We sell magazines. We have never proclaimed to be e-commerce experts, and we don’t have millions of dollars to throw at acquiring these skills like some of our competitors do. That is why it is with some excitement but also trepidation that we have seen the growth of our online subscription business far outstrip any of our physical stores.
Some of you folk, who are much cleverer than we are, live and breathe in this space. Can we ask for your help and advice?
We are looking at updating and improving our site, and in going through all the stats from Google Analytics, we have noticed that our drop off from people entering our cart through to final purchase is pretty high.
What is normal? Does anyone have some benchmarks that they could throw our way?
We thought we would lose heaps of people through the “fill in your details” steps. Subscriptions are a little more complicated than a normal book purchase because you often send it to someone else rather than yourself. However, our drop off at these points in the transaction process is minimal. Rather, most people who do abandon our purchase process do so at the final point of purchase.
That is, they take the time to add a magazine subscription to their cart, signup for an account, provide us with all their details, get to the final payment page, and then piss off elsewhere.
We were really surprised by this. Not so much by the quantum of abandonment, but the point of abandonment. We realise that many people are going to “chicken out” prior to pressing pay, but are there things we could be doing to improve our conversion?
Some of the things we are about to implement include:
- Integrating PayPal
- Highlighting that our payment system is “secure”
- Increasing the size of the Pay Now button
We already changed the colour of our checkout button in the shopping cart from red (part of our brand identity) to green, and saw via A/B testing that conversion from that point increased.
Should we change from “pay now” to “buy now”? Any other clever ideas? Help!!!
If we end up implementing any individual’s suggestion, we’ll happily provide you with a lifetime supply of magazines ala Mr Wonka. Ok, maybe not, but how about a $100 mag nation voucher instead???
I have gone through the exact scenario of abandonment you describe above many times on my sites. Here’s my process every single time:
1. I glance in the footer for accepted payment methods, nothing there.
2. At this stage I figure I could delve into a link such as the ‘FAQ’ page and scan around for an indication of the accepted payment methods, I generally decide against this and figure I’ll jump into the checkout process, surely the accepted methods will be indicated there. What? No, ok press on.
3. I figure I’ll checkout as a guest and work my way to the final payment screen, I can be guaranteed that the payment methods will be indicated there.
4. What?! I have to register to move through the cart to see the payment section? Now I am getting a bit cranky, but I’ve invested my time to get this far, so I register.
5. Now I finally get to see the payment methods. And guess what? No paypal – I’m out of here, no purchase and bitter taste in my mouth.
My point is not that you will lessen your abandoned carts if you provide Paypal as an option, rather that it is important to include basic conventions such as the display of accepted payment methods clearly. I get paid from a variety of places on the web into my paypal account and use it as my primary purchase method online.
Ever been caught in one of those ‘cash only’ aisles at Ikea? You miss the little sign, line up, put your items up, go to pay only to be told that you’re plastic is no good, you’ll have to go line up again. It sucks.
the first line should’ve read: I have gone through the exact scenario of abandonment you describe above many times on *many* sites.
Thanks Bob… your thoughts are much appreciated. We are definitely putting in paypal and also already have the little payment icons being added to the site. Good to know that we are at least on the right track in relation to those changes.
Are there any advantages to be had by subscribing that could be highlighted at this point to help get people across the line e.g. especially any $$$ savings achieved by subscribing?
Can’t really think of anything else that would stop me at this point if I’d come this far. I know one site that I’ve been through the check out process for, until I got to the postage and spat the dummy because it made the purchase bad value. But that wouldn’t be an issue here because I think your advertised price prior to adding to the basket includes postage.
Howdy,
I can probably put in some volunteer analysis time for you guys if you want. I’ve run e-commerce sites specializing in subscriptions (including magshop.co.nz) and am now consulting in Usability, SEO, etc. I’ve got some free time while house moving so happy to assist if you want to contact me.
Cheers,
Eric Rowe
Kiwieric Consulting
Hi Rory – you are right about the postage. Many subscriptions sites add it in at the end. One site we know entices you to add to cart and they then whack on postage and GST at the end! We made the call very early on to show the price that you will end up paying, even if it looks more than what others offer. We will lose some “comparative shoppers” but much better to be upfront.
