Hi everyone. There’s been a slight increase in shoppers abandoning their carts recently. Although the number of people adding items to their baskets is up by around 15% (on the same period last year), the number who don’t go through with their purchase has increased by 4.8%.
It’s worth saying that transactions overall are 14.04% higher than the same time last year.
There can be a number of reasons for increase in cart abandonment but we’d recommend going through this checklist as it could make the difference between making that sale and not.
Make sure your shipping fees are as reasonable as possible and consider offering free shipping if you can. We understand that’s not always possible or financially viable but it’s worth knowing that high postage rates are the biggest single cause of cart abandonment - more in this article https://blog.folksy.com/2015/08/25/should-you-offer-free-delivery
Check your postage times. Long shipping periods can cause shoppers to look elsewhere, especially at Christmas. So, if you can post something either the next day or within three days, make that clear in the listing and set the shipping period to that timeframe. Again, we know that’s not always possible, particularly for made to order items, but if you can post quickly, do and make it clear on the listing.
Well I’m ok for points 1 and 3, but 2 is why I’m trying to leave the other site. I realise my shipping can certainly look high (particularly on larger items that require tracking), but it is just the cost of shipping plus a small amount (not usually more than 50p) for materials. I hope if people are willing to buy an expensive item, they won’t be put off by a shipping price that covers it getting to them safely.
I know I could just include the price of UK shipping and offer “free” domestic shipping, but that means customers can’t take advantage of combined shipping, and it’s also more of a hassle once a year when the shipping prices increase.
As websites are realising customers seem to like seeing the total cost straight away rather than having to add together the item and postage cost or getting surprised at checkout, I wish websites could just show the item cost and then the item cost plus shipping (such as “mini cat painting - £12.50 (£16.40)”) rather than putting it on us to add it into our item costs.
Although you can’t really show combined shipping with that either, but it would mean the estimated total is the worse case, and if you’re buying more from one seller you could get a nice surprise of paying less at checkout.
One thing I’d love to see - and I know has been talked about a lot - is the option to add shipping upgrades. The option to go from standard domestic to first class, or tracked and signed, etc., may entice people who have left it late to buy a gift (year-round, not just Christmas).
I wouldn’t be put off by shipping prices, at the end of the day they are either included in the price of the item or they are additional but the total to pay remains the same. I don’t believe anyone actually offers free shipping they just factor it in to the cost of the item. If shipping is added to the item price then that item may get overlooked at first glance, once someone has made their mind up that they love something the shipping shouldn’t put them off. Do people really abandon the shopping cart because of postage costs?
I agree Debby! Free shipping is never really free. But there’s a lot of research to show it’s the single biggest reason people don’t go through with an order. One of the most interesting tests we’ve seen offered Product A for sale online for a price of £10, with a £3 delivery charge. Product B was exactly the same but priced at £14 with free delivery (ie £1 more expensive, in total). When the results of the test came in, they showed that Product B had a higher conversion rate, showing that the product with free delivery sold better – even though it was more expensive!
We would never force anyone to offer free postage @konyskiw and know that it’s just not possible for many shops. But I think it’s useful for sellers to know what the user research shows about online shopping.
We’re doing some work around this too to try to reduce cart abandonment. Some of it is around checkout, so trying to make sure the customer can see the full price including shipping before committing (I think Paypal currently shows the price without shipping at the point of sale), and we’ll also look at introducing a bulk edit option for shipping times, plus other tweaks and ways to better help and identify customers having problems at checkout (although this number is quite low).
Hi Camilla, I keep resisting this because of the description " Free" postage, which it isn’t. The Post Office does not give us free Postage. Is there a way to describe it as combined cost, or total cost of item plus posting or something. It just makes it appear that some sellers are posting things for free, and others are mean enough to charge a cost, when everyone is actually charging one way or the other. However, the cost of your item, plus what it actually costs to post it is a more honest description I think and that’s why I am still using it. However, I fear it ends up being seen as a rip off whilst other sellers appear to be giving a freebie. I guess I will have to one day (and this has clearly brought on a rant! sorry) but why is postage singled out as something the seller is forced to hide in their prices, it’s just become a thing. We are not forced to do this with other things we buy? (Ok iv’e calmed down now, honest.)
