Browse abandonment emails attempt to re-engage a customer who has browsed your site or searched for a specific product but didn’t add any items to their cart.
There are several reasons visitors will never convert to adding an item to a cart, which means they will never purchase from your site. This is why abandonment emails are critical to capitalizing on the intent of shoppers who are in the early to middle stage of their buying journey.
There are three common types of abandonment-triggered emails, so it’s not surprising they’re often confused. Today, you’ll learn about browse abandonment emails from the team at QuaGrowth. We’ll detail:
- How browse abandonment emails work
- Browse abandonment email best practices
- Behavioral considerations for your browse abandonment emails
- What to do next
How Do Browse Abandonment Emails Work?
Browse abandonment emails are essentially a form of retargeting, reaching customers who’ve had at least some interaction with your site. These are all customers you know who have shared their email addresses.
To that end, collecting email addresses on your homepage should be a top priority. It’s the simplest way to collect data from casual visitors. Browse abandonment emails are a gentle nudge, encouraging customers to return to the site and convert.
These emails can be triggered from various sets of circumstances, all of which can be decided by your team. In the best case, these messages are tailored to the customers’ behavior.
How To Target Consistently Interested Customers
For example, suppose the user arrived on your home page and searched for a specific product (let’s say rain boots). In that case, your abandonment email’s subject line and contents can speak specifically to that desire.
Copywriting like, “Still looking for rain boots?” is a personalized and effective way to remind the customer of where they left off and suggest products that potentially satiate their needs.
You can create different emails with a different language for any number of behavioral cues, from bouncing off the home page to spending lots of time in the reviews section.
If you’d expect customers to have an issue with that kind of data-driven messaging, you may be surprised to hear that at least 62% of consumers today expect personalized marketing based on their search history.
The age of blasting out messaging and expecting it to work for everyone is over. Customers expect it, and your bottom line will thank you.
On that topic, browse abandonment emails are quite effective at motivating customers to return to your site. Some estimates have shown that browse abandonment emails have a higher open rate and a higher click-through rate than traditional emails.
Of those users that open the emails, about 20% will click through and return to the site. That’s the power of tailored marketing.
Best Practices: Browse Abandonment
Here are a few suggestions from QuaGrowth on ensuring your browse abandonment emails are set up for success:
Never Stop Experimenting
All email marketing requires a certain amount of tinkering. Certain messages will be more powerful for certain audiences, and sometimes unexpected data can lead you down paths you’d never previously considered.
If you notice one style of email idea is outperforming the rest, double down on that practice and extend the insight to other campaigns. As in all digital marketing, let the data guide you.
Choose Your Timing Wisely
While many users expect a certain amount of retargeting, you want to be careful not to hound them. Pay close attention to who you’re sending your browse abandonment emails to.
Ask, have they purchased anything before? How long did they spend on the site? Were they looking for something specific or just scrolling around? Each of those audience segments can and should get a different email at a different time.
For example, if your user-set recently purchased something and then browsed again, wait a few weeks before triggering your abandonment email.
After a few weeks, hopefully, with their successful purchase now in stow, you can remind them of what they were looking at. That’s the type of timely strategy that builds brand loyalty and repeat purchases.
On the other hand, if you’re dealing with a user who is shopping during a seasonal sale, whether it’s the holidays or otherwise, a quick browse abandonment email can be majorly influential.
At that moment, you’d expect that the customer is shopping at various retailers and comparing prices and products. A browse abandonment email can be the small but significant sign they need.
Compliment Your Audience’s Interest
It’s no secret that you’re doing so when you’re sending a browse abandonment email because you have access to your customers' behavioral data. This is an opportunity to speak to that.
Language that complements their taste underscores the value of your products and suggests related items can go the extra mile in selling the purchase. A little bit of flattery never hurt anyone.
In fact, humans love flattery for a good reason.
Don’t be afraid to get specific and use a variety of resources to help trigger your customer’s memory. Include an image of the product to remind the customer why they were looking at it in the first place.
Drive a Sense of Urgency
This is a key tip in nearly every facet of email marketing. For casual site visitors, a sudden acknowledgment of urgency, whether it’s language like “Your item is selling out” or “Your item is half-off for the next 12 hours,” can be the deciding factor that moves them to make the purchase.
Ultimately, making a purchase is a commitment. Most consumers these days will browse for at least a few hours before deciding they’re ready to go for it, and that’s on the lower end of the scale.
Big commitment items like televisions, phones, and jewelry can be considered for weeks and even months before gaining the green light. People like to make informed decisions. Browse abandonment emails can help speed up that process.
Behavioral Considerations for Your Browse Abandonment Emails
Sometimes, it’s hard to imagine a world before digital data. How did marketers decide where to send what? Was there really a time before we sent email reminders? How did we really know anything about our customers before we gathered behavioral cues?
Thankfully, that’s not a reality we have to consider. Today’s eCommerce landscape offers retailers and consumers ample opportunity to reach each other in new and novel ways.
Custom language tailored for customers at every stage of the purchase journey makes the difference between a shopper in the consideration stage and a shopper providing their credit card details.
When sending browse abandonment emails, incorporate triggers that take these behaviors into account:
- How seriously they considered your site and your products. Were they casually scrolling through, or did they search for something specific?
- How many times have they searched for this product? A customer returning to your product time and time again is categorically different from a customer who is just considering something for the first time.
- Have they purchased something before? Do they have any existing experience with your brand? These interactions can be important in building brand loyalty.
- Can you promote the product with an added deal? Free shipping and discount codes can be the deciding factor when customers are deciding on a purchase.
One caveat to remember is that it’s important to choose your timing cadence. You’ll want to make sure you don’t overwhelm your customers by sending them emails based solely on their behavior, especially if they visit your site often.
What’s Next?
Ultimately, the plight of the email marketer is to fight indecision and memory. Reminders like browse abandonment emails are a great way to nudge your customer, emphasizing the value of the product, speaking to their specific behavior, and connecting the dots from curiosity to purchase.
Visit QuaGrowth now for more information crafting an email strategy that works for you.
Sources:
Top Reasons Why Shoppers Are Abandoning Their Online Carts [+ Solutions] | Business 2 Community
Shoppers are abandoning their online carts more than ever — here's why | Today
