Have you ever seen someone enter a store, look around for a few moments, turn around and leave? Or, perhaps you’ve witnessed a shopper exit a brick-and-mortar shop in a hurry after appearing upset or defeated.
Situations like these occur all the time, often because shoppers are having a hard time finding what they want in a timely manner. Or, a specific incident causes them to try their luck with a competitor instead.
But this phenomenon is not reserved for physical stores alone; ecommerce websites can repel customers just as easily. Is your ecommerce store turning away customers? It pays to know why people leave so you can avoid common user experience pitfalls. It also helps to know where in the funnel people are prone to leave, so you can focus your attention on these “problem areas.”
Reasons Customers Will Leave
Attracting potential customers to your website is just the beginning. Scoring conversions is a matter of providing an optimized shopping experience. According to one recent study, 68.9 percent of shoppers would shop around if they encountered any of these three pet peeves:
- Poorly designed menus
- A website lacking advanced search capabilities
- Branding that gets in the way of browsing
It’s clear here that usability is high on customers’ list of priorities. Navigation alone can make or break the user experience. Luckily, modern cloud-based ecommerce solutions allow brands to customize their websites without sacrificing streamlined appearance and function.
For instance, consider the navigation bar running across your landing pages. If your labels are too broad, customers will become frustrated at having to hover or click to see their options. Research from Baymard Institute reveals not displaying product categories directly in the main site navigation causes multiple and severe navigational issues for users.
It also pays to consider the effectiveness of your search bar. If customers have a question, this is likely the first place they’ll head to see if you have the types of products they seek. This important tool deserves a place of prominence on every landing page across your website.
You can help guide customers in their search queries by utilizing autocomplete much like popular online search engines do. Furthermore, your site search should return more than just product suggestions; it should return helpful content, FAQs and anything else relevant to assisting customers.
Pay Special Attention to Checkout
Checkout is a major drop-off point in the ecommerce sales funnel. Even shoppers who have carefully added an assortment of products to their shopping carts are at risk of leaving before finishing their transaction. Reasons range from impatience to form submission issues, as well as surprise at extra fees, payment errors and more. Long story short: The fewer hiccups here, the better for your bottom line.
[Tweet “The fewer hiccups here, the better for your bottom line.”]Above all, it’s crucial to offer consumers a simple, secure way to check out. Costs must appear transparent throughout the process, including shipping fees, taxes and discounts. Avoid forcing customers to register and create an account before buying–this will alienate shoppers in a hurry.
Offer a variety of payment methods, so fewer people leave at the last minute because of incompatibility. Make sure customer service is accessible every step of the way so you can retain users with queries and comments.
Sometimes shoppers abandon their carts simply because they get distracted or they’re using a mobile device on the go. While it’s no design fault of your own, your store can capitalize on these ‘almost’ customers by launching remarketing campaigns.
Your ecommerce store may be turning away customers by accident. To avoid doing so, prioritize the usability of your website, particularly when it comes to browsing and checkout functions.
Identity Magazine is all about guiding women to discover their powers of Self-Acceptance, Appreciation, and Personal Achievement. We ask that every contributor and expert answer the Identity 5 questions in keeping with our theme. Their answers can be random and in the moment or they can be aligned with the current article they have written. In that way, and as a team, we hope to encourage and motivate each other, thus inspiring you to Get All A’s.
1. What have you accepted within your life, physically and/or mentally? Additionally, what are you still working on accepting? Now, we’re talking about resignation, rather stepping into, embraced, and owned.
The challenging life of Entrepreneurship
2. What have you learned to appreciate about yourself and/or within your life, physically and mentally? On the other hand OR in contrast, are there elements of who you are that you’re still working on appreciating?
I appreciate my work and the opportunity to collaborate with others.
3. What is one of your most rewarding achievements in life? Tell us not only what makes YOU most proud but also share the goals and dreams that you still have.
Building my own career.
4. Of course, we all have imperfections, or so we think. In truth, we are all perfectly imperfect. What are your not-so-perfect ways? Likewise, what imperfections and quirks create who you are–your Identity?
My laugh is one of a kind.
5. “I Love My…” is an outlet for you to appreciate and express all the positive traits that make you…well…YOU! In fact, sharing what you love about yourself will make you smile, feel empowered, and uplift your spirit and soul. (We assure you!) Therefore, Identity challenges you to complete the phrase “I Love My…?”
I love my career and my life.
Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash
