One of the most frustrating aspects of online retailing is knowing that a substantial number of customers select goods then abandon their shopping basket before paying.

This is particularly annoying when you have a website that is getting good traffic, only to realise that you’re losing too many of your sales at the last hurdle.

You’re certainly not alone in this. In fact, the estimate is that ecommerce merchants lose around £46 trillion globally as a result of abandoned shopping carts. A figure which grew massively when people starting shopping using mobiles.

A good customer experience

Much of the work to reduce the number of abandoned shopping baskets comes down to a good partnership with your ecommerce developers. There needs to be a constant process of measuring and building the effectiveness of your customer experience.

Are site visitors enjoying smooth navigation and quick loading times? Clearly, a clunky or overwhelming ecommerce site will result in potential customers losing patience and shopping elsewhere.

Making payment pages easy

One of the biggest reasons people select items and then fail to complete the transaction is coming across pages for checking out and paying that are too complex.

Millennials like to know they are enjoying a high level of security and privacy. However, they also want their buying experiences to be quick, easy and “personalised”. Having lots of tick boxes and things to click on will result in lost patience.

A telephone sales line with a real person to answer queries is also helpful.

Delivery issues are responsible for a large number of incomplete ecommerce transactions. Do your product profiles make your delivery schedules and terms clear?

If a customer gets to the checkout and finds that a product will take a long time to arrive or comes with a hefty delivery charge, they click away.

Grabbing attention from “window shoppers”

Just as with high street stores, ecommerce retailers will always have a large number of “window shoppers”. Site visitors put things in their online basket while they browse and consider. Then they move off without completing the transaction.

This is where you need a creative ecommerce design agency who can suggest ways to build impact and create compelling reasons to buy.

This could include exit pop-ups with discounts and added value offers for example.

For ecommerce consultancy that drives traffic all the way through to payment, contact Magpie.