Troubleshooting A Sales-Drop? Check Your Ux!

If you are experiencing a recent drop in sales, or if your sales figures are not quite where you want them to be, the solution may be obtainable by analysing your website’s UX (User Experience), relating specifically to cart abandonment.

The last thing any business owner wants to see is their sales drop. If you’re noticing a decline in sales, it may be worth conducting a UX check for your website, or undergoing website usability testing. TestMate has conducted extensive UX testing, and discovered, how a poor UX, not only leads to frustration, but it can also result in lost revenue from users abandoning their cart, before completion of a sale. What is the correlation between the shopping cart and UX of a website you may ask? Customers who visit websites that are confusing, give a poor first impression, are slow to load or contain irrelevant or excessive information, amongst many other reasons, will simply exit, abandoning their shopping carts, and move on to the next site that promises a better user experience. Your shopping cart UX is a key factor in improving the success of your website.

Several studies have been completed which paint a picture of just how widespread cart abandonment happens to be and show meaningful shopping cart UX patterns.

Some studies have found the statistics are as high as 80%. Meaning that more than three-quarters of shoppers choose to leave a website, without making a purchase. With such a large portion of the market, it is evident why the UX of a website is so important and how even slight improvements in this critical area can result in dramatic increases in revenue.

Wondering how to improve website UX and prevent consumers from abandoning their shopping cart on your website? Read on!

Top Reasons People Abandon Carts

There can be many reasons why people exit during the sales process, here we have compiled a list of the most popular reasons that we have found.

Being forced to create an account – It is clear that customers who create accounts are much more likely to buy again in the future. It also makes it easier for businesses to maintain regular contact, send out offers or special promotions. Both excellent reasons to attempt to get visitors to create accounts. However, it must be understood that customers want to be able to buy something, without jumping through too many hoops.

If you allow the customer to make a purchase first, they will be much happier to set up an account after the sale has been completed successfully.

Another important factor is to make it easy for them. Do not ask for information that isn’t essential, avoid long forms whenever possible.

Finally, you should offer customers the option to select guest checkout. If you don’t want to see your sales drop, don’t enforce that all customers set up an account. You can offer an incentive if signing customers up is a top priority, but do not prioritise account creation over making the sale.

Shipping costs – shipping costs that are unexpectedly high is another major factor being cart abandonment. We tend to believe that the practice of a site that conceals its shipping costs until you reach the checkout, is devious.

Consider offering free shipping if it is a viable option. If you need to charge shipping or you would prefer not to have to build in the costs of shipping with your product, be transparent about shipping costs from the beginning. Give clear and accurate estimates of shipping. Fixed prices are much more preferable from a customer’s perspective. Remember, that most customers will live in a populated area where shipping costs will be more predictable than less populated areas. Don’t get caught up over the small minority who may live in a remote or regional area.  Lastly, consider offering discounted rates for shipping with increased quantities.

Long or confusing checkout – One of the most significant advantages of online shopping is that it is quick and easy. However, if you complicate or lengthen the process unnecessarily, the customer will abandon your site without a second thought. Ensure your checkout is short and concise, with clear instructions and no lengthy delays in order to prevent a decline in sales for your brand.

Would you like to know how your site measures up?

Contact TestMate for more sales testing and UX insights. We offer reliable, quality user testing that can help your business grow. Let us find out how we can help improve your cart abandonment stats today.