“Carts get abandoned at the very last step”
The cosmetics brand blamed pricey shipping. The interviews showed something else: what stopped people wasn't shipping — it was the fear of trusting an unfamiliar brand.
Company. A natural cosmetics brand selling direct. Average order €40, traffic mostly from Instagram, 70% of visitors first-timers.
People add to cart, reach checkout — and leave. Cart abandonment sat at 78%. Free-shipping tests lifted conversion by a fraction of a percent.
“The shipping cost scares them off.” The most obvious read of the analytics.
The full question set (9)
- 01Tell me how you first came across our brand.
- 02What made you add the product to your cart — what caught you?
- 03What was going through your mind when you reached checkout?
- 04What exactly stopped you right then? Walk me through it.
- 05What doubts did you have about the product itself?
- 06How much did you trust us as a brand you didn't know? Why?
- 07What did you do after you closed the cart?
- 08What would've had to be on the page for you to actually place the order?
- 09Where and how did you end up buying something similar?
The AI doesn't read these off like a list. It moves through the questions and, after every answer, follows up naturally until it gets to the real point. Here's how it actually sounds.
Interview excerpt
Analysis of 20 interviews
sonarum pulls 20 conversations into a single report: which themes come up most, real quotes, and what it all means.
“It's not about shipping. It's about the money being wasted if it doesn't suit me.”
“Five perfect reviews don't build trust — they do the opposite.”
“Couldn't find anything about returns — so I figured there aren't any. Closed it.”
- What stopped people wasn't the shipping fee — it was the fear of trusting an unfamiliar brand. Free shipping was treating the wrong pain.
- The “too perfect” reviews worked against the brand — they read as planted.
- With nothing said about returns, people assumed there weren't any and left.
Add honest reviews with photos and skin type to the product page, a prominent “30-day returns, no questions” block, and a “doesn't suit you — money back” guarantee. Leave shipping as is.
Honest reviews and a clear return guarantee nearly doubled conversion. Actual returns turned out to be low — the fear cost more than the risk itself. Shipping was never touched.