Are you wondering how to increase your e-commerce shopping cart conversion rate successfully? Great!
Here, we have 7 simple tips that will help you with those pesky shopping cart conversion rates.
We’ve all been there, online shoppers fill up those carts and leave them abandoned without finalizing their purchase. So, how can we use customer real-time data for the optimization of the shopping cart conversion rate?
With these 7 trends and tips, I have gathered for you, you will succeed with online shopping cart conversion optimization.
Table of content
- What is shopping cart conversion rate?
- What is the formula for the shopping cart conversion rate?
- What is a good conversion rate for a shopping cart?
- How to convert shopping cart rates with real-time cart data?
What is shopping cart conversion rate?
First, let’s get it straight: what does shopping online shopping cart conversion rate mean?
The shopping cart conversion rate is the percentage of shoppers who visit your online store. Then, these shoppers add items to their cart and buy them.
So, if your cart conversion rate percentage is high, it means that you are converting most of those carts into real purchases! In reality, most shoppers abandon their carts for different reasons.
For example, from poor user experience, and high shipping costs to a lack of customer support.
What is the formula for the shopping cart conversion rate?
Wondering what’s the add-to-cart conversion rate formula? Divide the purchases on your online store by the number of shopping carts made by customers.
You divide that total by 100, and you get your cart conversion rate percentage. Here is a shopping cart conversion rate example to make things easier:
Let’s say you have an e-commerce site selling mobile phone plans. One day, customers create 30 shopping carts but only convert 10 shopping carts into a purchase.
So 10 finalized purchases divided by 30 created shopping carts, multiplied by 100, would give you your percentage. In this case, your shopping cart conversion rate would be around 33%.
What is a good conversion rate for a shopping cart?
The typical rate at which people buy items from their online shopping carts is usually between 1% and 4%. However, this rate can differ depending on the industry.
Understanding the average shopping cart conversion rate benchmark for your industry is vital to comprehend where you are standing. This way you can change your cart abandonment rate dashboard.
What is the average cart-to-checkout conversion rate?
The rate of cart conversion to check-outs varies based on industry and store size. You can find a specific number to determine your position in this statistic.
For example, statistics show that the automotive conversion rate is around 1.5%. Meaning, that these e-commerce businesses have one of the lowest average e-commerce conversion rates.
So, you will need to make more efforts for a good conversion rate optimization.
Here you have some statistics from other industries:
- Fashion and apparel: 2.7%
- Health and beauty: 3.3%
- Entertainment: 2.5%
- Household goods: 2.1%
- Electronics: 1.9%
- Food and beverage: 4.6%
What is a good shop conversion rate?
As I said before, the shopping cart conversion rate average is highly related to your industry, and the type of e-commerce you have.
For example, if you have an electronics e-commerce store and you have a 7% conversion rate, that would be a great conversion rate.
Some of the leading e-commerce businesses can have conversion rates as high as 30%. Keep in mind that these are very unique and specific cases.
How to convert shopping cart rates with real-time cart data?
The truth is that with real-time shopping cart data, and the right efforts you can easily boost conversions.
Cart abandonment rate statistics range from 50% to 90% depending on the industry. Telco and Automobile are some industries with the highest cart abandonment rates. So as you can imagine, efficient customer and buyer journeys are vital in these cases.
If you have access to prospective customers' shopping cart information, you can lead them in the right direction. This way you can help them finalize the purchase.
I have gathered 7 excellent examples you can implement on your e-commerce store.
1. Customer service
It is no secret great customer service can make a difference in converting your prospects. However, key customer service elements can elevate your e-commerce game.
- Live Shopping: Sometimes all you need is a one-on-one live call with your customers. These calls are great for solving the prospects' questions about your products. Live chats are another great tool to help customers solve their issues for a successful checkout. And this way, you build long-lasting relationships with customers.
- Customer Reviews: Believe me when I tell you social proof will boost your conversion rates. Seeing that previous customers are happy with their purchase will make potential customers trust you. Also, it will give them that little push they need to finalize the purchase.
- Shoppable Videos: Targeted shoppable videos on social media are a great marketing strategy. These videos generate engagement with the target audience. Video reviews or aesthetic short videos with clickable elements to product pages are great examples of useful shoppable videos.
These grab your prospective customers' attention, leading them to visit your website and buy the product.
2. Optimize user experience
If customers can't find what they need when they visit your e-commerce store, or the page takes too long to load, they will leave your page and look elsewhere. So, long story short, you have to make navigation easy.
You need to make sure customers have an easy and smooth experience when navigating your site. That is why you should look closely into these elements.
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Optimize mobile user experience: Mobile commerce is customary! Most customers will check out your page and products on the go, on their mobile phones. You must optimize your page for mobile phone users.
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Calls to action: Sometimes all you need to convert those shopping carts to purchases is a good CTA (call to action). Calls to action are clickable buttons that can redirect your prospect to check out and give them the confidence to shop.
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Landing pages: don't get it twisted! Your e-commerce sites need a great landing page for those prospects who clicked your ad. And by good I mean the landing page needs to go directly to the point and have a good CTA. You want to convert these prospects so you have to offer something good, or something that will solve their problems.
3. Cross-sell relevant items
Did you know that cross-selling can increase your sales by up to 30%?
Customers may not always be delighted with a product. Offering related or complementary items can increase their likelihood of purchasing.
Remember, everything needs to simplify shoppers' journey and encourage them to buy your products.
For example, let's say that a prospect is interested in buying a new mobile phone. In this case, you can offer these prospective phone accessories or mobile plans.
These items would be relevant to them and will keep them browsing and adding items to their carts.
4. Up-sell higher value items
Another great way to convert your shopping cart rates is by recommending higher-value items to your customers.
A prospect goes to your website because they are interested in buying a new blender. The one that they are thinking of buying costs €30 and has 400W power. In this case, you would recommend blenders that are €50 and have an 800W power.
You need to convince them to buy the higher-value products you are recommending. But they will see their value since it has better features or better quality.
5. Check out process
The checkout process needs to be seamless so they complete their purchase. Customers are already giving you their money, so, don't make the checkout page super complicated or give a long list of steps. This will hurt your checkout conversion.
Sometimes things like allowing customers to finish the checkout process without creating an account increase your conversion rates.
Another key point is adding shopping cart sliders to improve the conversion rate. Adding shopping cart sliders prospects can see their shopping cart items without leaving for the checkout cart page. This way they can continue adding items to the cart, without early conversion.
6. Sales Promotions
Offering free shipping will without a doubt boost your conversion rate, and offering free shipping doesn't mean losing money. You can add the shipping cost to your products.
Another great way is offering 10% off to new customers. What is great about this method, is that you will not only convert a prospect. You will also get their contact information when they add their email address to get the discount code.
7. Use Rewards
Rewards are a great way to gain your customers' loyalty and make sure they come back to your e-commerce for more.
For example, you can give them an incentive of €10 off if they spend a certain amount on their purchase. Or you can give them a discount code they need to use before a specific date after they buy something from your site.
This way, I assure you, customers will go back to your website, and use those rewards. And it will boost your shopping cart conversion rates.
Conclusion
Those were the best 7 trends to increase shopping cart conversion rate. As you can see, simple things can make a difference when converting those prospects into sales!
Some of the key points that will help you with your conversion rates are:
Efficient customer support, understanding of your customer's needs, and building a strong relationship with them.
Dig a bit deeper into the subject with these 12 eCommerce sales strategies will be a game changer for boosting your sales.
Editor's note: This blog was originally posted in 2016 but has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy.