7 Reasons B2B Office Supplies Buyers Abandon Their Shopping Carts

Does your office supplies company sell its products or services online? While you can always use offline channels to connect with buyers, the internet can open the doors to a world of new sales opportunities. When using the internet, you can promote your office supplies company's products or services in front of a larger audience. Unfortunately, though, not all buyers will follow through with the online sales process. Some of them may add a product or service to their cart, only to abandon their cart before submitting their payment information. To convert these digital buyers, let's address why they are abandoning their carts.

#1) No Purchasing Authority

Buyers may abandon their cart if they don't have purchasing authority. Office supplies buyers aren't the same as consumers. Rather, they consist of professionals who run and operate their own business. As a result, you need to target buyers who have the authority to make purchases on behalf of their business. C-level executives, for example, can often make purchases without the approval of anyone else. Receptionists, on the other hand, can't make purchases on behalf of the business for which they work, unless given the authority to purchase office supplies up to a certain amount each month or quarter. Regardless, if a buyer doesn't have purchasing authority, he or she may abandon their cart.

#2) Lack of Trust

If a buyer doesn't trust your office supplies company, he or she may feel reluctant to make a purchase. The buyer may navigate your B2B company's website, followed by selecting and adding a product to his or her cart. Without establishing trust with the buyer, though, he or she may leave your B2B company's website, resulting in an abandoned cart that yields no sales. You must earn a buyer's trust to convince him or her to make a purchase, regardless of which sales channel you use. When selling online, failure to gain buyers' trust will lead to more abandoned carts.

#3) Hidden Costs

Another reason buyers abandon their carts is hidden costs. In fact, one study found that hidden costs were responsible for more abandoned carts than any other factor. Some office supplies companies attempt to sneak fees and extra costs into their products or services, hoping that buyers will overlook them. But you have to remember that office supplies buyers are professionals, so most of them will carefully evaluate all costs associated with a product or service before purchasing it.

#4) Price Researching

It's not uncommon for buyers to research product and services prices online by adding them to their cart. Rather than purchasing the first product they discover, for example, a buyer may visit several office supplies websites to see how much they sell the product for. On each of these office supplies websites, the buyer may add the product to a cart, only to leave it behind. So, how can you convince buyers in the "researching" stage to complete their purchase? If your office supplies company offers the lowest price, you can mention this on the product page as well as the checkout page. Alternatively, you can provide buyers with a promo code for a discount to entice them to make a purchase.

#5) Preferred Payment Method Not Accepted

Buyers may abandon their cart if their preferred payment method is not accepted. After all, you have to remember that buyers purchase products and services on behalf of their business, so they are typically required to use a specific payment method. If your office supplies company doesn't accept a buyer's preferred payment method, it could trigger an abandoned cart. To prevent this from happening, expand your office supplies company's supported payment methods to include a variety of credit cards, debit cards, ACH transfers and other payment solutions.

#6) Slow Fulfillment

The speed at which your office supplies company fulfills buyers' orders will influence whether they make a purchase or abandon their cart. If it takes your office supplies company a long time to deliver a buyer's product or complete a buyer's order, he or she may look elsewhere. Therefore, you should emphasize speed when fulfilling orders. The sooner you can fulfill a buyer's order, the more likely he or she is to make a purchase.

#7) Security Concerns

Given the rise of data breaches over the past 10 years, security concerns may cause buyers to abandon their cart. Purchasing products or services over the internet carries a risk of a data breach. A cyber thief, for instance, could steal a buyer's information when he or she places an order. Therefore, some buyers choose to abandon their cart out of security concerns. You can ease buyers' concerns by making your office supplies company's website secure with HTTPS. For an added level of trust, add trust seals to your office supplies company's website.

When selling your office supplies company's products or services online, you can expect some buyers to abandon their cart. Regardless, you can convince many buyers to complete their order.