payment gateways are working properly will also help you retain customers in the long run.

#4. Continuously Improve Your Website

Owning a business means constantly making it better over time. Whether that’s the design, functionality, or user experience, the more you optimize and update your website, the better it will rank on Google – and the less likely customers will be to dabble in checkout abandonment.

Using an ecommerce website builder can help you easily update your website over time. This is because they’re so easy to use, meaning that you can make changes quickly, and preview them before you set them live.

This also makes it easier to spot problems, although we’d recommend carrying out regular performance tests to catch any issues as early as possible.

#5. Retarget Cart Abandoners

It’s inevitable – you won’t be able to stop cart abandonment completely, and so you’re likely to wave goodbye to a portion of your customers. But all is not lost!

To regain checkout abandoners you can advertise through targeted emails, social media, and other websites with the products they were looking to buy.

But is it worth the trouble? The answer is a firm yes! Research suggests that retargeting customers canincrease sales by around 20%.

Ads focused on retargeting customers can encourage around 26% of shoppers to return to their carts.

Fostering that connection and reminding buyers of what they were about to purchase is a great way to reduce checkout abandonment. A simple automated email that says something like “Hi Tom, we see you were about to buy this!” alongside links back to their cart is a great way to offer them a second chance to buy.

Get creative with how you grasp a cart abandoner’s attention

Retargeting mail campaigns have an open rate of almost 40%, and a click-through rate of 23%.  Even better, a massive 21% of customers then go on to complete their purchases.Well worth the time and effort to create!

Advice from the Experts

A top tip!To really boost those email conversions you can offer buyers free shipping.

Introduction Statistic –
Cart abandonment rate of 69.82%

Summary: Cart and Checkout Abandonment

Reducing cart abandonment is as simple as being upfront and helping create an effortless experience for your customers.

The exciting thing about it is that if you can regain even 15% of those lost customers, you’ll see a healthy boost in your profits. For example, if you’re earning $30,000 per month, then you could earn an additional $54,000 per year – which is a pretty sweet deal!

To help reduce cart abandonment, make sure to:

  1. Show the buyer costs, fees, shipping times, and returns policies upfront
  2. Create quick and easy checkout forms
  3. Provide lots of payment options
  4. Keep updating and checking your website functionality
  5. Retarget cart abandoners

Let us know in the comments what stops you from hitting the buy button, or what your business is doing to slow down the checkout abandonment rates!

,Building Online Stores

Categories
News

What Is Pinterest’s New Performance+ Tool?

Pinterest launched Performance+ at the start of October to support business owners with campaign automation. The suite of tools includes generative AI features, additional bidding options, and more.

I’ll explore what you can expect from Pinterest’s Performance+, and share exactly how your business can use it to support selling on Pinterest, especially as we head towards the holiday season rush.

Performance+ Features

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Pinterest announced the launch of Performance+ on October 1st 2024, stating:

“Pinterest Performance+ campaigns can help any advertiser drive lower-funnel performance by optimizing targeting, managing budgets or deciding how much to bid. Through AI and automation features, Pinterest Performance+ campaigns decrease campaign creation time significantly, with 50% less inputs required.”

The Performance+ suite aims to rival Meta’s Advantage+ and Google’s Performance Max (two similar AI-powered advertising tools). Pinterest’s Performance+ includes:

  • Creative supportto optimize ads, generate backgrounds, and target the right customers
  • Dynamic bidding helps your business save money by focusing on low costs without sacrificing success
  • ROAS (return on ad spend) prioritization to boost sales through Pinterest
  • Budgeting tools to help you organize and manage your campaign spending – Performance+ doesn’t impose a budget limit on campaigns
  • Visual targeting so your ads are presented to the right customers

What Impact Have We Seen So Far?

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Performance+ underwent testing before its launch, and the results are impressive. For example, Walgreens was involved in the beta testing and saw a 55% increase in clickthrough rate on showcased products that used a Pinterest-generated background, as opposed to a plain white backdrop. And, plenty of other sites have reduced their CPC (costs per click) and CPA (costs per action) by 10%+.

