Fear of (Cart) Abandonment

256 Media, a Dublin based strategic content marketing agency, has come up with some interesting research on what Irish ecommerce businesses need to do to attain a bigger share of the more than 4 billion euro that Irish consumers spend online each year.

The sad fact is that Irish ecommerce attracts only 25% of that spend.
In conducting this research, 256 Media did a comprehensive shopping experience across 27 sites, comprising both Irish and International shopping sites.

They looked at 36 separate metrics, and Irish sites did not generally score well in comparison to International competitors –
Only 33% of Irish sites offer a loyalty scheme compared to 58% International sites
Just 46% of Irish sites offer free shipping compared to 67% International sites
This one scored particularly badly, and shows a lack of thought around retention – just 8% of Irish sites offer wish lists or save for later facilities, compared to 100% International sites
Irish sites did compare well in follow up emails – 41% compared to 17% of International competitors
Or have a responsive website – 40% of Irish sites versus 37% of International sites

The original study can be accessed here
And if you scroll down, they even offer a free e-book on how to tackle cart abandonment on your website : )