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5 Tips to reduce cart abandonment

As an ecommerce merchant, you know how much is involved in getting customers to make a purchase. Site design, security, marketing campaigns, stock management, shipping… But no matter how hard you work, many customers will leave your site before making a purchase. Worse,  a good number of them will fill a basket with items without following through to a sale—this is shopping cart abandonment and it’s the bane of every e-merchant’s existence. The reasons for it vary, but one thing is certain: it costs stores lot of money.

 

A study by Listrak, a retail marketing firm that tracks shopping cart abandonment, revealed that 81% of customers abandon carts before converting. That’s four in every five shoppers. Ouch. But before you panic, here’s the good news: there are ways to bring customers back to a site to complete purchases. A shopping cart abandonment platform like Carts Guru, for example, can help convert up to 25% of lost shopping baskets. Here are five tips for reeling those wandering customers back in.

 

Tip 1 : Cover the basics with email campaigns

A SeeWhy study found that while 99% of customers will not follow through with a purchase on their first visit to a site, 75% of those who abandoned a cart have every intention to buy. This is where email campaigns shine. A classic and effective method to reach customers, abandoned shopping cart email campaigns can spur customers to spend up to 55% more than the amount in their abandoned basket. Email campaigns should be designed to trigger messages to customers from within minutes of cart abandonment until they convert—without crossing the line into spam. A typical campaign might start with a simple reminder just after abandonment, then a follow-up with another reminder and a free shipping or small discount 24 hours later. A final email sent a week after abandonment might include a higher discount—but be careful about conditioning customers to expect them.

 

Tip 2: Get personal with SMS retargeting

Email is great, but you’ve probably already realized that it’s not enough on its own—enter SMS retargeting, a fast, flexible and personalized way to remind customers they have items waiting. Like email, SMS messages can be tailored to trigger based on customer actions and cart value. SMS has a stunning 92% open rate; and since customers have opted in to share their phone number with your brand, it’s unlikely they’ll perceive messages as spam if you respect a few simple rules: don’t send messages at inconvenient times, like late at night or meal times; don’t send more than one SMS message per campaign; keep it simple and to the point.

 

Tip 3: Optimize Facebook ads

Facebook ads can be a powerful tool when used in tandem with other retargeting methods. With text space limited to 20% of the ad, they’re a highly visual and compelling way to present products. Their main drawback is price. Unlike an email campaign, which is free, Facebook campaigns cost online stores money every day they run. So while a blanket or blast technique might be appropriate for certain email campaigns, Facebook requires a little more segmentation savvy. Carts Guru is the only online shopping cart abandonment solution to include a dedicated feature that optimizes Facebook resources. Imagine you start with a week-long email campaign; the people who convert are removed from your list of target subjects. You then launch an SMS which converts another portion. The rest are prime targets for Facebook ads. By allowing you to segment customers according to whether or not they’ve converted with another retargeting method, Carts Guru makes sure your Facebook investment is being used to reach exactly the right people when you need it to.

 

Tip 4: Target high-value carts with automatic call back

A Harris Interactive study found that 53% of customers cite lack of human interaction as the reason for abandoning their carts. In some cases, shoppers really want to check out, but a few lingering questions keep them from doing so—questions only a human being can respond to. For high-stake carts, there's nothing like a personalized phone call from customer service to help them complete their purchase. Proof: a BIA/Kelsey study found that “inbound phone calls are 10-15 times more likely to convert than inbound web leads.” Customers who have entered contact information into an online form have already expressed interest in your brand, so you don’t have to be queasy about getting on the phone to them—this isn’t cold calling. Call back requires time and resources—those are human beings answering questions after all—but if your business is ready for it, it’s a great way to target those high-value carts.

 

Tip 5: Use a comprehensive shopping cart platform

A study by Forrester Research put the estimated total of abandoned shopping cart revenue at $31 billion dollars annually three years ago—and it’s only gone up since then. To keep as much of your revenue from becoming a statistic, consider using a comprehensive shopping cart abandonment solution like Carts Guru to implement the four remarketing tips above. By multiplying your opportunities to connect with customers, you increase the likelihood of conversion. Today’s consumer is multi-device-oriented and short on attention—so put the odds in your favor and use a re-marketing solution that allows you to personalize campaigns across channels and customer segments.

 

Source: Prestashop Blog