6 Ways E-commerce Businesses Can Increase Shopping Cart Conversion Rates

6 Ways E-commerce Businesses can Increase Shopping Cart Conversion Rate

Isn’t it a bummer when shoppers visit your e-commerce website, add products to their cart but then drop out without completing their purchase? 

Cart abandonment remains the biggest problem faced by e-commerce businesses. In fact, the average online store loses 75% of its sales to cart abandonment. And a higher cart abandonment rate indicates friction in checkout process or experience – hence a low shopping cart conversion rate.

As both of these metrics are closely tied to your store’s bottom line, in order to drive cart conversion rates and revenues, companies need to elevate their strategy. Before we discuss how to tackle this adversary here’s an introduction to the said KPIs. 

Shopping cart conversion rate & cart abandonment rate

Cart conversion determines the percentage of customers who complete an order after adding something to the shopping cart.

It’s crucial to know your e-commerce shopping cart conversion rate because it measures how effective your checkout process is at converting customers into buyers.

Cart abandonment, on the other hand, is the percentage of shoppers who added products to the cart but then left without initiating the checkout process. 

Shopping cart conversion rate vs. checkout conversion rate

These KPIs are ofttimes confused and interchangeably used. The shopping cart conversion rate metric helps determine the number of complete orders in comparison to the total number of shopping carts started by potential customers.

Whereas checkout conversion rate is a KPI that helps measure the percentage of total visitors who started the checkout process, and then go on to complete their orders.

Once you figure out the percentage of shoppers abandoning your cart and the number that completed the order, you can come up with a strategy to remove the blockers and optimize your cart conversion rate.

6 Ways e-commerce businesses can increase shopping cart conversion rate

The truth is you’ll never be able to put an end to cart abandonment entirely. But understanding what’s causing shoppers to leave mid-sale and being proactive about optimizing trouble spots will help increase your cart conversion rate. Here are a few foolproof ways to help you game up your cart conversion rates.

1. Give customers extra motivation with enticing offers

A stagnant or, worse, a lower conversion rate signals a serious issue and one of the foolproof ways to fix this problem is to pre-empt potential dropouts with an enticing offer. 

A good discount or coupon always hits the sweet spot. Which is why, many online stores try to win over potential customers with first-time offers even before products are added to cart. Here’s an example from Candle Delirium.  

Ordering something for the first time at full price without any past experience with the product or peer reviews to cling to can be daunting for most shoppers. Discounts, reward points, first-time offers all have a subconscious effect on your customers. With a discount in their proverbial pockets, they feel ready to complete a purchase at your e-commerce store.

In fact, a recent survey from RetailMeNot found that 80% of shoppers are more inclined to make a first-time purchase with a brand that offered a discount.

2. Simplify & streamline the checkout process 

A complicated checkout process is one of the topmost reasons why online shoppers abandon carts. Oftentimes, customers drop out after initiating the checkout process, which piles up on abandonment stack.

Remember that 70% of shoppers will not complete an online form with too many fields. Similarly, with each extra step your prospective customers will drop off in the conversion funnel. 

Here are a few good pointers:

  • Add fewer but relevant form fields 
  • Offer guest checkout (people will often get annoyed if they are forced to create an account)
  • Keep your CTAs simple (fancy doesn’t always work)

Moreover, if you do upsell and cross-sell, make absolutely sure they don’t interfere with or hinder the customer’s ability to check out fast.

PS: Remember to account for both desktop and smartphone users to ensure that your checkout process is as simple and seamless as possible irrespective of the devices your customers use.

Health-Ade’s checkout process is pretty neat – simple and streamlined.

3. Offer fast & free shipping

Free and fast shipping is every shopper’s wildest dream. In fact, 80% of shoppers surveyed want same-day shipping, while 61% want their packages delivered even faster — within 1-3 hours of placing an order.

Meanwhile, 63% of shoppers surveyed said they had abandoned shopping carts due to high shipping costs.

It’s abundantly clear why e-commerce stores need to hop on this ‘fast and free’ trend if they don’t want to lose any potential customers. Offering free shipping, despite the small cost to your online store, can provide a massive boost to your cart conversion rates. By leveraging free shipping, Amazon experienced a significant increase in customer orders throughout several marketplaces.

