Did you know that 69% of shoppers1 will abandon carts at checkout? There are many reasons why one would abandon a cart – to many distractions, unclear shipping costs, or simply a change of heart. Whatever the reason may be, there are ways to improve cart recovery and provide a better shopping experience, including automating emails based on abandoned cart. Here are a few things to consider when developing your customer’s cart abandonment journey.
Understand the Customer Journey
Before tweaking the checkout page and/or creating your email series, it’s important to revise and get clear on your customer’s journey. Ask yourself:
- Do your products require shorter or longer purchase consideration period? If longer, how can you highlight brand value and educate the customer?
- Are you speaking to your customers in the right tone of voice?
- What do your customer’s base their purchasing decision on (i.e. testimonials, reviews, lifestyle photos, price)?
Related article: Salesforce Marketing Cloud 2019 Release
Personalize the Experience
Personalization is no longer optional; customers expect brands to know them, to understand them, and to deliver content suited to their needs and wants. 64% of shoppers1 say they feel retailers don’t truly know them. This is a golden opportunity to ensure you’re delivering on the customer experience.
There are many ways to personalize your customer’s experience within a cart abandonment email:
- Product(s) abandoned: List and show a visual of the products they’ve abandoned.
- Similar product recommendations: Customer’s want products and services that are tailored to their interests. This is your opportunity to upsell and build a rapport with them.
- Subject line and preheader: Ensure your subject line and preheader are relevant and catchy, and to add a personal touch, consider including their name.
Keep Testing
Customers are inundated with emails, so it’s recommended you keep your cart abandonment emails fresh, relevant, and fun. Keep in mind that what works for one brand may not work for another but don’t let it keep you from trying new things. Always test subject lines, offers, content, and timing, as this will help guide you to creating high converting and engaging emails.
Cart abandonment emails are a great way to call back abandoning shoppers and you’ll always need them, but you should improve your checkout page too.
Here are a few suggestions to boost your customer experience:
- Cut off time for shipping today (i.e. xx left to order for Next Day delivery)
- No complicated navigation
- Progress indicator, so customers know where they are
- Product thumbnail so customers know they are buying the right item
- Social proof for products, such as review stars and stock level
- Return to shopping link
- Support phone line
- Test with popular browsers, PC/tablet/phone, and software like ad block
- Send a post-purchase email with purchase details immediately
- Third-party logos of credit card/security companies reassure customers
- Free shipping with a minimum order value
- Only ask for essential information, not title or username
- Collect email address early
As veterans of email marketing, with more than a decade of experience, Bubblebox has the experience to ensure that your emails will have an impact. From deliverability to creative, we can help. Contact us today.
1 Salesforce (2019)
2 Salesforce and Publicis.Sapient. New Rules of Retail from the Actions, Voices, and Eyes of Today's Consumers. (2018) http://www2.publicisgroupe.net/shopper-first
