How to Analyze Shopping Cart Abandonment Data Using the Analytics Service (Sponsored)

As online shopping becomes increasingly popular, so does the phenomenon of shopping cart abandonment. In fact, studies show that nearly 70% of online shoppers abandon their shopping carts before completing their purchase. This translates to billions of dollars in lost revenue for businesses worldwide.

Online shopping cart abandonment rate worldwide between 2006 to 2021. Source: Statista

To combat this issue, businesses are turning to web analytics platforms to collect and analyze shopping cart abandonment data. By understanding why shoppers abandon their carts, businesses can make strategic changes to their online stores and increase their conversion rates.

A good web analytics platform provides businesses with valuable insights into their website's performance. It allows businesses to track a wide range of data points related to shopping cart activity, such as UTM parameters, source, bad traffic, device, e-commerce parameters, shipping cost, discounts, shopping cart details, and more.

By collecting this data, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of their customer's behavior and identify potential issues that may be causing them to abandon their shopping carts. For example, businesses may find that customers are leaving their website during the checkout process because of unexpected shipping costs or a lack of payment options.

By taking a data-driven approach to shopping cart abandonment, businesses can reduce their abandonment rates and increase their revenue. In fact, according to a study by Baymard Institute, the average large-sized e-commerce site can gain a 35.26% increase in conversion rate through just a better checkout design.

In this article, we'll use Finteza as an example of a web analytics tool and explore how businesses can use it to collect and analyze shopping cart abandonment data, and how they can use these insights to make strategic improvements to their online store.

Collecting Shopping Cart Abandonment Data

By collecting shopping cart data, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer behavior and make strategic changes to their online store to reduce shopping cart abandonment rates.

For example, businesses may find that customers are abandoning their shopping carts because of unexpected shipping costs. By tracking shipping cost data in Finteza, businesses can see how often this issue occurs and how much it's impacting their conversion rates. With this information, they can make changes to their shipping policies or pricing to reduce abandonment rates and increase sales.

Another benefit of using web analytics for shopping cart data collection is the ability to track bad traffic and identify potential bots. According to a study by Radware, 24.5% of all online traffic comes from bots, which can skew shopping cart abandonment data and make it difficult to identify issues accurately. An ability to track bad traffic can help businesses ensure that their data is accurate and reliable.


A traffic quality report - Finteza

To integrate a web analytics service with an e-commerce shop, businesses simply need to add a small piece of code to their website. Most of them provide detailed instructions on how to do this, and their support team is available to assist with any questions or issues.

Once the code is installed, businesses can start tracking data immediately. User-friendly dashboards should now provide real-time insights into shopping cart activity, including abandonment rates, revenue, and customer behavior. Businesses can customize their dashboard to display the specific data points that are most relevant to their goals and objectives.

Finteza’s tracking capabilities also provide businesses with the ability to create custom events, such as "Add to Cart" or "Checkout Started." These events can be used to track specific actions taken by customers during the shopping process and gain deeper insights into customer behavior.


Sales funnel report - Finteza

With advanced segmentation and filtering tools, businesses can also break down their shopping cart abandonment data by different dimensions, such as device or product category. This allows them to gain even more specific insights into customer behavior and tailor their strategies accordingly.

The Most Common Reasons for Ecommerce Shopping Cart Abandonment

Shopping cart abandonment is a significant problem for e-commerce businesses, with studies showing that e-commerce stores lose $18 billion in sales revenue each year because of cart abandonment. This means that for every ten potential customers, seven of them will abandon their shopping cart before completing the checkout process. But what are the most common reasons for shopping cart abandonment?

Let's take a look at some of the key factors.

1. Unexpected Costs

One of the most common reasons for shopping cart abandonment is unexpected costs. According to a study by Baymard Institute, the top reason for cart abandonment is extra costs, such as shipping, taxes, and fees. Customers often get frustrated when they get to the checkout and find out that the total price is significantly higher than they expected. In fact, 56% of customers say they have abandoned a cart because of unexpected costs.

2. Complicated Checkout Process

Another common reason for shopping cart abandonment is a complicated checkout process. Customers want a simple and quick checkout process that doesn't require too much effort. The study by the Baymard Institute found that 28% of customers abandon their carts because the checkout process is too long and complicated.

