Post on 20-Aug-2015
Abandoned cart follow-up strategy best practice & recommendations Monday, 19th March 2012
Abandoned Cart: did you know…
• 87% of consumers abandon carts • 75% say they will return to complete the
purchase • 54% of cart abandoners who intend to buy
will do so in the first 24 hours
2 Source: Amaze/University Glasgow 2010
What you will find in this document • This document outlines our findings on best practice
abandoned cart follow-up strategy & communications. • It also outlines some of our recommendations about how
these best practices can be implemented & be included in eCommerce communications strategy.
• It covers:
1. Abandoned cart follow-up: best practice 2. Abandoned cart follow-up: Australian & overseas e-retailer
examples 3. Abandoned cart follow-up: who does it well examples 4. Abandoned cart follow-up: recommendations for eCommerce
sites & stores.
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1. Best practice: Key recommendations Time to send, incentives & post conversions rules
Key recommendations: Overview
The top five recommendations on the abandoned cart follow up strategy include: 1. Reminder: best time to send emails 2. Win back: how to incentivise 3. Email content: key messages 4. Sign in: what details to capture 5. Post conversion considerations
1. Reminder: best time to send
STATS: • 54% of cart abandoners who intend to buy will do so in the first 24 hours • Another 10% will buy within 48 hours • 82% of people who intend to buy, will do so within a week
SOLUTION: • The longer you wait to re-engage an abandoner, the less likely they will be able
to recall the reasons for shopping. Re-engage no later than 24 hours after the abandonment process
• Send the first email within the first two (2) hours of cart abandonment • Send the second within 24 hours
• Test the timings: Movies Unlimited, for example, sent emails 1 hour, 6 hours & 24 hours. The 1 hour email generated a higher response, but the highest conversion came from the email send 6 hours after the abandonment process
6 Source: Market Live 2012; Inbound Internet Marketing Blog 2011
2. Win back: how to incentivise STATS: • Only 16% of retailers with abandoned cart programs offered a discount,
free shipping or sales incentive to lure back customers • 11% of cart abandoners found the check out process confusing • 24% place items in cart to consider later, 41% weren’t ready to
purchase
SOLUTION: • Don’t always default to discount because the primary reason for abandoning
cart is not always price • If you do offer an incentive, set up rules so customers only receive once or
potentially offer every nth customer an incentive to prevent training customers to expect discounts
• Tell the service centre about the discount incase a technical difficulty lead to the customer completing the purchase over the phone
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Source: Market Live 2012; Inbound Internet Marketing Blog 2011; Chief Marketer 2011
Source
3. Email content: key messages CONSIDERATIONS:
• Include copy such as "did you have a problem at checkout" or "need help" to position email as a value add rather than a sales pitch
• Include a link to the abandoned cart & refer to items in the message • Include images or related products for cross selling & upselling, just
incase the model has sold out or customer was not sold on the original item
• Create a sense of urgency & include an expiration date for the cart • Include other ways to complete the purchase or seek help, such as
telephone numbers or email help • If free shipping is normally offered, highlight this in the messaging in
case the shopper missed the offer • Add value to the follow-up emails by including ratings, reviews & an
alternative way to contact customer service
8 Source: Chief Marketer 2011
4. Sign in: what information to capture • At the first step ask for an email address • State the purpose for collection is to contact shoppers if there is a
question about their order Walmart Example
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Rules to consider • Once purchase is completed make sure the customer is removed from
the automatic email system.
• If the customer does not purchase after a certain timeframe, set rules to remove the customer from the abandoned cart program.
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Source: Chief Marketer 2011
Australian & overseas e-retailer examples
Who does a good job? • Not a lot of Australian e-retailers are doing a good job with abandoned cart follow up.
Most of them do not do it at all or even cookie the site to allow ease of conversion for return visitors.
• There is a big opportunity is to implement a test & learn campaign, analyse results & design an abandoned cart email program as a part of a communications plan.
• We placed items in carts & abandoned them on 29th February 2012. All eCommerce retailers who had our email address did not send a follow-up email.
• Retailers were revisited on 16th March 2012 to see if cookies had captured cart & purchase information.
• This review looks at the eCommerce process for:
1. Nikon (https://e-shop.nikon.com.au/pages/default.asp)
2. Dick Smith* (http://dicksmith.com.au/dsau/home.jsp?gclid=CMPR5tbZsK4CFYVMpgodpUroOA)
3. Apple (http://store.apple.com/au?afid=p219|GOAU&cid=AOS-AP-AU-GOOGLE)
4. Mac Cosmetics* (http://www.maccosmetics.com.au/ )
5. Movies Unlimited* (http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/default.asp)
6. Amazon (http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/default.asp)
• * When re-visiting this retailer, we proceeded further through the checkout process before abandoning again.
