By Saima Alibhai, Client Services Manager, Bronto Software
Talk about a fear of abandonment. Retailers have good reason. We all know that over 80% of online shopping visits end with abandoned shopping baskets. To keep today’s online shoppers engaged and buying, retailers have to rethink the structure of the shopping basket, the flow of the checkout process and how to reach those shoppers who have left a basket behind.
In a recent report, Bronto examined the shopping basket strategies of more than 100 major UK retailers and found that only 41% send basket reminders. Are you sensing some opportunities here? These stats should make any commerce marketer salivate. They represent easy ways to spark sales from shoppers you might have given up on.
If you’re already sending basket reminders, I congratulate you on making shopping easier for your customers and, of course, recouping potentially lost sales. However, having successfully launched a basket reminder series doesn’t
mean your work is done. Here are a few tactics for optimising your series and reaching shoppers the right way:
Send Your Emails at the Right Time
The majority of retailers (86%) send their first reminder within 12 hours after items are left in the basket; 23% send within the first hour. More than half of the second basket reminders were sent on day two, and some retailers (9%) waited until day four.
Test to find the right tempo for your customers and product category. Too soon and you risk pressing too hard. Too late and you open the door for the shopper to buy elsewhere.
Pick a Personality
In the subject line, 67% of retailers used a customer service tone (“Do you need help with your order?”); 19% were generic (“We’ve heard A LOT about you.”); 9% evoked a sense of urgency (“We’re running low on the items you want.”).
Try testing to see what works best for different scenarios. Reserving urgency and discounts for the final message in a series can help avoid sacrificing average order values.
Build a Story
A series of messages allows you to build rapport and expand on themes over time. For instance, you could start with a generic reminder, then take a customer service approach, and then add urgency.
Be There to Help
More than three quarters of retailers (77%) include customer service details in their basket reminders – toll-free number, email address and links to FAQs, forums and other resources. If you want to shine online, make it easy for shoppers to answer their questions before submitting an order.
The most important thing: when shoppers abandon their baskets, don’t abandon them. With 40% of shoppers viewing baskets later on a different device or in a store, a well-constructed basket reminder series is a powerful and proven tool. But as with any marketing tactic, you must implement these reminders in a way that is relevant and engaging, not annoying.
By continually testing the key aspects of your reminder strategy – number of emails, frequency, tone and content – you’ll find the sweet spot to reel in potentially lost revenue.
For more ideas on how to create a more appealing and compelling checkout experience and easy yet powerful strategies to get customers back after they abandon their baskets, download the full report at bronto.com/revenue-rescue-UK
Bronto provides a cloud-based marketing platform for organisations to drive revenue through their email, mobile and social campaigns.
www.bronto.co.uk, 020 3640 2040