Shipping Cost Drives 42% of Shopping Cart Abandonments

source: Royal Mail

Free shipping--at least in the United Kingdom--really matters, a study of e-commerce behavior has found.

Cart abandonment rates in 2016 are the same as 2015: 91 percent of online shoppers claim to have abandoned a cart over the last twelve months.

However the frequency of shoppers abandoning orders has decreased by 10 percent since 2015.

Website and technical problems showed the biggest improvements, with consumers reporting they less frequently abandoned a possible purchase for those reasons.

There was also a decline in those saying “I wasn’t happy with the delivery charge”, which fell from 44 percent to 42 percent.

Still, delivery costs cause 42 percent of cart abandonments. About 66 percent of online shoppers say they are unlikely to place an order if they feel the cost of delivery is too high.

About half of online shoppers expect no minimum spend to receive free delivery. About 29 percent of respondents said they would shop elsewhere if a retailer had a minimum spend policy.

Younger shoppers are significantly more likely to spend the required amount to qualify for free delivery, while older shoppers will simply switch to another retailer who doesn’t charge for delivery.