Wow that’s interesting @folksycontent …I would never have thought it. I looked at it from the other point of view…someone sees a bear at £60, falls in love (as you would of course:slight_smile:) pops over to my shop, reads it…has to have it…obviously… then sees the shipping is £4.00 as it is sent tracked and signed for…but they have fallen in love so the £4 is neither here nor there…SOLD
I’m actually quite shocked that it works the other way…perhaps trying both ways in my shop would be interesting although a customer may think it unfair if one item has free shipping and the one next to it is charged extra.
Mmm maybe worth considering factoring it in although an already £85 doll then becomes £91 as they are large so post as a medium parcel…would the £91 price tag put them off do you think?.
I’m shocked that people are a little ‘dim’ (excuse the expression lol) but thinking they are getting a good deal if they are paying £1 extra for the same item because it says free shipping …mmm something to think about though.
Good point…I like the idea of it being “combined cost” as I agree no-one offers free postage. My dolls cost £6 as they are medium parcels at half a metre tall I worry if I add that onto the listing price it will make them look too expensive. But, a very interesting read from Camilla regarding the test they did, and obviously some very dim customers who couldn’t do the sums in their heads to realise option B was charging them £1 more lol. It does give us something to think about however, I will probably keep postage as an extra cost otherwise there would have to be a £4 to £6 increase overnight on all my products which may put people off buying if they have already seen the original prices listed. I do agree though those factoring the postage costs into their prices may make the rest of us look greedy…difficult isn’t it.
Gosh, I’m not sure why I hadn’t cottoned on to how tall your dolls were! It’s a pity you can’t get them to stand next to a kids’ size chart for a photo
Thanks @folksycontent for this post…
I was wondering whether the increase in abandoned baskets coincides with a lot of Etsy sellers joining in the last 6 months and not taking up the Stripe direct payments as we are unsure about it… ? I for one fall into that category and will be looking at opening a Stripe account now, which hopefully maybe the answer to why I have just had a handful of sales since the summer…as a lot of people dont trust Paypal, so then abandon the checkout…
I am also going to upgrade to Folksy plus, so I can list a lot more of my inventory…
I’ve had a few people say they thought they were all a lot smaller, maybe I should photograph them with a tape measure alongside, although a height chart would be much better. The chair that I use for photographing is a childs chair bought from an antique shop a few months ago. Thank you Catherine I will take some more pics showing their true size when I get the chance.
This is a very interesting topic. I have stripe enabled and also the shortest delivery times as all my items are ready to post. My shipping costs are reasonable to cover postage and packing.
@folksycontent I have updated my shop now so there are no additional costs. It will be very interesting if this makes a difference as my sales this year have been very poor compared to the last 2 years!
I have been on Folksy for about 6 weeks and have had no sales yet but I know it is early days. I have just updated my listings to include the postage in the price which didn’t take too long as I only have 10 items in my shop so now I wait … I will let you know if I get a sudden uptake of customers!
Would anyone like to discuss whether their sales are primarily from other folksy makers or from the general public. It would be interesting to know. I have already bought a couple of Christmas gifts from you talented bunch!
p.s. why does my name (Carol) not come up in the post heading?
Can you make it very clear that customers CAN use credit cards with Paypal? Right now we only see credit card icons for Stripe and not PP. That could be a reason for card abandonment?
When Paypal is the only option it does say “You can pay by credit or debit card when you check out as a guest through PayPal (where available)” underneath the Paypal symbol.
No worries- I really admire the amount of work and love that goes into your items. It’s the main thing I notice looking at your pics (I have the same problem but it’s hard to find things that look neat in scale against my earrings - not a fan of coins with them, for instance🙄)
When it is not the only option, there are no debit/credit card icons next to PP. Shouldn’t they be there? Customers might think they can’t use them with PP and abandon the items in the cart.
