Expert: How human contact may quell cart abandonment rates

Shopping cart abandonment continues to be a big issue for online merchants and brands, but according to one expert having live customer service agents for digital shoppers may be the solution. Here's how.

by Kristina Knight

Kristina: MDG data shows a 90% cart abandonment rate for higher-priced goods - why are shoppers abandoning so many of these carts? Is it simple buyer's remorse/worry or is something more going on?

Milos Varaklic, VP of Operations, MDG: While there are many different factors that go into consumers abandoning their carts, extra costs like shipping, taxes and fees are definitely the largest contributor here. Additionally, having to create an account to make a purchase, long and complicated checkout processes and lack of transparency with consumers are also major contributors to cart abandonment.

Kristina: Cart abandonment isn't just hitting merchants with higher-priced items, though, is there something merchants need to do across the board to encourage shoppers to complete their purchases?

Milos: Being upfront about all costs involved in a purchase and streamlining the checkout process by optimizing funnel conversions are the key elements. Some of the most optimized processes can have as few as seven customer required fields to complete the order.

Kristina: How might personalizing the shopping experience change this trend?

Milos: It's very effective for merchants to retarget with personalized ads based on the customers' previous site visits. At MDG this brings us an ROI as high as 1200 %. We mainly Facebook and Google for retargeting.

Additionally, at MDG, we have staffed the site with roughly 300 on-demand agents to provide concierge-level services and advisory prior to and following purchases. This service is crucial in connecting directly to consumers and drives more conversion in purchases.

Kristina: What are three things merchants can do to encourage shoppers to finish their purchase rather than abandoning their carts?

Milos: The three main things that merchants can do to encourage shoppers to finish their purchases is to be upfront about all costs involved, remove any type of friction in the sales funnel and optimize conversions on each page.

Tags: cart abandonment rates, ecommerce, ecommerce trends, mobile commerce, mobile marketing, shopping cart abandonment