Reduce Cart Abandonment with AI
After spending a good amount of effort, time, and money, you successfully created an ecommerce site complying with all SEO requirements. No doubt, your website ranks high, and the target audience has started placing orders. But when potential customers abandon carts before completing their purchases, the result is a loss of sales and lower brand trust and credibility.
Once a myth, artificial intelligence is revolutionizing every business by collecting, analyzing, and converting data into actionable insights. Ecommerce is no exception.
Causes of cart abandonment
Baymard Institute queried 1,012 U.S. online shoppers in 2024 who had abandoned carts in the previous three months. Here are the findings, followed by our analysis.
| Reasons for abandonment | % respondents |
|---|---|
| Shipping policies and costs | 48% |
| Complicated checkout | 18% |
| Payment issues | 17% |
| Return policies | 15% |
| Poor site peformance | 13% |
Shipping policies and costs: Unexpected shipping costs during checkout come as a shock to shoppers. The unavailability of the desired delivery slots or modes of shipping also makes shoppers leave before completing their purchases.
Complicated checkout processes: Once the customer places all the items in the cart, the immediate expectation is a smooth and swift checkout. A user interface that demands complicated procedures for account creation or a lack of versatility in payment options will prevent them from completing their order.
Payment issues: Unsuccessful payments not only defer cart completion but eventually result in cart abandonment. Any dissatisfaction about data security and privacy also challenges a smooth checkout, resulting in incomplete carts.
Return policies: Unfavorable return policies also create last-minute anxiety and may result in shopping cart abandonment. It also leads to a lack of trust, preventing the customers from returning.
Poor website performance: When it loads slowly or crashes, an ecommerce site causes frustration due to the inability of customers to make informed decisions precisely. A site that does not ensure smooth navigation through the checkout process will result in customers leaving halfway.
Zoho Commerce example product page. Click image to enlarge.
AI-powered solutions
Collecting and decoding customer purchasing behavior data can help frame strategies to overcome abandoned carts. Here are some common AI-powered solutions.
Effective personalization: AI can trigger personalized recommendations based on purchase history, buying potential, and trends that are unique to every customer. Targeted discounts for frequently purchased items can spur conversions.
Chatbots and virtual assistants: AI-powered chatbots offer reliable and accurate assistance for inquiries related to shipping, payment statuses, offers, and discounts. Since these chatbots provide support around the clock, customers can make decisions instantly to complete the checkout process.
Retargeting and remarketing: Machine learning helps retarget customers after cart abandonment based on their purchasing behavior. AI triggers personalized email reminders, dynamic ads, and push notifications — all make customers return and complete purchases.
Dynamic pricing strategies: AI can filter customers who abandon carts for pricing reasons. By running flexible pricing strategies and incentive-based schemes, customers will be encouraged to complete purchases.
Seamless checkout processes: Complicated processes during checkout can make customers leave with incomplete orders. AI-powered one-click checkout, automated form filling, and biometric authentication will facilitate cart conversions.
Fraud detection and security: Payment transactions are prone to fraudulent initiatives. AI can identify fraud quickly, ensuring security.
Optimizing inventory levels: AI-powered inventory management solutions will trigger alert messages to align inventory quantities with the demand to prevent stockouts.
Exit intent pop-ups: Machine learning can analyze a customer’s intent when abandoning a cart and trigger pop-ups with personalized offers, free shipping, or discounts while exiting the site or on social media channels.
Zoho Commerce sample page builder. Click image to enlarge.
Scenario
Imagine a shopper on an online shoe store who selects and adds items to the cart. While checking out, the shopper was dissatisfied with the shipping costs and abandoned the process.
Here’s how AI-powered tools can intervene.
- Exit intent pop-up. When the customer moves the cursor to close the tab, a pop-up appears, offering free shipping for purchases completed in the next 10 minutes. The customer dismissed the pop-up.
- Retargeting and remarketing. A few hours later, the customer received an email reminding him to complete the purchase. A 10% limited-time discount was offered for socks.
- AI-powered chatbots: The customer required more clarity and opted for support through chatbots that suggested a buy-now-pay-later option. Encouraged by the payment flexibility, the customer returns to the cart and completes the purchase.
About Zoho Commerce
Zoho Commerce, with its smart integrations, addresses abandoned cart challenges head-on with swift retargeting, automated email follow-ups, interactive chatbots, AI-driven recommendations, and seamless checkout optimizations— all designed to recover lost sales and maximize revenue. With its promising AI roadmap, Zoho Commerce is empowering online businesses worldwide. For more, see Zoho.com/commerce.
