Probably the most important CTA in every online shop: the shopping cart button! We took a closer look at the shopping cart buttons of 50 of the most successful online shops in Germany.

50 Shops - 50 CTAs

It was already clear to us beforehand that we could expect an enormous variance. But the fact that the shopping cart buttons differ to this extent in shape, size, icons, colours and texts surprised even us.

Which text do the top shops use for the shopping cart button?

Almost all of the sites examined use a text in the button. Only Zoo Plus and Rewe do not have a textual call-to-action and use just a small button with a shopping cart.

34 of the shops studied use the CTA "In den Warenkorb" ("Add to basket") and three other variations of it. Amazon and Conrad prefer "In den Einkaufswagen" ("Add to shopping cart") while Bonprix has opted for "In die Einkaufstasche" ("Add to shopping bag"). Apple, Cyberport, H&M and Aboutyou are content with a simple "Hinzufügen" ("Add"). Tchibo is the only one to choose the "Anmelden und bestellen" ("Register and order") version - it is doubtful whether it makes sense to make the user aware of the hurdle of registration while browsing. Hornbach differentiates between online ordering and a click-and-collect variant. That's why they focus on "Online bestellen" ("Order online"). With "Ab in die Kiste" ("Straight into the box"), the erotic article company Eis.de probably has the most individual CTA, closely followed by Asos with "In meine Tasche" ("Into my bag").

UPDATE: At Tchibo it seems to have been an A/B test. In the meantime, "In den Warenkorb"  ("Add to basket") appears there.

Shopping cart button with icon?

At 52%, slightly more than half use an icon in the button (26/50). This is always a simplified representation of a shopping cart (18) or a shopping bag (8).

Thomann, Mindfactory, Zooplus and Medikamente-per-Klick have also decided to combine the quantity information and the shopping basket button. In all other shops, the quantity information is close by, but separate.

Conclusion: Much freedom within clear boundaries

It seems that in Germany the term "In den Warenkorb" ("Add to basket") is the most common. Therefore, at first glance, it would be advisable not to deviate too much here. The shopping cart button should also not be too small. Especially the variants without text might require 1-2 unnecessary seconds of orientation for the customer. The use of an icon seems to be optional due to the distribution. The only advantage of the icon is that it is language-independent.

In the end the shopping cart button must fit into the corporate design of the online shop. It must stand out in colour and should have the colour that serves as the primary accent colour in the entire shop. It should be avoided to use other buttons with the same colour in the vicinity, rather use a secondary accent colour. The same applies to the checkout button or the continue buttons in the checkout. The customer must find and use these buttons intuitively. Then you can also deviate from the norm in the remaining factors.

Source directory:

1) https://www.amazon.de/

2) https://www.otto.de/

3) https://www.zalando.de/4) https://www.mediamarkt.de/

5) https://www.notebooksbilliger.de/

6) https://www.lidl.de/7) https://www.saturn.de/

8) https://www.bonprix.de/

9) https://www.apple.com/de/

10) https://www.mytheresa.com/de-de/

11) https://www.cyberport.de/

12) https://www.alternate.de/

13) https://www.conrad.de/

14) https://www.aboutyou.de/

15) https://www2.hm.com/de_de/

16) https://www.ikea.com/de/de/

17) https://www.tchibo.de/

18) https://www.docmorris.de/

19) https://www.baur.de/

20) https://www.shop-apotheke.com/

21) https://www.emma-matratze.de/

22) https://www.thomann.de/de/

23) https://qvc.de/

24) https://www.mindfactory.de/

25) https://www.douglas.de/de

26) https://www.mytoys.de/

27) https://www.zooplus.de/

28) https://www.bett1.de/

29) https://www.limango.de/

30) https://www.esprit.de/

31) https://www.obi.de/

32) https://www.breuninger.com/de/

33) https://www.asos.com/de/

34) https://www.hornbach.de/

35) https://www.klingel.de/

36) https://www.flaconi.de/

37) https://www.ao.de/

38) https://www.medpex.de/

39) https://www.galeria.de/

40) https://www.wayfair.de/

41) https://www.hse.de/

42) https://www.home24.de/

43) https://www.eis.de/

44) https://www.reuter.de/

45) https://de.shein.com/

46) https://www.medikamente-per-klick.de/

47) https://soliver.de/

48) https://www.medimops.de/

49) https://www.westfalia.de/

50) https://www.rewe.de/

‍