Abandoned shopping carts an e-tail challenge

More e-tail browsers are turning into buyers--but many are still abandoning their shopping carts before completing a transaction, a study has shown.

The number of shoppers who end up buying something has gone up from 3.5 percent in the last quarter of 2003 to 4 percent in the first quarter of 2004, online marketing company DoubleClick said in a report released Wednesday.

But for every dollar sold, $5 was left in an abandoned cart, DoubleClick said. "It's encouraging to see conversion rates increasing, although abandoned shopping carts still represent an enormous opportunity cost," Court Cunningham, senior vice president at the company, said in a statement.

Although returning customers are just 1 percent of all Web site visitors, they spend the most time--7.69 minutes on average--and money, about $180 every session, DoubleClick said. Nonbuyers accounted for 95 percent of all visitors but added up to 78 percent of the abandoned carts, the market researcher said.

The study was based on data culled by the company's Web site measurement software, which analyzed the habits of 160 million Web site visitors.

E-commerce Web sites have recently been reporting higher sales. In the first quarter of 2004, sales grew by 28.1 percent, compared with the same period last year.

[rshelton3000]

Abandoned shopping carts

I believe (I have done this myself) that many people will start a shopping cart and add items to see the prices, taxes, shipping charges, etcetera. Many e-retailers do not show prices, taxes per state, or shipping charges until you verify the order and this is why many people will abandon shopping carts.

R. Shelton

Yes, that and more

I agree completely with the first comment. Often you can't find out what kind of (exorbitant) shipping and handling charges are going to be tacked on to an order until you actually "buy" the items and start to check out. You then abandon your cart mid-aisle because the "good deal" now doesn't look so good once you've been gouged for two or three times what they're going to pay to UPS.

No wonder Amazon and other flat-or-no-fee shipping sites do so well with their simple policies.

Handling and shipping charges

The two previous posts, by Richard Shelton and Jonathan Rogers, are certainly the primary reasons I have ever abandoned a shopping cart. Of course, I can't speak for the many others who abandon shopping carts. Nevertheless, I do find it strange that in discussing abandoned shopping carts, that this article fails to mention either unknown but expected added charges such as shipping, nor the sometimes totally unexpected other additional charges, that some e-tailers don't disclose before you place your order into a shopping cart and nearly finish the check-out process.

[TV James]

Is this really a big deal?

I've abandoned carts all the time. Sometimes I come back and if my cart is still there, finish the purchase. Sometimes I have to start over, but still finish the purchase.

I've even abandoned carts in real stores when the checkout lines are too long or they haven't sufficiently stocked and are out of something I really needed. (But I would never do this with groceries because that's just wrong.)

But, honestly, who cares if a cart is abandoned? I expect that often it's for the reasons the previous posters have mentioned and sometimes it's because they're trying the purchase on, but then need time to think it over and see if it makes sense.

But it's not real. It's just clicking on a website. Stop lamenting the "lost" sales and examine why the carts are being abandoned. And for gosh's sakes, do more to preserve our abandoned carts so that we can find them again when we return to the store.

[mbula]

Abandon? Not if treated right!

When I can't get the final "out-the-door" price before filling in personal info (name/address/credit card numbers) then I just say 'screw it'!

[spikevball]

Notify me if an item in my cart goes on sale

Great comments. I find it quite annoying that I must add an item to my cart to find all associated prices/fees/charges. I do like how Amazon and BMG have the "save for later" feature, wish I use for my "wish list".

One thought sites could do is to notify users who have items in their carts that go on sale, qualify for a new rebate, or receive free shipping. That would help encourage me to buy something I've been looking at.

Abandoned Shopping Carts?

A big problem with these stats: often you have to enter into a shopping cart just to find a price. Casual browsing shouldn't require you to enter into a shopping cart!

[Razzl]

etailers need to stop wearing out the customers!

I can add another vote to the universal complaint from the previous commentators that shopping carts seem to be the only way to find out what something costs. No doubt some etailers think that bringing you that far into the process will tip sales to completion, but it's been my experience that the multi-level price inquiry that a shopping cart represents is part of a wearying process inflicted on the shopper by bad web site design. It drives me mad, especially with a dial-up connection (which, believe me, I'm happy with given that it fits my household budget) to have to work through 4 pages just to get to product information from a homepage text menu.
Etail sites should work more like eBay auction pages where lots of thumbnails are visible on a menu page and clicking one rotates the image into the larger image slot without having to download a whole new page. It may require more sophisticated webpage design, but slowing down the customer slows down the pace of sales. I've given up on many a web shopping evening having not gotten to all of the sites on my list because it took too long to extricate myself from a bad one.