On June 23, 2009, PayPal released the results of an independent survey about cart abandonment. While PayPal had the ulterior motive of releasing a new PayPal feature, and uses the results of this survey to illustrate the benefits of their new API (application programming interface), there is still some very pertinent information you can use to reduce your site's cart abandonment.

The single most important reason, according to the survey, for shoppers to leave without completing their purchase is the shipping costs. Unless you provide a flat rate, or free shipping, your potential customer must first put an item into their cart to determine the shipping costs. With many carts, the customer must also create an account before they arrive at a page where they can view the shipping costs.

Once the customer has the total price, with shipping, they may leave because they perceive the shipping cost to be too high, or the total cost to be more than they want, or can afford, to pay.

More than a third of the surveyed shoppers were comparison shopping and only looking for the final total, never intending to purchase at that time. I know I've done this-you probably have too.

How can this information help you?

Does your cart have a feature that allows your visitors to estimate shipping costs? Can you include the shipping weight as part of the product listing? Can you afford to set a flat rate or free shipping for a product, perhaps by increasing the price?

Ask yourself these questions and more. Then look for ways you can provide the visitor with enough information up front so that they are more likely to complete the checkout process once they've put items into their shopping cart.

Survey participants identified a total of 9 issues for abandoning their shopping carts. The full Press Release follows.

New PayPal Survey Reveals Why Online Shoppers Abandon Purchases

High Shipping Costs Top the List; PayPal Introduces New Feature to Help Merchants Show Total Cost of Purchases Early on in Checkout Process

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 23, 2009--

A PayPal (NASDAQ:EBAY) survey released today revealed that nearly half (45 percent) of online shoppers have abandoned their carts multiple times in the past three weeks due to high shipping costs, security concerns and lack of convenience. The average cost of abandoned goods in U.S. shopping carts is $109.

High shipping costs was cited as the largest single reason for cart abandonment. While nothing could have prevented one-third of shoppers from abandoning purchases, the survey found that providing shipping costs upfront might have caused 40 percent to complete the purchase. To help merchants encourage shoppers to purchase, PayPal today announced a new Express Checkout feature -- the PayPal Instant Update API. By integrating the new API, merchants can show order details earlier in the process including shipping options, insurance choices and tax totals.

"To get shoppers to buy, it's critical merchants make the checkout experience easy and costs transparent," said Eddie Davis, senior director of SMB merchant services, PayPal. "Our new PayPal Instant Update API will help merchants get customers the information they need upfront to drive sales."

The survey also uncovered signs that the economy still has shoppers wary about clicking the "purchase" button. More than one-third of respondents abandoned checkout because they didn't plan for all of the expenses; while more than 25 percent left the site to search for a coupon. However one-third of shoppers later returned to the same site to buy. An additional 20 percent purchased the items at a brick and mortar store or competitor's Web site.

"Merchants who don't welcome back abandoners with open arms are leaving hundreds of dollars per shopper on the table," added Davis. "Merchants need to remember the items that customers abandon and make it easy for them to buy when they return. Sweetening the deal with free shipping, coupons and special discounts is also a great way to encourage online shoppers to complete their purchases."

Breakdown on Why Shoppers Abandon

At least a fifth of all U.S. survey respondents cited the following as very important reasons for cart abandonment:

-- High shipping charges: 46 percent
-- Wanted to comparison shop: 37 percent
-- Lack of money: 36 percent
-- Wanted to look for a coupon: 27 percent
-- Wanted to shop offline: 26 percent
-- Couldn't find preferred pay option: 24 percent
-- Item was unavailable at checkout: 23 percent
-- Couldn't find customer support: 22 percent
-- Concerned about security of credit card data: 21 percent

About the survey

The PayPal Checkout Abandonment Study was conducted by comScore among active shoppers who had recently abandoned a shopping cart. In the United States 553 people participated between May 12-15, 2009. All respondents were asked about their most recent abandoned session, regardless of the site involved.

About PayPal

PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows members to send money without sharing financial information, with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts, credit cards or promotional financing. With more than 73 million active accounts in 190 markets and 19 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global ecommerce. PayPal is an eBay company and is made up of three leading online payment services: the PayPal global payments platform, the Payflow Gateway, and Bill Me Later. More information about the company can be found at https://www.paypal.com.

CONTACT: PayPal

Anuj Nayar, 408-967-5730

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Communications for PayPal

Lindsay Scalisi,

415-844-6217

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SOURCE: PayPal

Copyright Business Wire 2009