Reducing Online Jewelry Store Cart Abandonment: 19 Proven Strategies

While average eCommerce cart abandonment typically hovers between 70% and 80%, for jewelry it’s even higher. 

Given that the world is still moving from trusting in-store jewelry buying experiences largely, online stores need to work harder to convince purchase actions.

However, if projections are to be believed, the online jewelry market is all set to grow from $45.33 billion in 2023 to $130.86 billion in 2032—which means as an online jewelry retailer, increasing conversions and reducing cart abandonment can in fact land you large pieces of the pie. 

But before we jump in and give you some of the best ideas that we’ve helped other jewelry brands with (+ brand examples that we admire), let’s look at what goes through a jewelry shopper’s mind when they abandon a cart. 

Why is cart abandonment so high in jewelry eCommerce?

Lower conversions and higher cart abandonment in jewelry eCommerce tend to happen as a result of a combination of causes:

⚑ Lack of trust and assurance (because let’s admit it, there are only so many legacy jewelry brands who automatically inspire trust and awe given their heritage - but this is bad news for newer brands who may be just as genuine but struggle with brand perception in the eyes of the customer)

⚑ Complex return / refund policies (with the average item price of jewelry being higher, online jewelry stores naturally come up against higher cost of returns, leading them to make their return policies not very shopper friendly)

⚑ Low confidence in transaction / security (this can often include a no price breakdown scenario, lack of trust in payment methods and low levels of confidence in packaging security)

⚑ Lack of mobile optimization (almost 50% of the total share of online jewelry shoppers is less than 34 years old, which means a lot of comparison shopping may take place over mobile devices - unoptimized mobile shopping scenarios then automatically mean more bounces and cart abandonment)

How to Improve eCommerce Jewelry Cart Success

1. Build last-minute conviction at checkout

Thanks to high price-points and longer delivery windows, jewelry shoppers can’t be sure of their purchase until they’ve hit the ‘pay’ button. 

Which is why the checkout page being dicey is a big blow to conversions—even if some brands insist they’re doing everything to show multiple payment options and linking this page to important policies. 

But what they’re missing out on is addressing the burning questions:

🔥 How will this purchase turn out to be different?

🔥 Am I making the right choice by buying from this brand?

🔥 How am I assured that the package will reach me without damage?

To address these, the more conscious jewelry brands have begun to:

👍 Remind shoppers if they’re eligible for a free gift 

👍 Create a sense of exclusivity on the checkout page

Here’s an example of what Catbird’s been doing to include shoppers in their “20 years of Catbird” celebration, while creating last-minute checkout assurance: 

👍 Call out the benefits of buying from your brand

The Clear Cut does exactly that - even if they’ve said so before on the product page:

2. Create urgency through an exit-intent (well-timed, of course!)

And by well-timed, we mean no exit-intent pop-up before a minute of a visitor scrolling, browsing, clicking after they’ve added to cart. 

You could also look at their cursor behavior to time this nudge well—if it’s closer to the X button or even around the navigation panel, there’s a good chance they’re about to leave. 

Here’s an example of what modern jewelry brand Ana Luisa does to pull back in shoppers who’ve added to cart and are leaving—they talk about something super topical and also stack up the benefits to drive greater conviction:

Further Reading: eCommerce Tiered Discount: 10 Awesome Examples You'd Want To Copy

3. Promise some last-minute value-add content

Meeting your jewelry shopper exactly where they are in their customer journey, is a win-win.

So, in a scenario where they don’t seem to be hitting the “checkout securely” button or have closed the mini cart, you can meet them halfway with some non-transactional content. 

After all, jewelry shoppers abandon carts because they feel indecisive about how well they’re suited to use the product they’ve picked—the doubt may be about the quality, the uses or if it’s even the right product altogether!

This is what eCommerce jewelry brand Ritani resolves—in the process, they’re also able to stay ahead of competitors by offering something that's both transactional & non-transactional in spirit:

4. Offer a last chance loyalty discount / offer

Leveraging the belief that 68% of shoppers invested in loyalty programs have about the concerned brand understanding their preferences closely, is a good idea. 

