It’s the most frustrating part of owning an E-commerce site. When you’re getting the customers to your site, and they get right up to the shopping cart stage, and then disappear into oblivion. All of a sudden that prospect has disappeared in a cloud of smoke. But why? There could be so many reasons.

However, most of the time it’s because people hit a stumbling block. Maybe they can’t remember their password, or there’s a really long form to fill in. Nowadays having a lengthy payment process just isn’t going to cut it.

And there are huge rewards to be gained from making small improvements. If you want to increase your revenue and make the most every prospective customer that visits your site, then you need to up your shopping cart game.

Let’s delve into some things you can do to try and encourage your customers to make that all-important payment…

Add trust signals – eliminate checkout fear

The first thing you need to do to reassure shoppers is add some trust signals. People look out for certain things during the shopping process and if they don’t see enough trust signals, they start to get concerned. Make sure you state your returns policy, contact details and payment assurance. Oh, and don’t forget those crucial product reviews. Econsultancy claims that 88% of customers will check out reviews before making a final decision on a purchase.

Streamline your process

The key thing to be concerned about when it comes to happy shoppers is speed and convenience. Is your checkout process in any way frustrating? Can you speed it up in any way? Test it out yourself to see whether you’d bother going through the process of buying something.

Avoid asking for unnecessary information

As valuable as it is to get people to register an account with you, forcing people to do so could be causing people to jump ship. Give people the opportunity to check out as a guest if they want to which means they avoid filling in loads of details. And consider carefully whether you really need to ask for things such as people’s mobile number. Due to privacy concerns and the fear of being hounded, a lot of people are very reluctant to give out these details.

Consider quicker payment methods

According to a study by comScore 56% of online shoppers want to see a variety of payment options at checkout. Online shoppers are expecting brands to do more to make payment faster and easier.

No one wants to fill out their card details, address and contact info every single time. Some shoppers will choose to avoid websites that don’t offer easy payment methods like Apple Pay and PayPal. And if you can’t yet offer these things, at least make the payment process as painless as possible.

Offer competitive shipping

So many customers will proceed through the user journey right through to the point where they’re about to buy – then they get hit with shipping costs. They see their new order total with shipping and decide they can get the product cheaper elsewhere.

Try and remain competitive when it comes to shipping, especially free delivery becoming more common. And above all, make sure you’re honest about your shipping and delivery policies from the start. According to Forrester, 22 percent of shoppers abandon their cars because the seller didn’t mention the charges from the beginning. And according to research by Business Insider, shipping costs being more than expected are the top reason people abandon shopping carts.

A lot of big E-commerce sites are now offering a delivery subscription. One in four shoppers now pays for delivery subscriptions, which allow unlimited next day delivery on all orders within a pre-paid period. Sites like Amazon and Asos give users the chance to purchase a one-off delivery fee which gives them access to free next day delivery for a period of time.

Don’t miss out crucial information

Avoid simply putting things like ‘standard shipping’ without a time frame. Or say you’re selling a product that comes in sizes. Like a dog bed for example, stating ‘large’ is no good. What are the measurements and what type of dog might this bed fit? Make sure you include accurate and enticing product descriptions with key information about each product.

Reinforce your USP

People need to be reminded of the benefits of shopping with you at every stage in the user journey. What sets you apart from other brands? It’s your job to convince someone why they should buy from you and no one else. Are your products unique? Do you offer speedy delivery and free shipping? Or is that you’ve got stellar customer service? Whatever it is that makes you stand out, ensure your users are made aware of it, repeatedly.

Be there if customers need to ask questions

It’s inevitable that during the shopping process customers may have questions. Try to provide information that should answer most of their queries. And if they can’t find the answer to their question, make sure they can contact you in some way. A lot of customers like to have instant answers or they will simply go elsewhere. A live chat service can help with this issue or simply offer a phone number they can call.

Allow customers to save and come back to their basket

According to research, 78% said that they like to compare prices from different stores or sources before making purchases. If your customers go elsewhere and find that actually your prices are competitive, or there’s a particular benefit you offer that sets you apart, they may want to return. And they won’t want to spend ages finding all the products they wanted all over again. So where possible, give people the chance to save their cart and for longer periods. This way you can benefit from comparison shoppers and not lose them to competitors.