Let this statistic percolate for a minute or two: The shopping cart abandonment rate is 65 percent, according to Savvy Panda. As you can imagine, these numbers can add up quickly. By effectively using abandoned cart emails, you can win back more of those lost customers than you think. Here are a few effective tips that can turn your basic email into an effective sales tool to boost your conversion figures.
Create an Email Schedule
Just because a customer abandons their shopping cart does not necessarily mean they are not interested in completing their purchase. Perhaps their Internet connection dropped or they became preoccupied with something else at the time and their session timed out.
Regardless of the reason for their abandonment, you need to remember that you only have a small window of time to get them back. One study confirms that more than 70 percent of consumers that abandon their online shopping carts are willing to return to them within 24 hours, according to HubSpot. Therefore, you need to have a standard abandoned cart email schedule set up that will allow you to automatically sent reminder emails to the abandoned cart owners within that timeframe.
Serialize the Delivery of Your Emails
Chances are that sending one shopping cart abandonment email is not going to do the trick. The email might not make it to their inbox due to spam filters. They might accidentally delete the email while managing their accounts. This is why you should consider serializing your abandonment cart emails with a series of different triggers.
For instance, the first email should always be sent in real-time for immediate correspondence. According to Get Elastic, the second email can come within the 24-hour timeframe and possibly a third email after one week has passed. Doing so will establish an open line of progressive communication with your customers, which will increase the chances of them finalizing their purchase.
Highlight Your Store’s Return Policy
Further studies have confirmed that one of the main reasons why customers intentionally abandon online shopping carts is because they did not see an acceptable return policy. Perhaps it was there on the website or in the actual shopping cart, but it was buried under lines and lines of fine print. On the other hand, you might have had it hidden within the terms and services section of your website – a section that is overlooked by more customers than you might realize.
When developing an abandonment cart email, you should consider highlighting the return policy within the body of the email. Doing so will shine a spotlight on this “safety net” for your prospective customers, which will convince more of them to take the dive necessary to complete the order. You can even use a pre-developed template, such as the templates provided by Shopify, in order to make sure that you return policy is highly visible and out in the open for your customers to see without any complications.
Do Not Forget to Add a Picture
One of the worst things that you can do is forget to add a picture (or group of pictures) to your abandoned cart emails. Your customers need to be visually reminded of the products that they placed in their abandoned shopping carts in the first place.
This will also help the consumer to become interested in the product all over again, compelling them to hopefully follow the links necessary to complete their purchase right away. Otherwise, you will face the “out of sight, out of mind” principle – meaning that your customers will forget all about their purchases and potentially your website overall.
Include Promotional Offers as Incentives
Keep in mind that you will boost your chances of winning back abandoned customers by offering them incentives to return to your eCommerce website and finalize their order, according to eConsultancy. Studies have proven that more consumers will complete their purchase immediately if they feel as if they will be missing out on something by not doing so.
For instance, you can offer a promotional coupon or additional discount that saves them money within a specified timeline – such as 24-48 hours. Promotional offers and online coupons can definitely convince even the most skeptical and reluctant customers to complete their purchase since they will be getting something back in return in addition to their product.
You Can’t Win Them All
No matter what you try, you will never be able to completely eliminate your shopping cart abandonment rate. With an eCommerce business, this type of issue will always be a problem regardless of the size, type or success rate of your store. However, by following these effective tips, you will be able to successful minimize that figure and keep it as low as possible. Doing so will also allow you to increase your conversion rate, sales and annual revenue as a result.
The post Get More Sales Using Your Abandoned Cart Emails by Following These Tips appeared first on Smashing Buzz.