There are degrees of “fast” delivery, too. ROI data from Ohi shows repeat purchase rates associated with Ohi’s 2-hour delivery were even higher: up to 24% higher than same-day delivery and 61% higher than standard UPS/FedEx.

Order minimums are fine, too…

…because what works for one e-commerce business may not always work for another. In fact, many brands are unable to provide free shipping without eroding their e-commerce margins, especially when average order quantity is only one product.

Offering free shipping for a minimum order threshold can be an effective way for these brands to minimize cart abandonment while shoring up their margins. This also has the added benefit of assisting in increasing the average order value (AOV).

4. Reel the dropouts back in with retargeting

Abandoned cart retargeting is another strategy that can help you persuade abandoners to return and complete their purchase. Email remains an effective way to entice cart abandoners. Here are a few instances from Olipop.

You can also use ads to better target people who have visited your site and added products to the cart but did not complete their order. It keeps you top of mind for those prospective consumers as they browse the web.

5. Offer multiple payment options

How you manage and process payments impacts not only your customers’ buying journey but also the overall success of your business.

After all, customers are more likely to abandon carts if their preferred form of payment option isn’t available. By providing your site with a payment gateway that accepts a variety of payment options, you are helping boost sales opportunities. You can offer key payment methods such as credit cards, pay later solutions, and mobile wallets including Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Paypal, etc.

In addition to different payment methods, Ovira also guarantees a safe checkout.

Once you have added the right payment mix, you need to ensure that the payment completion is quick and easy and doesn’t get in the way of a shopper completing the order.  

6. Optimize page load speeds 

No one likes a slow-loading site. And an annoyed and angry shopper wondering if their order was even successful is the last thing you want. To be honest these shoppers may not even make it to the checkout if your e-commerce website loads slowly. 

To top up sales and reduce cart abandonment rate, every page – starting from transaction to landing page to order confirmation page – needs to be fast. 

First thing’s first, make sure you’re using a fast and reliable hosting service. Here are a few more ways you can speed up load-times for higher cart conversions:

  • Compress images 
  • Reduce the number of page redirects & broken links
  • Use a content delivery network (CDN)
  • Get rid of plug-ins with high resource usage (they hog most of your server’s CPU and RAM
  • Use lite embeds instead of standard embed code for videos from YouTube (they bloat your site) 
  • Opt for code minification – a process that removes badly coded HTML, JavaScript, or CSS that slows your site down
  • Create a seamless and fast shopping experience with a progressive web app

A little optimization & consideration goes a long way

Jeff Eisenberg, an American businessman, once said, “it’s easier to double your business by doubling your conversion rate rather than by doubling your traffic.”

As important as it is to double down on the traffic, converting the visitors into customers and retaining them is just as imperative. Optimizing your strategy, with the aforementioned, to increase your shopping cart conversion rate will pay off in the long haul. And once your cart conversion rate goes up, you’ll realize it’s worth the effort, time, and money.  


At Ohi, we’ve flipped the script for e-commerce fulfillment, transforming it from what is traditionally seen as a cost center into a growth engine. Brands join the Ohi platform to deliver powerfully fast, brand-focused, and memorable post-purchase experiences that enable them to grow. Want to learn more about how Ohi enables instant commerce? Get in touch today.

50+ E-commerce Stats & Facts You Need to Know for 2022 & Beyond

In the context of a continuing global pandemic, many consumers have increased their dependence on online shopping, forcing retailers and brands to invest in e-commerce at a breakneck speed.

With more and more businesses focused on digital sales, it’s more important than ever to understand the rapidly changing e-commerce landscape. 

Here are more than 50 insights into what’s transpired in the e-commerce world recently and forecasts for what’s ahead.

E-commerce General Stats

1. In the third quarter of 2021, e-commerce sales totaled $204.62 billion, up by 7% from $191.57 billion in the same period last year. (Digital Commerce 360)

While the figure in third-quarter 2021 is actually a drop from the second quarter same year, in comparison to the pre-pandemic Q3 2019, e-commerce sales increased by 46% in Q3 2021.

2. 48% of customers said in a January 2021 survey that the coronavirus pandemic has forever changed their shopping habits. (AlixPartners)

Meanwhile, many customers have said that brand loyalty just doesn’t matter as much anymore: the spending priorities too have undergone a tremendous change.   

