Did Something Just Happen? (And Other Add to Cart Issues)
While the eCommerce industry is thankfully transitioning away from a full-screen shopping cart that requires extraneous clicks and can cause a customer to lose their place, a new issue has emerged. A mini cart that is typically located in the upper right hand corner of the screen has replaced the full-screen cart for many merchants. In many of these stores, a customer will hit “add to cart” for a product and then not receive any feedback that their item, was indeed added. Typically, the display of the mini cart is just too small so the customer does not see a notification. Or, the customer has scrolled down to the bottom of a long shopping page and can no longer see the top of the screen. This can cause great confusion and lead to higher rates of shopping cart abandonment.
Thankfully, the solution to this issue is simple. First, have an always on-screen shopping cart. If the customer can always see their cart and its contents, there is no confusion. Second, use an appropriate Add to Cart Effect so that the customer gets instant feedback that something has happened (“the store put the product in my cart”). Effective add to cart effects include having the items “fly” into the cart or having the cart scroll into view.
For merchants using the Nexternal eCommerce Platform implementing the above solutions is a snap. The system comes native with an always on-screen shopping cart and it is easy to pick the Add To Cart Effect that you want to provide in the Layout section within the Advanced Layout heading.
Craig is the VP of Sales at Nexternal and is known in the industry as an expert in eCommerce, systems integrations, and online marketing. Craig has been with Nexternal since 2000 and his passion and experience are apparent to all who work with him.
