How to reduce shopping cart abandons with personalization

You’ve successfully drawn a customer to your ecommerce store thanks to your awesome products and marketing. The customer likes what they see and, after some thought, adds some products to their shopping cart. Score.

But wait, the job’s not done. On their way to the checkout page, they encounter excessive, upselling pop-ups — most of which aren’t relevant to their needs and preferences. It’s annoying, but the customer persists, finally arriving at the checkout, and entering their delivery information. Then, they discover that the ecommerce site hasn’t yet factored in their location, and that shipping time will take up to two weeks. 

At this point, they decide that they’ve hit one obstacle too many. They exit your site without completing their purchase, and they turn to one of your competitors to find a better option. This is a classic case of an abandoned cart. 

Shopping cart abandonment (sometimes referred to as checkout abandonment) is frustrating because each of these virtual shopping carts represent a narrowly lost sale. Situations in which, if you’d made a few small tweaks to the customer journey, you’d have secured the sale. And those losses can add up; people are frequently and increasingly abandoning their carts. The current global shopping cart abandonment rate is just over 70% — the highest rate since 2013.

So, what can brands do to reduce abandonment? Well, one of the best ways to prevent online shoppers from leaving their carts behind and turning to competitors is to focus on personalization; in other words, delivering personalized shopping experiences. 

With that in mind, in this post, we’re going to explore the abandoned cart problem, and some of the best strategies to address it.  

Why do abandoned carts and checkouts happen? 

The number of ecommerce experiences available on websites and apps in every corner of the commercial landscape is contributing to a growing shopping cart abandonment rate.

Here are some of the key reasons why customers don’t complete their purchases after adding items to their carts:

• Extra, unexpected costs: Additional costs at checkout are the top reason that shoppers abandon their carts. These are financial stingers that consumers typically don’t factor in while shopping. They include unexpected shipping costs, taxes, and a range of other fees.

• Browsing: Some shoppers may be in the research stage, or comparing prices and products with other options, so their purchase intent is lower and they don’t really intend to follow through with any items they’ve added to their cart. 

• Shipping limitations: Limited shipping options and slow delivery times have a big impact on abandoned carts. Issues like global tariffs, sanctions and compliance, and the global economic downturn have significantly affected shipping prices and logistics in recent years. 

• Lengthy or complicated checkout: Lengthy or confusing forms and multiple steps needed to place an order account for 18% of abandoned carts.

• Required account creation: Not everyone wants to create and log into an account every time they shop online, especially if it’s for a very specific purchase or they’re in a hurry.

• Limited payment options: In a survey, 13% of respondents claimed they would abandon their carts if there weren’t enough payment options. If your online store only accepts one form of payment, you may be increasing the chances that customers will look at a competitor who offers more.

• Security concerns: If your site is outdated, has incomplete information, is running slow, is glitchy, or doesn’t have appropriate security certification, many shoppers may be unwilling to enter their payment information. 

Five ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment with personalization

Personalization is all about tailoring the shopping experience to individual customer needs and preferences by populating it with relevant, impactful digital content. This approach connects customers with offers that are of genuine interest, that help them achieve their shopping objectives, that enhance convenience, and that ultimately reduce the likelihood that they abandon their cart.

Let’s look at some proven personalization strategies that address the abandoned shopping cart challenge.

1) Launch personalized abandoned cart email campaigns

Sending an abandoned cart email is often standard marketing practice, but adding personalization can make a big difference to conversion. Research suggests that over 40% of cart abandonment emails are opened by their recipients, and of those shoppers that click through, around 50% end up completing their purchase. 

Successful abandoned cart emails should include basic product information on abandoned items, and be personalized for each customer. In addition to the product name and photo, you can enrich reminder emails with star ratings, product reviews, and promo codes. You can also create a sense of urgency by indicating any items that are low in stock, on sale, or on final sale.

2) Use dynamic content

Implementing dynamic content is key to personalizing the website experience for your visitors. Dynamic content presents relevant information, messages, and offers based on user behavior, like browsing and purchase history. 

Different types of dynamic content include: 

• Custom product recommendations on category and product pages.

• Special or discounted pricing and promo codes.

• Social proof like product reviews, star ratings, and social media feeds showcasing products on relevant pages.

