Choice overload ‘leads to cart abandonment’

Too much choice and not enough product information online is causing consumers to abandon purchases at checkout, according to new research.

A survey of 2,000 UK consumers who shop online, conducted by OnePoll in April on behalf of iAdvize, showed that 83 per cent of shoppers that abandoned a purchase did so because they felt there was too much choice online and felt overwhelmed by the amount of options available.

When abandoning a basket online, 58 per cent of UK shoppers felt there wasn’t enough product information available to help them decide on their purchase, with a further 55 per cent stating that fears around making the right decision was also a cause of cart abandonment.

Over half (52 per cent) of UK consumers said better advice and product information would make them spend more with a retailer, while a further 56 per cent would spend more frequently with a brand, demonstrating the importance of supporting the shopper with the right type of advice, delivered in the most appropriate channel at each stage of the buying journey.

Over half (53 per cent) of shoppers said they wanted retailers to serve them the most appropriate type of advice that mapped to their query – whether that was chatbots for quick-fire questions or access to independent product experts for more in-depth queries.

Stuart Gordon, UK country manager at iAdvize, commented: “The key to building customer trust and confidence is to develop conversations that deliver the high-quality information that shoppers need, when they need it most.”

    Share Story:

Recent Stories


The Very Group
The Very Group transformed range and assortment planning using Board.

Watch the full video

Smarter merchandise planning across the retail value chain
In this webinar, Matt Hopkins, Head of Retail Solutions, Board, Catherine Tooke, SVP Product & Planning, Sweaty Betty, and Subir Gupta, Managing Principal, Thought Provoking Consulting join Retail Systems Editor Jonathan Easton to discuss the findings of the recent Retail Systems report The Merchandise Planning Challenge: How are retailers harnessing technology to optimise planning and retain customers? and examine the innovations that are improving retail planning.

Advertisement