Back to life, back to reality (kinda) Part 3 – Kate

Did you leave something behind?
The next time you go shopping and your basket is full, you should just place the basket down on the
floor and leave.
Walk straight out the shop.
Completely abandon that basket.
It would be strange, wouldn’t it? Why is it so normal online? And why does it happen so often?
Here at My Mustard we have been diving deeper into the world of abandoned baskets and why we,
as consumers, abandon them 70% of the time.
I know I am a serious offender for admiring products, building a lovely assemblage in my cart and at
the last minute, ruthlessly decide that I didn’t need or want the items. At all. All with a click of a tiny
red button found in the top corner of a screen.
I sometimes even get an ad on Google, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram reminding me of the items I left behind and I often get a cheeky 10% off if I return to the site and complete my order.
So, why do we all do it?

Here are the Top 10 reasons for abandoned carts:
1. Forced Account Creation
The whole process of creating a unique username and a password containing numbers, uppercase
letters, lowercase letters and a special symbol that must be over a certain character limit is enough
to cause friction in the buyer journey – and don’t get me started on accounts that need verifying
before purchase.
2. Complicated Checkout
A checkout process that is lengthy, complex and requires lots of effort is enough to turn people off.
This can include having too many steps, filling in lots of fields or asking unnecessary questions that
are redundant in the buying process.
3. Security concerns
18% of consumers abandon their cart because they don’t trust the website with their card details.
Corrupt companies do exist and understandably, consumers are not willing to take the risk unless
they know that their details are absolutely in safe hands.
4. Slow or limited delivery
What do you mean you can’t get this delivered to my house at 9am tomorrow? Consumers of today
tend to expect quicker delivery and will often leave an item behind if they can’t get their hands on it
ASAP.
5. Inadequate returns policy
A huge 69% of shoppers are put off by having to pay for return shipping; if return policies are not
hassle-free, companies tend to find themselves swimming up-stream.

6. Lack of payment methods
Debit? Credit? PayPal? Buy now, pay later? Consumers tend to stick to using a payment method they
know because they feel it is a safe option they trust or because they have previously used these
methods and were happy with the experience.
7. Excessive upselling
Aggressively adding upsell items to the cart when a shopper checks out can leave the impression
that the consumer is being milked for all they are worth. Too many pop-ups, suggestions or
irrelevant lists are often frowned upon.
8. No coupon code
We all love a bargain or feeling like we have made a saving. Providing discount codes are a good way
to tip a lot of buyers – especially new customers, over the edge to complete a purchase. Many users
shop with a low purchase intent and they browse in a way that they would in a physical shop – 20%
off is a good path to a guilt-free shop.
9. Stock Levels
FOMO: The Fear Of Missing Out. We don’t like to miss out. Conversion rate is often increased when
a product is in limited stock because a consumer is not guaranteed to have the item readily available
if they ‘go away to think about it’.
10. Added costs at checkout
Shipping. Taxes. Insurance. Servicing. You name it, we hate it. Consumers typically want to pay for
their product and just the product. Research suggests that free shipping increases average order
value and conversion rate, suggesting that this covers the profits that are lost.

Having said all that it’s almost pay day so I’m off to the ‘shops’….#addtobasket