It’s a common problem for ecommerce retailers: A customer adds items to a cart, proceeds through most of the steps of the checkout process, but doesn’t complete the purchase.
If this happens to you, you’re not alone. Statistically, average cart abandonment rates range from 71.5% to 81.8% depending on the industry.
That doesn’t mean that you should neglect taking the steps to improve yours. With a product retargeting email, you can reach out to customers who didn’t checkout, convincing them to finish the process. To get the best results when designing retargeting email campaigns, you should keep email marketing best practices in mind. These points will help:
Use Retargeting Email Marketing to Remind Customers of Their Abandoned Cart Contents
Simply reminding a customer about what they were planning on buying is a straightforward way to get them to complete the purchase. That’s because the reason they abandoned their cart in the first place may not have anything to do with a lack of interest in the products they were going to buy.
It’s not uncommon for customers to abandon carts because technical issues prevented them from checking out. Thus, sending a retargeting email in which you list the items in their cart serves as a basic but effective reminder that they can still finish a purchase once the technical issue has been addressed.
Create a Sense of Urgency when Retargeting via Email
Creating a sense of urgency in your retargeting email campaigns is often an effective means of boosting sales. For instance, perhaps a customer didn’t finish a purchase because they planned on returning to their cart at a later date. They simply added items to create a basic placeholder shopping list.
By sending an email explaining that certain items have been known to sell out (or that a discount may expire), you’ll give a customer reason to finish the checkout process now. Many strong retargeting email examples, such as the this one from Sullen Art Collective, employ this tactic.
Image source: https://mailchimp.com/resources/turn-window-shoppers-customers-product-retargeting-emails/
Send Multiple Product Retargeting Emails
Retargeting via email isn’t simply about sending one message and hoping it convinces a follower to complete an order. Sometimes, you need to send multiple retargeting emails before they proceed to checkout.
For instance, a recent study shows that marketers who send a series of product retargeting emails (one an hour after a cart was abandoned, one 12 hours later, and one 24 hours after abandonment) get 69% more orders on average than marketers who only send a single cart abandonment alert.
Effective Retargeting Email Campaigns Can Include an Offer
Providing customers with incentives to complete purchases is also an essential cart abandonment email strategy. For instance, perhaps a customer decided not to complete a purchase because they were worried they may not be satisfied with the product when it arrives. You could use your product retargeting email to remind them of your return policy to alleviate their concerns. Or, maybe you offer free shipping, or rewards for purchases.
Giving a customer extra reasons when retargeting via email to checkout is a smart way to address any concerns that may have prevented them from completing a purchase.
Understand that retargeting email marketing is a basic component of email marketing in general. You can’t ignore the fact that cart abandonment rates will remain high if you don’t do something to improve them. However, by following these tips, you’ll be much more successful at convincing shoppers to checkout.