Abandoned carts are the bane of most ecommerce businesses. According to most estimates, industry wide roughly 7 of 10 ecommerce shoppers abandon their carts prior to completing a transaction for reasons ranging from purchase friction — such as being forced to create an account prior to checkout — to website slowness and finding a better deal elsewhere.
Luckily, research shows as many as 75% of these potential customers intend to eventually complete the purchase, with return visitors 9 times more likely to buy than those coming to the site for the first time.
So how then can merchants get customers to take a second look?
The First Email: Don’t be the Hare
So a potential customer came to your site and placed several items in their cart and registered for an account then left before completing the transaction. You have acquired their email address now, which means it’s time to follow up while the iron is hot, right? Wrong.
Store owners often make the mistake of configuring email promotions to be sent just minutes after a customer leaves the site in an effort to recover the lost sale. The reasoning is sound — no one wants to leave money on the table — but from a customer perspective this is often perceived as pushy and perhaps even creepy, particularly given they’ve just opted into your mailing list for the first time and many be wary of being bombarded with spam.
It also ignores the fact that the vast majority of online shoppers are often ‘web-rooming’ and are still in the consideration phase.
When to send? In most cases, the best time for the first touch point following an abandoned cart is between 1-4 hours after the customer leaves the site. You’ll want to experiment to determine what works best for your audience. Intimate apparel seller Orchard Corset has recovered 20 percent of lost sales by sending their first email at the tail end of this range.
The Second Email: Don’t Be the Tortoise
On average, a second abandoned cart email yields better than 50% lift in revenue across all industries. Many e-tailers use this as an opportunity to simply ‘nudge’ prospective or repeat customers, with others using incentives like discount or coupon codes in an effort to reignite interest.
When to send? Determining when to send the second abandoned cart email is where we see the greatest variance. Ideal timing depends on both product category and price points. Generally speaking, 12 hours after the abandoned cart is appropriate for stores selling products that fall into ‘impulse buy’ territory. For those selling inventory at higher price points, 24 hours after cart abandonment is typically the sweet spot.
Remember, 72 percent of website visitors who purchase do so within one day of the first visit. For most businesses, nagging a customer more than one day after they’ve abandoned the session is going to do more harm than good.
The Third Email: To Send, or Not to Send
For many brands, this is the point at which they cut losses; however, it’s worthwhile to test to determine what, if any, value there is in a third post-abandon cart touch points.
For stores selling big ticket items where a longer consideration phase is to be expected, a third email might serve as a useful opportunity to invite the customer to chat via phone or to encourage a visit to a brick-and-mortar store location where they can see the product in person. Remember, the return from any touch point beyond 24 hours is going to be least predictable. If you do utilize this tactic you should experiment with different cadences ranging from 2 days to a full week to see what works.
For those just getting started selling online, don’t be discouraged by the high abandoned cart rate — the same is true for even the world’s largest and most sophisticated e-retail businesses. Email marketing is a “free” and incredibly valuable tactic to bring customers back to your site and recover the revenue lost when they distracted and forgot to complete the transaction. Do it right and your bottom line and customers will both thank you.
Katey Ferenzi is an Ecommerce Coach for Bigcommerce.