The Elusive 'Continue Shopping' Button: Enhancing BigCommerce Cart Experience
The Elusive 'Continue Shopping' Button: Enhancing BigCommerce Cart Experience
A seamless customer journey is paramount for any e-commerce store. One seemingly minor detail that can significantly impact user experience and conversion rates is the ability for customers to easily continue shopping after adding an item to their cart. A recent BigCommerce forum thread brought this common pain point to light, sparking a discussion about the platform's default behavior and potential workarounds.
The thread, initiated by Daren Lechner, highlighted a frustrating scenario: a customer adding an item to the cart, only to find no 'Continue Shopping' button. This forced them to navigate back to the homepage or category pages, disrupting their flow and potentially leading to abandonment. This experience runs contrary to widely accepted e-commerce best practices, where a clear path to continue browsing is expected after an 'Add to Cart' action.
Understanding BigCommerce's Default Behavior and Workarounds
Daniel Olvera from Trepoly.com, a BigCommerce Solutions Partner, offered valuable insights into the platform's capabilities. He explained that while some BigCommerce themes might include a toggle option for a 'Continue Shopping' button within the Page Builder, this isn't a universal feature across all themes or for all 'Add to Cart' actions.
The primary workaround suggested by Daniel revolves around the use of QuickView. If QuickView is enabled on a BigCommerce store, adding a product to the cart through the QuickView modal window presents the customer with a set of options: 'Checkout', 'View Cart', and crucially, 'Continue Shopping'. Clicking 'Continue Shopping' in this context closes the modal, allowing the customer to remain on the product listing or category page and continue browsing without being redirected to the cart page.
However, Daren's subsequent clarification revealed the core limitation: this convenient 'Continue Shopping' option only appears if the customer utilizes the QuickView feature. If a customer clicks the standard 'Add to Cart' button directly from a product detail page, they are often still redirected to the cart page or lack an immediate, prominent 'Continue Shopping' option. This distinction is critical for merchants, as many customers may not use QuickView and instead navigate directly to product pages.
Implications for Merchants and Solutions
The discussion underscores a significant user experience gap for many BigCommerce stores. Forcing customers to backtrack or lose their place in the shopping journey can lead to frustration, increased bounce rates, and ultimately, lost sales. A smooth post-add-to-cart experience encourages further exploration and increases the average order value.
For BigCommerce merchants facing this challenge, several paths emerge:
- Leverage QuickView: Ensure QuickView is enabled and prominently available on product listing pages to provide the 'Continue Shopping' option.
- Theme Review: Investigate your current BigCommerce theme's capabilities. Some premium themes might offer more robust options for post-add-to-cart behavior via Page Builder or theme settings.
- Custom Development: For a truly universal and seamless experience, custom coding is often the most effective solution. A BigCommerce developer can implement a 'Continue Shopping' button or modify the 'Add to Cart' behavior on product pages to prevent redirection and offer clear next steps. While Daren noted a potential $280 cost for such an addition, this investment can pay dividends in improved customer satisfaction and conversion rates.
Ultimately, while BigCommerce offers a workaround through QuickView, the absence of a standard, universal 'Continue Shopping' button after direct product page additions remains a point of contention for merchants focused on optimizing their customer's journey. Addressing this through theme customization or custom development is crucial for delivering a truly frictionless shopping experience.