So offering a last chance loyalty discount / offer to cart abandoners can work really well—here’s how to put it to action:

⭐ Position it as an exclusive gift card offer (and give them a simple choice prompt -”pay the same price and get a gift card to pass on to friends / family” or “get $X off on this purchase”)

⭐ Offer free shipping even if they haven’t hit the threshold (now this one’s tricky because if you don’t have the profit margins to give this benefit to everyone, you ought to reserve it only for the most high-intent buyers: include past buyers with high AOV or those who’ve made multiple purchases with you)

⭐ Feature a limited-time personalization offer (again, reserve this only for those who’ve bought from you before or have made successful referrals - the personalization can be throwing the best packaging you’ve got as a freebie or even a premium shipping option at no cost)

Further Reading: 14 eCommerce Loyalty Programs Backed By Science (Examples)

5. Outshine your competitors with your product warranty / guarantee

The typical feature across  eCommerce jewelry brands is to offer a year or two’s product warranty. 

This often includes repairs and replacements if required—and this means, if you have to create another point of differentiation for cart abandoners, it’s the quality of warranty you offer. 

Auree, for example, clearly champions their five-year guarantee and even highlights this on their notification bar:

Monica Vinader builds on this further and amplifies their messaging around a 100-day return window:

So what else can you do to make sure your product guarantees differentiate you?

✔ Offer a free repair service up to X number of years (this is especially helpful if you know for a fact that you can’t extend a warranty of more than a year or two)

✔ Feature a gemstone warranty along with a certification (shoppers often feel more confident when they see more documentation around the metals or stones you use, which includes a certification - this will work well even if you can’t offer an extended warranty on your products)

6. Offer expert consultation (make it urgent!)

Since trust is a big reason for cart abandonment in jewelry eCommerce, featuring expert consultations are a must. 

But what we’ve seen is, if you leave that choice to customers without a hint of urgency, there’s no guarantee they won’t leave. 

Instead do what Antonia Guise does, clarifying that their attention to detail requires more time, especially when they’re catering to peak season shoppers:

Here are some more ideas you can explore along the same lines:

❖ Feature a recommendation widget where you nudge them to “buy within <insert countdown timer> and get consultation + repairs free”

❖ Use a countdown timer on an engraving service (and use microcopy alongside to clarify how this is in high demand and to be able to finish orders on time, you’ll be taking only X more such requests!)

Further Reading: 15 Ways Online Jewelry Stores Can Boost Conversions

7. Grab the VIP buy-in mindset

Everyone loves exclusivity, but jewelry shoppers love it a little more—given that jewelry purchases are largely emotional decisions, this is an idea you’ve got to leverage to reduce instances of cart abandonment. 

Here are a few ideas you can work with:

✔ Use a pop-up at checkout that says “Here’s your chance to enter the X Royalty Club that we extend to only Y number of members” and add a “Return to Checkout” CTA

✔ Use microcopy along with a micro-interaction that triggers “EXCLUSIVE: You’re now eligible for free returns for an extended window of 120 days”

✔ Feature a free gift for shoppers buying over $X and make the suggestion through a pop-up just as they’re about to jump off:

8. Show up high-intent & discounted recommendations

One way to fight jewelry eCommerce cart abandonment is to try and win back customers from the mouth of death (read: bouncing off). 

But there’s another way: prevent cart abandonment before it has even begun!

While we wanted to see if many jewelry brands take this approach, we noticed only a few implement it—like Frank Darling showed us this prompt as soon as we entered their site because just a few hours before we were checking up on the US Open results. 

To honor the high-intent of buying, the brand also declares a discount on a chosen category like this:

9. Pop a relevant giveaway

Whether you’re trying to convert first-time customers on your jewelry eCommerce store or giving repeat buyers the last-mile nudge, giveaways can be great.

But only if: what you offer them is directly relevant to the product they’ve added to cart. 

Turning your giveaways into dynamic content is a great way to fight jewelry cart abandonment—it’s exactly what Roxanne First does when you spend more than 2 minutes on their checkout page being idle:

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Other dynamic giveaway ideas that you can explore for your jewelry online store:

🎀 Tier up the giveaway rewards & send the codes over email (this gives hesitant shoppers a chance to rethink their decision to abandon the cart and instead, re-engage to see if they can make the same purchase but at a reduced price)

🎀 Leverage a holiday gift theme on the giveaway (this can especially be effective for peak holiday shoppers who’re looking to land the best deals because they’re possibly getting gifts for multiple people and spending a lot)

🎀 Feature a milestone giveaway (can work well with existing customers who experience hesitation at the last stages including cart / checkout and help them to re-engage so that they can reconsider the purchase again - milestone giveaways can especially because you help a shopper make their 15th or 25th buy easier!)

