Second, when you increase your conversion rate, you are also lowering your cost per acquisition. 

While this is another obvious point, the implications are tremendous. Spending less on your variable cost of business means you generate more profit per sale.

This is great by itself, but the real power comes in what you can do with that extra net margin - specifically unlocking additional channels of lead generation.

Advertising is getting more expensive.

It's actually kinda scary.

MarketingDrive reported in February of 2018 that Facebook ads cost a whopping 43% more on average. 

The cost to reach audiences in Facebook is expected to continue to rise, with the company tightening inventory and increased competition. 

The trend is real across marketing channels.

Image Source

As the image above shows, over the course of a single year, most categories in Amazon's sponsored product listings increased by healthy double digits - with Electronics increasing 89% year over year.

However, companies with higher conversion rates are at a distinct advantage when bidding against other companies.

The added margin you have allows you to profitably outbid your competitors, converting still more customers, and on in a virtuous cycle.

Similarly, your ability to partner with affiliates grow in lock-step to your ability to convert traffic.

Affiliate partnerships through Instagram influencers, Youtube, Snapchat, and even Twitch continue to drive attention and massive sales.

In 2016, a study was released showing that the average ROI from these campaigns were 11x that of display advertising.

However, currently the major way influencers and affiliates are compensated is based on their reach. It is up to you, as a store, to convert that traffic.

Increasing your conversion rate not only makes influencer marketing possible, it allows you to invest in your relationships and reward affiliates with higher than average benefits.

Next week, we're going to analyze one of the biggest eCommerce success stories of 2018 - Casper.com, looking at how they optimize eCommerce conversions starting with their homepage.

Ultimately, conversion optimization is about presenting the right offer to the right customer in a compelling, relevant way.

To speak to your prospects at an individual, 1:1 level, you need to leverage personalization techniques.

Finally, to see how Barilliance helps hundreds of eCommerce stores increase conversion rates, you should request a demo here.

Messaging apps are becoming the default way consumers communicate. Adoption is wide, and it is deep.

There are roughly 4.1 billion active users for the top four apps. 

Every year, those 4.1 billion users increase the time they spend on these platforms. In 2016 the average person spent 6 minutes inside messaging apps. By 2017, that number increased 33% to 8 minutes. So far in 2018, we’ve seen another leap of usage, with the average time ballooning to 8 minutes.

According to stats compiled by Business Insider, active users on messaging apps surpassed social networks in early 2015.

Messenger has 5 major benefits over traditional email cart abandonment strategies.

First, Messenger has a higher open rate than email campaigns. 

According to a study by Mailchimp, the average eCommerce email open rate is 15.66%.

Meanwhile, case studies on Facebook Messanger report open rates between 98% - 88%. 

This improvement alone, all else equal, would improve results upwards of 525%.

Second, FB Messenger has extraordinary click through rates compared to email. 

For years, email's click through rates have been on the decline. That same Mailchimp study shows an average conversion rate from email standing at just 2.07%.

One major reason for this is oversaturation, with the reports ranging from 88-124 emails received per day.

This ins’t the case with messaging.

Users have the most control over who is allowed to interact with them. This clears out the noise, allowing those companies with permission a clear communication line. 

Cart abandonment emails work.

The problem is that a ridiculous 269 billion emails are sent every single day.

This guide reveals how the best eCommerce stores are getting their abandoned cart emails opened. We reveal cart abandonment subject line  tactics and strategies, along,  with the exact copy, used by the most successful stores of 2018. 

Let's begin.

Note: This post has been updated to reflect the current cart abandonment strategies retailers are using in 2018.

According to our study covering 200 eCommerce stores worldwide, the highest performing cart abandonment campaigns recovered 40% of revenue! 

The key?

Sending more than one email.

Despite this, the vast majority of eCommerce stores only sent one or two abandonment emails. To maximize conversions,  you don't need to write a single cart abandonment email template. You need to write a minimum of three. 

And the single most important factor of each email is the subject line.

In fact, a study of Barilliance clients found that using multi-step cart abandonment campaigns resulted in an average email conversion rate of 18.64%!

I’m about to share with you my favorite cart abandonment subject line example.

The Honest Company focuses on natural health and food products, and is currently valued at $1.7 billion.

A huge factor in their amazing success is their ability to maximize revenue from each site visitor. Look at how well they construct their cart abandonment subject lines to compel the prospect to click through and complete their purchase.

I love this subject line for a number of reasons. 

First, it has great voice and tempo. It is short, direct, and upbeat. Second, The Honest Company makes the best use of customized email preview text I saw during the study. 

They employ brackets around an all cap sized [OPENED] to stand out and tease a "to see" with ellipsis for good measure.  

The second email was sent exactly 24 hours after the first. 

It was congruent in tone and voice to the first email. Even though the words themselves were simple, they convey an upbeat, friendly tone. 

Again, The Honest Company makes excellent use of the preview text. 

Lastly, The Honest Company uses a new tactic in their second email - urgency. They accomplish this through an imposed scarcity  of an expiring cart, and the copy centers around the fact that their cart will be expiring soon.

Their third abandoned cart email follows the cadence of the second, triggered to send 48 hours from the first.

Here, the subject line puts even more focus on urgency and loses the friendly tone. Instead, it is more matter of fact, underlining the urgency of the subject line.

Lastly, the preview text is again used to great measure. In this case, The Honest Company hints at an added benefit of free shipping.

While I wish this line was more personalized based on the shopper's cart, it still accomplishes it's goal of imposing time pressure and adding incentive to act now.

The final subject line in the sequence is a last chance email. 

What is most instructive is how persistent The Honest Company is once they have a lead with demonstrated purchase intent. 

Despite the customer not responding to previous emails, they don't give up. Instead, they keep their promise, expire their cart, and invite them to come back. 

The Honest Company used a variety of techniques to create a fantastic. abandoned cart campaign. ​​​​​

As we went over company after company, we saw many recurring themes, tactics, and strategies used. We consolidated the most common subject line types below, and provide a few examples for your swipe file.

In total, we discovered 8 subject line archetypes that retailers used to maximize conversions. 

