abandonment - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

A recent survey says the rate of shopping cart abandonment for US online retailers has increased slightly year on year, reaching 59.4% in Q1 2008.

So why do customers abandon their shopping carts and what can be done about it?

Stats suggest that the average abandonment rate for shopping carts is around 60% and that 12% of these customers bail out before reaching the checkout stage.

Many customers may have simply added items to their shopping basket for comparison purposes, which is something etailers cannot control, but others may well be abandoning them due to problems which can easily be fixed.

Here are ten tips on how make the process as easy as possible for customers:

Problems with the checkout process constitute the single biggest loss of revenue for many e-commerce sites, with almost half of online retail transactions abandoned at this stage.

According to figures from Marketing Sherpa, the average abandonment rate for shopping carts is 60%, of which 12% give up before hitting the checkout. This means 48% of potential customers bail out at the checkout stage.

E-consultancy this week publishes its Online Retail Checkout Special Report, a must-read for e-commerce site owners who want to understand how they can reduce abandonment rates.

Here, Dr Mike Baxter, the author, talks about some of the key issues and problem areas associated with checkouts - and some of the 'quick wins' for etailers.

Foolproof's 2006 Online Shopping Survey into insurance predicts rapid growth in online purchasing of motor and home insurance policies, but points out that growth is hampered by poor usability.

The good news for online insurers is that consumers see the benefits of avoiding long phone calls for quotes and insuring online, but insurers are urged to make improvements, especially when it comes to usability.