3. E-commerce sales are projected to hit $6.5 trillion by 2023. (Statista)

Data from Statista also revealed that more than 2 billion unique people made at least one online purchase last year (2020).

4. By 2025, m-commerce is predicted to account for more than 10% of all retail purchases in the United States. (Statista)

When was the last time you opted to use your desktop or laptop to make a purchase online? The palm-held devices add to the convenience of shopping. 

5. Etsy, Walmart, and Chewy are the top three US retail businesses seeing e-commerce growth in 2021, with Amazon coming in fourth with 24.9% year-over-year growth. (eMarketer)

Amazon is predicted to outperform the top ten US retailers in e-commerce sales this year. Target has grown by 12.5 %, while Best Buy has declined by 3.1 %.

E-commerce has become an essential component of the global retail landscape in the past two-years.

6. 70% of shoppers purchased from a brand after watching a video on YouTube. (Think with Google)

Last year’s pandemic and worldwide lockdowns have not only changed the way customers buy, but also how. 

7. There are over 5,300 Shopify Plus stores in 2021. (Business 2 Community)

The number is constantly increasing. More and more retail businesses are going digital and consumers are finding comfort in online retail and e-commerce. 

8. According to data revealed by Similar Website on E-commerce and Shopping sites, the average visit duration was more than six minutes, and customers browsed more than six pages on each visit on the world’s biggest e-commerce and online shopping sites. (Similarweb)

As per the data, Amazon remains the top-visited site in 2021. 

9. Post-pandemic retail pharmacies are projected to account for over 1/4 market share in the sales of feminine hygiene products. However, online sales are expected to rise at the fastest CAGR among all distribution channels. (Persistence Market Research)

Most retail stores are expanding their feminine product offerings, both online and off the shelf.

10. There are an estimated 12-24 million online stores worldwide, with more launching every day. (SEMrush)

The pandemic and worldwide lockdowns contributed to this growth. 

11.  The first ever e-commerce online transaction was made by Dan Kohn in August 1994, who created a website called NetMarket.  (Smithsonian Magazine)

According to Peter H. Lewis of The New York Times, on August 11, Kohn sold a CD of Sting’s “Ten Summoner’s Tales” to a pal in Philadelphia.

12. In 2022, online CPG sales will account for approximately 10% of the total US CPG market. (Statista)

This applies to all types of online shopping, including click-and-collect.

Online Shopping Stats

1. More than six out of every ten shopping journeys begin online. (Think with Google)

Smartphone and social media disruption has revolutionized online shopping, changing the shopping behaviors.  

2. 80% of online shoppers and 63% of mobile shoppers said that the cutting-edge tech and innovations have helped improve their experience. (National Retail Federation)

It stands to reason that these customers are aficionados of new technologies and breakthroughs, given that online shopping is built on cutting-edge tech.

3. By 2025, online grocery will account for 21.5% of total grocery sales in the US, more than doubling its present market share. (Supermarket News)

It was during the pandemic that online grocery sales exploded. 

4. More than 40% of worldwide customers have purchased things they found on YouTube. (Think with Google)

YouTube is already a prominent shopping destination in many aspects. Many of the video platform’s 2 billion users follow unboxing videos and product reviews.

5. According to the research ‘The Shape of Retail: Consumers and the New Normal’, 38% of customers mentioned they bought something online that they would not have bought before the coronavirus pandemic. (Alvarez and Marsal)

The following areas, in particular, saw growth:

  • Health
  • Hygiene
  • Home essentials
  • Food & beverage

6. Shopping online, according to 35% of shoppers, is a speedier experience from product selection to checkout, with 28% preferring the convenience of checkout, 19% preferring product selection, and 50% favoring convenience in general. (Inmar Intelligence)

Apart from convenience, the checkout process is what keeps customers buying groceries online rather than in-store.

7. In 2021, 54% of US shoppers bought at Walmart in-store, while 39% shopped online at Walmart.com. (JungleScout)

Affluent, urban, or younger households are most likely to purchase groceries online, according to online grocery demographics. These demographics are understandably time conscious and prioritize convenience.