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Nikon: Purchase Process
Step 1
Step 2
Step 2: Abandoned cart at this screen without filling in details. Too much to fill in up –front. Step 3: Returned on 16 March & did not find item in the cart.
Step 1: Clicked on account.
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Dick Smith: Purchase Process Step 1: Completed email details (email captured first).
Step 2: Abandoned cart at 9:55am. Dick Smith have my email details. No follow up. Step 3: Returned 16 March & did not find item in the cart.
Step 1
Step 2
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Apple: Purchase Process
Step 2: Abandoned cart at this screen without filling in details. Form too long. Step 3: Returned on 16 March & did not find item in the cart.
Step 1: Select product & proceed to checkout. Step 1
Step 2
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Mac Cosmetics: Purchase Process Step 1: Enter email address only.
Step 1
Step 2 Step 2: Asked for further information, but cart abandoned at 11:30am. Now have email details. No follow-up email. Step 3: Returned 16 March & found item still in cart, but did not remember email address. No follow-up email sent.
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Movies Unlimited.com: Purchase Process
Step 2: Asked for details & provided shipping costs upfront. Abandoned cart at 12:45pm. The store have email details. No follow up. Step 3: Returned 16 March & found items in the cart. Email address was also remembered. Proceeded further through the check-out process. No follow-up email sent.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 1: Asked for email address. Clear checkout process & steps.
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Amazon: Purchase Process Step 1: Collected email
Step 2
Step 1
Step 2: Technical problems with cart so abandoned at 10am. Amazon now have email details. No follow up email. Step 3: Returned on 16 March. Item still in cart. Did not retain email address & had difficulty with the cart, so abandoned it without proceeding further.
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Who does it well? Examples Examples of how industry leaders follow up on Abandoned Carts
Fossil: Example of the Follow up email
1. Links to other products incase looking for something else
2. Statement to show care & service
3. Imposed time limit to create urgency, but to not rush the customer
4. Link to shopping bag
2
3
1
2
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Opportunity:
Product
details in cart.
Sears: Example of a Follow up email
1. Express concern for the customer about the shopping experience
2. Link to shopping cart 3. Additional ways to contact
the store
1
2
3
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Shopbop: Example of follow-up email
1. Link to shopping cart (twice)
2. Reiterating free shipping offer (thrice)
3. Statement to encourage urgency
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3
2
1
1
2
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How can eCommerce leverage this? Top five recommendations
eCommerce: recommendations
1. Trigger emails: • Design an abandoned cart program that includes a
series of trigger emails designed to re-engage the customer.
2. Email collection upfront: • Modify current process to capture only email
information up front. Second step is to capture more detailed information such as address.
3. Service & care: • Refrain from using discount offers, instead focus on
customer service & care.
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eStore: Deliverables
4. Program: • Design & build abandoned cart program
o 2 hours – Key message - Technical problems at the check out? o 1 day – Key message - Service focused o 5 days – Key message - Made a decision? o 2 weeks – Key message – Information offer.
5. Contact rules: • Rules to stop trigger emails once purchase is made
or cart is emptied.
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References http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/21539/5-Best-Practices-for-eCommerce-Abandoned-Cart-Nurturing.aspx%20%20 http://www.marketlive-blog.com/2012/01/30/winning-sales-from-abandoned-carts-3-email-best-practices http://chiefmarketer.com/email/campaigns/0216-abandoned-cart-emails/?cid=nl_email_ess%23%C2%A0%20 http://www.marketlive-blog.com/2012/01/30/winning-sales-from-abandoned-carts-3-email-best-practices%20 http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/21539/5-Best-Practices-for-eCommerce-Abandoned-Cart-Nurturing.aspx http://chiefmarketer.com/email/campaigns/0216-abandoned-cart-emails/?cid=nl_email_ess%23%C2%A0%20 http://chiefmarketer.com/email/campaigns/0216-abandoned-cart-emails/?cid=nl_email_ess
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/21539/5-Best-Practices-for-eCommerce-Abandoned-Cart-Nurturing.aspx http://chiefmarketer.com/disciplines/online/pulling-abandoned-charts-1001
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WiTH Collective
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