E-commerce’s household names, Magento and Bronto, recently joined forces to release a captivating white paper on a topic we love to hate: cart abandonment. Refreshingly enough, the study doesn’t focus on why shoppers leave their carts, but rather on how they perceive marketing tactics related to abandoned carts. On one hand the paper explores the significance of the cart for shoppers and, on the other, it discusses abandonment strategies for marketers, while answering one key question: “How do customers react to abandoned cart emails?”
We gave “WHY WE DON’T BUY: Consumer Attitudes on Shopping Cart Abandonment” a thorough read and wanted to highlight the key learnings it brought to the table.
METHODOLOGY
Overseen by Ispos, the study was conducted in August 2013 and consisted of 1,003 american respondents who shopped online within the last year.
Three groups of consumers were established:
- Frequent Shoppers (daily or weekly)
- Occasional Shoppers (at least monthly)
- Infrequent Shoppers (less than once per month)
KEY RESULTS
Post-Shopping Cart Abandonment Expectations
- Nearly half of consumers find shopping cart abandonment reminder emails helpful.
- Only 26% of consumers perceive these emails as intrusive.
- 21% expect an incentive within the reminder email.
Shopping Cart Abandonment Emails
- 61% of consumers claim they are likely to return to a website after receiving an abandoned cart reminder email.
- 56% of online shoppers believe reminder emails showcasing a special saving (or discount) were the strongest influencer to win back an abandoner.
- Only 32% of consumers are likely to buy based on the cart reminder email alone.
Mobility
- 58% of Frequent Shoppers report taking online shopping information into a physical store location.
- 34% of consumers rely on product information saved on a mobile device while shopping in a brick-and-mortar store.
- 19% of Frequent Shoppers use a mobile device to browse carted products.
KEY INSIGHTS
A cart has many facets. Frequent shoppers tend to use the shopping cart as an extension of their decision making process.
Distinguish efforts between an abandoned cart and a saved wish list. Consider sending follow-up emails to check on shoppers’ wish-lists. This method can build confidence in your wish-list tool and increase overall usage.
Testing your content can go a long way. Finding the right balance between targeted content and timing can increase the perceived value and comprehension of the abandoned cart message, while reducing potential irritation.
Preserve the element of surprise. Don’t giveaway incentives every time a consumer leaves a cart behind. Set controls to keep this expectation static and avoid intentional abandonment (to receive discounts).
Don’t expect a “magic hour” to trigger abandoned cart reminders. A first step would be to analyze current abandoned cart reminder data and test shorter and longer durations (with the current timing as a control).
WHY WE DON’T BUY: Consumer Attitudes on Shopping Cart Abandonment is available for download here.
If you’re looking for additional insights to enhance your abandoned cart strategy, don’t hesitate to contact us today.