Quote Originally Posted by wizardofy
First let's agree on terms. By "abandonment rates" I mean
people that open up a shopping cart and then leave it without
completing a transaction.

I have been trying different strategies to try to decrease
abandonment rates without much success.

Our products run from $5 to $5000, we get about 500 on-line
orders a month and another 200 by phone. We average
$200k in sales per month.

So what are typical abandonment rates?

best regards
wiz
If they are bailing out of the checkout process, then first you have to determine at what exact point they are leaving. Then, where they go.

These two elements can begin to build the solution to your puzzle.

Oftentimes, you can decrease checkout process abandons by adding customer assurance in the proper locations (ssl certs, seals within the eye flow, etc...) and answering their questions before they ask (again, by placing the proper elements in front of them so they don't "question" in the first place.)

You can also decrease those abandons by streamlining the process.

There are a variety of ways, and often times the flexibility of your cart (what it actually allows you to adjust) within the process will determine how effective the process converts visitors into customers.

I've written a number of articles on this topic that you may find useful.

It comes down to building up the customer confidence at the right moment, explaining clearly what they need to do next in order to move through the process, defining what will happen when they perform that action, and speaking from the Buyer's point of view (not the seller's.)

If a potential customer has an item in their cart they should be qualified to buy. Typically they leave for a number of reasons; some of which can include confusion, they are afraid (which means the store owner has not provided the proper assurances to make them feel comfortable), too much personal information is asked for during checkout (don't ask for more than you actually need to complete the sale), and more ...

It's the store owner's job to find out where these issues arise, and then correct them in the steps. The "where" oftentimes can be found by looking at your analytics.