This is promising to see, especially if you run a small business looking to boost sales and keep costs low.

Prada also saw positive improvements during the Performance+ testing. Source: Website Builder Expert

How To Use Pinterest’s Performance+

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You can find Performance+ in Pinterest’s Ad Managerdashboard and it’s accessible to all advertisers.

However, the feature is only compatible with Consideration, Conversions, and Catalog Sales objectives – these are different types of campaign objectives offered by Pinterest and they determine how you bid. As costs rise on channels like Meta and Google, it’s worth diversifying your advertising channels and pursuing results on Pinterest, particularly as the social platform grows in popularity.

You can shape Performance+ to suit yourneeds, meaning you can toggle select features and products on or off based on each campaign. This gives you control and flexibility over Performance+, but the new automation features and AI tools will help you get off the ground fast.

,News

Categories
Grow Online

How To Do a Website Audit to Improve SEO & User Experience: 11 Steps

The word audit doesn’t exactly invoke excitement, but if you want to grow your business online, it’s something that any website owner will need to do at some point. That’s because it’s a basic SEO practice that can really improve overall user experience and site performance.

And isn’t that what you want? A better chance of appearing in search engines, with the people who arrive on your site enjoying their experience? With that in mind, the only question left is how do you do a website audit? 

That’s the purpose of this guide, which goes through the 11 important steps of performing a website audit to help improve many aspects of your website. Let’s get stuck in!

What Is a Website Audit?

A website audit is like giving your site a health check. It’s a comprehensive review that assesses how well your website is performing in search engine optimization (SEO) and user experience (UX).

Think of it as a diagnostic tool that is designed to uncover hidden issues that impact your site’s visibility and user-friendliness.

Website Audit Checklist: Step-By-Step

The purpose of a website audit is to spotlight areas for improvement so your website is firing on all cylinders. Let’s take a look at how you can do just that.

1) Define Your Website Audit Goals

Before getting your website audit underway, set clear, specific goals. Why are you auditing your website? Is it so you can nail the SEO basics and climb higher in the search engine rankings? Is it to increase conversion rates or ensure your site is mobile-friendly? Perhaps it’s a mixture of all three.

These are common objectives, but as a small business owner, the most important thing is to make sure that your goals suit your unique needs. There’s no point in doing an audit if you don’t know what you want to get out of it.

By pinpointing what you want to achieve, you can focus your efforts more effectively and make your audit a strategic tool to elevate your online presence rather than a simple box-ticking exercise.

2) Gather Your Tools and Resources

Semrush can help audit your website.

You’ve got your audit goals sorted, which means it’s now time to gear up with the essential tools to help you figure out whatexactly you need to audit. Google Analytics and Google Search Console are your go-tos, providing the lowdown on your site’s traffic, user behavior, and how you’re doing in search.

But don’t stop there. You can ramp up your audit with powerhouse tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs. Think of these as your website’s personal trainer, spotting SEO slip-ups, broken links, and UX hiccups.

To get started, set up free accounts on Google Analytics and Search Console and integrate them with your website. As for SEMrush or Ahrefs, pick one that aligns with what you want to achieve and your budget.  Once these tools have been set up, they’ll act as your audit’s guiding star, steering you towards real, impactful enhancements.

Top tip: Many tools come with free trials, letting you take them for a spin before fully committing.

More Information: Check out our article on how to add Google Analytics to your website for a step-by-step guide to getting started.

3) Collaborate With Your Team

There’s no reason to do your website audit alone. In fact, bringing in a team can help untangle the technical and SEO intricacies of a website. Whether it’s seasoned pros or members of your team who can spot something you’ve missed, two (or more) pairs of eyes are better than one.

Afer all, they’ll bring different perspectives and skills to the table with the aim of giving your website audit the best possible outcome. Not only that but incorporating more people means everyone is on the same page in their bid to give your website a once-over that helps it perform to a high level.

