You may have noticed over the holidays that the number of shopping cart abandoners in your ecommerce website has increased. This does not automatically mean that your visitors have abandoned their selections and orders – there may have been technical difficulties, comparisons, and indecision on the part of your audience. Another possible reason is something that you may not have noticed as much if you don’t look at your ecommerce SEO strategy as a unified plan: your audience may be switching devices.
64% of frequent shoppers own a smartphone, while 54% own a tablet. Overall, over 50% of frequent shoppers own at least one device that has online access.
Shopping Carts as Bookmarks
The results of a study recently done by ecommerce software provider Bronto in cooperation with Magento confirm one of the reasons shopping cart abandonment has increased: more and more people are now using shopping carts as storage, a shopping tool where you can save the items you want and then access them later on another device. The study shows that 40% of consumers use shopping carts for this purpose.
40% of consumers use online shopping carts as storage, which they can access later on using different devices.
Additionally, consumers who shop more often – daily or weekly, in this case – are more likely to hop from one device to another. According to the study, one in five frequent shoppers use this this method when deciding what they will ultimately purchase.
19% of frequent shoppers always hop devices when purchasing online, while 42% of frequent shoppers do this occasionally.
What you can see from this study is while there may be abandonment happening in the process, it does not necessarily mean you are not gaining the conversions that you want. It may be part of the purchasing process, as consumers compare prices, brands, and overall product value. If you have a Shopify online store, for instance, it may be ideal to prioritize conversion in your Shopify SEO strategy.
Engaging Cross-Device Frequent Shoppers
Communicating with cross-device frequent shoppers is key to you maintaining and possibly increasing your goal conversions. There are different ways you can reach this audience:
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Make sure your ecommerce web design displays properly on multiple screen types and maintains its functionality across all platforms. You don’t have to do anything that’s too fancy – a site with clear categories, clear calls to action, a secure checkout form, and proper branding appeals more to shoppers.
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Include clear calls to action that tells your audience they can save their shopping cart for viewing later. This encourages them to return later on to complete their purchase, and it helps you distinguish between the real abandoners and the cross-device shoppers.
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Program and customize reminder emails for shopping cart abandoners. Study the behavior of your audience and decide when the right time is to send them a reminder that they have items in your shopping cart.
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Optimize your emails for mobile viewing. Reminder emails opened at night are most likely viewed on a mobile device.
- Include product reviews and product ratings to help your audience decide towards completing the purchase they’ve started.
The good news for our partners is with our ecommerce web design solutions and our online marketing strategy, your clients are sure to reach both frequent and occasional shoppers across multiple platforms and devices. Talk to your account manager today to review your current strategy and plan a new, more effective cross-device marketing plan.
Sign up today and become our partner to get your free white label dashboard and to start offering ecommerce solutions to your clients. Keep checking back for more updates and enjoy the rest of the holiday season!
