According to the latest consumer research results from eDigitalResearch and IMRG over half (54%) of online consumers who have abandoned their basket in the past have done so because of a simple change of mind – a figure which is not influenced by device use.
The results reveal almost three quarters of shoppers (73%) have abandoned their basket in the past. Over one third of these (40%) were due to delivery costs either being too high or unavailable until the checkout. It suggests that being up-front about delivery costs and delivery times is an important factor in converting visitors to customers.
Basket abandonment rates have often been linked to usability issues, as well as device choice. However, research reveals that alongside change of mind and delivery concerns, almost a third of shoppers (30%) said comparing prices elsewhere and needing longer to reach a purchase decision (33%) were key reasons as to why they abandoned their basket before checkout.
IMRG’s own data supports these findings, tracking that basket abandonment rates are broadly similar across desktop, tablets and smartphones – despite the fact that smartphone shoppers are prone to disruptions. However, further analysis reveals that abandonment at the checkout stage of the journey is much higher on smartphone than desktop – indicating the importance of a seamless multi-device shopping experience.
Insight shows that the same drivers of basket abandonment are experienced across devices, indicating that pain points are not influenced by device type and instead are issues found across the digital customer experience.
According to eDigitalResearch’s latest Digital eRetail Benchmark report , a great shopping basket should clearly display delivery times and costs, as well as an easy to see returns policy.
Chris Russell, Joint Chairman at eDigitalResearch and Visiting Professor at University College London, Digital Consumerism, explains: “The results reveal the importance of measuring the end-to-end customer experience on all platforms to truly understand the issues shoppers are coming up against and prevent basket abandonment. Small simple steps can make a big difference in improving the customer experience, being honest and upfront about delivery charges before the checkout page reduces can help increase conversion rates and improve the overall customer experience.”
Andy Mulcahy, Editor at IMRG, comments: “Basket abandonment often seems to be frustratingly high for retailers – in Q2 of 2015 we tracked it at 62.7%. Looking at our performance data there are only marginal basket abandonment variations between devices, and it’s interesting to see that this is consistent with shopper perceptions – putting an item in the basket is just a way of ‘saving’ it to be reviewed later, so a high abandonment rate is probably to be expected and doesn’t seem to be influenced by device. With checkout abandonment rates though, we do see big differences with the rate on smartphones being far higher – while conversion rates on these devices are growing, it may be that distractions popping up from apps have a stronger influence than on other devices at the point of final purchase.”
