This is an extract from an article by Dean Wiltse* (see credits at end)
Imagine you are walking through a grocery store and have just crossed off the final ingredient from your shopping list.
Suddenly, you desert your filled-to-the-brim shopping cart and quickly exit the store. Hard to imagine? That’s probably because you’ve never done this before.
Now think about this same scenario but in a different environment -an e-commerce Web site. Make more sense? Probably -if you’re among the many shoppers who have abandoned their e-carts online.
The explosion of online purchasing has given rise to an ultra-competitive environment for retailers and, as more and more consumers shop via the Web, shopping cart abandonment has become a significant problem for retailers. Abandonment can be attributed to a broad range of factors -the most common being high shipping costs, comparison shopping and frustration with the complexity of the checkout process.
If retailers are to increase online sales and revenue, they need strategies not only to drive customers to their Web sites, but solutions that facilitate the completion of customers’ online transactions.
If they are serious about driving volume online, they need to understand why their customers are leaving and course correct as needed. The best way to get to the root of the shopping cart abandonment problem is to obtain customer feedback in a way that doesn’t disrupt the online shopping experience.
*Dean Wiltse is chairman and CEO at US-based Vovici. He has more than 30 years’ experience in the marketing and technology industries. Prior to Vovici, Wiltse spent four years as president and CEO of Greenfield Online and took the company public in 2004. Wiltse was named a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2006 and was nominated by Research Magazine as the “Marketing Research Industry CEO of the Year” for 2005.
