Cart abandonment emails are one of the most popular event-triggered campaigns of today.
E-commerce businesses employ them to steer people back to the final destination of the buyer journey. This is a reliable way to recover a whole lot of sales that would otherwise be lost. And we’re not talking about some meager financial impact, but game-changing implications.
It’s estimated that online retails lose billions of dollars each year to iffy whims of decision-making. The good news is abandoned cart email poses a proven way to put an end to this trend.
It lets you continue the conversation with a big segment of potential buyers. The ROI is quite impressive because these are the people who often need little more than a slight push.
The only problem is carrying out campaigns has many moving parts. You need to brace yourself for ongoing learning and optimization.
Abandoned Cart Email: The Second Chance
It’s not at all uncommon for modern buyers to have a change of heart at the last moment.
Average abandonment rates remain constant despite improvements in user experience (UX) design and shopping cart technology. It seems abandoned carts are an integral part of an e-commerce buying journey.
However, this isn’t to say you should sit idle and merely hope for the best. Abandonment is a problem, but also presents a window of opportunity. It’s closing fast and there’s very little time to react.
To turn the situation around, you can rely on various principles. We’re getting at conversion optimization, precise targeting, and customer service. People were so close and they can be persuaded to go over the line.
You might not be able to win every order back, but you can maximize the percentage. You’re going to have to eliminate the friction and pain points on a buyer journey. There’s a lot of ground to cover, so without further ado, let’s dive in.
Technology and Data as Supporting Pillars
A data-driven approach is the backbone of modern email campaigns.
It serves as basic prerequisite for campaign customization, personalization, and targeting. These three processes pave the way to accomplishing a stellar ROI generally associated with email as a channel.
The second crucial component is email automation. This technology enables you to dispatch emails without meddling with manual tasks. As long as you have email addresses and right tools, you’re spared all the heavy lifting.
The first thing to do is to discover how your storefront holds up. In other words, get the exact card abandonment rate. You can utilize free tools such as Google Analytics or go for a specialized paid solution.
Either way, you want to conduct aggregating reporting to pick up on customer trends. Don’t be alarmed in case the rate is 70% or above. Sadly, it’s nothing out of ordinary.
Just take a closer look at how visitors interact with the digital environment. Investigate how long they spend on pages on average, as well as the number of pages/screens they interact with.
These are all vital data points that inform your campaign planning and execution.
They tell you why people drop off and reveal possible optimization measures. For instance, it could be you’re not offering a popular payment option or force people to undergo unnecessary steps. These are among the most common reasons behind abandoned carts.
Creating a List of Addresses
Moving on, put together a list of subscribers, guests, and registered visitors.
There are multiple ways to cast a wider net and capture them all. But, you first have to account for the fact that a relatively small portion of customers undergoes a checkout process.
What is more, realize many of them aren’t registered at all. This is a major hurdle. You cannot follow-up on someone unless you know who that is, can you?
Well, let’s ponder some smart approaches. For example, many organizations mount triggered pop-up offers. They provide users with incentives or at least an appeal to opt-in. When successful, these lead magnets render a user session identifiable.
Secondly, think in terms of opportunities your email lists offers. It’s possible to initiate weekly newsletters for the purpose of collecting email addresses. Basically, you place a query string parameter that kicks in once people click through.
On the other hand, pre-submit tracking tactic pinpoints high-intent customers in real-time. It gathers email details of people who fail to complete checkout forms. You would be surprised how many last-minute dropouts there are.
Finally, we have the global cookie pools. They represent centralized repositories of identifiable customers and devices. Certain vendors make them available to third parties willing to tap into them.
Keep Your Finger on a Trigger
There are a few specific practices you would be wise to uphold.
First off, bear in mind you have to react fast. This means within half an hour of abandonment occurring. As you move away from that point, your chances of succeeding decline sharply.
Yes, this state of affairs suggests batched campaigns no longer yield results. You’re much better of initiating real-time, per-customer-based emails. Especially if you use last actions visitors performed as triggers.
Secondly, make sure the email addresses the issue that caused the walkout in the first place. Solve payment problems, throw in some discounts, answer questions, and alleviate security concerns. Write a killer calls-to-action and get into e-commerce SEO.
You can even recommend customers other channels like SMS or chat. Do whatever it takes to restore trust and wish to purchase.
Yes, we know it all feels more like customer service than selling. Nevertheless, this seemingly indirect inroad takes you where you want to be.
Communication is a two-way street, so don’t hesitate to ask for feedback either. People you do business with are bound to have a different angle than you sitting in an office.
No One Left Behind
Abandoned cart email is the bread and butter of e-commerce marketing.
The main challenge is you cannot initiate it without a solid plan in place. Therefore, start by identifying the rate of cart abandonment. Generate a steady stream of insights to grasp the “why” behind your performance.
Examine how people move through the funnel and take active measures to maximize the number of those who opt-in. Have a clear customer service focus when designing your email campaigns. Open up a dialogue with people and be at their disposal.
Offer great shopping experience and explore various creative avenues for keeping everyone in the loop. It’s time to master the art of snatching victories from the jaws of defeat.
Feel free to contact us for more digital marketing insights. We can help you bring in more business and rise above the competition!