UK retailers lose £39.4bn in potential sales

British retailers are losing tens of billions of pounds in sales because shoppers abandon their purchases due to overly complicated online checkouts, new figures show.

British retailers have missed out on more than £39.4 billion in potential sales in the past 12 months as a boom in online shopping during the lockdown has caused the value of abandoned online shopping baskets to more than double since 2018, foreign media reported .

That’s according to new research from Barclays Card Payments , which processes nearly half of all credit and debit card transactions in the United States.

High last -mile delivery costs are the main reason buyers are deterred , causing 37% to abandon their purchases, followed by online window shopping (26%) and lengthy payment authentication processes (24%).

However, with a better understanding of basket abandonment rates, many retailers are now working to address the issue , with nearly half (49%) reportedly having reduced the number of steps required to complete the checkout process, and 48% sending automated emails to remind customers to discard items.

The data also showed that consumers were less likely to abandon their shopping cart on an app ( 5% ) than on a laptop ( 31% ) .

The survey showed that household items (34%) and smart clothing such as suits and dresses (31%) were the most commonly discarded items, followed by gadgets (29%), party wear (23%) and festive wear (23%).

For sellers in these categories, they should pay more attention, improve service quality, and reduce the complexity of the shopping process to retain every customer who adds the product to the shopping cart.

"Ensuring the payment process is as streamlined as possible should be a priority for all online businesses, as every second a customer spends at the checkout increases the risk of lost revenue," independent retail expert Claire Bailey said in a statement.

“Having a dedicated app can also have a significant impact on reducing the number of items discarded in baskets. With online traffic increasing, retailers should ensure they are aiming to reap benefits, not empty baskets.”

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