How To Tackle Common Reasons For Checkout Abandonment, Video Tutorial On Driving Search Engagement & Useful Resources

Part One: Tackling The Reasons For Checkout Abandonment

Last edition I covered tips on structuring a shopping cart abandonment email/SMS program. This week Hannah Spicer (she/her) shared a chart published in The Telegraph, showing the most common reasons for people abandoning online purchases. I’m flipping it on its head, sharing 20+ tips for how ecommerce teams can tackle each of these purchase barriers.

First, the chart.

Now the mitigations for reduced abandonment.

Increased financial caution

First and foremost, we shouldn’t be pushing people to buy things they can’t afford. However, we definitely should help make paying for items they need/want easier and less stressful. A few options:

• Introduce BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) if you don’t already offer it: Klarna is a market leader but there are local market variations, and alternatives like Clearpay have proven popular with my non-premium brand clients
• Be clear on the PDP how much each instalment costs for a pay in instalments plan; see the Perfume Shop example below:

• Use pricing psychology techniques to shift perception away from total cost into the value and utility e.g. price per serving for food like cereals (ï¿¡3 for a box or 18p per serving), per day cost for a subscription product (Get the best X for only 20p per day)?
• Provide practical advice on your PLP for how to get the most from your product and make it last longer e.g. care & washing instructions for clothing, cleaning instructions for appliances, maintenance tips for electricals, advice on how to apply makeup to avoid wastage etc. > improve your messaging by emphasising how shoppers are ‘getting value’ from their purchase.

Dissatisfaction with delivery options

On a personal note, my biggest annoyance is a lack of options and extreme costs; I was once quoted ï¿¡30 to deliver a single tap worth ï¿¡20 from the Midlands to London!

If you’re serious about ecommerce growth, you’ve got to be competitive with your delivery proposition, unless you’re lucky enough to have such a unique product in high demand that people want it no matter what. I thought not ??

• Delivery costs must be clear on the PDP; if the cost is variable based on shipping address (which is common), then display a default message like “Free UK delivery available on all orders over ï¿¡50”

• For retailers with a wide store base and collection service, ensure the “Collect FREE from any of our stores” message is prominent
• Provide a delivery information snippet on the PDP which expands to summarise the delivery options and costs - see the AO.com example below, which is a lot of information but really, really useful and provides reassurance
• Give people choice: it’s OK to have a standard 3-5 working days service to avail free shipping but some customers expect things quicker, so ensure there is a fast track next day service (with a clear order cut off date), and you can charge for it
• On the PDP, put a countdown timer showing how long is left before the next day delivery order cut off (in testing, timers have worked better for me than static text)
• Introduce a delivery subscription service if you have a product set that lends itself to regular purchases (this can also be used in a Loyalty Program as a perk for higher tier loyalty customers)

More online browsing and comparisons

This is the hardest barrier to tackle because retailers have trained shoppers to expect and wait for discounts, and branded items are sold in multiple outlets, so it's easy to price compare and hunt for who's on sale.

There are a few things that can help:

• Offer a price match promise if you sell branded goods that can be bought from other retailers; AO.com does this well, asking customers to call them and they even offer to refund the differences if the price drops for a product already ordered
• Emphasise genuine USPs and the benefits of shopping directly with you e.g. as the brand owner, it could be an extended warranty, or access to exclusive content and events
• If you have a genuine sustainability commitment that means you won't always be the lowest price, explain the benefits of buying with you. Able and Cole have honed their marketing message to promote the shopper and environmental benefits of 'the Inconvenience Store' (see the video).

Return policy frustrations

Start by seeing returns as a customer experience opportunity, not a policy and cost. Yes, the cost of returns can ruin a business if not managed properly, but a focus on cost blinds businesses to the customer impact. A few pointers:

