UX Strategies vs. Cart Abandonment
Can you imagine going into a store, taking what you like, getting to the register, and then leaving everything there? Even worse, repeating this dynamic in any store that has something you like? While this would seem strange to us in the physical world, this happens in online stores in a 80%. Why?
“Cart abandonment” is a common practice. Very common. It consists of entering an online store, selecting the products you like, proceeding with the purchase process, and when you are one step away from paying, leaving everything and walking away.
It's not that people are scared of paying, or as we'd say in Mexico, “get cold feet” about making a purchase. Rather, purchases generally have a very emotional essence where, upon encountering friction or tension, we doubt what we're doing and prefer to forget about the purchase we were going to make.
According to PayPal, the payment company formed at the beginning of the century by Elon Musk and other partners, there are three main reasons why people abandon their shopping carts:
- Surprise fees: These are those amounts that you were never told about but that appear at some stage of payment. They can be shipping costs, commissions, taxes, or some other added value.
- Inefficient payment processes: Common failures in payment platforms.
- Complicated payment processes: like when they ask you to create an account to be able to make the payment or the process extends to more than three steps.
At Gerundio, we are convinced that the best way to solve this problem is to approach it through UX strategies. Why? One reason: empathy. UX strategies will work with your users' experience, with how they interact with your product or service.
A good UX strategy is one that is designed with real users, not ideal ones. That's why it's important to test any strategy with people before developing it, observe what they tell you, how they interact with your product or service, and have them share what that research made them feel.
Here are 3 UX strategies you can consider to reduce your cart abandonment:
Be clear
It's important for people to know how many stages their purchase process will last and which one they are currently in. Guiding them through the process helps reduce the stress of not knowing where they stand. It's also crucial to avoid surprise charges. As we mentioned above, people consider surprise charges, no matter how small, to be an abuse, as well as a deception regarding the price.
Presume tu seguridad
People continue to distrust online payments, especially when done through an external provider. That's why you should try to explain the entire process and constantly display your security certificates or graphic elements that represent them to increase the buyer's confidence.
Take care of your optimization
Many times, due to time and cost constraints, web developments focus much more on online desktop purchases than on mobile online purchases. Remember that there are industries where mobile transactions are everything. Therefore, try to ensure that your site works correctly on both platforms, especially that the design is respected so that user flows are not altered.
Some specialized payment processing software, such as Moosend They point out that to a certain extent it's normal for people to abandon their carts; there's a percentage of people who are just checking out your online store. But you also need to work on a UX strategy with them, such as saving their shopping cart for when they return.
Finally, it's important that you always keep the concept of «fluidity» in mind, because just as nothing stops you from entering a store, picking up an item, and going to the register to pay for it, everything in your online store should be the same way. The feeling of flow is crucial in purchasing processes.
Would you like to implement some UX strategies in your business? Knock on our door, At Gerundio, we'll be delighted to put your ideas into action.