Incentives work.

You want to be abundantly clear that your prospective customer is getting hooked up with an excellent deal if they complete the purchase. Words such as deal, promotion, % off are all powerful trigger words for price conscious shoppers.

​

Bonobos executes this subject line perfectly.

The bribe is upfront and clear. The call to action is direct, and uses an active verb. Empty your cart - save 20%.

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One important best practice when using incentives is email suppression. Make sure the technology you are using is capable of understanding when a customer redeems an incentive so that they do not receive further incentives down the line. This is something that Barilliance comes standard with, and is an important feature in any cart abandonment technology.

​Accept My Bribe Subject Line Template Examples

Curiosity based subject lines are the exact opposite of the Accept My Bribe types. Instead of being direct and upfront with your offer, these headings get prospects to click through because they pique interest.

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Everlane lets their prospects know that they are about to receive something. They just won't reveal what that something is until they click through. 

Again, I encourage you to contrast this to the example above as they really are two sides of the same coin. They both focus on creating value, but pull the reader into opening the email in completely opposite ways.

Curiosity Subject Line Template Examples

Consistency and recognition are powerful motivators to complete purchase.

Product shout-out subject lines leverage this to it’s fullest. They are to the point, and resurface the want or need the customer originally had when they placed the product in their cart.

Here, The RealReal uses a simple, friendly tone. They then personalize the subject line with dynamic cart insertion to create a relevant message to their prospect.

Product Shout-Out Subject Line Template Examples

Suggesive subject lines often make use of the Assumption Principal, which underpins the famous “assumptive close”.

The Assumption Principal functions by assuming the customer has already decided to make a purchase. In other words, it implies that the reason the customer abandoned their cart is because they forgot it rather than any other issue, such as costs, shipping, or finding a better alternatives.

Forever 21 gives a standard example. The subject line is simply "Did you forget about me?", and can easily fit for most brands.

Suggestive Subject Line Template Examples

People don’t always appreciate the hard sell.

Simply being nice is a great way to engage prospects on a personal level. These subject lines establish a relationship that is not transactional based. Instead, they focus on being "friendly". 

Chubbies is a great example of this style. The subject line isn't trying to sell anyting.

Instead, it focuses on being human, greeting their prospect the way a friend would great someone they haven't seen in awhile. The body of the email carries the same voice. 

Friendly Subject Line Template Examples

Customer service subject lines actively try and solve customer's problems for not completing their purchase.

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Oftentimes, these subject lines open a conversation with a simple question such as "Was there a problem with your order?" to learn what the issue was.  

Customer Service Subject Line Template Examples

You don’t need to make an offer in the heading to get your abandoned cart email opened.

Humanity centered subject lines work great.  Brand Personality lines do so with a focus on establishing the type of relationship you want with your customer. Oftentimes, these subject lines use humor to emulate a real conversation.

Here, Mouth plays on their name and stays light/playful throughout their copy calling their products "goodies" in the preview text.

If you go this route, make sure that your tone is consistant throughout all of your interactions with your customer.

Urgency and scarcity are often cited as the most powerful psychological ploys to get customers to act.

We see eCommerce brands create urgency in one of three ways.

The first is centered on the cart itself. Sometimes, they set the cart to expire, creating a sense that the customer needs to complete their purchase now. This is the tactic that The Honest Company used above.

Second, retailers create urgency around specific products within the cart. It may be a limited item, selling fast, or approaching out of stock.

Lastly, you can create urgency in your subject lines by pairing it with an incentive. Many retailers create discount codes that are only valid for a limited time to get customers to compete their purchase.

Customer Service Subject Line Template Examples

Below are real examples of cart abandonment subject lines used by some of the most successful retailers in the world.

We've organized the subject lines by industry to make it easier to navigate and compare across industries. We'll be adding to this list over time as we gather more and more examples.

Note* When the email preview text was utilized to complement the subject line, we placed the preview text after a hyphen. 

Company: The RealReal

Email #1: Still Deciding? Your Dolce & Gabbana Three-Button Wool Blazer Is Waiting!

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Company: Warby Parker

​Email #1: Downing might be the one - Shipping and returns are both free

Email #2: Downing felt the Connection

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Company: Bespoke Post

Email #1: You've Left Something Behind

Email #2: Forgetting Something?

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Company: Bonobos

Email #1: Empty your cart with 20% off.

​Email #2: Take 20% off your cart before it’s gone.

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Company: Modern Citizen

Email #1: A gentle reminder...

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Company: Chubbies

Email #1: clocking in

Email #2: Howdy Bud

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Company: Surfdome

Email #1: Thanks for visiting

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Company: Forever 21

Email #1: Did you forget about me?

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Company: Black Milk Clothing

Email #1: Where'd You Go?!

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Company: SurfStitch

Email #1: Reminder: Get Your Items Before They Sell Out

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Company: BooHoo

Email #1: Don't miss out! Your basket expires soon

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​Company: Everlane

Email #1: A Gift For You

​​

Company: Under Armour

​Email #1: Your Cart’s Loaded & Ready To Go - Free Shipping. No Minimum.

Email #2: UA Curry 4 Low Is Still in Your Cart

Company: The Honest Company

Email #1: Cart Reserved! [OPEN] to see…

Email #2: Don’t miss out! Your cart is expiring soon…

Email #3: Your cart is about to expire - You may qualify for free shipping >

Email #4: Cart Expired - [Items might still be available] - your cart expired!

Company: Urban Skin Rx

Email #1: Stephan, You Forgot Something!

Company: EyeBuyDirect

Email #1: EyeBuyDirect 15% off on your entire order

Email #2: EyeBuyDirect 15% off on your entire order for 24 hours only

Company:  Thrive Market

Email #1: Oops, you forgot something

Email #2: Hurry, the items in your cart are going fast!

Email #3: Complete your purchase now - you made great choices. Check out now

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Company: Mouth

Email #1: You left your Mouth open!

Company: Real Truck

Email #1: There’s something in your cart.

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Company: Shower Pass

Email #1: We saved your cart for you

Email #2: Your cart is about to expire - Still interested?