Dynamic content highlights particular products and offers that match customers’ preferences and tastes, and so create a natural, personal appeal. The inclusion of social proof enhances product info and gives shoppers the additional context and confidence they might need to complete purchases.

For an example of this kind of marketing in action, check out Pets Deli’s Contentful success story. The pet food retailer offered custom discounts on select items which were promoted to website visitors as personalized content for its Black Friday sale. 

The strategy resulted in a 51% increase in conversion rates compared to the previous year.

3) Personalize the checkout process

Excessively long, complicated, limited, or untrustworthy checkout experiences are among the main reasons for abandoned carts. By simplifying the process and offering simpler, tailored checkout options, or even just the option to use a preferred payment method, you can better meet your customers’ preferences and expectations.

You could personalize the checkout experience based on customers’ location, or on their previous shopping behaviors. For example, you could show product recommendations during checkout in order to see if they are willing to purchase more products. 

Additionally, you could allow shoppers to expedite the checkout process by integrating digital wallet options that have all of their personal payment and shipping info stored. Offer a “check out as guest” option for those users who are deterred by a required account login.

4) Ensure your ecommerce store is mobile friendly

Mobile phones drive the highest online shopping add-to-cart rates, but they also have the highest cart abandonment rate — so there’s a lot of lost opportunity from mobile shoppers. That’s why it’s crucial for online retailers to provide a high-quality, optimized UX on mobile.

Follow these best practices for a mobile-friendly site:

• Responsive design: Your website layout should be capable of adapting seamlessly to various screen sizes and devices in order to improve user friendliness and navigation.

• Fast loading speed: Optimize your images for mobile, use efficient coding practices, and leverage caching to ensure quick page load times.

• Simplified checkout process: Just as you would with your website, minimize the number of steps required to complete a purchase on mobile. Use auto-fill features, guest checkout options, and mobile-friendly payment methods like digital wallets.

• Clear call-to-action buttons: Make buttons like "Add to Cart" and "Checkout" prominent and easy to tap on small screens. Make them stand out with contrasting colors and large, readable text.

• Optimized images and text: Use high-quality images that load quickly and are appropriately sized for mobile screens. Ensure text is legible without requiring zooming.

• User-friendly navigation: Implement a simple, intuitive navigation menu that’s easy to access and use on mobile devices. Consider using a hamburger menu for space efficiency.

• Mobile-specific features: Utilize mobile-specific functionalities like click-to-call buttons, location-based services, and voice search as means to enhance the user experience.

• Security and trust signals: Display trust badges, secure payment icons, and SSL certificates clearly to reassure customers about the safety of their mobile transactions and make them more comfortable about entering their credit card details.

5) Create personalized notifications based on audience segments

In addition to abandoned-cart emails and live chat messages, marketing teams should think about how they can leverage other communication channels using tailored notifications. Use customer segmentation to break up your audience and send personalized messages based on behavior and other personal traits, to the channels where those shoppers will be most active.

You can personalize messages to customers over a range of formats: 

• Text messages: For customers who prefer SMS, you can send quick, personalized reminders about their abandoned carts. Craft the reminders with short, compelling copy with a direct link back to their cart, and offer incentives, like discount codes, that encourage them to finalize their purchase.

• Website banners: Implement dynamic banners on your site that display personalized messages based on individual shoppers’ behaviors. These banners should include tailored product recommendations or special offers to capture visitors’ attention as they navigate through your site, and guide their attention back to their cart.

• Popups: Utilize exit-intent popups, with relevant messages based on shoppers’ browsing behavior in order to keep them engaged, and discourage them from leaving your site. Remind them about the items still in their cart or even offer last-minute discounts to persuade them to complete their purchase.

Create personalized experiences with Contentful Personalization

The implementation of personalized experiences across your ecommerce channels doesn’t have to be complicated — and you don’t need any special technical knowledge to do it.

Seamlessly integrated within the Contentful platform, Contentful Personalization provides a range of powerful personalization tools designed to help brands define their audiences and create unique experiences for them — without any need for technical expertise or developer intervention. 

Supported by native-AI tools, including the AI Suggestions feature, Contentful Personalization makes every step of the personalization process easier, and helps keep your customers engaged and excited about completing their shopping journeys.

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