4) Content Audit

When it comes to a website audit, sifting through your content is a bit like sorting through your wardrobe – you need to figure out what’s working, what’s not, and what’s missing.

Example of a content audit performed on Semrush.

Identify Content Gaps

Start by mapping out your content. Are there topics your competitors are covering that you’re missing? Maybe there are customer questions left unanswered. If so, pinpoint these gaps because they’re golden tickets to providing value your competitors might be missing.

Research and Update Content

Now, turn detective on your existing content. Is it up-to-date, relevant, and engaging? Old, outdated content can be a big turn-off for visitors and search engines alike. Give your content a refresh – a new coat of paint if you will – so that it’s relevant and appealing.

Check for Duplicate Content

Double-check for any content that’s repeating itself on your site. Search engines aren’t fans of duplicate content. For them, it’s like wearing the same outfit to every party. Unique, original content is key to standing out in the crowd and boosting your SEO.

5) Technical Audit

Technical audits act as your website’s MOT. They make sure everything is ticking over nicely under the bonnet.

Kick things off with a page speed check. Slow pages are like long queues at a shop, and no one likes waiting to get what they want. Slow loading times also make visitors more likely to bounce off your pages, losing you precious traffic. Tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights are your go-to for this and will provide insights about how quickly content appears on your web pages.

Next, give your SEO a once-over. Are your title tags and meta descriptions up to scratch? Tools like Moz or Yoast SEO can spot if anything’s amiss. It’s also important to search for any broken links or 404 errors – they’re the annoying potholes in your website’s journey. A tool like Broken Link Checker can help track these down.

Broken Link Checker is a helpful add-on for finding broken links on your website.

Lastly, don’t forget about your mobile visitors. With an increasing number of people browsing on their phones (more than 55%, in fact), making sure your site is mobile-friendly is essential. You can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to see if your site’s a hit on handheld devices.

It might seem like a lot, but getting these technical bits right means your website will be raring to go.

Top tip: Regularly check for crawl errors in Google Search Console to ensure your website is clear for search engines to navigate easily.

6) User Experience (UX) Audit

A user experience (UX) audit is all about walking a mile in your visitors’ shoes. Let’s start with navigation: is moving around your site easy, or is it more like navigating a maze? Tools like Hotjar can help you see how visitors interact with your site and give you vital feedback about usability.

Just like with the technical audit, use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to see how well mobile design is on your site. It’ll help you understand whether people can effortlessly use your site regardless of the device they use or if they prefer desktop over mobile. If it’s the latter, you’ll need to do some work on boosting the mobile UX experience.

Google Search Console lets you check your website’s mobile friendliness.

Readability access is also important, and your site needs to be clear and legible, like a well-written book. Ensure fonts, colors, and layout are easy on the eyes. And don’t forget those CTAs (Call to Action)—they should stand out and encourage users to make a decision, whether it’s a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or registering interest. Test different designs and placements to see what catches the eye and encourages clicks.

A UX Audit isn’t just about making your site look pretty. It’s also about creating a welcoming, intuitive space that visitors love to explore.

7) On-Page SEO Audit

The goal is to get your website featured on search engines, from Google to Bing and everything in between. To do this, you’ll need to go through a process that ensures your on-page SEO is in tip-top condition.

Begin with your title tags and meta descriptions, which need to be snappy, engaging, and descriptive of the content the user is about to click on. Headings are next. Use H1, H2, H3s, and so on to structure your content like a well-planned story, making it easy for search engines and users to follow.

The blurb under the title is a meta description, giving people a short and concise summary of what they’re about to read.

Don’t overlook alt text for images, either. Not only is it SEO-friendly, but alt-text is also inclusive and acts as a descriptor for visuals. This is great for visitors with visual impairments, allowing them to use your description to get a better idea of the image.

