Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Demystifying the mysteries of Shopping Cart Abandonment – Part 3/3

This post is global in nature and the insights are true for all countries. This is the third part of a three-part series covering the following:

  1. Reasons for shopping cart abandonment.

  2. Ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment rate.

  3. Ways to bring back the customers to complete their purchase after they have abandoned the shopping cart.


In the first part we analyzed why a shopper abandons the shopping cart before making a purchase. In the second part we discussed various ways to stop a visitor from abandoning the shopping cart. In this part, I will discuss ways to bring back potential customers to complete their purchase after they have abandoned the shopping cart.


online shopping cart


Ways to bring back the customers to complete their purchase after they have abandoned the shopping cart


When a potential buyer visits E-Commerce websites, the websites convert the buyer into an actual buyer at anywhere between 1-2%. If you are converting at 1.5% for example and you can reduce your cart abandonment rate by 25% (from 50% to 37.5%), your conversion rate increases from 1.5% to nearly 1.9% - a nice improvement. Taking it one step further, if your average sale is $100, for instance, and you are spending 10% of revenue on paid search marketing to drive website traffic, you have improved gross margins by 40% - this is meaningful. You have spent your resources to get visitors to your shopping cart and you have spent further resources to keep them from abandoning the shopping cart. However, even after all your attempts, a few visitors are abandoning the cart. How do you get them back to your site and complete that purchase?
You’ll never completely solve the cart abandonment challenge, but there are two great ways to get that customer back, even after they leave your site. They are as follows:


Email Marketing:
If the visitor has provided you their personal information and email address, send them a mail. The mail should cover the following aspects:

  1. Contact details for help.

  2. Discount offer (if possible).

  3. Benefits of shopping through you.


Let me give you an example. Robert had visited www.bestshop.com shopping cart section and had abandoned it before making the purchase. Have a look at the below example of a mail sent to Robert:


Hi Robert,
It seems like you tried ordering goods from bestshop, but didn't complete your order. We would love you to come back and complete your order. To get you started, we're offering you a free $10 coupon.
Apply the coupon code: XE37-X0X5-7J15-F9XX while making payment. The expiration date of this coupon is 11/05/2013.
Shop at bestshop.com for:




  • A one-stop shop solution thanks to our wide range of brands.

  • Return policy: Goods once sold CAN be returned back.

  • Quick delivery.

  • Free shipping.

  • Various payment options including cash on delivery.


Such email encourages the visitor to come back to your site and complete the purchase. However, the email should be sent within one day of abandonment and not after. Don’t wait too long as you may miss the window, and don’t be too shy about it.


Re-Marketing:
Use a platform like Google Adwords for this kind of search engine marketing activity. When a visitor gets to your shopping cart place a ‘cookie’ on their computer so that if he/she doesn’t complete the purchase then you can do some online display advertising targeted specifically at that customer.
For instance – a customer shops your site, places a product in your shopping cart but abandons the site without completing the purchase and then goes elsewhere on the internet and visits a site that has display advertising (banner and other advertising). Your display ad shows up to reinforce your brand and encourage the customer to come back and complete the sale.


Remember: Shopping cart abandonment is huge problem for e-commerce site. However, don’t lose hope. Follow the strategies mention in my post and I guarantee you that you will soon see the sales figure going up. Do keep me updated on the strategies you adopted and how are they delivering.


In my next post, I will explain how to build a successful Social Media strategy for your company. This post will be applicable to all industries.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for revealing all these important points about shopping cart rate. I can't explore so much about this factor as you have mentioned in this single post. This article is a great help to me.
    shopping cart abandonment rate

    ReplyDelete

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