As to the savings, we highlight these on the main product page…
That said, we definitely think about what else we could say just prior to purchase to remind folks just how cool subscriptions are…
Thanks
Hi Eric.
We would love to take you up on your offer. Thank you soooo much. We will be in contact soon.
mag nation
Hi there,
As I’m sure you are realising there is so many variables in a checkout process each of which can increase that completion rate or decrease it and for what reason? Who knows?
You mention that you are doing A/B testing. Are you using Google Website Optimiser? It’s really awesome for testing this exact stuff you are doing. It is a little bit tricky the first time you set it up, but once you’ve done it once or twice the results are amazing.
I’m a big fan of reducing the required steps to get the person to their goal. (which in this case is that new shiny magazine subscription) People have the memory of goldfish and when you have a long and weighty 4 or 5 step checkout process, by the time they get to the end, they might not even remember how much they wanted the product.
The first thing that strikes me is reducing the steps required to purchase, possibly even having a “shortcut” where the person can put (perhaps a reduced amount of) their details, their credit card information on the first page of the checkout process and press go.
Instant gratification.
The other thing you might like to do is to place a bit more behaviour tracking in. It seems sleazy tracking exactly what input box your customers are in, but you can find out exactly what the last thing people are doing before they abandon the cart. Is it the credit card box that’s scaring them off? Is it the whole page? This way you at least know where to start.
If you’d like to give me a call, drop me an email I can probably come and spend a bit of time helping you out with it.
Cheers,
Michael
On a side note, I think that you should obliterate all red text – unless it’s a prompt for error (i.e. missing field etc) – red insinuates naughtiness/error/bad dog. I know it’s your brand but have a think about it.
Also – perhaps you could consider renaming the ‘buy now’/'purchase now’ button to ‘submit order’ which then doesn’t involve pressure (now now now) and alleviates the pressure of buying, which is obviously what people are feeling, if they are dropping off so far into the purchase process.
On a ‘user interface’ side note – the navigation and layout of that credit card module above is horrific. It’s not intuitive whatsoever. I would be more than happy to assist in redesigning that particular area for free!
Add in a ‘padlock’ icon to your page. People love knowing that what they’re paying for over a medium such as the net, that it’s SECURE…
And yes, integrating PayPal would be a benefit.
I do a lot of user experience work in my job so I’m across what works and what doesn’t.
Tara / Designer
Hi Michael and Tara
First – thanks to both of you for your considered responses. Michael – we are using Website Optimiser. That is how we realised that the green button was better than the red button from a conversion point of view. Tara, that also goes to your point about Red text. Probably more that we should be doing there to eradicate red!
In terms of fewer steps, we still obviously need to capture a minimal amount of data to fulfil a sub. Michael – we would love to give you a call to get your thoughts.
Tara – We are definitely adding a padlock but redesigning the payment page is exactly what we are now looking into. Our problem is that we are not designers. Sounds like you are, and that you know this area pretty well. We would also love to give you a call…
On a side note – we are feeling a little blown away by all the offers for help. Hope you don’t all think we are being unfaithful by talking to all of you…
Flick me an email and we can sort it out!
Hi team!
I always find those little bars that say what percentage of the transaction, or how many steps til completion, are handy. Good Luck!
Sarah
Hi Magnation
I find having to create an account before I can check out a real deterrent to internet transactions. Remembering yet another user name and password is a pain and you’re often also signing up for regular and unwanted emails (although I see that’s a box to check or uncheck on your site).
Perhaps you could create a “purchase without becoming a member” or “guest” button? Users would have to submit the same billing and address details, but not go through the account set-up process.
The best example I can think of for this one is here http://www.uie.com/articles/three_hund_million_button
Get rid of the registration, conversion will increase. Have seen it time and time again. You get all their details anyway when they purchase.
Hope that Helps!
Rick
Guess none of these responses was worth $100, eh magnation?
Hi Tara – One person in particular has been helping us a lot with her suggestions and we are about to start implementing some stuff that she has put to us. She will be receiving a voucher from us as promised.