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Company: FloraQueen

Email #1: Hi Stephan, continue shopping with a discount!

Lastly, I want to share with you the power of testing different abandoned cart email components. 

Barilliance comes with A/B testing that allows you to experiment and achieve higher results over time.  Skandium, a furniture eCommerce store, tested two versions of their subject line and found a dramatic increase in CTR using dynamic product injection (+26.96% CTR).

​

You can see the full case study here. 

Personalization works. The challenge for marketers is understanding how to proceed.

This guide will aggregate stats about personalization. We've collected personalization statistics through 2018 to guide eCommerce stores, revealing current trends and a clear picture of which tactics you should implement in 2019.

We covered a number of personalization examples here.

According to the same Epsilon study, the three most common personalization tactics customers cite are:

Despite the statistics showing personalization increases conversions and revenues, adoption is still slow. 

In 2018, email is by far the most popular channel for personalization.

However, we see a huge divergence in the level of personalization within email. Some companies report personalization despite only using basic tactics like placing customer name or product data into subject lines. 

The next level of personalization would be segmenting customers based on past purchases. Pairing specific product promotions to different customer segments is more effective than sending the same email to everyone. 

The highest level of personalization incorporates tactics like dynamically changing email messages on open to reflect changes in inventory, presenting "fresh" recommendations, and incorporating offline integration .  

Despite the high adoption in email, companies have been slow to adopt personalization in other channels. 

Below is a cross-section of survey results from three independent studies. Across the board, there is a significant drop between email and the next popular channel (website personalization). 

Even basic website personalization is lacking.

We’ve shown how important it is to cater to returning customers. Returning customers convert 73.72% more than new visitors, and spend on average 16.15% more per transaction.

Despite this, it is reported that only 36% of companies create personalized experiences for returning customers.

This guide gives you a good overview of personalization statistics in 2018. 

If you want to improve your personalization efforts, you need to accomplish two things. 

First, you need to consider the four major challenges in pursuing personalization. You need to understand data unification issues, the challenges of cross-device continuity, segmentation opportunities, and personalization capabilities. We broke all four done here.

Next, you want to consider which personalization technology partner is best for your store. To see how Barilliance addresses all of these personalization challenges, request a demo here.

Trigger: Prospect abandons purchase, and does not respond to initial abandoned cart message

Message: Offers related to the initial product placed in cart

Channel: Email

Cart abandonment emails work. In our last study, we found that our customers average an 18.64% conversion rate on these campaigns. 

However, how do you followup when a customer declines to complete their purchase? If your platform is able to create personalized recommendations, you can present multiple offers based on their viewing and cart placement history.

The image above shows an A/B test we performed, testing how personalizing recommendation widgets within emails performed against standard recommendations.

In this case, personalizing these recommendations on a 1:1 level increased clicks by 289% and purchases by 189%!

Some of the most effective browse campaigns we perform for customers are "Email My Cart" and "Visit Summary" campaigns.

Barilliance customers achieve up to 22.73% conversion rates on email my cart campaigns, and 14.13% conversion rates on Visit Summary triggered emails. 

In order to properly execute these strategies, you must connect your customer data to your marketing. 

While many technology partners claim to be able to help, they often do not address some of the most significant challenges in lifecycle marketing and personalization. 

Before you select a technology partner, make sure you understand the 4 major challenges you will face connecting your data. 

Then, see if Barilliance is the right solution for you. Request a demo here.

The travel industry is competitive. 

This case study breaks down one of the most successful travel sites in history: Booking.com. We explore how they use personalization to maximize conversions.

We'll also share relevant studies that substantiate these strategies. Lastly, for those interested, we'll share how you can replicate these techniques on your own site. 

Let's begin!

Recognizing and adapting to returning visitors is a common theme for us.

Our last study showed how returning customers:

From the study:
“Getting that first visit is like planting seeds. It is a lot of effort and work and to prepare the land i.e. create the conditions to get a customer on site.

Returning visits takes that customer from seed to fruit bearing tree. All the profit happens as you are able to bring the customer back and begin learning, engaging with, and converting that lead.”

Here, Booking.com does a fantastic job recognizing returning clients. When I first come back to the site, they welcome me. The copy is personal. Most beautifully, they give me a clear reason to login.

Instead of simply displaying a login button hidden in the far right corner of the page, they take the opportunity to reiterate their value proposition: "Sign in to see deals up to 50% off".  

How do you welcome returning customers who aren’t logged in? 

Booking.com understands the power of personalized recommendations.

Directly underneath the search bar is a recommendation widget.  As we will see, they personalize these recommendations in real time.

The question is, how should you personalize recommendations when you haven't gathered any data from your customers yet?

Upon landing, Booking.com knows where I am.

Based on my IP address, they create recommendations. My guess is that these recommendations are the most frequently searched for travel destinations from people in my current location of Omaha, Nebraska.

Previously, we studied how effective personalization can be on recommendations. 

You can see the full study on personalized recommendations here

​

Looking at over data from 300 randomly selected clients, we found that recommendations accounted for 31% of eCommerce revenue. In fact, customers who engage with recommendations have a  70% higher purchase rate. 

The kicker though is how personalization boosted conversions. Personalized recommendations outperformed generic/static recommendations by 170%.

Geographic personalization is a fantastic way to create relevant offers without knowing a lot about your customers.

There are actually multiple ways you can personalize your customer’s journey with minimal information. The first is through onsite personalization. We showcased how one of our clients is doing that through targeted messaging. 

Above, Skandium is presenting personalized message bars to new customers. The message changes depending on the location. For example, they address a common concern for US shoppers about  import duties, while conveying shipping deals to local customers (full case study here).

The second way, which is how Booking.com does it, is via personalized recommendations.

While you can personalize recommendations in a multitude of ways, here Booking.com selects geo-location as the primary way to select which offers to present. 

Booking.com boosts conversions by leveraging a number of social proof mechanisms. 

Depending on the current offer, they highlight various aspects to get browsers to pull the trigger today. The goal is two-fold:

Using various forms of social proof to create both trust and urgency helps improve these metrics. 

