Abandonment Issues? - Cut cart abandonment in half and increase recovery 7X with this strategy.

Web shop systems began right after the Internet became a mass medium. With the launch of the browser Mosaic in 1993 and Netscape in 1994, the development of the Internet created an environment in which web shops were possible. In 1998, a total of 11 e-business models were observed, one of which was the e-shop business model for a B2C business—also called the “online shop.” 

From both business and scientific perspectives, researchers and practitioners have investigated the problem of online shopping abandonment, trying to understand and address the causes of such low conversion rates. They mostly agree that the biggest problems, for online cart abandonment were: lack of transparency, unclear transaction and delivery costs, lack of trust in the online seller, and poor website functioning or complicated processes.(wikipedia)

With all of the advantages of online shopping, there is one behavioral disadvantage that brick and mortar shoppers rarely exhibit – cart abandonment. Online shopping cart abandonment is a unique issue that greatly affects online sales.

The average abandon cart rate is 70%. (Baymard) 

The typical recovery rate is 5% (Klaviyo) 

What if I shared with you a way to:

decrease abandonment rates to 40%

and to increase recover rates to 47%?

I have successfully repeated this process multiple times across multiple Shopify stores.The process takes work, but I am going to walk you through two ways to handle abandoned carts: the easy way; and the right way.

Tip- Not sure what your abandoned cart rate is on Shopify? 

In your Shopify admin, go to Analytics > Dashboard.

Under the Dates section at the top, select Last 90 Days.

When the dashboard reloads, head to the Online store conversion rate.

Make a note of the number of sessions Added to Cart, and Sessions converted. Use the formula below to calculate the Abandoned Cart Rate:

[(Added to Cart Sessions - Sessions converted)  / Added to Cart Sessions]

x 100

1) Automated Email Follow Up

Shopify allows you to automatically email users who abandon your cart. This feature is built into the platform but is not automatically turned on.

If you need assistance on how to turn this on you can visit this link:

How to turn it on:

help.shopify.com/abandon-checkouts

For the most basic strategy, you should of course have this turned automated feature turned on. But, if you truly want to be successful with the automated response, you need to work on your email content. There are multiple questions you want to ask yourself when it comes to developing your cart recovery email:

1. Do you want to include a promotion?

2. What is your brand’s voice?

3. How quickly do you want to send it?

For Example:

Subject: We’re Forgetful Too Sometimes!

Body: You forgot something in your cart. We wanted to remind you!

Images: A fun Gif looking stupid or confused.

You want to make this interesting enough so they will open it. Making it fun and interesting may be all you need to see some lift. But, if you truly want to see improvements from abandoned carts, send personal emails.

Here is a list of some popular abandon cart subject lines:

Popular Subject Lines

2) Personal Abandon Cart Emails:

47% Recovery Rate

I have worked with multiple brands over the years, and the ones that have great customer service are the ones that survive. One of the best ways to increase customer service for your brand is have a representative reach out to every single person who abandons your cart. It sounds creepy, or time wasted, but the results speak for themselves.

Here’s the strategy:

How to Find Them:

Every person on Shopify that abandons a cart, is automatically put into a list. This list is here:

Visit your Shopify Dashboard:

Orders → Abandon Checkouts

When to email them:

Depending on the number of daily active users on your site, you may need multiple people, but one of the best ways to handle this is by chunking the groups into three separate time slots. In my experience the best way to handle this is have customer service reach out at 9am, 12pm and 5pm.

Your busiest time will be 9am from all the users who have abandoned overnight.12pm will be excess from the 9am slot and those who abandoned from 9-12pm.Then at 5pm to try and cover everyone else who has abandoned that day.

What to say:

So, what do you say? Well, it depends on what you’re selling, what the buyers had in their cart, and if they’ve purchased before. Always tailor your message to the individual. 

Imagine being in their shoes and their situation. This is the best way to approach this. Here are a couple of examples – let’s assume you are a store selling protein bars.

Example A: The user who abandoned the cart had 2 sample packs in their cart. They have never purchased from you before. You may want to reach out and see what the issue was and if they want more information about the products. Try and learn why they abandoned. Be super friendly. This is the first time they have been exposed to your brand, so make a lasting impression.

Example B: The user who abandoned the cart has purchased 3 times before with an average order value of $85. They had a cart value of $125 but haven’t purchased in 3 months.

You know they are a repeat-purchaser and they had a cart value greater than their typical cart value. Reach out and treat them like the loyal customers they are. See if you can bring them back with a coupon code or a special offer like free shipping.

Supercharge It

Now that you know the best way to decrease your abandon cart rate and increase recovery rate, you can supercharge this strategy with a secondary and tertiary options.

To do this, simply implement an automated strategy on top of your personalized strategy. Hopefully, you will be personally responding to all those who abandon your cart within 24 hours, so you can use traditional (automated) methods after 48 and 72 hours.

Some recommended apps are below.

Now go and grow.

J

 

Recommended Apps:

Want to increase the success of your personalized strategy? Add an SMS message to those who abandon after 48 and 72 hours.

 

 

Additionally, apps like PushOwl allow you to send push notifications to those on certain browsers and mobile devices.