Why Is Cart Abandonment One Of The Biggest Pet Peeves For DTC eCommerce Businesses?

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Sabah Noor

date icon Jun 10, 2022

date icon 10 min read

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A major issue for merchants and DTC eCommerce business owners are abandoning online shopping carts. As a store owner, abandoning carts is a huge drain on your business's profits and a major source of frustration. Over 70% of online purchases remain unsuccessful due to customers leaving their carts unattended.

DTC eCommerce Businesses Source: Pexels

That's a lot of people.

You can reclaim 70% of sales by recalling them to their cart. Everyone would be doing it if preventing customers from abandoning their online shopping carts was as simple as a few clicks. While there may not be a simple "one-fix answer," there are various efficient techniques to assist your Direct to Consumer sales by bringing customers from shopping to checking out and placing orders. You may consider a cart abandonment strategy as a part of your D2C marketing strategy. No matter how aggravating cart abandonment is, it's important to remember that every shop faces the same challenge: convincing customers to complete their purchases no matter how large or well-known.

Comparing prices, shipping charges, and customer reviews is easier for online shopping than for traditional brick-and-mortar customers. It gives online shoppers an unfair advantage over brick-and-mortar window shoppers. To make matters worse, many people use online shopping as entertainment rather than a means of making a purchase.

As a result, eCommerce cart abandonment is expected to reach new heights in 2022. We grew less inclined to spend money on "essential" or "frivolous" products when we became more uncertain about the globe and our world. People abandoned their shopping carts in droves in 2021 due to heightened financial anxiety, allowing them to save money for a rainy day. 

eCommerce cart abandonment Source: Pexels

As a result, more customers abandoned their online shopping carts before checking out, while an even greater number did not even attempt to add anything to their virtual shopping carts. It's understandable why more online merchants are considering cart recovery.

What is Cart Abandonment, and How Do You Know it's Happening?

It's deemed "abandonment" when a visitor to your website leaves a page before completing the required action. That means every page of your website with a call-to-action has an "abandonment" rate.
In the case of shopping cart abandonment, or "basket abandonment," an item is put into a digital shopping cart, but no payment is made. After an item has been placed in the shopping cart, the consumer can change their mind or get upset and leave, which can happen for various reasons. It may have been because the shipping prices were too exorbitant, the delivery time was too long, or the checkout process was too lengthy.

Cart Abandonment Source: Pexels

To get your website or D2C eCommerce brand’s abandonment rate, you'll need to divide the total number of completed transactions (orders) by the number of abandoned shopping carts. Depending on where you acquire your site's analytics, one can access these numbers from various sources. Use Google Analytics to keep tabs on how your website is doing. Most experts advocate checking your cart abandonment rate at least twice a month if you want to remain on top of any major issues and make necessary corrections.
Customers quit shopping carts for various reasons, many of which you have no power to influence. If you implement cart abandonment solutions and maximize your audience's engagement, you may significantly reduce cart abandonment and increase your online store's profitability.


Don't forget: The best way to prevent cart abandonment is to ensure it doesn't happen at all! If this happens, your only option is to try to win back any clients you've lost in the future.

It's vital to understand your customer's point of view to address most of the causes of cart abandonment. To better comprehend your customers are going through when they shop at your online store, you need to put yourself in their shoes.

D2C eCommerce Source: Pexels

Authenticity and trustworthiness are extremely important considerations for many online customers. Why? Because the vast majority of people making purchases online have never had the opportunity to hold your product. It's much more critical that customers trust you as the store owner or vendor to deliver a decent, legitimate product if it's a digital one. Your online store and checkout process will impact Direct to Consumer sales more if you incorporate social proof, such as real customer testimonials, into the design and functionality.
The stakes go much greater after your user reaches the checkout page; thus, the modifications to your website and entire experience are even more critical. You can rapidly lose the trust of your target customer if your checkout procedure is complicated or if the general look and feel of the checkout pages differs from the rest of your website. Customers will abandon their carts if the checkout procedure is too long; therefore, you'll have to play defence with abandonment cart recovery if your checkout process is too long.

The Most Common Reasons Why Customers Abandon Their Shopping Carts

Since one can easily remedy most of the ten reasons cited in the Baymard study, we'll focus on the top four, with the possible exception of shipping prices. However, one can argue that high shipping costs can be alleviated by offering customers flat-rate shipping, a discount, or a minimum order amount to qualify for free shipment.

  • First and foremost, high shipping expenses.
  • Having to register an account to view content.
  • A lengthy checkout procedure.
  • Costs that aren't immediately apparent.

How To Reduce And Recover Abandoned Shopping Carts In The Most Efficient Manner Possible

Optimizing your checkout and cart recovery processes can reduce shopping cart abandonment rates. Please read on for details on 4 of the most successful techniques.

  • Resend checkout recovery emails to customers.
  • Make the checkout procedure easier.
  • Offer a deal to encourage them to return.
  • Make it possible for guests to check out.

Final Thoughts

While we focused on the four most common reasons for shopping cart abandonment, it's crucial to analyze the bigger picture. All the major issues identified in the Baymard study should be familiarized with and addressed.

Many abandonment issues can be traced back to each other if you don't include window shoppers and tire kickers. The pieces reveal a bigger story when they are put together. When other roadblocks like website faults, lengthy delivery timeframes, and a poor or nonexistent return policy are coupled, the lack of free shipping may be what prompts a consumer to abandon their cart.

Potential to recover some of those abandoned carts is enormous. You may recoup some of those missed Direct to Consumer sales by sending recovery emails with creative subject lines, offering incentives like discounts or free things, and ensuring that the checkout procedure is simple, mobile-friendly, and secure. For more details, contact our D2C eCommerce experts!

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