After my initial search, I went back to the homepage to see how Booking.com incorporated my session data into their offers.

They did so in three major ways. 

The most obvious are the recommendations. When I first visited Booking.com, they only knew my location. Therefore, they did their best to present offers that were relevant, based on other travers from my city.

There was no way for them to know that I was interested in visiting Puerto Vallarta. 

But, as soon as I initiated a search, I revealed an affinity. In this case, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Going back to the homepage, Booking.com updates the offers they make with this new information. 

Instead of offering "best guess" recommendations of Chicago, Reno, Atlanta, and San Diego, they incorporate my revealed preferences. 

First, they showcase my last search as the primary recommendation. They then supplement it with a number of similar travel destinations like Nuevo Vallarta and Guadalajara. 

Another nice touch Booking.com uses is personalizing their calls to action. 

Again, they incorporate my preferences in real time. When I navigate back to the home screen, instead of a generic search bar I see a pre-filled search, loaded with my latest information including the number of guests and checkout dates. 

Lastly, Booking.com distinguishes the most likely offer with product badges and rich data.

They place a flag emoji next to the city name.

They place the top reasons to visit as a secondary header. It reads: "beaches, relaxation, friendly locals". 

They overlay a simple call to action with a fantastic, short question. "Still interested in your previous searches for Puerto Vallarta". And - they let me pick up right where I left off by auto-filling my previous search. 

All of these actions display an understanding of what is relevant for me as the shopper. They place the offer with the highest chance to convert at the top, make it larger, and enhance the offering through data. 

The lesson is to incorporate your customers in-session behavior to all pages. 

Your home page, category, and product pages should all reflect what you know is true about your prospects. 

As always, the next step after learning is action.

We covered a lot. I suggest taking one tactic that you believe can help your travel site increase conversions and implement.

If you are looking for a technology partner that can give you all of these capabilities, consider Barilliance. We help dozens of travel sites and hundreds of eCommerce sites with real time personalization. 

​

If you want to learn more, setup a time to chat here.

In 2018, Black Friday is a world-wide phenomenon. This year, we aggregated data globally. 

We explored cart abandonment and conversion rates on Black Friday across both countries and devices. Here's what we found.

First, we looked at how cart abandonment changed by territory. 

To make better sense of the data, we selected the 6 countries where we had the most shopping sessions. 

These included the Netherlands (NL), Australia (AU), Great Britain (GB), France (FR), Canada (CA), the United States (US), and Spain (ES).

The global cart abandonment rate for Black Friday was 73.78%. Of the countries we had the most data for, only the United States had a higher average abandonment rate (81.93%). 

Most countries were right below the average. However, both Spain and Canada showed significantly lower abandonment rates (61.6% and 61.28% respectively).

In every country, customers were far more likely to abandon their cart on mobile devices. 

This falls in line with the results of years past.

In the United States, cart abandonment on desktop was 71.12%. However, that number jumped dramatically to 85.81% on mobile, a 20.6% increase.

The biggest impact mobile had on abandonment rate was in Canada. Here, mobile increased abandonment rate by 33.3%.

Globally, phone devices performed 18.86% worse than desktops and 17.23% worse than tablets.

While mobile was the worst performing device across the board, variance on Black Friday abandonment rate was dramatic across countries. 

The global average cart abandonment rate on mobile devices was 78.43%. This number spiked in the U.S. to 85.81% and plummeted in both Canada and Spain (69.21% and 64.81%).

Traditionally, eCommerce conversions have always been highest on desktop. 

That trend largely held true for 2018's Black Friday. However, two countries had tablets with the highest conversion rates. 

Both the Netherlands and United States showed customers are more likely to convert their shopping session on a tablet device. 

Following abandonment rate trends, the three highest converting countries were Canada, Spain, and Australia. The lowest converting Black Friday countries were the Netherlands, France, and the United States. 

We've covered Black Friday statistics for a few years now. 

We pulled forward the data from Black Friday 2017 and compared it to shoppers this year.

Across the board, we found an increase in cart abandonment in 2018. In 2017, the average cart abandonment rate on Black Friday was 74.5%. That number increased 10% in 2018 to 81.93%. 

While both years showcased an increase in cart abandonment on mobile devices, the difference was starker in 2018. 

In 2017, there was a 15.9% increase in Cart Abandonment for mobile. In 2018, cart abandonment rose a ridiculous 20.65%. 

We also want to compare how Black Friday statistics change compared to a regular week in November. 

Because promotions are occurring earlier and earlier, we selected the week of November 4th as the comparison. 

We confirmed Black Friday has lower cart abandonment rates across all devices. In the U.S. in the weeks leading up to Black Friday, cart abandonment came to 86.06%. On Black Friday, cart abandonment was 81.93%.

The same pattern emerged in Australia. 

Again, we found mobile has (by far) the highest levels of cart abandonment. 

This represents an opportunity for stores, not just during the holiday season but throughout the year. Being able to create responsive, high converting product pages is a key capability to develop. 

Given the growing cart abandonment, sales recovery campaigns are another great opportunity for eCommerce stores. 

We wrote an in-depth guide to cart abandonment here. You can also see numerous successful cart abandonment email campaigns here.

Lastly, if you would like to see how Barilliane helps hundreds of eCommerce stores recover sales and maximize holiday opportunities like Black Friday, schedule a demo here.

By 2025, 10% of all sales will be fulfilled by Click and Collect. In-store purchases will decline to 60%. - Post and Parcel

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​Larger metro areas have the highest demand for Click and Collect - FMI , Nielson, February 2018​​

​

In general, the US online market lags in grocery market share. Currently, online CPG sales account for only 1.5% of total sales. 

However, Click and Collect has already emerged as the major fulfillment model for perishable goods.

In France, Click and Collect (known as Click and Drive) already accounts for 5% of the countries grocery sales, and is expected to reach 10%.

As convenience becomes more important in the competitive landscape, Click and Collect is becoming the top focus of top grocers.

Kroger recently celebrated it’s 1,000th click and collect grocery shopping service - Progressive Grocer, December 2017

Kroger's program is known as ClickList. 