10. Show exclusive offers to who’ve added to cart

It’s now well understood that most eCommerce shoppers find it more meaningful to wait for deep-discount events like Black Friday and Thanksgiving. 

But even then, the jewelry-buying psyche is certainly more different, giving more predominance to sentimentality around special events. 

And this means featuring just a simple discount doesn’t count anymore—take a cue from Edge of Ember, an eCommerce jewelry brand that shows up its first-time discount only if a buyer adds a product to cart but doesn’t proceed towards checkout - and to make it more impactful, they promise a birthday treat:

Here are a few more ideas you may want to experiment with:

❖ Bring referrals into the picture (copy like “get X% off on your first order & refer 5 friends to get Y% off on the next, making them anticipate a shared experience with friends / family)

❖ Shift their attention to another channel where they can get a higher discount (for example, if you have an app, let them know that they can go over there and enjoy an X% discount not only on the product they’ve selected but enjoy offers on other products as well)

❖ Create offers to cut out competition (stacking up discounts can be tactical but only if you offer it only few times in the year—either as a birthday discount prompt or during holiday season shopping like James Allen does:)

The more sustainable way of doing this is what Kay Jewelers does—they feature a “Current Offers” sticky button across all high intent pages, which when clicked show up the ongoing discounts across categories/ products:

Other ways to ensure your jewelry cart abandonment offers stand out:

✋ Declare personalized offers (based on engagement, past purchase history etc.) on limited-edition collections

✋ Feature a limited-time discount on charms & add-ons (if this is a driving feature of the product you’re selling, it’ll convince a potential shopper more)

11. Make the try-ons count

Even after people have read media mentions or heard friendly reviews, they may continue to have very subjective apprehensions about a jewelry brand. 

These could range from a deeper insecurity about the provided info on a product to how a product will match one’s skin tone. 

Offering a virtual try-on service would be the most intuitive, but in its absence you can also do what Brilliant Earth does - the brand features a skin tone analyzer along with a 360° drag and view option:

If your budget won’t let you do this, then including a simple 15-20 second video where the product is worn and seen in light, in movement and in shade can be helpful too (and make sure you include this in your main image gallery.)

If you’re a small business that delivers to multiple cities: you can attempt to reduce jewelry cart abandonment in the area local to you—that’s what UK-based jewelry brand Shrimps does - they offer a try-on at home service that lasts 40 minutes and also ensures they give this option as a secondary CTA within the cart:

12. Feature express delivery (& display it prominently)

Sometimes to reduce jewelry cart abandonment, you’ve got to focus on audiences that are more intent on carrying through with their purchase decision. 

Offering various kinds of shipping & packaging is one option - where you might say standard shipping is free but expedited shipping comes at $X extra and then you can also feature expedited shipping plus sustainable gift packaging as a third option. 

Jewelry brand Tada & Toy takes this a step further by targeting UK-only shoppers with next-day delivery and also attaching a countdown timer along with it:

13. Tell ‘em taxes & duties are included

Hidden extra costs are anyway one of the leading causes of cart abandonment. 

In jewelry eCommerce, the scenario worsens when shoppers are able to tell there’s no transparency about it. 

Here’s what we recommend our jewelry clients do: use a shipping charges calculator within the cart itself so that taxes and duties can also be simultaneously checked / revised. 

However, your strategy may also be to include taxes and duties within the product price, at least when you’re delivering within the same continent—exactly what Daisy Jewelry clarifies in their checkout page along with a host of other assurances to reduce customer objections:

14. Keep the third-party review nudge in the first fold

It’s an old story now that 93% of shoppers will read online reviews before buying. 

Now research has also found that when a product manages to get 101 reviews, the conversion rate can increase by over 250%.

In jewelry eCommerce since the payments are typically very high, in-store reviews still don’t cut it. 

Which is why brands that pair up with third-party review sites typically see better conversions. 

We recommend how Auree features their third-party review trustworthiness on the main navigation panel across their store, prompting doubting shoppers to pause and click if their purchase intent is high:

15. Keep a feedback button handy

It goes without saying that you won’t be able to catch them all while they abandon their jewelry carts. 

But what you can do is improve your brand perception by introducing a sticky feedback button across all high-intent pages on your website. 

After all, over 50% of shoppers won’t flinch while shifting to a competitor brand if they find a UX / CX issue. 