• Ensure your returns policy has its own page and a clear link in the footer, on the PDP and on the basket page (I’ve tested this with an FAQ block and seen decent event stats, and what’s communicated influences exit rate) - your goal is providing information transparency
• Be flexible: if a good customer is returning outside the policy window (e.g. after 20 days not 14 days), don’t piss them off with a blank “No”. Instead, explain the return is outside the window but you’re happy to offer them store credit instead; I’ve seen this significantly reduce the cost of returns vs. giving them a refund
• If the cost of a return is more than the margin from the product being returned, consider asking customers to keep the item if it’s not damaged (they can always give it away as a gift, or to a local charity) > this can have a sustainability benefit by reducing carbon footprint
• Linked to the above, you’ll need close analysis to monitor returns trends at a customer level to identify anyone who might be taking advantage of returns flexibility e.g. ordering and returning frequently because they know they might be told to keep it.
• Review the steps to initiate and process a return, and explore how you can simplify/speed up the process e.g. provide a simple online form for returns initiation
• For registered customers, ensure there is a ‘request return’ option in the online account Order History
• More complex: if you have retail stores, allow customers to return to store, which requires integration between ecommerce and POS, or an in-store terminal with the ecommerce system available to lookup orders and process a return (I helped a retailer put this in place on Magento).

Poor customer service and unresolved queries

Scaling a CS team is challenging, and it’s hard to attract and retain the best talent. To handle customer queries at scale requires a blend of automation and human oversight.

• Add contextually relevant FAQ blocks on your PLPs and PDPs e.g. for a jewellery brand, I added FAQs to the PDPs for rings on free resizing, warranties, authenticity and product care. I like how Tiffany frame this as “The Tiffany Experience”:

• Automate the response to high volume FAQs by using an AI Chatbot; provide rapid answers to questions like “Where’s my order?” and “How much is delivery?”: customers get far quicker response times, and one of my clients saw a 50% drop in tickets post implementation
• Train the the chatbot by feeding it CS documentation and your existing FAQ content (if you don’t have any, then you’ve got to write it before you consider using a bot)
• Overlay brand guardrails to provide consistency in tone, language and conversation style: see the example below from Rat & Boa, who use Certainly.io
• Have a manual fallback, so when the bot can’t satisfy the customer enquiry, the bot offers a human connection either via callback or allowing the customer to submit a form (I recommend callback as it’s a more personal service, but not all teams have the resource to enable this).

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Part Two: Video Masterclass - Increasing On-Site Search Engagement

I often find ecommerce teams focus more on the search algorithm and campaigns, like product boosting and redirects, less on ensuring the site gets people into relevant search journeys quickly and effectively. Through simple testing, I’ve seen search engagement (the % of users using search) increase by double digits.

In this 10-minute video I share practical tips of boosting search usage and improving the search experience by focusing on two aspects

Search box design and visibility

• Mobile: persistent search bar vs. icon > persistent bar really useful for large multi category sites
• Search icon needs to be visible when you open mobile main menu - see Nudie Jeans
• Desktop: testing location, as centre aligned often performs best - see M&S - but also increasing pixel width and height
• Search box: visual distinction, state change when the shopper interacts
• Text prompts e.g. Search for products, brands and articles >> test animated text
• Friendly and positive CTA button e.g. AO.com has Let’s Go, which mirrors it’s TV and audio add strapline AO, Let’s Go

2. Default view and type-ahead efficiency

• As soon as search box opens provide content so it doesn’t look broken
• Popular searches (can be personalised based on user, leading engines like Klevu enable this)
• Display key categories & trending products?
• Customer service links are surprisingly useful when I looked at the data for a jewellery client
• Display matches ASAP ideally after second letter is typed, not default third: match products, categories and other content formats e.g. blogs and videos useful
• Products: show thumbnail, title & price
• Heals visually nice with headings for popular searches, matching categories, products, can we help?

Part Three: Useful resources

Events/webinars

Ordergroove webinar talking through Whisker’s multi-product subscription strategy and success.

https://www.ordergroove.com/access/whisker-litter-robot-subscriptions-perfected-webinar/

Articles/guides

Linnworks State of Ecommerce Ops report (via download form):

https://www.linnworks.com/the-state-of-commerce-ops-download/

For anyone working in sales / lead gen, a helpful article from the brilliant Stephen Kenwright on how to get ghosted less often!

https://themarketingmeetup.com/blog/how-to-get-ghosted-less-stephen-kenwright/?

And finally, my Five to Follow:

1. Michelle Corp - Ecommerce Director at Lily’s Kitchen, brilliant digital leader
2. Pablo Lalor - Head of Ecommerce at Lily’s Kitchen, excellent eye for detail and growth strategies
3. Will Young - CEO and founder at customer data intelligence platform Rais, well worth checking out
4. Tuan Ngo - a good friend a highly experienced ecommerce programme manager/director
5. Anna Wilson - growth & offline marketing specialist (podcast coming soon on DM for ecommerce!)

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