Monday, September 16, 2019 - 14:43 by Graham Miller

A study published by SaleCycle has shown that sites which offer consumers the opportunity to order groceries via safe shopping online are able to convert more casual visitors into paying customers than contemporaries targeting other segments of the retail market.

In the first six months of the year, just under 85 per cent of all virtual shopping carts were abandoned across the entire e-commerce industry. When looking solely at grocery-selling sites, this rate falls to just 72 per cent, showing the significant advantage that retailers in this area have at the moment.

The report also examined the types of retailers which are faced with the highest cart abandonment rates, singling out jewellery retailers as having the hardest time convincing prospective customers to commit to a purchase.

DIY and homeware e-commerce sites were similarly hampered by high cart abandonment rates, coming in just below jewellery retailers in this respect.

Clearly, there are distinctions between these product types which cannot be overlooked when assessing the reasons behind the differences in performance. Supermarkets which deliver groceries to customers are selling goods that are essential to everyday life, whereas jewellery is a luxury that is both rarely bought and comparatively expensive, necessitating more time and research.

Another advantage that supermarkets have when it comes to combating cart abandonment is that many customers set up weekly orders which are fairly consistent and can quickly be renewed to guarantee that as little time as possible is spent picking and choosing between products.

Even with these points taken into account, no doubt other retailers will be looking to supermarkets to see whether they can replicate some of their tactics to boost conversions and cut cart abandonment. Moving towards a subscription-based approach to shopping could be a sensible step.