Here’s how Pandora creates clarity for shoppers who click on their feedback button:

Swarovski, on the other hand, relies on a Net Promoter Score based survey at the end of each product page, based on which they evolve / revise their designs:

16. Highlight customer support around the primary CTA

Call it shifting the abandonment mindset to the help-seeking mindset—this can actually be a great tactic to wheel back shoppers who have a high intent to buy but may be doubtful about quality, assurances, personalization etc. 

Some brands state their customer support details as microcopy beneath the primary product page CTA—but you could also do what Blue Nile does - introduce a secondary consultation CTA:

Further Reading: CTA Button Examples (+ 50 Call to Action Phrases)

17. Highlight *free shipping* in the cart

Like it or not, jewelry buyers are already battling paying too much in their minds before they even come to your store. 

So, to prevent serious buyers from turning into cart abandoners, you have to create extra assurances around shipping details, return / refund windows etc. 

We love how Merci Jewelry cleverly does this by bringing in a free shipping threshold progress bar:

Here’s something to consider: If you’re a smaller jewelry store that features *free shipping* only during peak shopping season (thanks to the sheer volume in sales), consider using the price anchoring method to highlight this information - scratch out the shipping fee you’d otherwise charge and highlight “free” in a different, distinct color. 

18. Help them opt for a quick checkout

The more time they have to spend filling in details, the more time they practically have to consider cart abandonment. 

Sounds harsh, but it’s true—so you need to crack your jewelry checkout flow open right from the product page - do what Daphine does with a secondary Shop Pay CTA:

Here’s what we suggest: Use microcopy beneath the two CTAs saying “More Payment Options” that takes shoppers directly to the checkout page - for better UX here, highlight all the payment options you are featuring including Paypal and BNPL options. 

19. Make your cart abandonment emails powerful

Working with Engage clients, it’s now clear to us that cart abandonment emails pack real power. 

Even according to SaleCycle, while the average email open rates hover around 21%, for cart abandonment emails it often goes up to a whopping 40%. 

The reason is simple: people are okay to be reminded and not pushed. 

Here are a few tactics we’ve applied to the cart abandonment strategy of some of our jewelry customers:

🔥 Offer a limited time deal / coupon

Making it a single-use code like Claire’s does, seals the deal:

🔥 Make *choice* the driving factor

Let your jewelry cart abandonment email amplify the shopper’s browsing experience, even if they’re disinterested in a specific product - just like Blue Nile does:

🔥 Use a powerful headline

It’s never a bad idea to use a sense of authority in your jewelry cart abandonment emails, especially if you’re trying to position yourself as a cut above the rest - Jennifer Fisher gives us the cue: 

🔥 Start with browse abandonment reminders

Sometimes the best way to reduce jewelry cart abandonment is to not wait until shoppers leave after loading their cart - get ‘em early like Tiffany & Co. does, soon after you notice they’ve been browsing and leaving: 

Further Reading: Jewelry Email Marketing: 40 Amazing Examples For Online Stores

Online jewelry business owners also ask:

How can I use exit-intent popups to prevent cart abandonment for jewelry buyers?

Exit-intent pop-ups can indeed be a great inclusion in your online jewelry cart abandonment strategy. 

However, you’ve got to watch out for how they’re used rather than why they’re used. 

Here are a few suggestions to make your jewelry exit-intent pop-ups wheel back cart abandoners more easily:

❖ Talk about a FREE service you can offer

❖ Promise them a FREE gift if they meet the “shop for $X” condition

❖ Use urgency & a limited time offer to make the product in the cart more attractive (for example, take X% off when you order within <insert countdown timer>)

Further Reading: Cart Abandonment Pop-Up: 19 Amazing Examples (That Actually Work)

How important is free shipping for reducing cart abandonment in jewelry sales?

Free shipping can potentially be a reason why jewelry cart abandoners come back to close a purchase. 

However, if you’re a business that habitually offers free shipping across products, around the year, this may not be as exciting a hook. 

In this case, you may encourage cart abandoners with the highest intent to enjoy expedited shipping, which you’ll not charge them for. 

Fight jewelry store cart abandonment with brilliant UX

98% of visitors who visit an eCommerce jewlery site—drop off without buying anything.

Why: user experience issues that cause friction for visitors.

And this is the problem ConvertCart solves.

We've helped 500+ eCommerce stores (in the US) improve user experience—and 2X their conversions.

How we can help you:

Our conversion experts can audit your site—identify UX issues, and suggest changes to improve conversions.