87% Of Online Shoppers - Abandon Their Basket Before Checkout

[Lee]

New research exploring reasons behind shopping basket abandonment has revealed that, just like their real world counterparts, online customers love to window shop with 87% abandoning their basket before paying.

The research conducted by marketing and technology company Amaze, in conjunction with the University of Glasgow, has revealed that almost nine out of ten shoppers abandon their shopping basket while 75% of customers claimed they would return at a later date to complete the purchase, effectively using the basket as a wish list.

The research looks into the psychology of online shoppers and provide insights into why customers continue to abandon their shopping basket despite improvements in ecommerce site usability and introduction of behavioural targeting technology. It was found that the pleasure of browsing without the pain of buying is a real phenomenon that online retailers have to take into consideration when developing the e-commerce side of websites.

The report identifies the personalities of three types of online shopper - vague, cost conscious and window shoppers.

42% of shoppers were labelled as 'vague' because they seek more information from other people before completing the purchase and stated that they 'wanted to think about it' or 'consult with someone first'. Cost conscious shoppers accounted for 42% of customers and often cited 'high postage' costs or 'found the item cheaper elsewhere' as reasons why they didn't complete the sale.

The research found 16% of people surveyed could be labelled as window shoppers with no intention to purchase and claims that these customers should be discounted from online retailers' abandonment rates.

Tunde Cockshott, Creative Consultant at Amaze, said: “While techniques can be used to convince 'vague' and 'cost conscious' shoppers to buy, it doesn't matter what retailers offer the 'window shopper' type of customer: they are there to browse, not spend money. They experience the pleasure of shopping but without the pain of paying. Retailers can stop scratching their heads trying to work out why shopping baskets are being loaded up only to be left at the checkout because there's nothing they can do except exclude these visitors from their abandonment figures.”

http://www.epaynews.com/item.php?news_id=6645

I must admit, there are times when i will do this, add a bunch of stuff to my cart thinking that i want it, then last minute ill delete a heap of stuff or just change my mind all together.

Do any of you folks do this too?

I guess to a point its like porn surfers who go all the way through the paysites tour, hit the join page, then back out.

Regards,

Lee

[vaqueros]

I've bailed out plenty of times before completing online purchases. Usually it's because the site isn't designed to assist the shopper with what he/she needs to know. Examples are things like "click to add to your basket to see the special sale price" or shipping charges that aren't spelled out anywhere else on the site and can only be seen during checkout. If retailers would make information more accessible I think they would have a better completion rate.

Kevin

[longboardjim]

, quite often , now I'll see what's cheaper , flying to california/ohio/etc. or the shipping to hawaii. :crybaby:

jim