You May Want to Reconsider Strategy with these Important E-Commerce Stats in Mind

These days, analytics make the world go round.

Now, the following aren’t your usual crop of e-commerce statistics, but these telling figures from Visual Web Optimizer’s e-commerce Survey 2014 should be taken at least into consideration when you’re coming up with your strategy. Doing so may tremendously help your online business.

28% of shoppers abandon their shopping cart if they find unexpected shipping costs.

The presence of shipping costs aren’t necessarily the bane of conversions, but those that pop up out of nowhere and surprise consumers at the last minute tend to prevent a sale.  Now, that number may not seem that sizeable, but it is the leading cause of abandoned shopping carts.

To clarify, it’s not that people don’t want to buy anything with a shipping cost. Many understand that it’s something that they’d have to pay for in order to get their package delivered at their doorstep. But to avoid being spurned by customers, do be upfront with them—let them know if there are shipping costs from the very start. Consumers aren’t fond of spending for something they didn’t expect; and they dislike brands that aren’t being completely transparent with them even more. Simply put, the phrase “honesty is the best policy” applies here.

23% of shoppers abandon their shopping cart if creating a new account is required to complete the purchase.

For some owners of e-commerce sites, pushing their various membership models is a priority. This of course involves creating a member account on the site. Some users think that it’s a waste of time, though, causing them to leave the site altogether and forego their intended purchase. For them, they just want to buy what they want without having to fill an info sheet. One solution to this problem is to add a guest checkout, therefore appeasing everyone. This way, you won’t be turning away shoppers that don’t want to go through the hassle of being a member just to be able to make a single purchase.

55% of shoppers say customer reviews influence their purchase decision.

Thanks to the Internet, many people get to voice out their opinions on a lot of things, may it be a movie, a product, or a service. Not surprisingly, shoppers pay a great deal of attention on what others have to say prior to making a purchase; many don’t take for granted the ability to do research before spending their hard-earned buck. And this goes beyond the pre-selected testimonials (which tend to come off as superficial) you have on your site. So you might want to consider taking a page off Amazon’s book and include a section of user-generated reviews on your product pages.

54% of shoppers will purchase products in their abandoned shopping carts if these are offered at a lower price.

Here’s a universal truth: no one is allergic to a discount. And it just might be what you need to lure back customers who abandoned their shopping carts and convince them complete their purchase. Bargaining goes both ways, and the shopper doesn’t always have to initiate this. Remember, lower profit is better than no profit at all.

Retargeting is effective on 72% of millennial shoppers.

Retargeting is one of the most effective forms of marketing in the realm of online businesses. Showing ads to users who have been to your site is one of the easiest—and most rewarding—efforts that you could do to generate more revenue. Targeting that audience is practically a no-brainer since you know that they’re at least interested in what you’re peddling—you just have to give them an extra push through retargeting ads. You can check out Quicksprout’s guide on this for further information.

We’re hoping those stats have given you a better insight on what you could do to improve your approach to e-commerce. Best of luck to you!

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