Shopping cart abandonment refers to the customer adding items to the online shopping cart available in e-commerce and other websites but then leaving without paying and buying those products. If the e-commerce companies don’t consider it a problem, they cannot realize how much money is laid on the table.
Shopping Cart abandonment is one of the most critical problems that every e-commerce brand has to face. Various e-commerce companies have to lose trillions of dollars every year because online shopping customers do not complete their checkout process.
Despite having the most exciting deals and excellent products, the customers always search for multiple options and select the best choice for purchase that satisfies their needs. So, it results in ending up window shopping and adding certain products to their cart, and it’s not possible to stop them from doing that.
But there is good news: we can set a recovery program for the cart to bring those people back.
Push Notification
A web push notification is generally a pop-up message that the subscriber receives either on their desktop or laptop or in their mobile phone. These notifications act as a medium for the brands to interact with the customers when the user is not present on the website.
Push notification not only helps in sending reminders about the abandonment carts but rather push notifications are also being used to send promotional information about purchase confirmation and also order delivery.
Sending suitable offers at the right time to the customers can quickly compel them to revisit the cart. It helps in increasing the customer turnover.
Here are a few tips or strategies as suggested by pushengage.com that can be implemented to combat abandonment of the cart by using push notifications:
Sending Timely Push Notifications
Sending real-time push notifications through the web browser or mobile browser can be very helpful for e-commerce companies. The campaign’s success is dependent primarily on the time at which the subscribers receive a push notification.
Push notifications timings should be scheduled according to the different time zones where the subscribers reside. It would help in achieving maximum benefit from the campaign. Timing for receiving the notification would define whether it was effective or an obstructive experience for the subscribers.
For example, a weekend sale or happy hour notification must not be sent at 8 am, or 9 am. Instead, sending it in the second half of the day can bring positive results for e-commerce companies.
Creating A Sense of Urgency
Creating a sense of urgency helps tap the fear of missing out among the customers. It leads to them making an impulsive purchase without missing out a great deal. If an e-commerce company has a sale coming up, then creating a sense of urgency among the customer can significantly impact the sale.
An online selling company can also create urgency by showing up on the customer’s recent purchases.
For example, notifications sent to the subscribers may include “stock running low” or “X number of pieces are left out of a certain product.”
Segmentation of Users
Users may subscribe to push notifications from a particular website for various reasons. It can be for receiving updates about the arrival of the new products, updates about various discount offers, etc. So, sending the same type of notifications to all users may irritate them, ultimately leading them to unsubscribe from that website.
So, it’s essential to segment the users and put them in different types of buckets. It can also help the company figure out the most loyal customers and send them discount coupons or personalized discount offers, etc.
According to Marketo Engage, a company can segment the users based on the following categories:
- Region and Time Zone
- New vs. Old Customer
- Frequency of purchase
- Type of Browser and its Language, etc.
Offering Free Shipping
As mentioned by Opinionmaster, one of the most common reasons for cart abandonment is the hidden costs or the shipping charges shown to the customer at the time of checkout.
You also might have experienced it some or the other time while shopping online. It may lead to the customer leaving the website without purchasing the product.
The e-commerce companies may promote free shipping at least to a specific category of buyers. Promoting such offers with a floating bar across the site can be very fruitful for the company in increasing sales.
Sending A Series of Push Notifications
Sending up a series of push notifications to the subscribers instead of sending a single one can make a lot of difference. Out of those notifications, the first one can be a reminder about a particular product abandoned.
The second notification can be about a discount offer for a limited period. The last notification may convey the offer expiring soon, which may create a sense of urgency among the user.
