Why consumers abandon shopping carts online

[November 12th 2001]

Industry studies estimate that up to 75 percent of Web consumers abandon their shopping carts before making purchases online. A recent study by Vividence Corporation offers valuable insight into why users abandon shopping carts.

According to the study, the top reasons for shopping cart abandonment, and the percentage of consumers citing each as a reason, include:

• High shipping prices (72%)
• Comparison shopping or browsing (61%)
• Changed mind (56%)
• Saving items for later purchase (51%)
• Total cost of items is too high (43%)
• Checkout process is too long (41%)
• Checkout requires too much personal information (35%)
• Site requires registration before purchase (34%)
• Site is unstable or unreliable (31%)
• Checkout process is confusing (27%)

The study evaluated the experiences of 719 consumers as they used shopping carts on e-commerce sites.

"It's a shame that Web retailers are losing so many customers due to issues that can be addressed by focusing on improving the online customer experience," said Jeff Greenberg, president and CEO of Vividence. "Identifying and addressing these fundamental site issues can have a significant impact on the underlying business. We've seen shopping-cart-abandonment rates drop by up to 25 percent, resulting in significant increases in top-line revenue."

Links
Vividence		http://www.vividence.com