Shopping Cart Abandonment Blues

by on 05/12/2010 in Uncategorized

I hate moving. Despite my best intentions to stay organized while packing, crunch time almost always means “just throw a bunch of random stuff in this box and label it ‘random‘.”

Thanks to this helter-skelter method of packing, I somehow either lost, misplaced or threw away (accidentally, of course) my LaCie d2 500GB external hard drive’s power supply. Oops. Crappy thing is, this hard drive stored all of my music, and I badly need to sync my iPhone… I’ve made a lot of iTunes Store purchases, have new apps and am probably 2 iPhone OS software updates behind.

sbolen.me/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/shopping-cart.jpg" rel="lightbox[757]" title="Shopping Cart">Shopping CartNot having the power supply wouldn’t normally be a problem – I’m kind of a tech pack rat when it comes to things like this – except LaCie uses a proprietary 4-pin power supply, of which I only ever owned one, which is currently M.I.A.

I went to LaCie’s website, found the exact replacement power supply, and initiated the checkout process. The first screen I was hit with told me that I needed to sign in to my LaCie account or create a new account in order to complete my purchase – even for a $19 power supply.

According to Forrester Research, 23% of shoppers abandon their carts when prompted to register before checking out. Can you imagine running a business where you let nearly one out of every four people shopping at your store (standing in line to pay, no less!) just put down their purchase and walk out? Aside from being totally unnecessary, it’s just a boneheaded move to put your products inside a walled garden away from one-off purchasers (like myself).

By including a guest checkout option (with the ability to register after the transaction has been completed), you not only build trust with the consumer, but reduce your abandonment rate.

LaCie got my $19 because they were the only official vendor with the OEM part that was 100% guaranteed to work with my LaCie hard drive. If there were options to shop elsewhere that didn’t require registration (and didn’t rip me off with FedEx Ground shipping rates), believe me, I would have been in the 23% who bailed on the purchase.

(Photo via Flickr)

7 Comments Short URL , , ,
  • http://twitter.com/jmproffitt jmproffitt

    I *despise* registration for checkout. So much so that even if I’ve been registered at a site before, I will sometimes checkout as a guest anyway (even logging in is a pain). I don’t want to reward that kind of silliness, especially when there’s no benefit to having an account with that site. Amazon is an exception because there are benefits to having the account.

    And sorry about the power supply. I feel ya — I’m not a terribly well-organized mover, either.

    • http://sbolen.me/ Stephen Bolen

      While I understand the reasoning behind wanting users to register (primarily so they can drive up their email/marketing lists), it’s just silly. I’ll never be a repeat customer at LaCie — I bought the Hard Drive from Tiger Direct, not direct from LaCie.

      And now the odds that I’ll return to LaCie, for _anything_, are slim to none.

      Also, good to know that I’m not the only one who hates/stinks at moving. :)

  • http://twitter.com/jmproffitt jmproffitt

    I *despise* registration for checkout. So much so that even if I've been registered at a site before, I will sometimes checkout as a guest anyway (even logging in is a pain). I don't want to reward that kind of silliness, especially when there's no benefit to having an account with that site. Amazon is an exception because there are benefits to having the account.

    And sorry about the power supply. I feel ya — I'm not a terribly well-organized mover, either.

  • http://sbolen.me/ Stephen Bolen

    While I understand the reasoning behind wanting users to register (primarily so they can drive up their email/marketing lists), it's just silly. I'll never be a repeat customer at LaCie — I bought the Hard Drive from Tiger Direct, not direct from LaCie.

    And now the odds that I'll return to LaCie, for _anything_, are slim to none.

    Also, good to know that I'm not the only one who hates/stinks at moving. :)

  • http://twitter.com/jmproffitt jmproffitt

    I *despise* registration for checkout. So much so that even if I've been registered at a site before, I will sometimes checkout as a guest anyway (even logging in is a pain). I don't want to reward that kind of silliness, especially when there's no benefit to having an account with that site. Amazon is an exception because there are benefits to having the account.

    And sorry about the power supply. I feel ya — I'm not a terribly well-organized mover, either.

  • http://sbolen.me/ Stephen Bolen

    While I understand the reasoning behind wanting users to register (primarily so they can drive up their email/marketing lists), it's just silly. I'll never be a repeat customer at LaCie — I bought the Hard Drive from Tiger Direct, not direct from LaCie.

    And now the odds that I'll return to LaCie, for _anything_, are slim to none.

    Also, good to know that I'm not the only one who hates/stinks at moving. :)

  • admin

    Arrrrrrgh. Tis new pirate theme is booty-licious!