In fact, every major grocery player in the US, from Wal-Mart to Safeway are investing in click and collect infrastructure.

US online grocery spending will reach $100B by 2023 - FMI, Nielson, February 2018

Millennials prefer to use click and collect/curbside pickup more than delivery for groceries, FMI, Nielson, February 2018

​

Percentage of grocers offering click and collect programs grew 53.3%, from 15% to 23% in 2016, Food Drive, April 2017

US retail giants are investing heavily in click and collect through a myriad of efforts.

Acquisition has been a major trend, highlighted by Target's recent target Shipt. While the acquisition gives Target the ability to fulfill same day delivery, it also gives it a greater capability to overcome inventory challenges associated with Click and Collect.

Target plans to expand Click and Collect service “Drive Up” to 1,000 stores by end of 2018 - Progressive Grocer, April 2018

WalMart to add another 1,000 stores to its curbside pickup program by the end of 2018. - CNBC, December, 2017

How would you rate your current omnichannel strategy? 

Unfortunately, many eCommerce stores are struggling to understand what factors go into an effective omnichannel retailing approach. 

In this article, we define what omnichannel strategy is (along with the key components necessary to make it succeed). Then, we explore how Amazon is succeeding in their omnichannel approach. Each section we pull specific actions you can  take to compete in 2019.

Feel free to skip to the Amazon examples below if you already have a good grasp of omnichannel concepts. 

Unfortunately, the vocabulary around omnichannel is murky.

For clarity, this article uses the following definitions.

Omnichannel strategies assume customers move between channels.

They may research online and buy offline. They might begin a shopping session on your site, and complete it in-app while waiting in line. The focus on an omnichannel strategy is to create the best customer experience across all channels.

Amazon’s stated mission is to be “Earth’s most customer-centric company”.

​They've adapted brilliantly to incorporate channels as they become relevant, and are an ideal case study in how to create an omnichannel strategy.

While Amazon has vastly more resources than nearly any other company today, we can still pull lessons from how they approach multiple channels. What we see are two key focuses:

First, a personalized, responsive interaction with customers across touchpoints. 

Second, a full integration of channels on the backend, fulfilling customer's wants in whichever channel they prefer. 

Image Credit

Your store probably already supports some form of account creation. The challenge is that for most stores, accounts are viewed as an annoyance. 

In fact, account creation is cited as the second most reason for cart abandonment. 

Consider how you can create incentives for your customer base to create and actively use their accounts. You can copy Amazon's playbook directly by focusing on convenience, shipping, or direct benefits such as Prime Video. 

Additionally, you should use technology such as Barilliance to automatically track and unify customer data across devices. Features like our Triggered Email Booster ensures you are capturing data even if they don't sign in. 

Lastly, you need to use this data in a meaningful way.

The reason our clients convert 73.25% more on returning customers is because they are able to create personalized recommendations and messages, tailored to their past behaviors and purchases. 

Omnichannel assumes customers cross channels fluidly in the same transaction. 

The challenge is establishing (and building upon) a direct relationship with customers in each channel.  Amazon aggressively tackles various channels in a variety of ways, and the Echo is an excellent case study on how to establish a dominant presence in a sales channel. 

Voice is solidifying itself as an important channel for commerce. ComScore predicts that 50% of all Google searches will be conducted by voice by 2020. 

And, voice is increasingly being used to complete purchases. 

In February of 2018, OC&C Strategy reported that roughly $2 billion in sales were made over voice. However, that number is predicted to balloon to $40 billion in sales by 2020.

Before the Echo, Amazon was effectively locked out of the voice market. Consumers accessed voice through their mobile devices, and to a much lesser extent on other devices like desktop or wearables. 

It represented a major threat - even to Amazon, to not have direct access to customers.

Their solution? Create another device customers would use regularly that bypasses mobile. 

Amazon invented the "smart speaker" market in 2015. Today, they still possess an overwhelming market share of 70%. Some predict the market is growing as fast as 50% per year, with 50 million households already participating.

The smart speaker category changed the competive landscape of voice in a year. It gave Amazon direct access to customers who owned an Echo.

Today, consumers can easily ask Alexa to purchase any number of products, from toilet paper to headphones. Additionally, it acts as another channel for a number of Amazon owned services, including Audible and Amazon Music.

The key lesson is establishing a direct touchpoint with customers. The good news is you don't have to create a whole new product category to do so. 

What new channels and touchpoints can you create with customers? Is it a direct, ongoing relationship? Can you continually educate, and motivate new and past customers.

One fantastic example is Lego. Their Youtube channel has gained 6M+ subscribers, with videos regularly receiving 500,000 - 1M views. Each video promotes the lego universe, or celebrates a new product coming out. It's one of the best examples of retention marketing I've seen. 

Without understanding why customers abandon carts, it is impossible to reduce cart abandonment.

We've collected the top 10 reasons for cart abandonment. We'll be breaking down each cause in detail, and provide a quick overview of how you can eliminate cart abandonment and recover sales.

If you want to see how you handle the top reasons, request a free cart abandonment audit. We'll break down your checkout process with annotated screenshots and clear action steps you can take to recover revenue. Request here.

Note: This post has been updated to reflect the current top reasons for cart abandonment in 2018. 

Cart abandonment is a problem. The average eCommerce store loses over 75% of its sales to cart abandonment. Some industries experience average cart abandonment as high as 83.6%. 

Given that cart abandonment is such a problem, it is no surprise that there have been countless studies as to why visitors add items to their cart just to leave your site without making a purchase. 

Two of the most cited resources are below. 

Source: Statista

Source: Baymard Institute

Looking at both studies gives us incredible insight as to how you can eliminate cart abandonment.

The first study only asks what the primary cause for abandoning is. 

Meanwhile, the second study asks what all the reasons are for cart abandonment. 

Probability Rank: 1

Impact Rank: 1

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Hidden costs are the primary reason your visitors leave without purchasing, ranking first in both probability and impact.

25% of customers specifically cited shipping costs as the primary reason driving them away.

