Every website that leads potential buyers through a sales process loses many of them along the way. While millions of people successfully complete their purchases, millions more abandon the process. The challenge for website owners is to determine why this abandonment happens. Below, we'll explore several possible reasons why your website may be losing sales. We'll also take a look at how to survey those who fail to complete their purchases about why they've done so. Finally, I'll explain how to review their responses so you'll understand how to make changes, or know whether they're even necessary.



Reasons People Fail To Complete A Purchase

One of the main reasons why consumers fail to complete their shopping experience online is due to a disconnect between their expectations and what is displayed in their shopping cart. For example, they might be surprised by the shipping cost if it isn't shown until the final "checkout" page. Or, if the sales process requires too many steps, the customer may grow weary and leave.

Other reasons that have been given include unclear or confusing information, ambiguous delivery dates, and the combined cost of items being higher than expected. In short, the most common cause of abandonment during the sales process is triggered by poor communication. However, because there are several ways in which your website can fail to communicate important information to customers, it's worthwhile to survey your visitors for specific details.

The Best Time To Ask

If a potential customer abandons your website's shopping cart, you'll only have one opportunity to ask them why they've done so. Even if you have their contact information, using it to solicit the reason why they failed to complete their purchase isn't effective (or welcome). You need to ask immediately following their decision to leave.

For example, imagine that a potential customer has gone through your website's shopping cart and reached the final page before actually purchasing an item. At that stage, their only option is to either proceed with their purchase or leave the process. If they decide to leave, you must survey them with a pop-up box immediately after they click out of your shopping cart. Each subsequent click away from the sales process - even as they explore your site - reduces the chance that they'll respond to your pop-up survey.

Figuring Out Why They're Leaving

So, how do you acquire the information you need in order to identify possible problems that are discouraging sales? The two most important pieces of information are "why didn't they complete the sales process" and "what changes would prevent their abandoning the process in the future." The challenge is to get answers to those questions without irritating them.

Keep the number of questions to five or less. Remember, the customer has already implied they're unwilling to accommodate inconvenience. The longer you make your survey, the less likely they'll cooperate. Consider starting with "I decided not to purchase because..." and then provide several possible reasons (allow them to select multiple reasons). It's tactful and diplomatic. Plus, it lets them communicate their reasons quickly.

Reviewing Their Responses

Making changes to your shopping cart should only be done after prioritizing their value. For example, if only one customer abandoned the cart due to being surprised by shipping costs, making a change may be unnecessary. On the other hand, if half of your survey responses mention that the purchase experience takes too much time, consider streamlining it. The key is to integrate a short survey in order to identify the reasons why your website may be losing sales. That way, you can implement changes when it makes sense to do so.