3. Website Errors and Technical Issues

Website errors and technical issues can also cause customers to abandon their carts. Slow page load times, broken links, and error messages can all be frustrating for customers, and many will abandon their carts if they encounter these issues. 23% of customers abandon their carts due to website errors or crashes.

4. Comparison Shopping

Many customers use shopping carts to compare products and prices across different websites. This means that even if they add items to their cart, they may not intend to complete the purchase.

Identifying the Exact Problem of Abandonment, Step by Step

Here are some steps businesses can take to identify and address cart abandonment issues using web analytics data.

1. Analyze the Cart Abandonment Funnel

The first step in identifying the problem of cart abandonment is to analyze the cart abandonment funnel. This funnel tracks the path that customers take, from adding items to their cart to completing the purchase. Web analytics platforms can provide detailed information about where customers are dropping off in the funnel.

Example: A business that sells clothing online has a high cart abandonment rate. By analyzing the cart abandonment funnel, they discover that many customers are abandoning their carts on the payment page. They can then take steps to simplify the payment process, such as offering more payment options or reducing the number of fields customers need to fill out.

2. Examine Traffic Sources

Another way to identify the problem of cart abandonment is to examine traffic sources. Web analytics tools like Finteza can track the UTM parameters for where the buyer came from, which can provide insights into which traffic sources are driving the most cart abandonments. For example, if customers coming from social media are abandoning their carts at a higher rate than those coming from search engines, it may indicate a problem with the social media strategy.


Conversions report - Finteza

Example: A business that sells home decor online discovers that customers who come to the site from Facebook are abandoning their carts at a much higher rate than those coming from search engines. They examine their social media strategy and discover that their Facebook ads are not targeting the right audience. They can then adjust their strategy to target a more relevant audience and reduce cart abandonment rates.

3. Look at Product and Pricing

Product and pricing can also play a role in cart abandonment rates. Businesses can use web analytics data to examine which products have the highest abandonment rates and whether pricing may be a factor.

Example: A business that sells skincare products online discovers that a particular product has a high abandonment rate. By examining the pricing, they discover that it is significantly higher than similar products from competitors. They can then adjust the pricing or offer discounts to reduce cart abandonment rates.

4. Test and Implement Solutions

Once businesses have identified the problem areas, they can test and implement solutions to reduce cart abandonment rates. A/B testing can be used to compare different approaches and identify which ones are most effective.

Example: A business that sells pet supplies online has identified a problem with the checkout process. They test two different checkout processes and find that the simpler one reduces cart abandonment rates by 20%. They implement the simpler process and continue to monitor the cart abandonment rate to ensure it stays low.

Make the Most Out of Shopping Cart Abandonment Data

Shopping cart abandonment can be a frustrating and costly problem for e-commerce businesses. However, by using web analytics data, businesses can gain valuable insights into the reasons behind cart abandonment and take steps to reduce abandonment rates. Here are some key takeaways to make the most out of shopping cart abandonment data:
  1. Cart abandonment rates vary widely across industries, with rates ranging from 60% to 80%. This means that there is significant room for improvement for most e-commerce businesses.
  2. The most common reasons for cart abandonment include unexpected costs, complex checkout processes, and website crashes. These issues can be addressed by offering free shipping, simplifying the checkout process, and improving website performance.
  3. Web analytics platforms like Finteza can provide valuable data on traffic sources, product and pricing, and cart abandonment funnels, allowing businesses to identify problem areas and take steps to address them.
  4. A/B testing is a powerful tool for identifying which solutions are most effective in reducing cart abandonment rates. By testing different approaches, businesses can identify the most effective solutions and implement them on a larger scale.
  5. Reducing cart abandonment rates can lead to significant increases in revenue.
In conclusion, shopping cart abandonment is a major challenge for e-commerce businesses, but it is also an opportunity to gain valuable insights into customer behavior and take steps to improve the user experience.

By using web analytics data, businesses can identify problem areas and implement effective solutions to reduce cart abandonment rates and increase revenue. With the right approach and tools, businesses can make the most out of shopping cart abandonment data and improve their bottom line.
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