However, you should also pay heed to other hidden costs such as taxes or required complementary items which have a similar effect.

These costs cause an immediate annoyance and irritation. In some cases, it can even propel consumers to feel remorse for purchasing.

The solution??

Fully disclose costs. Transparency is valued highly by digital shoppers, and is crucial for store success.

The best course of action is to state all costs from the outset.

Another successful strategy is to bundle the extra cost of shipping into the product and offer "free" shipping to the customer. CPCstrategy found that free shipping is deemed "critical" to 73% of customers to make a purchase and will encourage 93% of shoppers to buy more online.

Probability Rank: 3

Impact Rank: 2

Your customers expect convenience. Customers want to do things quickly and have instant results.

Spending more time and effort than expected is a significant source of friction. 22% of cart abandoners do not complete their purchase when they are required to create a new user account, and 28% of all shoppers say that it is a reason why they've abandoned carts.

The solution??

To state the obvious, don't force first time buyers to create an account before they can complete their order. Offer guest checkout.

Additionally, take some time and identify other points of friction in the checkout process that may be causing customers to spend more time and effort.

Probability Rank: 2

Impact Rank: 3

Some cart abandonment is impossible to eliminate.

eCommerce web behavior evolves. One online shopping habit is to use the internet to browse multiple products across shops. Research includes looking into the price, quality, shipping, and special offers.

Often, customers will add items to a cart in order to easily reference items. It is not uncommon for customers to exit a store with the full intent of coming back. In fact, many will return several times before making a purchase.

The solution??

While there isn't any solution per se to reducing this type of cart abandonment - you can do better.

The point of reducing cart abandonment is to recover lost sales. If you know shoppers are evaluating certain products on price, you can implement a price match guarantee pop-up to ensure customers ultimately purchase from you.

This line of reasoning extends to other types of guarantees, such as durability, quality, or money-back offers.

The truth is, the majority of your visitors will not complete their purchase immediately. 

Retail trends show a clear shift toward the "omnichannel shopper". Customers are researching first, and completing their purchase often on a different device or channel entirely. 

In our last major study, we found the most effective way to curtail cart abandonment is to move up funnel with customer service oriented emails such as "email my cart" or "visit summary" offers. 

In the example above, a customer who added an item to their cart is about to leave. When Barilliance sees the motion to move to a separate page, it triggers this pop-up, giving our client an ability to connect with otherwise lost customers.

In the study, email my cart triggered emails  converted 22.73% of shopping sessions, and were responsible for 44.74% of triggered email revenues. 

Probability Rank: 7

Impact Rank: 4

Payment security is the first cart abandonment reason that has a major disparity between it's probability and impact rating. 

It makes sense. 

When you are concerned about security, it has a dramatic effect. 

Major causes for suspicion include design flaws, outdated layouts, missing images, and no SSL certificate.

The solution??

There are many ways you can increase trust on your site. 

The easiest method is through various forms of social proof to assure customers that you are a trustworthy store. 

Use customer testimonials. Use product reviews. Use endorsements. Provide full contact information, such as a phone number and even faces and bios of you and your workers.

All of these factors let your customer know they are working with a real person who cares about their experience and will take care of their personal information.

Probability Rank: 4

Impact Rank: 5

This top 10 reason for cart abandonment is similar to number 2 (creating a new user account).

Long and confusing checkout processes are annoying to customers. Oftentimes, unnecessary forms contribute to unease and can even become confusing. All of this contributes to a poor experience, resulting in 28% of shoppers to abandoning their carts.

The solution??

Minimize form elements. Only ask for necessary information.

Additionally, streamline your site's navigation. Reducing the "number of screens" from initiation to completion is a great way to reduce time.

Probability Rank: N/A

Impact Rank: 6

Some customers chase deals. If they can't find a coupon or promotional codes, they will go and look for one elsewhere.

According to Statista, a full 8% of customers cite not being able to find a coupon code as the primary reason for abandoning their cart - opting instead to  wait until one shows up and try and find a better deal elsewhere.

Unfortunately, some checkout processes encourage the feeling of missing out. This happens most often when a coupon code search bar is near the checkout. The presence of this field promotes the idea that they are paying too much.

The solution??

It is best practice to auto-apply coupons when able.

Most carts have the ability to pass through parameters through the URL, and can be applied via emails or pop-ups.

Probability Rank: 8

Impact Rank: 7

If you haven’t noticed yet, customers care a lot about shipping.

While the cost of shipping is a top reason for cart abandonment, speed of shipping poses a significant threat to large purchases.

We all procrastinate (well, 95% of us according to Pies Steel, human resource professor). Important purchases are often time constrained. Think of birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, or emergencies.

If your store is unable to deliver the goods in time, customers are forced to abandon their carts.

The solution??

The tragedy is that in all of these cases, customers are willing to spend more.

If you need to charge more for express shipping, do so. Customers are more willing to spend for expedited shipping, and you will benefit greatly from providing this option.

Probability Rank: 6

Impact Rank: N/A

The rest of these cart abandonment causes do not rank in the impact study performed by Statista. 

However, that does't mean that these issues should be ignored. Website errors, crashes, and load times are major deterrents to completing purchase, and contribute to a sense of insecurity on the site. 

The solution??

Focusing on the customer experience is paramount. 

Make sure that you are regularly going through your site, from home page to checkout, ensuring that your site is still up to date and there are no issues. 

You should perform these checks across a variety of screen sizes, especially as mobile continues to grow in importance. 

You can check site speed through a number of free services. We most often use Pingdom and Google Pagespeed Insights. 

Probability Rank: 9

Impact Rank: N/A

Up to 66% of shoppers say that they would spend more with a generous return policy.

Unfortunately, many stores put hard limits on their returns. This can take two forms. First, policies that restrict too much time. Second, policies that charge for the return, usually in the form of shipping.

The solution??

Make sure you are able to track the number of returns and costs associated.

Then, begin offering a free, 30 day shipping. Run the test for a month or two and see what lift, if any, occurs for your industry and demographic. Compare this to the added costs of such a policy, and see if free 30 day return is a profitable strategy for you.

