Shopping Cart Analysis: Understanding Abandoned Cart Metrics and Recovery Strategies
An abandoned cart occurs when a customer adds items to their shopping cart but doesn't complete the purchase within 24 hours. The average abandonment rate across e-commerce is approximately 70%.
Understanding Abandoned Cart Stages:
- Carts: Total visits where customers added items, counted once per visitor
- Abandoned: Carts without completed orders after 24 hours
- Recoverable: Abandoned carts with customer email addresses
- Email Sent: Recovery emails delivered to recoverable customers
- Recovered: Successfully completed purchases after abandonment
Bar chart
Factors Affecting Recovery:
- Email subscription status
- Product availability
- Customer account status
- Payment method options
- Shipping information visibility
Best Practices to Reduce Abandonment:
- Offer multiple payment methods
- Display clear return policies
- Simplify checkout forms
- Show shipping costs upfront
- Enable customer accounts
- Implement saved payment options
- Send recovery emails promptly
Key Metrics to Monitor:
- Daily abandonment rates
- Recovery email effectiveness
- Revenue from recovered carts
- Time between abandonment and recovery
- Impact of store changes on recovery rates
Success Tracking:
- Monitor changes over time
- Compare against industry averages
- Analyze recovery email performance
- Track revenue from recovered carts
- Measure impact of store modifications
Note: Recovery data availability depends on your e-commerce platform plan. Premium plans typically provide more detailed analytics and recovery features.