Commentary
Consumer who abandon their online retail shopping carts
- by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, December 8, 2010
How can retailer's get those consumers back? A cart recovery email program, according to email company Silverpop.
The good news is that 40% of retailers do employ an overall cart recovery email program; with 29% planning to start one up in 2010 and 14% planning one in 2011.
Silverpop says 40% of marketers using cart recovery messages achieve a high click-through rate of greater than 20% -- almost double the general broadcast emails. Open rates can be higher as well -- 53% of marketers using cart recovery mails can get to a 30% or better open rate -- 14% higher than regular broadcast emails.
Silverpop says the key is to remind shoppers how long they have to complete the purchase, as well as to include some photos and information of abandoned products. It recommends adding in some customer reviews, and perhaps throwing in some other recommendations of products.
Though many retailers have cart recovery email programs, many retailers aren't motivated enough. Sixty five percent do not offer incentives when it comes for those initial emails that remind consumers they have abandoned their carts.
Wayne Friedman is West Coast Editor of MediaPost. You can reach Wayne at wayne@mediapost.com.
Cart abandonment email remarketing is certainly the most commonly known solution to try and improve online conversions however most email remarketing campaigns are produced at a cost as they require an offer or incentive to attract a customer to rethink the purchase. For example an airline may encourage customers to book a holiday by offering 10% off flights if they book within the next week.
At LeadCall we have found that the best solution to lowering cart abandonment rates is by contacting the customer straight after they have abandoned their shopping cart, to offer full support and assistance, and find out why they haven't decided to complete a transaction. This way companies have the chance to try and convert the customer and even if unsuccessful, they still have the opportunity to see if there is anything else they can help out with, or find out where they are going wrong. Ultimately displaying "quality customer service".
LeadCall identifies when a customer has dropped-off a website and abandoned their cart, and it captures the customers contact info along with their specific enquiry details, without the customer having to even submit the info. When an online shopper abandons their cart, LeadCall automatically triggers a call to the company's call centre, which relays the customers enquiry information to a well informed agent. Within seconds the agent is made aware of the specific details of a customers enquiry and given the option of automatically calling the customer back in order to offer their help or assistance and hopefully complete a transaction.
The results and feedback to this approach have proven much more effective than previous attempts at remarketing, such as e-mail. So good that some have suggested that it is "Too good to be true!" However, LeadCall has proven its success through its impressive portfolio of clients such as Hughes Insurance and bmi, who have seen conversions of up to 30% along with huge increases in revenue and an excellent reputation for customer service.
LeadCall offers companies a 2 week trial of their service for free, to enable them to experience the true benefits for themselves. Come and Visit Us at: www.leadcall.co.uk or Call Us for a Demo: (011) (44)8000 776078
Is this a silver POP advert / sponsored post?
A conversion management platform allows companies to lower their cart abandonment rates. Companies might want to consider that decreasing the number of visitors abandoning their cart before they turn away is a better option than letting visitors abandon their cart and then trying to pull them back in.