Probability Rank: 10

Impact Rank: N/A

Nothing really to say here..., so we're going to throw in an extra reason that pops up fairly often.

Probability Rank: N/A

Impact Rank: N/A

Lastly, lack of support is detrimental to shopping cart abandonment rates.

Customers expect service and convenience. A study conducted by LiverPerson found that 83% of online shoppers want help while they are on site. Over half (51%) said that they are more likely to make a purchase if they had customer support such as live chat during the session.

The solution??

How can you provide more support throughout your shopping experience? If you do not offer live chat, experiment. Like the 30 day free shipping, invest in the technology for a month or two. Measure lift in sales.

While conducting research, we found a great, in-depth case study on Zara. Zara is one of the leading brands in the world, and they have taken great measures to protect themselves against abandoned carts.

The video is below. Watch it for a real life walk through on how to actively combat cart abandonment and eCommerce best practices(click here to view in Youtube).

Knowledge is the first step.

Action is the next.

You can find examples of successful cart abandonment emails here. 

I suggest performing an assessment on how your site currently addresses these reasons. While it is impossible to completely eliminate shopping cart abandonment, you can greatly decrease it by addressing these top 10 reasons.

​

We offer a free cart abandonment audit that does this for you, complete with screenshots and action steps. Click here for more details.

Then, check out the full Guide on Cart Abandonment here.

Going into 2019, omnichannel retailing is becoming table stakes for eCommerce and traditional brick and mortar alike. 

I want to breakdown one of the pioneers in a multi-channel approach to customer relationships. That pioneer is Starbucks. Their success with omnichannel retailing - particularly the changes they've made in the last year, provides a playbook for successful omnichannel tactics in 2019.

Each section will first look at specific strategies and tactics Starbucks is using today. Then, we will draw specific action steps eCommerce stores should take. 

In 2018, Starbucks had a problem.

While their most loyal group of customers were actively enrolled in Starbucks Rewards, that left 60 million customers a month who had no digital relationship with the brand at all.

Once identified, establishing a digital relationship with these customers became the cornerstone for expanding Starbuck's omnichannel retailing strategy.

In March 2018, the company decided to gate free wi-fi. 

In order to access the internet, customers first had to register with an email address.  In other words, they forced a digital relationship, gaining permission to contact customers via a new channel (email) in exchange for access to free wi-fi. 

Internally, customers who have inputted their email but have yet to sign up for Starbucks Rewards (SR) are called "digitally registered customers".

Channel adoption is fundamental to omnichannel retailing.

It is worth incentivizing by whatever means possible. 

Starbuck's playbook is simple. First, identify what your strongest customer touchpoint is and incentivize channel adoption with a clear benefit during that touchpoint.

In their case, they already had 28,000 physical stores with 75 million monthly customers. They identified a key benefit, and parlayed that service into new customer relationships via email.


For many eCommerce stores, their strongest customer touchpoint is online (their site). Barilliance equips you with a number of tools to convert site visitors into whichever channel makes the most sense for your business. 

Some of our most popular features for doing this include:

You can see an example of onsite personalization below. 

To begin their omnichannel retail strategy, this client starts with a personalized offer, only seen by visitors who have not already submitted their email. 

The offer is presented in the from of a sliding message bar.

Once a new visitor reveals interest by clicking on the bar, a pop-up is displayed. 

In exchange for their email address, they will receive a 10% off code. In implementing these solutions, it is important that you control the user experience. 

For example, this particular tactic isn't shown on mobile devices, nor to returning customers who they already have a relationship with. With Barilliance, you can easily define any number of segments to present unique offers to. 

Whichever number of tactics you employ, you want to give a concrete, exclusive benefit to creating a continuous relationship with your brand.

As we’ll see, establishing multiple channels as part of your own omnichannel retailing strategy will give you multiple ties to customers, allow you to gather more data on each client, and ultimately create personalized offers that increase order frequency and AOV.

How do you capitlize on new customer relationships?

As Matthew Ryan shares,
“We’re not in the business of creating digital relationships for digital relationship’s sake. They’re an enabler for us to communicate and talk to our customers.”

Starbucks uses these newly acquired email addresses to drive retention and purchase frequency. 

While a variety of offers and communications are sent, two stand out.

First, is a recurring flagship offer: Happy Hours.

In this email, Starbucks sends a discount offer on a specific product category (such as teas, seasonal drinks, or frappuccinos). The offer is limited, often expiring same day and only available during certain timeframes.

The goal is to drive digitally registered customers into stores during non-peak hours. Offers are geared toward premium products, serving as a gateway to more profitable skus. 

Second, as alluded above, Starbucks views email as the first phase in their omnichannel retailing strategy. It is their first digital channel, not their last. 

The ultimate goal of digitally registered customers is to motivate them to become a part of their Starbucks Rewards program. 

Customers are given regular incentives to progress through the funnel. In the example below, they email an offer of a free drink when they create aSR account. The exact offers sent are personalized to the types of products a digitally registered customer has bought in the past.

How do you create value to justify a continued relationship with your brand?

In Starbucks case, they use a combination of one time discounts and ongoing loyalty rewards to drive purchase frequency. They also focus on customer adoption of more premium offers.

Barilliance has a number of ways to help eCommerce stores replicate these tactics. 

To make effective offers, you need to be able to track customers across devices and shopping sessions. Barilliance tracks more than what products each customer has purchased. 

Data without application is useless. Barilliance gives you the ability to use this data in a number of ways.

In the screenshot above, you see the backend of our Retention product. You can create any number of segments important to your business. We wrote up a whole post on six crucial segments for eCommerce businesses using RFM Analysis here. 

Additionally, you can use demographic and product affinity data to personalize each email. You can restrict in-store offers to those that are within the same city, or restrict free shipping to certain areas. 

My favorite examples incorporate our product recommendation engine. 

You can see a break down on how our personalized recommendations outperform standard recommendation widgets here, increasing CTR by 289% and conversion rate by 189%. 

To see if Barilliance is a good solution for you, schedule a demo here. 