8. Around 65% of Amazon buyers prefer to do desktop shopping. They are making their searches and purchases on Amazon’s desktop site, and only 16.6% and 13.6% are using the mobile site and mobile app, respectively. (Statista)

In the age of smartphone technology and m-commerce, ‘65%’ isn’t a small number. 

9. In 2020, eBay was the second leading marketplace in the US, only second to Amazon. (Web Retailer)

 However, they only had $90 billion in GMV, which was much lower than Amazon’s. 

10. 97% of respondents in a survey said that peak holiday traffic is greater than non-holiday traffic. (Digital Commerce 360)

More people shop during the holiday season than during the non-holidays. 

E-commerce Cart Abandonment Stats 

1. 57% of shoppers will abandon the cart if a page takes longer than three seconds to load. (Sleeknote

Let’s be honest here, we’re all consumers in some way and neither of us has the patience to navigate through a slow-loading site. 

2. Cart abandonment costs e-commerce companies $18 billion in revenue each year. (Shopify)

The primary reason for online shoppers to abandon their carts is high extra costs. It’s why it is vital to be transparent about any extra costs. 

3. Industry experts are of the view that if e-commerce brands adopt the right checkout optimization strategy, they can increase conversions by 36%. (Sleeknote)

It’s not easy to get to this figure, but it’s certainly doable.

At the end of the day, it’s all about figuring out what’s wrong and putting in a deliberate effort to enhance e-commerce site design, promotions, products, and checkout flow, among other things.

4. A survey conducted by Baymard institute revealed that 55% of respondents cited higher costs as being the reason why they abandon carts. (Sleeknote)

While there are various factors at play, extra costs such as shipping, taxes, and fees were by far the most significant.

5. The same survey revealed that 34% said being forced to create an account is the second biggest reason why people abandon carts. (Sleeknote)

Cart abandonment is highly influenced by “the site required me to register an account”.

6. The study by Baymard also revealed that 58.6% of shoppers abandoned a cart within the last three months because they were just window-shopping or not ready to buy. (Netsuite)

You can still always throw in a casual reminder! 

7. 55% of shoppers will abort the purchase if they have to type in their credit card or shipping information again. (Sleeknote

This may not sound like such a big deal but customers get frustrated when they have to retype or re-enter any details all over again. A healthy user experience is just as crucial to cart conversions. 

8. According to a poll of 1,100 US-based consumers conducted by Retail System Research, 90% will abandon a site if it does not load in an acceptable amount of time. (Digital Commerce 360)

No one likes a slow-loading site and most customers will find another retailer. Better it be your site than a competitor’s. 

9. According to Shopify various reports cited that being forced to create an account, complicated checkout processes, unexpected delivery costs, concerns over security are major reasons why their customers abandon shopping carts. (Shopify)

These problems can be fixed with a little bit of consideration with respect to the user experience.

10. Consumers in North America expect free delivery on their online shopping orders. (Plytix)

In fact, half of these customers will abandon their carts as soon as they find out there is a shipping charge.

E-commerce Delivery Stats 

1. E-commerce customers want free and fast shipping according to The Future of Commerce 2021 report by Shopify. (Shopify)

In 2021 speed is everything. Now that the customers have had a taste of faster delivery options, they won’t have their orders delivered within the typical 3-4 day delivery window. 

2. 68% of consumers said fast shipping would lead them to place an online order, according to a February 2021 Digital Commerce 360 survey. (Digital Commerce 360)

Speed, access to funding, faster ways to pay using digital wallets, and more flexible payment options like instalments are all things that e-commerce customers seek.

3. 7-Eleven was the first to successfully complete a Federal Aviation Administration approved drone delivery in July 2015. The retailer partnered with drone operator Flirty to make the delivery. (Capegemini)

Since then, several retailers have pivoted to drone deliveries. 

4. According to a February 2021 Digital Commerce 360/Bizrate Insights survey on multichannel buying, 36% of e-commerce consumers had requested same-day delivery from a web-only business, that’s a 12% increase from August 2020. (Digital Commerce 360)

Some of the stats shared previously point out that most customers are rather more comfortable shopping via desktop than a tablet or a mobile device. 

5. After a bad delivery experience, 72.7% of customers said they are reluctant to shop with an online store again. (RetailWire)

It only makes sense; failing to deliver to the customer’s expectations is a deal-breaker. 

