Understanding Shopping Cart Abandonment and Solutions Through SHEIN’s Redesign

Shopping cart abandonment is a prevalent issue in e-commerce that occurs when a shopper adds items to their online shopping cart but exits without completing the purchase. This phenomenon is akin to a customer walking into a store, filling their cart, and then leaving it in the aisle to walk out. It’s a lost opportunity for sales and an indication that the shopping experience may have friction points that need addressing.

Reasons Behind Cart Abandonment

Several factors contribute to cart abandonment, including:

• Mandatory Account Creation: Being forced to create an account can turn off customers who desire a quick transaction.
• Complex Navigation: Too many steps or complex navigation through the purchase process can frustrate customers.
• Hidden Costs: Unexpected costs that appear at the end of the checkout process, like taxes and shipping fees, can be deterrents.
• Limited Payment Options: A lack of preferred payment methods can cause customers to abandon their carts.
• Lack of Information: Insufficient product details or the inability to review items easily during the checkout process may lead to second-guessing the purchase.

Proposed Solutions and Improvements

After carefully analyzing these issues, I proposed several solutions as part of the SHEIN app redesign:

1. Guest Checkout Option: Introducing a ‘Continue as a Guest’ feature removes the barrier of mandatory account creation, allowing for a quicker and less intrusive checkout experience.

Challenge:

• Mandatory account creation or sign-in can deter users from completing a purchase.
• Users may not want to share personal information early in the shopping process.
• This friction can lead to shopping cart abandonment, which is when a potential customer starts a check-out process but drops out of the process before completing the purchase.

Proposed Solution:

• Introducing a “Continue as a guest” option reduces the commitment required from first-time users.
• It can increase the conversion rate by simplifying the checkout process.
• This option respects users’ privacy and can speed up the purchasing process, making it more likely that the user will complete the purchase.

2. Redesigned Navigation: Streamlining the checkout process by displaying product details and total costs upfront minimizes the need for additional navigation, keeping the user engaged and informed.

Challenge:

• The necessity to navigate to a separate page to review item details can disrupt the checkout flow and cause frustration.
• Extra navigation steps may lead to a higher chance of cart abandonment due to a more complicated checkout process.

Proposed Solution:

• Display product details, such as item name, size, color, and price, directly on the order confirmation page.
• This reduces the number of steps and the need for additional navigation, streamlining the checkout process.
• It allows users to quickly review their order details without leaving the confirmation page, leading to a smoother and faster checkout experience.

3. ‘Save for Later’ Option: A ‘Save for Later’ button beside each item in the checkout allows customers to easily manage their cart without having to backtrack, making the process more forgiving and flexible.

Challenge:

• The total cost impact of selected items, including tax and shipping, is only visible at the end of the checkout process.
• Users wanting to adjust their order based on the total cost must navigate back to the shopping cart.
• This inconvenience can increase the likelihood of users abandoning their carts.

Proposed Solution:

• Introduce a “Save for later” button next to each item in the order detail screen during checkout.
• Users can quickly deselect items from their immediate purchase without leaving the checkout screen.
• This allows users to manage their spending and prioritize purchases without disrupting the checkout flow.

Redesigning Key Screens

In the redesigned SHEIN app, I focused on enhancing the user experience at crucial stages:

• Product Review: On the order confirmation screen, I included product details such as size, color, and price directly within the interface to reduce the need for additional clicks and pages.
• Shipping and Payment: The final order review page now has a more straightforward layout, with clear shipping options and a more accessible payment method selection, providing a smoother path to purchase.
• Checkout Efficiency: By integrating a ‘Save for Later’ feature at the checkout, users can adjust their final order with ease, leading to a more satisfying and decisive purchasing decision.

Conclusion

The redesign of the SHEIN app with these solutions aims to reduce friction, create transparency, and provide flexibility, all of which are key to decreasing shopping cart abandonment rates. By focusing on the user experience and addressing common pain points, e-commerce platforms can convert more browsers into buyers, ensuring that fewer shopping carts are left abandoned in the virtual aisles.