Improving your retention rate is a massive opportunity in your business. This article breaks down successful retention strategies by some of the most successful eCommerce stores.

 An often cited study by Bain & Company (in conjunction with Harvard Business School) has said that a 5% increase in retention can improve profitability by as much as 55%. 

Implementing the lessons learned from these top retention marketing strategies will increase profitability in three major ways:

Update: This article was last updated on January 11, 2019.

There are two questions you need to answer to successfully create and implement a retention marketing program.

1)  How many customers are leaving?
2)  Why are customers leaving

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But before we dive into how the most successful eCommerce stores are utilizing retention strategies in 2018, I want to define what retention marketing is.

Retention marketing is a strategy which focuses on your existing customer base. The goal is create repeat customers, and increase both their frequency of purchase and the average order volume per purchase.

The most popular metric to measure the success of a retention marketing campaign is retention rate.

Retention rate measures what percentage of your customers are retained during a given period of time. It is the inverse of churn rate, which measures how many customers leave during a given timeframe.

If a customer continues doing business with you, they are retained. If they are no longer a customer, than are "churned".

​

The formula, according to Inc., is customer retention rate = ((CE-CN)/CS) * 100, where:

– CE= number of customers at end period

– CN= number of new customers during period

– CS= number of customers at start of period

Determining what a "good" retention rate depends on a number of factors -> your industry, product, switching costs, and business model. 

Advocacy marketing focuses on getting current customers to talk about your product to their friends or network. It depends on capitalizing on positive experiences to not only gain customers, but increase retention.

The RealReal formalized their advocacy marketing with their “Refer a Friend” offer. The program encourages repeat purchases for customers who choose to refer in a number of ways.

1) Consistency Bias - By openly endorsing The Real Real, these customers are more likely to use the service again. This phenomenon is known as the Consistency Bias.

2) Monetary Incentive - Second, this program provides a direct monetary incentive to use the platform again in the form of Store Credit.

A reactivation campaign is a series of messeges delivered to past customers who are no longer engaging with your products or service.

At Barilliance, we focus on personalization above everything else.

Like all retention strategies, to be successful, a reactivation campaign must first identify a specific segment of customers that are about to leave or that have already left, and second, accurately determine why they are leaving and propose a value proposition to overcome this.

One simple example is to set up a rule that sends an email based on recency of visit.

In this example, the segment is “Customers who haven’t visited the site in x days.”. The copy and series of messages should be directly tied to ​why your customer stopped ordering from you.

Return Path conducted a great study on best practices for reactivation campaigns. Some findings include:

Instacart provides a great example of how to conduct a reactivation campaign.

Their first email in the campaign urges the customer to download the app and gives a nice little bonus of free delivery. They also use urgency by putting a clear expiration date on their offer.

When a customer doesn’t bite, Instacart is quick to send follow-up emails. Each day an email is sent. The additional emails do a great job reinforcing the scarcity and developing the value proposition of why they should buy again.

In this example, they identify three ways Instacart benefits you in addition to the free shipping bribe.

At this point, most eCommerce reactivation campaigns are run through. However, Instacart shows how you don’t need to take no as a finality.

First, they empathize with their customer. The copy removes guilt from the transaction. It makes it ok that their first offer wasn’t taken, and gives permission to take advantage of the offer after the expiration date.

As customers continue to decline, Instacart begins builds more reasons for their customers to re-engage.

At the 9th email they introduce a monetary incentive to entice customers to come back. Notice that they use an exact $ amount, per the best practice.

There are two main types of deals eCommerce stores use to drive repeat purchases.

Discounts - Offer products at a reduced price.
Exclusivity - Offer products not normally carried to a particular group.

Hollar is a fast growing online dollar store and do an excellent job leveraging daily deals to drive repeat purchases.

A few tactics that Hollar uses to make their deals more effective are:

Premium memberships are not a new concept.

The most famous example is Amazon Prime. Amazon offers free 2 day shpping (in addition to unlimited streaming through Prime Video as well as the ability to “borrow” books on the Kindle platform) in exchange for a yearly membership fee.

Some estimates say that the average Prime member spends 2x as much as non-prime members.

Thrive’s whole business model revolves around it’s premium membership.

Like Costco, customers sign up for one yearly membership. This membership the primary revenue driver for Thrive, as they sell their products for near cost to their customers.

Thrive Market does an excellent job reducing friction through the signup process. First, they allow you to see exactly how much money you would save by becoming a member. Then, they give you a month free.

This membership design encourages retention in two significant ways. First, because customers pay upfront, customers want to shop more at Thrive to maximize their benefits. Second, Thrive Market’s business model allows them to monetize their customer base in a different way, giving them a competitive price advantage over other online grocers.

Because retention is the most effective way to increase profits, all of these eCommerce brands incorporate multiple strategies.

Here's how Hollar & TheRealReal integrate multiple retention marketing strategies.

We already saw how The RealReal utilizes customer advocacy to boost retention.

They also take advantage of exclusive offers. 

Like Holar TheRealReal uses deals to encourage customers to return. However, instead of providing a straight discount on their products, they focus on providing additional value through credit. 

This makes the retention strategy even more successful. The customer only gets the $100 bonus on their next visit. 

Additionally, TheRealReal leverages memberships to increase the benefits of becoming a loyal customer. 

However TheRealReal's membership model differs from Thrive's in a number of ways. 

First, it is primarily centered on getting "first look" access to new, one of a kind products. Next, it offers multiple tiers to its membership program. 

The key to any retention marketing strategy is unified data. 

You need to have a holistic view of each customer, and have distinct, personalized responses for first time buyers, most frequent purchasers, and high spenders. 

Barilliance Retention was built to give you this functionality. You can define as many segments as you want, based on any number of gathered data from time since last purchase, order volume, product pages viewed, previous email engagement, physical location, etc. etc. 

Once a segment is defined, you are able to create personalized emails, including embedding 1:1 recommendations based on that person's viewing and purchase history. 

To learn how Barilliance helps eCommerce brands identify priority customer segments and create targets reactivation campaigns, read about our retention marketing product or request a demo here.