As deal-seeking becomes an ingrained behavior among consumers, shopping cart abandonment data is providing new insight into conversions, according to Charles Nicholls, chief strategy officer with SeeWhy.
Namely it is highlighting the growing link between discounts offered and conversions, he says. Since Black Friday and Cyber Monday online sales have remained healthy with a 65% shopping cart abandonment rate. However these numbers have been "bought" with a greater than usual level of promotions and conversions, Nicholls says.
Shoplocal.com reported that retailers have increased Black Friday sale offers by 21% over last year - an increase that Nicholls maintains has impacted shopping cart abandonment rates.
His evidence? Leading up to Thanksgiving, customers were stalling purchases in anticipation of Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers, with actual transactions at half their normal amounts. The shopping cart abandonment rate for that time period averaged 71%. On the weekends, in particular, the abandonment pattern was very strong, with the peak at 83% on Sunday, October 11, he says.
Rise Then Fall
Then came Black Friday: the abandonment rate dropped dramatically as transaction volumes steadily rose. So far in this holiday cycle, the biggest online shopping day of the year has been Dec. 8, registering 109% of the sales volume of Cyber Monday.
Basically consumers have trained themselves to wait for discounts before they buy, to use price comparison sites, search for voucher codes, and use the internet primarily to save money – and the shopping cart abandonment rate has become heavily influenced by this behavior along with such factors as how the site is designed, Nicholls concludes.
The Waiting Game
This has been no ordinary year, though, and consumers that think they can wait out retailers for the absolute lowest price may be in for a surprise in the final days of the holiday season, according to Mark Pearson, managing director of the voucher site MyVoucherCodes. "While I think that it's a good thing for people to be looking for a bargain in the run up to Christmas, especially after the tough year we've had, it's important that online shoppers are aware that leaving it too late could be even more costly."
Retailers have a history of retracting discounts and voucher codes just before Christmas knowing that people will panic buy and pay full price, he says. "Retailers and businesses have also been struggling in recent months in the tough retail climate and will need to take advantage of ways to improve their profit margin."
