Browse Abandonment Emails: Create Value for Shoppers

Sending your customers emails about products they've abandoned isn't a new concept -- targeting people you know are actively shopping is a no-brainer.

Create a compelling browse abandonment campaign

Every eCommerce company worth their salt has a cart abandonment campaign these days (and if you don't, you should probably hop on that – you can learn more about it in our latest research report), and browse abandonment campaigns are the newest arrivals to the party.

The process of browse abandonment email campaigns is actually very simple when you break it down. Having the ability to track what your customers are doing will help you bring them back to your site. Image courtesy of Medium.

For Those Who are Unfamiliar with Browse Abandonment

If your site is hooked-up to gather this data, you'll be able to track the browsing behavior of every site visitor for whom you have an email address. So if someone signs up for your emails or has shopped with you before, you'll be able to see what they're looking at and send them follow-up emails if they leave your site without purchasing.

This practice will help you identify users who are visiting your product pages, but not completing a purchase. From there, you can develop personalized email campaigns to bring them back to your site for another chance to land the sale.

Why is are browse abandonment emails important?

Browse abandonment emails are important because they can bring customers who may have just been browsing back to your site to make a purchase. When you look at the eCommerce sales funnel, over 40% of sessions result in a product page views, but only just over 3% of sessions actually end with a transaction.

Knowing where customers are losing interest and falling out of your sales funnel allows you to increase customer communication and personalization. Having the ability to send browse abandonment emails will bring users back to your site right where the left off. Image courtesy of Smart Insights.

If you have the opportunity to reach out to the users who are viewing your product pages and then leaving your site -- why wouldn’t you? It has been shown that browse abandonment campaigns can increase email revenue by 8%.

It always feels like somebody's watching me...

Sending someone an email about a product they recently browsed can go one of two ways: you can nail it spot-on with an email that speaks to the visitor without being too pushy, or you can go the online stalker route and totally creep them out. Let's not do that.

The best way to address someone who browsed your site and then bailed is to use automated product recommendations. That way you can present them with what they recently looked at plus associated items they may have missed.

Not only does this expand the opportunity for them to buy, but it also gives you the opportunity to disguise the fact that you were watching what they were doing on your site. You can take this route and be subtle about your voyeuristic tendencies, or you can be flat-out honest about it. I recommend testing this for your customers -- see which tactic works best for them.

Email Design Is Always Important

Design-wise, keep these messages as fun as your brand will allow. If you're too serious, you're just upping the creepy stalker factor. Having a sense of humor will disarm the visitor and show that while you're trying to make a sale, your brand has a personality, too.

Here are a few examples of great browse abandonment campaigns. These brands took different strategies (some blunt and honest, some more subtle), but all four messages work really well. It's up to you to know what will work best for your customers.

Both of these emails are great examples of a simple reminder email -- nothing too pushy and readers may not even realize that you were tracking their behavior. Although, if you’re serving up the products they viewed, it’s a good chance they will still catch on.

This email is another example of how you can present the information to your customers without sounding too creepy. May you share one of your top-rated products that everyone seems to love, or maybe it’ just related products to what the user was looking at -- either way you're reaching back out.

By combining personal product recommendations with trending products and the wisdom of the crowd, the message is softened. In the third example, the email uses the text, “Many of our customers love this and we think you will, too."

Sharing the products they were previously shopping with some encouragement from other shoppers can help entice the visitor to take another look at the item.

And in the last example, the email states, “What you (and customers like you) are browsing, shopping, loving...right now.”

And both examples show product recommendations based on the shopper's browse behavior. The inclusion of trending and top-rated products is useful as it removes the stalker factor while helping shoppers discover new products.

Sharing additional products that the customer may be interested in will also help your emails seem less targeted. This example shares other bathroom furniture and fixtures that may go along with the original piece of interest.

And last but not least, the clothing store has provided more products based on customer feedback and ratings. Since many people rely on reviews and ratings when it comes to online shopping, this is a great practice.

Bring Your Customers Back with a Browse Abandonment Email Strategy

With thoughtful messaging and personal recommendations, these campaigns definitely become something shoppers find value in rather than something that turns them off. Appealing to your audience and knowing what relevant products and content to bring them back will help you see higher percentages at the bottom of your eCommerce sales funnel.

Stop losing sales from site visitors who view product pages but never complete a purchase. Bring them back to your site, show them what they're missing, and start to increase sales with a browse abandonment email strategy of your own.

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