It’s one of the things that drive online merchants crazy. You work hard to get your products online with great descriptions and user reviews only to have purchases 95% complete and languishing in abandoned carts. It may be frustrating, but abandoned carts are actually an incredible business opportunity that your competitors may not be capitalizing on.
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Abandoners are easy to convert
Depending on which study you read, only 1-5% of online shoppers buy on their first visit. If you have shoppers getting to the cart stage and going through your check-out process you have customers that are very interested in your products. At this stage they are usually verifying the final price for a number of items together, checking the final price with taxes and shipping or trying out discount codes. Converting these carts into sales is actually easier than you think. Sending an automated, targeted email reminder, a coupon, free shipping offer or purchase add-on opportunity can help convert sales. In fact, according to Salecycle, recovery emails are opened nearly 50% of the time.
Here are a few examples of recovery emails from The Anatomy of a Winning Cart Abandonment Email:
An opportunity to connect
Abandoned cart recovery emails are also a great way to connect with customers. Try offering the users a discount for signing-up for your newsletter or following you on social media:
Hey you forgot something in your cart!
Was your checkout interrupted? Get your stuff before it’s gone! Sign-up for our newsletter and save 15 % on this purchase.
Frank business analysis
Abandoned carts are also a great way to find out what you could be doing better. Shipping costs, a long checkout process and requiring too much personal information in your account sign-up process are things that turn-off customers. Try using a survey in some of your cart recovery emails to ask clients for their opinions in exchange for a coupon.
A special discount just for you!
Can you help us out? Answer three questions and we’ll give you 15% off these items left in your cart.
- Did you find our checkout long or complicated?
- What was the main reason you didn’t complete your purchase?
- If we offered (guest checkout, free shipping etc.) would have purchased today?
Don’t forget there are other reasons besides price that leads to abandoned carts, like bad internet connections and customers running of time to make their purchase. So before you write-off abandoned carts as a time-waster, recognize it instead as an opportunity to recover business and sway customers away from your less-attentive competitors.
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