Internal linking is also something you should pay attention to. It helps you lay down breadcrumbs to keep visitors exploring your site, moving seamlessly from one piece of content to another. This minimizes the chance of them navigating away from your website too quickly.

Lastly, keep your URLs neat and descriptive, so that they’re easy to understand at a glance. And to really shine, sprinkle some schema markup into your pages. It’s the language search engines use to read and understand the content on your pages.

Top tip:Make sure internal links make sense. For example, a fashion blogger writing about eco-friendly clothing could link to another piece of content that takes a broader view of sustainability.

More information: If you want to get a headstart on your search engine optimization, check out our list of the best website builders for excellent SEO.

8) Off-Page SEO Audit

An Off-Page SEO audit is different from an on-site one in that it requires you to look beyond your website to the wider web. On-page SEO is all about the elements you can control, whereas off-page SEO focuses on things that are influenced by other people.

But that doesn’t mean matters are completely out of your hands – there are still some things you can do to improve your off-page SEO. First, focus on your backlinks. These are like digital endorsements from other sites. And the higher domain authority these sites have, the better. You can use tools like Ahrefs or Majestic to analyze the quality and quantity of these links.

Ahrefs lets you check how many backlinks a site has and how good they are.

Next, scope out your social media presence. Nowadays, this is one area you can’t afford to neglect – it’s basically your website’s megaphone, amplifying your content across the internet. Now could be a really good time to take a look at your social media strategy and see where improvements can be made.

Also, keep an eye on your online reputation and what customers are saying about you. You can do this by checking things like Google Reviews. And if your competitors are performing better than you, learn from them! Take a look at what they’re doing well and where you can edge ahead. It’s a bit like doing a bit of friendly neighborhood watch, only for SEO.

9) Track Analytics & Metrics

There’s no point doing an audit if you can’t then check in on any changes further down the line. This is where tracking your website’s analytics and metrics comes in. This data lets you know what’s working and what isn’t. Start with monitoring your website traffic to see who’s visiting. You could even conduct a specific CRO audit too, as this will help you formulate strategies designed to turn casual browsers into dedicated, purchasing customers.

Bounce rate is another key metric to monitor. This is how frequently people leave your website. The average bounce rate for an ecommerce business is between 20% and 45%, so anything higher than this probably means visitors aren’t getting what they want from your website.

Bounce rates by industry according to CLX.com

10) Implement Changes

You’ve spent all that time auditing your website, and now it’s time to put those changes to the test. The first goal is to implement any technical fixes, such as speeding up your website and removing annoying bugs.

Refreshing content is also important here so that it’s up-to-date and meets the latest search engine requirements. This is also the time to apply improvements to elements like title tags and backlinks. Above all else, it’s important to make sure your content is as engaging as possible.

Let’s not forget about security. Having a secure website helps mitigate data protection issues and ensures that both your and your visitor’s data is safe.

When implementing changes as a result of your audit, be they big or small, it’s important to remember that each one is a step towards a better website that’s efficient and user-friendly.

Good to Know:Look for simple yet effective technical fixes and content updates. Doing so will provide quick wins while you strategize longer-term solutions.

11) Monitoring & Ongoing Maintenance

Your website audit isn’t a one-and-done deal. Think of it as the start of an ongoing journey. Regularly scheduled audits help keep on top of things, making sure your website gets a routine health check.

Consistently track your progress to celebrate the wins and tweak what’s not quite hitting the mark. Staying current with industry trends is also key, especially because things move fast, and you need to keep pace.

Also, be ready to adapt to search engine algorithm changes. Search engines can throw a few curveballs, but staying agile means you can swing into action as needed. Ongoing maintenance nurtures your website and keeps it growing and evolving.

Summary: 11 Steps to Improving SEO and User Experience

Performing a thorough website audit is essential for enhancing your site’s SEO and user experience. With the key steps named in this article, from defining your goals to on-page SEO, you can make sure your site is ready to take on the world and performs to its full potential.

,Grow Online