Does your e-commerce business suffer from people abandoning their shopping basket or cart before buying? A recent study by Forrester Research found that 88% of on-line buyers say that they have abandoned a shopping cart without completing a transaction. This is the same percentage as five years ago.

Some of the problems include:

• Dislike of shipping costs.
• Being unprepared at point of sale to buy the goods, i.e. can’t find a credit card.
• Desire to compare prices elsewhere.

The research also found:

• On-line buyers who abandon shopping carts spend more money on-line than those who don’t. So it seems that the very people who abandon shopping carts are actually the most valuable to businesses.
• More than two-thirds of shopping cart abandoners say they like to shop around before making a purchase.
• Almost 50% of shopping cart abandoners say that they plan to conduct more on-line research before purchasing in order to get the best price.

So what can e-commerce businesses do about this? Some suggestions include:

• Be up-front about shipping costs of offer free delivery.
• Be sure to offer good deals and discounts.
• Make the buying process as simply as possible.

Recent research reveals that on-line spending in America in the first quarter of 2010 is up 10% on last year to $34 billion. The comScore findings also showed:

* Growth was mainly driven by upper-income consumers. Those with a $100,000-plus household income spent 14% more.

* Larger on-line retailers continued to generate higher growth rates than smaller retailers, but the smaller retailers are seeing some positive growth once again.

comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni is reported as saying: “The first quarter returned the US retail e-commerce market to healthy double-digit growth rates.

“While these spending gains provide reason for optimism, we should note that upper-income households are currently shouldering much of the growth.

“Should the economy falter in the second half of the year and upper-income consumers return to a savings mode, we could still see growth decelerate. But for the time being, this momentum is encouraging.”

Could this spell good news for Britain, too? We hope so.

Latest research reveals that total on-line sales increased by 13% in April compared to last year. Shoppers spent £4.4 billion worth on goods and products during the month.

The figures, from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, do mask a month-on-month downturn in on-line travel sales. While travel and ticket sales on-line rose by 5% year-on-year there was a sharp 9% drop in April, compared to March, because of the volcanic ash cloud.

When it comes to on-line clothing sales, there was a huge 21% increase compared to the same period in 2009. There was also a rise in sales of beers, wines and spirits in the last three weeks of the month.

Chris Webster, vice president, Retail Consulting and Technology, Capgemini, is reported as saying: “On-line retail is seeing continued high growth levels of 13% as more and more retailers are using an on-line channel to attract a new market and retain existing customers.

“The clothing sector in particular has been given a boost by April’s early signs of summer, with shoppers logging on to update their wardrobes for the new season. This sector is driving growth behind the industry as a whole.”

A new report reveals that on-line shopping is continuing to grow, with the majority of the British population aged over 15 now shopping on-line.

The study by IMRG showed that the numbers shopping on-line tipped over the 50% mark for the first time in February 2010 (50.6%), while March saw further growth in the number of on-line shoppers to 51%.

James Roper, chief executive of IMRG, is reported as saying: “It is only 10 years since the very first consumer broadband connection was made available… since when the value of UK on-line shopping has grown more than 6,000%”

“This huge growth is due almost entirely to consumers’ eagerness to embrace the convenience, choice and savings that e-retail offers them.”

The cost of failed deliveries in the UK cost e-retail businesses between £790 million and £1 billion every year, a survey has found. That amounts to a cost of 70p for every parcel dispatched.

The report from IMRG looked at six different delivery failure scenarios and calculated the cost of “inefficient delivery”.

With the 26.9 million on-line and catalogue retail consumers in the UK predicted to rise to 30 million by 2013 this “inefficiency” figure is only likely to grow.

These consumers are currently responsible annually for:

• Purchasing an estimated £49.8 billion of goods and services
• Requiring the delivery of an estimated 1.1 billion parcel and packets comprising more than 1 billion home deliveries
• Generating £4 billion in delivery charges.
Now IMRG is planning to launch the IDIS Gold Standard, which is designed to enable retailers to offer all consumers the probability of first time delivery under any circumstances.

Do any on-line business owners have their own methods for reducing the cost/occurrence of failed deliveries?

A report has predicted that the European on-line retail sector is set to grow by 11% by 2014. In America the figure is set at 10%. Forrester Research suggested that in Europe the e-retail market will be worth $156 billion in four year’ time, while in the US the figure will be $250 billion. The hottest products are predicted to be clothing.

So, what are you waiting for? If you are thinking about setting up an on-line business then now might very well be the time to go for it.