Checkout abandonment reaches record low
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The rate of checkout abandonment has fallen to a record low of 26 percent in the three months to the end of April, compared to an average of 30 percent during the same period in 2014, according to the latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking study.
Abandonment rates on online retail checkout pages have long been considered to be stubbornly high, but IMRG has noticed that there has been a consistent improvement during the last two years. In 2013 the average check out abandonment rate was 35 percent and this fell to 30 percent in 2014, and now a record low of 26 percent in Q1 2015.
Commenting on the abandonment rate, Tina Spooner, chief information officer at ecommerce membership organisation IMRG, said: “Reducing abandonment at the checkout is a clear focus for online retailers and, despite the fact it has come down significantly, just over a quarter of online shoppers still do not complete their purchase after reaching the checkout page.
“There are any number of reasons why shoppers might abandon at that point – particularly in relation to trust, convenience or delivery options – and the investment made in improving these areas appears to be paying off.”
The Quarterly Benchmarking results also reveal that sales through smartphones and tablets accounted for 42 percent of total UK online retail sales in Q1, up from 40 percent in the previous quarter. This is up from 34 percent in Q1 last year.
It also found that 58 percent of traffic to online retail sites now comes via a smartphone or tablet device, up from 53 percent in the previous quarter and 48 percent in Q1 last year.
Alex Smith-Bingham, head of digital, consumer products and retail at Capgemini, added: “The growth of mobile sales is no doubt a key factor in the drop in the abandonment rate at the point of checkout.
“Retailers have invested a huge amount in optimising their sites for mobile and developing applications that will make it easier than ever for customers to make purchases on the go, at the click of a button.”