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Using Surveys to Understand Shopping Cart Abandonment Jason Prescott in CB's Corner June 25th, 2007

Wholesalers and retailers need to understand the whys and wherefores of shopping cart abandonment to anticipate customer concerns while learning obstacles to order completion and site navigation. This can increase future conversion rates as well as reduce your costs.

Why Customers Leave

Customers leave for various reasons. Common factors include:

• High shipping costs
• Requests for registration
• Requests for personal information prior to checkout
• Complex and cumbersome ordering process
• Malfunctioning shopping carts

Using an Abandonment Survey

What can be done to reduce shopping cart abandonment and improve your online sales? You can use an abandonment survey administered as a Web site pop-up or sent to lost customers via email.
The design and implementation of Web-based point-of-abandonment surveys is less complicated and expensive than many merchants believe.

Possible Questions

You’ll want to create simple, straightforward questions. Below are some questions you might ask:

• Why did you choose not to complete this purchase? This question can be open-ended or include the following options: (1) no intent to purchase, (2) poor user experience, (3) security issues, (4) price, (5) shipping costs, etc.
• What can we do to facilitate the completion of an order on our Web site in the future? Again, this can be open-ended or provide choices such as: (1) improve user interface, (2) improve Web site security, (3) lower shipping costs, (4) provide in-store pickup, etc.
• What is your biggest concern about shopping online? This can be open-ended or provide choices such as: (1) security, (2) online price versus in-store price, etc.
• How frequently do you purchase merchandise online?
• How frequently do you comparison shop online?
• You might also want to inquire about the person’s demographic information, such as city and state, education level, or how he or she heard about your Web site.

Provide an Incentive

You can increase survey response rates by offering the customers who abandoned your shopping cart merchandise discounts to complete the survey. This might also increase the likelihood of a sale.

Review survey results on a regular basis, depending on your level of Web site traffic and the objective of your survey.

First, evaluate each question independently, and then filter results by demographic information to identify specific trends. This kind of feedback can help you understand the pain points and concerns customers have so you can address these issues, revising your Web site strategy and design accordingly. Carefully consider the objective of your surveys before designing the questions, collecting only information that will enable you to better serve your customers.

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