Just imagine strolling down your local store with you shopping cart and you find something interesting and you want. However just imagine that before you can put it into you cart you have to give you name and other personal information to a store employee! Then, you want to put an item back on the shelf but every time your try, it comes back into you cart! Then you realize that to really get rid of it you have to state “Yes, I want zero of this item!”
If any of these things happened to you in an actual store, chances are you would just leave your cart behind. However, these are a few of the things that a shopper must face to purchase online. Don't be surprised that 60% - 75% of shopping carts are abandoned in e-commerce sites. Well the web designers have forgotten that the purpose of using the terminology “Shopping Cart” is so that users can relate it to the behavior of a “REAL” shopping cart to a “VIRTUAL” one!
The irony is that, the usability of many shopping web sites is always surprised by the inconvenience of “CONVENIENT” shopping. When people shop in a store, they are rarely aware of their shopping cart, unless there is something really wrong (squeaky wheel is a good example) with the shopping cart. If that's the case, they can at least change it to a new shopping cart. Well Online, unfortunately, do not have that choice.
Its not surprising to see the extra steps as its necessary at the payment process. After all, the convenience of not having to get into a store physically is worth a few extra clicks and key stokes I believe. Major ecommerce companies like amazon.com are continuously working to streamline the buying process by offering predefined accounts and one click buying.
The process before buying i.e. shopping, browsing and handling you shopping cart is also critical to a site's success in many ways. Frustrated users will never even get to the point of online buying. There are a lot of shopping features, rather I would say experiences that can impact user performance and satisfaction. Here are a few mistakes of a shopping cart design that I have compiled:
Calling a Shopping Cart anything other than a Shopping Cart:
Well calling your shopping cart by any other name only causes confusion. Users are used to the cart terminology and while certain people or sites may find it cute to use different terms specific to their product line (something like school bag for books and a basked for fruits) it is best to maintain consistency and stick with CART. Graphic of a shopping cart will help real quick access.
Requiring users to click a "BUY" button to add an item to the shopping cart:
Adding items to shopping cart should be flexible and effortless and noncommittal, because the user is adding items to the cart for possible future purchase. When users have to click a BUY button to add an item to the cart it is often unsettling since they are not necessarily ready to buy the item at that point. They just want to place it in the shopping cart. Buying is supposed to be the final step in the shopping process and it should not be presented that adding an item to the cart is a commitment to buy. I myself would be hesitant to click the BUY button and search for an Add to Cart button on the page instead.
Visual feedback for an item that has been added to the cart:
Many sites do not redirect the users to the shopping cart page when an item is added. This allows them to continue shopping without any interruptions. These sites would have a cart indicator on each page that pdates and summarizes the cart content. The problem comes when the visual feedback of the change to the cart's content is to subtle or non existent or not available I the users current browser view. All in all, users do not believe that an item was added to the cart and as a result they tend to click the Add to Cart button too many times. At the end the frustrated user end up viewing the Cart page just to find multiple quantities of the same item.
Forcing the user to view the Shopping Cart every time an item is added to the cart:
As long as the cart's content are visible, there is really no need to take the user to the shopping cart every time an item is added. In fact, it would be disruptive for a multi-item shopper, requiring extra clicks to continue shopping and potentially limiting how many items a person would buy.
Suggesting the user to add other related items to the cart before proceeding for a checkout:
This is similar to the scenario to “would like some cold drinks with you order?” and its not surprising that it irritates the users to the core. After clicking a button or link to add an item to the cart, users are ready for some kind of message or feedback that the item has been added to the cart. Asking them to make a decision about other items confuses them whether they actually pressed the correct button to add the desired item. The best approach is to place these related items after the item is added to the cart and before the checkout process. This makes the users more willing to purchase.
Requiring a user to REGISTER before adding an item to the cart:
Requiring users to register with personal information before an item is placed into the cart, can just turn them off who may be browsing. They may or may not purchase the items, but they definitely do not want to commit personal information just to add the shopping cart and will leave the site because of it.
Changing the quantity to zero to remove an item from the cart:
Updating the shopping cart's content is very important and tricky but should be flexible to the user. Many sites still require to enter 0 in the quantity field and click an Update button. Using a remove or delete button/link next to an item is a much convenient option.
Requiring written instructions to update the items in the cart:
Requiring users to read instructions on how to manage their shopping cart is, an indication of a poor design. Tell me how many of you would read instructions? If instructions are required, they the shopping cart interface desing must not be intuitive. Users should be able to figure out how to remove or change the number of itmes desired from viewing the cart itself.
Update cart button should be clearly visible:
Any cart will have an update button or like to update changes made to the shopping cart this should be located such that it is visible and clearly distinct from the rest of the shopping cart, regardless of the number of items in the cart.
Requiring a user to enter shipping, billing, and all personal information before knowing the final costs including shipping and tax:
Shipping costs and taxes (if applicable) are a big factor in whether or not users complete their online orders. Users cannot access whether their purchase is truly a 'deal' or not until they have the final cost. Many sites require users to enter all shipping, billing, and credit card information before a final cost is provided. Access to shipping rates and tax from the shopping cart or item pages (before the user ventures down the purchasing path) is critical.
Designers need to consider the usability of the entire shopping experience for its users. I would say that finding items, adding them to the cart, and understanding the total costs are most critical part of the process rather than the process of buying. Studies show that 51% of online shoppers say that they shop online and purchase offline. Here we have seen a few common mistakes, which we have seen, impact a users willingness to purchase. The design flaws are not the only reason why users abandon their carts, fixing them can only improve a user's willingness to stay online to purchase.
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