Trust, Multiple Payment Options Among Routes to Online Deals

Some 84% of filled e-commerce carts are abandoned, said Kevin Wild, Sezzle head of e-commerce partnerships, on a Thursday webinar. Leading causes are hidden, unexpected costs (55%), the need to create an account (34%), a complicated checkout process (26%), and aversion to providing credit card information with a merchant (17%).

Merchants can use follow-up communication via emails, texts and Facebook messages to help improve conversion, said Wild. About 14% of emails sent to customers who have left an e-commerce site without buying an item they placed in a cart bring shoppers back to the store. Stores that connect to shoppers via Facebook Messenger versus email alone generate $2.16 more per recipient, said Katie Krische, Octane AI manager-strategic partnerships and marketing. Merchants should offer a mix of channels for customer engagement, said Krische. Customers who can pick how they will receive messages from a merchant are more likely to engage.

Other effective strategies to reduce cart abandonment include free shipping and one-time discounts to address price concerns, Wild said. Ninety percent of customers are more likely to shop at a store with free shipping, he said. The perk can also boost customer retention and brand loyalty, he said. A consumer-friendly return policy is important: a bad return policy can cause a shopper to second-guess a purchase, he said.

Positive brand reputation helps companies create trust with customers, said Allie Maupin, Trustpilot manager-customer success. Some 94% of survey respondents said positive customer reviews, and a lot of them, build trust in a merchant, said Maupin. Deleting negative reviews and an outdated website decrease trust. Responding to negative reviews can help e-tailers change an unfavorable image, she said. The top three things customers look for on a checkout page to instill trust are positive star ratings, reviews and testimonials.

Another part of building trust is “derisking" the purchase, said Metacake co-founder Ken Ott. Warranties and customer service help establish a company as trustworthy, he said. Easy product page navigation is important. That includes reducing the number of options a shopper has to choose from, making it easy to add things to a cart and making sure the ordering process is simple on a mobile device to reduce friction.

Fewer payment options translate to fewer sales, said Ott: “Everyone has a preferred method of payment.” PayPal is popular with a lot of shoppers who don’t trust their putting in credit card information with various websites. Credit card use is going down, he said: “If you don’t now offer PayPal, you’re probably missing out on a lot of customer sales.”