An empty shopping cart can be a frustrating experience for both customers and store owners. In an eCommerce setting, abandoned carts are a common occurrence. However, WooCommerce provides several strategies and tools that can help you turn empty carts into completed purchases, enhancing user engagement and boosting sales. In this blog, we will dive into the concept of WooCommerce empty cart functionality, its impact on your store, and how to leverage this feature to improve your store’s performance.
What Does “Empty Cart” Mean in WooCommerce?
In WooCommerce, an empty cart refers to the scenario when a customer browses through your online store, adds products to their cart, but leaves the cart without completing the purchase. This is often the first step in a potential sale, but when left unaddressed, it becomes an abandoned cart.
An empty cart does not necessarily mean that the customer is not interested in purchasing; it could simply indicate that they are still in the decision-making process. Customers might leave for various reasons, including price concerns, distractions, or the complexity of the checkout process.
Why Does an Empty Cart Matter?
An empty cart is an essential part of the customer journey in eCommerce. Understanding why this matters can help you develop better strategies to reduce cart abandonment rates and increase conversion rates.
Cart Abandonment Rates
Cart abandonment is a critical metric for any online store. According to recent studies, the global average cart abandonment rate is about 70%. This means that nearly 7 out of 10 customers add items to their cart but never complete the purchase. An empty cart, therefore, represents a significant missed opportunity.
Customer Intent
An empty cart can indicate that the customer has shown interest in your products but hasn’t yet made a decision. This provides an opportunity for store owners to engage with these visitors and guide them back to the checkout page.
Lost Revenue
Every empty cart is a potential sale lost. However, with the right tools, abandoned carts can be recovered. An effective cart recovery strategy can help you recover a significant portion of these abandoned sales and increase your overall revenue.
How to Manage Empty Carts in WooCommerce
Display Exit Intent Pop-ups
One of the most effective ways to handle empty carts is by using exit-intent pop-ups. These pop-ups appear when a customer is about to leave the website, offering them a last-minute incentive such as a discount or free shipping. By offering an incentive when the cart is empty, you can persuade customers to reconsider and complete the purchase.
There are various plugins for WooCommerce that allow you to set up exit-intent pop-ups, and many of them let you customize the pop-up message and design to match your branding. This feature can be an effective tool in reducing cart abandonment.
Email Cart Recovery
WooCommerce allows store owners to set up abandoned cart emails to reach out to customers who have left items in their cart. This feature can be especially helpful when you notice that a customer has added items to their cart but hasn’t proceeded to checkout.
A well-crafted abandoned cart email typically contains the following elements:
A reminder of the items left in the cart
A call-to-action to encourage completing the purchase
A time-sensitive discount or special offer (if appropriate)
A link back to the cart for easy checkout
By sending a series of reminder emails, you increase the chances of a customer returning to their cart and completing the purchase.
Cart Expiration and Notifications
Another strategy to manage empty carts is to set cart expiration rules. By setting a time limit for how long a cart remains active, you can reduce the number of abandoned carts. Customers may be more inclined to finalize their purchase if they know their cart will expire soon.
WooCommerce offers plugins that allow you to customize the expiration time for carts, so you can create urgency for the customer to check out. Additionally, you can set up notifications to remind the customer that their cart is about to expire.
Encourage Guest Checkout
Sometimes, cart abandonment occurs because customers are discouraged by the need to create an account before completing a purchase. Guest checkout options can eliminate this barrier, making it easier for customers to finalize their purchase without requiring an account creation.
WooCommerce allows you to enable guest checkout in the settings, and this can help reduce friction in the checkout process. Customers who may have abandoned their cart because of the account creation step are more likely to complete the purchase when guest checkout is available.
Simplify the Checkout Process
One common reason for an empty cart is a complicated checkout process. If the checkout page requires too many steps, asks for unnecessary information, or takes too long to load, customers are more likely to abandon their cart. Streamlining the checkout process is essential to reducing cart abandonment rates.
You can simplify the checkout process by:
Reducing the number of form fields
Offering one-page checkout
Enabling auto-fill for shipping and billing information
Making payment options easy to navigate
Offer Free Shipping
Shipping costs are one of the main reasons customers abandon their carts. By offering free shipping for orders over a certain amount, you can incentivize customers to complete their purchases.
WooCommerce provides various ways to implement free shipping. You can set conditions for free shipping, such as offering it for orders over a specified dollar amount, for specific product categories, or based on the customer’s location.
Show Recently Viewed Products
WooCommerce allows you to show recently viewed products to encourage customers to return to items they’ve previously shown interest in. Displaying these products on the cart or checkout page can help remind customers of the items they were considering, increasing the likelihood of them completing the purchase.
The Importance of Analyzing Empty Cart Data
Tracking and analyzing data related to empty carts is crucial for identifying trends and areas for improvement. WooCommerce analytics can provide valuable insights into:
The percentage of carts abandoned versus completed
Which products are most often abandoned
Customer demographics of those abandoning carts
Time spent on the checkout page
By leveraging this data, you can optimize the shopping experience, adjust your cart abandonment strategies, and boost conversions.
Best Plugins for Managing Empty Carts in WooCommerce
Several plugins can help you effectively manage empty carts in WooCommerce. These plugins provide features like cart recovery, exit-intent pop-ups, and email reminders, which can significantly reduce abandonment rates.
WooCommerce Cart Abandonment Recovery
This plugin automatically sends emails to customers who have abandoned their carts, reminding them of the products they left behind and encouraging them to return and complete the purchase.
Exit Intent Popups by OptinMonster
This plugin allows you to create exit-intent pop-ups that offer incentives or reminders when a customer is about to leave the site with an empty cart.
WooCommerce One Page Checkout
This plugin streamlines the checkout process by allowing customers to complete their purchase on a single page, reducing friction and improving conversion rates.
Conclusion
WooCommerce Empty Cart effectively is a key strategy for reducing cart abandonment and boosting conversion rates in your WooCommerce store. By implementing strategies such as exit-intent pop-ups, email cart recovery, simplifying the checkout process, and offering incentives like free shipping, you can significantly improve your chances of turning empty carts into completed sales.
Understanding the reasons behind abandoned carts and using the right tools to recover them will ultimately help you increase revenue, improve the customer experience, and enhance your store’s overall performance.
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