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| People shop online, but they don’t buy |
November 17, 2008 |
 Well, some do. The rest abandon their shopping carts
By Peter Wolchak
A recent survey from online payment processor PayPal concludes that one third of shoppers who go so far as to place goods into an online shopping cart simply change their minds before making the actual payment. A further 50 per cent don’t buy because they only used the payment process to learn about shipping costs and delivery dates, and were not really committed to the purchase.
While there is some good news for online retailers in the report—for example, about a third of those customers return to the site later to make the purchase, and almost 10 per cent will truck out to the retailer’s store to buy the item—this rate of shopping cart abandonment is worrisome for merchants.
So PayPal next asked which factors stopped customers from spending their money. Reasons cited as most important include:
| > shipping charges were too high |
43% |
| > total cost was more than expected |
36% |
| > didn’t want to wait for delivery |
11% |
| > did not wish to register or create an account |
10% |
| > forgot username or password for the site |
14% |
| > concerns about online payment security |
16% |
| > preferred payment option was not available |
22% |
| > could not contact customer support |
16% |
| > too many steps were required |
8% |
Not surprisingly, then, the survey respondents have the following advice for online retailers who want to actually sell more product:
1) lower the shipping fees or offer free shipping
2) offer better prices or discounts
3) show the associated costs (like shipping) before checkout
4) ensure it is clear when items are not in stock
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