Tactics to reduce B2B shopping cart abandonment

Shopping cart abandonment issues aren’t just a problem for B2C companies. High shopping cart abandonment rates are also a major concern in the B2B sector.

When a cart is abandoned it’s not just a lost sale that your business loses out on. All the resources and effort spent in attracting the customer to the tip of the funnel are also wasted.

As disparaging as shopping cart abandonment can be, it’s also important to recognize it as an opportunity for growth. Every abandoned cart can provide crucial insights into customer behaviors. You can leverage this data to fully optimize your e-commerce portals. B2B cart abandonment analytics show you exactly what areas in your purchase order process need improvement.

In this article, we outline some highly effective strategies you can use to reduce shopping cart abandonment and increase conversion rates. Keep reading to learn how to plug the holes at the tip of your sales funnel.

Understanding B2B cart abandonment

More than seven out of every ten shopping carts are abandoned by customers across all e-commerce sectors, according to research from the Baymard Institute.1

There’s a high price tag attached to those abandoned carts. The same Baymard Institute data estimates that some $260 billion in potential revenue is lost because of online shopping cart abandonment.1

You may think that a B2B buyer is more reliable than a normal consumer. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. While ordinary consumers can be indecisive, businesspeople are often under severe time pressures and need to stick to strict budgets. This actually makes them more likely to abandon an expensive, frustrating, or slow purchase order process.

Common causes of B2B online shopping cart abandonment include:

• Complex checkout processes: If your purchase order process involves multiple steps and is too complicated or time-consuming, users may abandon their carts.
• Lack of pricing transparency: Because they need to work within budgets, clear and detailed pricing information is important for B2B buyers. Hidden fees and unclear cost structures will lead to greater rates of shopping cart abandonment.
• Lengthy approval cycles: In many cases, B2B buyers need approval from various internal stakeholders before they can finalize a purchase. If your checkout process doesn’t allow the buyer to easily share the cart contents, then they may simply abandon the purchase.
• Lack of product information: B2B buyers need to be sure they’re getting exactly what they need. Difficulties in finding relevant product information are a major cause of cart abandonment.
• Unclear return and refund policies: Businesspeople are always looking to minimize risk. A convoluted return and refund process is often the reason why a cart is abandoned.
• Payment concerns: A buyer may go through all the necessary steps only to find that the payment options are undesirable. Buyers are also prone to abandoning cars if they feel that their payment information is not being secured.

The power of B2B cart abandonment analytics

An abandoned shopping cart can provide a wealth of valuable data. B2B cart abandonment analytics provide critical insights into customer behavior and help identify weaknesses in the purchase order process. There are a range of metrics that can be used to optimize your checkout process.

Calculating the actual rate of cart abandonment within a specified period gives you a clear picture of how widespread the issue is. If you have a high rate of cart abandonment, then you will need to drill down into the reasons why customers abandon their carts. Pinpointing why customers are abandoning carts helps to identify and address the specific issues. You can see precisely where the funnel customers are dropping off.

B2B cart abandonment analytics can uncover if certain customer segments, devices, or geographic locations have higher abandonment rates than others. This data is invaluable for developing remarketing strategies and a more streamlined user experience.

Strategies to reduce B2B cart abandonment

Despite the high rates of B2B cart abandonment, there are tactics you can employ to lower abandonment rates and boost conversion rates:

• Streamline the PO process: Our research shows that B2B buyers demand an intuitive and simple online web store experience. Use B2B cart abandonment analytics and A/B testing to trim unnecessary steps from your purchase order process. Consider optimizing your UX with enhanced autocomplete or adding progress indicators.
• Enhance transparency: Transparency is the key to inspiring trust and boosting sales figures. Be upfront about any shipping delays or extra costs. No customer wants to be surprised right at the end of the funnel. Let your buyers know right away what they’ll need to pay and how long they’ll have to wait.
  This is definitely an area where you should be able to lean on your tech stack. Inventory and shipping options can change very fast, and if your data isn’t synched across your systems, you’re not in control of what your customers see on the front end of your web store. If this is a challenge you face, you can learn more about integrating your systems here.
• Provide dedicated support: Don’t let your customers walk away because they can’t find the help they need. Dedicated account managers can provide personalized support to B2B buyers throughout the buying journey. An account manager can offer customized product and service recommendations, assist with complex orders, and act as a single point of contact for the buyer.
• Nurture leads with targeted emails: An abandoned cart doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve lost the sale. Be proactive and follow up on every abandoned cart with customized retargeting email campaigns. Providing customers with additional product information and offering to address issues or concerns can lead to conversions. For larger orders or orders from potentially valuable customers, you may wish to offer special incentives for them to complete the purchase.

The bottom line about B2B cart abandonment

B2B cart abandonment results in lost revenue, reduces conversion rates, increases customer acquisition costs, wastes marketing efforts, and undermines sales forecasts and inventory management. Cart abandonment affects B2B enterprises of all sizes across every sector.

But an abandoned cart is also an opportunity. Cart abandonment analytics can highlight weak points in your purchase order process, helping you develop a more effective and streamlined UX. With the right abandoned checkout recovery strategies, it’s possible to turn a lost sale into a solid conversion.