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You could have the best products in your industry at the lowest prices, but if your shopping cart process is busted, it’s all for nothing. Shopping cart abandonment is something online companies are constantly fighting to reduce. The good news is there are some simple tips you can implement to keep buyers moving forward to the completion of their purchase.

Follow these guidelines to keep shopping cart abandonment to a minimum.

• Show the customer’s progress—One reason customers abandon shopping carts is because they feel like the process is too long. In addition to making the checkout process as short as possible, you should also include a progress bar during checkout. This lets customers know exactly how far they are in the checkout process and how much they have left before being finished. It makes checking out seem more manageable, so they don’t get scared off.
• Include pictures of products inside the basket—Don’t you want to see what you’re buying? Think about it. When you’re in an actual store, you get to see, touch, and hold the product. Obviously, you can’t hold a product online, but including a picture of the item inside the shopping cart gets you a little closer. Some claim that including images in the shopping cart increases conversion rate by up to 10%.
• Make it simple to move to the next step—Don’t make your customers guess about what they need to do next to move forward with their transaction. Use big “next” buttons they can click to go to the next step. Make it so easy that someone who has never used a computer before could figure out how to move forward.
• Offer more than one shipping option—High shipping prices is one of the most common reasons for shopping cart abandonment. One thing you can do to counter high shipping prices is to give your customers different options. Let them find a shipping plan that meets their budget, even if it means it takes longer for their order to arrive.
• Don’t force registration—To me, this is the biggest buzz kill. You’re excited about buying something, and then, the company wants you to create an account before you buy anything. This has happened to me on multiple occasions, and I can only remember one time that I actually went forward, registered, and completed the purchase (because it was an item I really needed).

All of these tips have one common theme: Keep it simple. Make it as easy as possible for customers to buy from you, and you’ll be all right.

Have you been losing a lot of customers due to shopping cart abandonment? What steps have you taken to correct it?

Did you know most online retailers suffer from a shopping cart abandonment rate between 50-60%? Is this happening to you? If so, you’re probably wondering why customers are ditching you just when you think you’ve closed the deal. Thankfully, I have some answers. Below, you’ll find 5 of the most common reasons buyers abandon your shopping cart.

1.    Shipping rates are too high—In my most recent post outlining the reasons you should offer free shipping, I mentioned that about 43% of consumers abandon shopping carts because the shipping costs are too high. Simply put, your consumers do figure in shipping and handling costs when they’re comparison shopping, and it’s your job to keep your shipping rates as low as possible (free is even better) so that you can lower your shopping cart abandonment rates.

2.    Takes too long to checkout—Is there anything worse than an online checkout process that takes like 15 minutes to complete? One of the main benefits of shopping online is the convenience; don’t screw this up by creating a long, annoying checkout process that requires buyers to keep clicking forward.

3.    You ask for too much info at checkout—Even though online shopping is still rising in popularity and more people are feeling comfortable with it, customers are still a bit wary when buying online. If they feel like you’re asking for too much information, they’re going to abandon the shopping cart. Make your customers as comfortable as possible by getting only the information you need to complete the checkout and confirmation.
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