2 Types of Shopping Cart Abandonment Solutions

86% of online shoppers will abandon an item in their cart before the checkout.

When it comes to e-commerce sales, an ideal result would have every customer who visits your site complete a purchase. The reality, however, is that 86% of online shoppers will abandon an item in their cart before the checkout. This is where having a couple of shopping cart abandonment solutions in your back pocket comes in handy.

If we put this in terms of a traditional brick and mortar store, you’d likely engage a customer when they’re inside your store, not after they’ve put everything down and walked out. In this scenario, we’re going to chase the customer as they’re getting into their Uber to encourage them to reconsider making that final purchase.

In this article, we’ll explore two valuable post-shopping cart abandonment strategies to use any time a potential shopper leaves your store empty handed.

1. Cart Abandonment Emails

What are they?

Cart abandonment emails are sent to shoppers who exited the site with unpurchased items in their cart. These emails remind the shopper of what they have left behind and offer an easy way back to complete their purchase.

Why do they work?

58.6% of shoppers abandon their carts because they were either browsing or not ready to buy. Sending an email (or a series of them) to these individuals is one of the most efficient ways to remind them to return. In fact, cart abandonment emails have a 43.76% open rate, and of the 21% of shoppers who click the link in the message, 50% end up purchasing the items they initially left behind.

Tips:

• Personalize messages to speak directly to the shopper, such as using their first name, so they know the message isn’t spam.
• Use words like “left something behind” in the subject line to increase the open rate to nearly 48%, almost 4% higher than the average open rate (Klayiyo, 2021).
• Add pictures of the abandoned products and product information to remind them of what they’re missing out on.
• Include social proof like product ratings or reviews so they can see how much other shoppers liked those same items.
• To entice them even more, add a limited time offer, such as a coupon or discount to. Studies show that cart abandonment emails with coupon codes have an open rate of over 44 percent.
• Always include a strong call-to-action (CTA) button, such as “Complete Order” or “Shop Now” to guide shoppers toward their cart.
• Send an email an hour after a cart was abandoned, then follow up with another email or two at later times to maximize revenue conversions.

2. Retargeting Ad

What are they?

If you’ve ever visited a website and then saw advertisements for those products on unrelated websites, you know what these ads are already. In case you don’t, ad retargeting follows your shoppers around the web and serves them targeted emails based on what was left in their abandoned cart. These advertisements can appear on social media platforms or any other website that allows retargeting advertising, of which there are plenty.

Why do they work?

Retargeting ads can get you a Return of Investment (ROI) of 1300%, and work by giving your site visitors a cookie. This small piece of code tracks what they leave in their shopping cart and then instructs your retargeting provider which ad to serve to the shopper. Your customer gets the cookie without having to accept it, and you get the customer’s information without having to ask for it. Shoppers will also see your retargeting advertisements wherever they browse.

Tips:

• Instead of traditional static ads, opt for dynamic ads, which tend to get more click-throughs. For multiple products, use a carousel to tempt shoppers to purchase at least one of the items left behind.
• 25% of shoppers said they appreciate being reminded about items they browsed, so include messaging that recaps the items left behind and use high-resolution images to grab the shopper’s attention,
• Link the ad back to the checkout page so they can complete their purchase — 70% of consumers are more likely to convert when retargeted with display ads.
• An impressive 3 out of 4 shoppers notice retargeted ads, so make sure to run them across various channels like Google, Facebook, and Instagram to get the most reach.
• Change your ads regularly to prevent shoppers from getting bored or annoyed from seeing the same ad repeatedly.
• Limit the number of ads you use so you don’t congest your shopper’s feeds and, ultimately, turn them off.
• Monitor your campaign analytics closely, and use the data to make any necessary changes for the most successful remarketing campaign possible.

Final Thoughts

While these solutions don’t reduce shopping cart abandonment altogether, they are a valid way to pursue higher revenue.

The reason they often claim such high levels of success is because they inherently target shoppers that have already demonstrated their intent to buy. By showing that if they were to buy from you, they would buy those products, you’re able to collect a highly targeted list — either cookie or email — with enough information to run personalized cart abandonment marketing campaigns.