There has been a major shift in the way customers respond to targeted email messages. Just a few years ago, the general belief regarding browse and abandon emails centered on privacy issues. These first emails were unexpected and startling. Customers were reading a lot about data breaches in the news and were concerned about their personal data being used in nefarious ways.

But what a difference a year makes. Online browse messages have become some of the timeliest and most relevant emails you can send. And customers appreciate them – especially when they replace batch and blast messages. Broadcast messages are great at driving awareness, but these triggered online browse messages do much more than that.

Online browse messages:

• Influence shoppers’ purchase decisions using customer intent
• Use customer data in the best possible way, walking shoppers down the path to purchase items that are most relevant to their needs
• Engage shoppers in personalized communications based on their current interests
• Provide the opportunity for customers to discover new products by including product recommendations based on the category, sub-category or merchandise viewed
  

This online browse message brings in 59% as much revenue as the brand's cart abandonment campaigns.

Best of all, these messages are automated. Triggered campaigns have much higher engagement and conversion rates than broadcast campaigns, driving 184% more sales on average. And it’s no different for online browse messages. The average open rate for a browse abandon message is 31.7%, which is 130% higher than the average open rate for a broadcast message. Online browse messages also average $ .38 revenue per email and can be as high as $ .96 for best in class messages. Batch and blast messages only average $ .05 revenue per email.

Most importantly, at 13.8x ROI, the average automated online browse campaign will add a significant amount of revenue to your bottom line. These campaigns run in the background with little maintenance. Just set them up and take the extra money to the bank.

Unlike other triggered campaigns, online browse messages let you cast a wide net. As long as you have the email address for a site visitor a targeted email message can be automatically deployed.

The Connection between Cart Abandonment and Online Browse

If you are already sending a shopping cart abandonment series, you need to add an online browse program to your marketing mix. Online browse messages are the important first step for many shoppers in their customer journey as they show that you are listening to customers and reacting in a personal and timely manner. You are treating them as individuals, not as just one of the millions of people on your list. The messages are the building blocks of an engaging, loyal and long-term relationship.

We analyzed the online browse campaigns 35 of our retail clients are sending and found this one universal truth: the more messages you send, the more money you make. Just like shopping cart abandonment campaigns, you shouldn’t stick to just one attempt. But the similarities don’t end there.‍

Timing – The automation of these messages allows you to set the right timing. After years of research and testing, we found that cart recovery messages that are sent three hours after the abandonment have the highest probability of generating a conversion. Additional messages should be sent every 2-3 days. Online browse messages, on the other hand, should be sent a bit sooner. Message one should go out within two hours of the site abandonment as there is a bigger chance that the customer is still online and is still contemplating the purchase. Similarly, each successive message should be sent closer to the online visit in order to recapture the interest and attention of the shopper. But, as always, you should test to find out what works best for your customers.‍

Suppression – Just like cart abandonment messages, you should suppress the shoppers in your online browse campaign from receiving your promotional, batch and blast messages. These triggered messages are more relevant and personal and will drive more revenue.

Promotional Message Benchmarks:

Online Browse Benchmarks:

Cart Abandonment Benchmarks:

There is no denying that cart abandonment messages have some of the highest campaign metrics. You can expect your online browse messages to bring in about 40% as much revenue as your cart recovery campaigns. However, in some instances, we’ve seen the best in class online browse messages outperform the cart abandonment campaigns by as much as 143%.‍

Personal Product Recommendations – Including personal product recommendations based on the same category or sub-category or items related to the merchandise viewed will greatly increase the conversion rates of your online browse messages. We found that online browse campaigns that do not contain personal product recommendations have an average ROI of 13.4x while those with recommendations have an ROI of 17.3x, a 29% increase.

This online browse message's ROI is 48x‍

Nurturing Series – The age-old adage is true. If you send more, you’ll make more. We have always recommended sending at least three cart abandonment messages – and even more if you are still getting a double-digit conversion rate. The same is true for your browse abandon messages. giggle has a six message series, sending one message per day that features the browsed item along with recommended products plus user generated content in the form of customer pictures posted to giggle’s Instagram page. With Olapic, these images are shoppable, giving customers many opportunities to engage and purchase.

Are you ready to give online browse messages a try? Let us know. We’d love to talk to you about how it can transform your digital marketing campaigns and drive more revenue.