6. The number of shoppers opting for same-day delivery from a traditional store has increased to 26% from 14%. (RetailWire)

Amazon.com’s delivery practices likely have influenced a lot of the changes in consumer attitudes towards shipping.

7. If a competitor offers a faster delivery service 55% of customers will switch to them. (RetailWire)

In the era of same-day and two-hour delivery, 3-4 day delivery windows just may not suffice. 

8. According to a new Loqate Survey report, late deliveries are a concern to 87% of customers, and 41% are hesitant to purchase again from a retailer that delivered their package late. (Chain Store Age)

It is pretty evident that an enjoyable last-mile delivery customer experience is imperative to repeat business.

9. In an analysis of some of its big partner brands that offer both 2-hour delivery and same-day delivery, Ohi discovered that orders delivered with same-day delivery were associated with up to 30% higher repeat purchase rates than standard UPS/FedEx. (Ohi)

In a world where Amazon is offering prime same-day delivery, customers no longer want standard shipping. They want the fastest option available at the checkout.  

10. 57% of 500 respondents of a survey by Sift said they would pay at least 10% extra for eco-friendly packaging/shipping. (Sift)

Even consumers who don’t quite care as much about the environment wish to have their orders delivered via environment-friendly delivery options.

Social Commerce Stats

1. In 2020, social commerce sales in the US were estimated at nearly 27 billion US dollars. By 2025, social commerce is projected to reach 79.6 billion US dollars and account for 5.2 percent of US retail e-commerce sales. (Statista)

Social media is where brands are targeting their audiences because that’s where millennials and Gen Z are found. 

2. 64% of marketers in a global 2021 survey said they planned on increasing their use of Instagram in the near future; 21% said they planned to increase their use of TikTok advertising, meanwhile, 68% said they didn’t intend to use the mobile video sharing app for marketing purposes. (Statista)

Popular social media platforms are growing in terms of size and each platform has a unique audience.

3. 8 in 10 ten US businesses anticipate adopting social commerce within the next three years. (Statista)

57% of the small businesses in the study mentioned they sold via social media, and approximately 71 % are planning to sell on social media within the next 36 months.

4. As many as 36% of internet users i.e. 90.2 million people in the US are social buyers. (Insider Intelligence)

As brands continue to use social media checkout and shopping add-ons, tech-savvy Millennials and Gen Zers who are comfortable with and motivated by influencer content will likely engage with social commerce more frequently.

5. As per a June 2021 survey, 35% of participants said social media ads affected their buying decisions. For Gen Z respondents, the number rose to 75%. (Statista)

Going forward in the post-pandemic settings e-commerce businesses cannot afford to overlook the impact of social media on customer buying behavior.

6.54 % Z shoppers and 58 percent of Millennials believe that social media platforms are more effective than web searches for discovering new products. (Statista)

This survey by Statista was conducted in the United States in May 2021 and comprised more than 2,500 consumers from across the country.

7. In a live stream by Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Facebook and Instagram Shops have over 300 million visitors annually. (TechRadar)

The number is remarkable provided that Facebook only introduced its Shops a year ago,

8. According to Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg there are more than 1.2 million monthly active Shops on its platforms. (TechRadar)

And the number is expected to increase. 

9. YouTube in Q3 of 2021 enabled video action campaigns on connected TVs to make its ads more shoppable. (Google)

CTV collection is now included in video action campaigns to support advertisers, obtain new customers and boost online sales.

10. In the United States, Facebook and Instagram are the most popular platforms for learning about, discovering, and buying fashion apparel. (Retail Dive)

Over half of users said the content they see in their feeds has compelled them to make a purchase.

11. According to eMarketer, only 18.7% of consumers used a social app’s checkout system to pay for their most recent purchase, while 57.8% concluded the transaction via the retailer’s website. (eMarketer)

Most Americans are using social media to explore and research products. Social commerce is another trend that was set off during the pandemic. 


At Ohi, we’ve flipped the script for e-commerce fulfillment, transforming it from what is traditionally seen as a cost center into a growth engine. Brands join the Ohi platform to deliver powerfully fast, brand-focused, and memorable post-purchase experiences that enable them to grow. Want to learn more about how Ohi enables instant commerce? Get in touch today.