5 reasons why users leave online store without making a purchase

The number of abandoned shopping carts is a serious problem in the e-commerce industry. Users often perceive online stores as a place where they can find product information before deciding to buy it at a brick and mortar store. Therefore, it is very easy for them to leave the full shopping cart abandoned.

According to the Baymard Institute, approximately 70% of users leave the online store after adding products to the cart. A lot of factors related to both the functionality of the store and its appearance, as well as the individual approach of users to online shopping have a large impact on the negative decision. More often than not, the company has an influence not only on bringing the customer's attention back to abandoned products but also on eliminating the reasons for which the user may opt-out of the purchase.

Reason 1: Additional costs too high

Information about delivery costs is one of the mandatory elements that should be on the product page so that users can more easily calculate the full cost of the order. However, often companies only provide information on the lowest delivery costs or do not provide any fees at all. Then the potential customers should look for information on their own, otherwise, if they don’t pay attention to the fact that the details are missing on the product page, they will see it only after adding the item to the cart. An unexpected increase in the price because of additional fees, which also includes the cost of delivery, causes users to lose trust in the store and leave the cart.

Reason 2: Long process of finalizing the order along with mandatory registration

By making a purchase in an online store, users are prepared that the company would need their information necessary to prepare the order and ship it. However, when the process of completing the purchase is prolonged by the necessity to fill out long forms, potential customers are discouraged and give up the purchase.

This also applies to registration. Not every user wants to set up an account in the online store. Especially for people who rarely decide to shop online, registration is unnecessary. The obligation to set up an account, as well as additional fields to complete in the purchasing process, increases the number of unnecessary steps that the user should proceed to finalize the order. The more stages a customer should complete, the more likely they will give up.

Reason 3: Limited selection of payment methods

Technological progress has caused that the market is full of various possibilities for finance management. Virtual banks, mobile apps and wallets allow users to make transactions easier and faster. That is why it is worth for online stores to adjust to the preferences of potential customers. In addition to traditional payment methods, users prefer to choose other, more modern options, such as Apple Pay. In this way, the online store provides the option of making an online purchase payment to a larger group of users. Otherwise, customer trust will be low if they would not be able to choose the option that suits them best.

Reason 4: Non-intuitive navigation

The online store should be built in such a way that the user is able to find relevant information within a few seconds, including delivery costs and return policy. For companies, it is tempting to design the store in a way so that potential customers spend as much time as possible on the site. However, too complicated navigation causes users to feel frustrated and leave the site, sometimes even before they add the product to the cart. In addition, the difficult availability of basic information about the order processing process may cause potential customers to resign from the purchase as soon as the information becomes visible.

Reason 5: Customers not ready to make a purchase

According to statistics, as many as 58.6% of carts are abandoned due to the fact that users were not ready to make a purchase or were only looking for information about the product without еру intention to buy it. Changes in the online store and simplifying the order realization process have little impact on the users’ decisions when they are not prepared for the purchase. However, an efficient shop with intuitive navigation and a transparent shopping journey means that the potential customers will return to the selected product when the need to purchase it arises.