Shopping Cart Abandonment as Part of the Path to Purchase?

Allison Howen
by Allison Howen 04 Jun, 2015

The majority of consumers use online shopping carts to store items for later purchase according to new data from Bronto Software (recently acquired by NetSuite).

The data comes from Part Two and Three of the company's "Consumers Tell All" series, which sheds light on consumers' device preferences for online shopping as well as expectations of the online shopping cart. According to the insights, many consumers are using online shopping carts as a research tool, with 73 percent storing items in carts as they use multiple devices and channels to navigate the complicated path to purchase.

"Shoppers now increasingly use all available devices to make the best decisions and enhance their shopping experience," said Jim Davidson, head of research at Bronto Software. "Commerce marketers need to clearly understand consumer shopping and purchasing behaviors, particularly the move toward mobile, in order to maximize revenue potential and identify effective commerce marketing strategies."

The study also provide retailers with insights into shopping cart email reminders, with the data showing that 42 percent of consumers find these reminders helpful while 32 percent find them annoying. This may be a confusing stat for retailers, but Davidson notes that retailers can focus on making their reminders helpful by finding new ways to speak to their customers, such as providing additional information about the products they are interested in or offering directions to the retailer's nearest brick-and-mortar location.

Additional findings reveal that 44 percent of consumers expect to receive a shopping cart reminder after leaving items in their online shopping cart. That said, 37 percent of consumers who expect a shopping cart reminder email also expect to receive a coupon to motivate them to finish their purchase, while 15 percent expect to receive a free shipping offer. Moreover, 14 percent of consumers expect to receive a cart reminder immediately after abandoning their shopping cart, while 35 percent expect to receive a reminder in less than 24 hours.