Shopping Cart Abandonment Syndrome is considered a heavy loss for any e-commerce company, but it need not always be so. In fact, according to cloud.IQ, abandoned sales are 10 times more likely to convert than other visitors.
So you can turn these “losses” into opportunities and drive your sales using the right strategy. This calls for an effective, timely and persistent (but no spamming!) email remarketing campaign.
Here’s how you trigger a three-part email campaign to re-engage your customers with their abandoned carts.
Capture their Email Address
Most e-commerce sites make it mandatory for visitors to enter their email ID during checkout. However, some sites like Macy’s have gone a step further; they offer a one-time discount to sign up for emails. Or like ASOS, you could ask visitors to sign up for a free newsletter. A pop-up asking for a visitor’s email address in return for a freebie or a coupon code works well too. Do whatever it takes to capture email addresses, as they are key to your email campaign.
Draft the Content
Optimize your email content by including the product name, current price, discount information (if any), availability and a direct link to checkout. Sometimes shoppers abandon carts because they are unsure about the Return Policy, so make sure you highlight it in your campaign. Last, but definitely not the least, are product images. You need to include appealing product images to spur customers to go back to the product page and make a purchase.
Tone it Right
In general, keep the tone of your first email light and assume that the visitor checked out due to an unexpected problem. Example: “Oops! Looks like you could not purchase what you wanted.” A reminder first mail also works well – “Did You Forget Something?” You can create a sense of urgency in the second email by stating that you have “reserved” the product for a limited time. Offer a discount or freebie in your third mail, with words such as “Last Chance!” The third mail increases the urgency and emphasizes on the finality of your offer.
Up Sell and Cross Sell
Besides including the details of the abandoned product, you should also display related/similar items. You can up sell by offering free shipping above a specific sales threshold. If your threshold is 100 pounds and the customer had goods worth 90 in the cart, it would be in his/her interest to purchase an additional item. Cross selling and up selling in your campaign could lead to higher sales.
Swing into Action
Make sure you send out the first email within an hour of abandonment. In fact, the sooner you send your first email, higher are the chances of conversion. According to research by SeeWhy, 54% of all recovered carts are won back within the first few hours after abandonment.
Time it Right
Do not sit back and allow the trail to go cold. Follow the first mail by another within 48 hours of abandonment and the third by the end of the week. SeeWhy reported that an additional 10% of lost sales can be recovered within 48 hours, and at the end of 7 days, 82% can be recovered.
Get Personal
They say a person’s name is the sweetest sound to that person; truer words were never spoken. Personalize your email subject lines with the names of your visitors and the products they abandoned, and the mails will be 22.2% more likely to be opened (report by Adestra).
Offer Alluring Incentives
“Come back and get 10% off on your product” and “Reorder your product TODAY to get FREE Shipping” are offers alluring enough to improve the chances of conversion. A Blue Kangaroo Survey revealed that 7 in 10 people claimed that they used a coupon or discount from a marketing email. But make sure you either randomize the discounts or send it to only first-time abandoners. If you offer an incentive every time, smart buyers may catch on to your tactics and deliberately abandon their carts.
SeeWhy revealed that 99% of visitors do not make a purchase on their first visit. This is why you should see cart abandonment as an opportunity – after all, abandoners have already browsed your site and selected item/s they intended to buy.
Yet RedEye and Econsultancy found that out of all the companies surveyed, only 26% target cart abandoners, as compared to the 54% that do not.
Join the ranks of the 26%, and start winning back abandoned carts.
0 Comments