Your customers have visited your store, they’ve filled their carts, and then, just as they are about to make the sale, they turn off and leave. As an ecom retailer, the last thing you want is to see abandoned carts appearing throughout the day, leaving you wondering where you went wrong.
But you’re not alone here; the abandoned cart rate, according to Statistica, is 79.8%, and while some shoppers will return to make a purchase, others will simply walk away and not care to return.
You will likely never know there are multiple reasons why a person might abandon a cart. From high shipping costs or lengthy delivery times to not being able to financially afford the purchase at that time or being called away or distracted as they hit the checkout, security concerns, you not accepting their preferred method of payment, etc, multiple factors could be at play. However, seeing that cart get left and abandoned can be deflating.
This is where abandoned cart-saver apps come into play, whether you use Shopify or Woocommerce. If you’re looking to boost the ecom sales and reduce abandoned carts, you need to utilize abandoned cart apps to help you reach out to your customers and entice them to complete the sale.
Abandoned Cart Apps
Abandoned cart apps are apps you can use to reel the customer back in when they neglect to complete the purchase. But knowing the difference between an abandoned cart and an abandoned checkout is important.
An abandoned cart is when someone “adds to basket” and then doesn’t do anything with said filled basket. While an abandoned checkout is when someone gets to the checkout and enters their details but doesn’t make the sale.
Abandonment apps are your way of being able to generate automated emails reminding the shopper of their cart and letting them know their items are still waiting for them; you can then give them exclusive discounts or codes and incentives in the hope it seals the deal.
But to get the most success and more significant ROI on your abandoned cart apps, you must know how to use them properly.
Find the Right App
Much like with anything, you need to make sure you are using an app with the features that you need to make your life easier. As these apps will automate the abandoned cart recovery process for you, checking out individual features to ensure they offer what you need is vital before moving ahead and using it. Check out the email frequency options, email templates, how it targets customers, i.e., push notifications before they close the site, SMS, social media messaging, and whether it allows the cart to be remembered across different devices.
Set Your Reminder Time
To maximize return on ecom abandoned carts, consider how soon you want to send your recovery emails. Do you want to remind them an hour or two hours later? Or maybe you want to send multiple to refresh their memory; this is important if the carts are filled before payday and then left for their paycheck to hit their account, for example. Getting the frequency right might take some trial and error in the beginning, but setting up a few email reminders can help you improve ROI and entice them back.
Personalise The Message
When you set up the reminder in the app, you will be given options as to how you want to address your customer and what you want your email or social media messaging to say. Always personalize this aspect of the email and marketing message so it feels like you are targeting the customer directly, not just sending out mass generic emails. Messages such as
“Hey xxx, we noticed you added some items to your cart just to let you know they’re still waiting for you!”
It helps remind people they have a cart ready to check out.
Enticements
Use enticement options within your chosen app to help you encourage the sale. It can be offering free shipping if they check out before a specific time frame, a discount to purchase, directing them to a spin-to-win wheel or simple code, for example, or anything else you can offer if you’re in a position to do so.
Track Your ROI
Lastly, you need to track your ROI from the abandoned cart apps to your abandoned car rate to see how successful it is. If things aren’t working, you need to rethink your approach. Doing this while also asking for feedback on abandoned carts from shoppers and identifying why they are leaving their carts can help you not only improve the app’s success rate but also reduce the rate at which people leave without buying anything.
In conclusion, abandoned cart apps can be extremely helpful in encouraging shoppers to return and finish what they started. But you need to understand why people are abandoning carts in the first place to help you find the right abandoned cart app for you and target consumers how you need to for maximum impact.
