You've put a lot of work into promoting your D2C store, and you're finally starting to see some decent traffic.
But then something happens: customers add items to their shopping cart but do not complete the checkout process.
This abandoned cart results in a lot of potential revenue left on the table. And it's not just about abandoned carts; this problem also affects your conversion rate, which is one of the most important metrics for any D2C store.
If they leave your store without buying anything, it's a lost opportunity for you, and your sales will suffer.
So, how can you recover the sales from abandoned carts?
There are several abandoned cart strategies that you can use to recover lost sales.
This post will share the top 10 abandoned cart recovery strategies you can try in your store to boost your sales.
But first, let’s take a step back and look at what is abandoned cart recovery.
What is abandoned cart recovery?
Abandoned cart recovery is a strategy that D2C merchants use to retrieve customers who leave their carts and get them to complete the purchase using marketing automation.
For example, if a customer adds items to their cart but doesn't complete the purchase, you can send them a coupon code or discount and nudge them to complete their purchase.
This helps you generate revenue from customers who have already shown interest in your product but didn’t complete the purchase.
What are the benefits of recovering abandoned carts?
Many D2C merchants make the mistake of ignoring online shoppers who abandoned their carts.
Users who abandon their carts are usually interested in buying your products but need a little nudge to complete the sale. In fact, 70% of customers who abandon their carts will buy if you retarget them.
By recovering abandoned carts, you can
- Increase customer lifetime value by recovering carts that are likely to be abandoned again in the future.
- Build better customer relationships by sending follow-up emails offering discounts or free shipping.
- Increase results by focusing on the right customers. When you recover abandoned carts, you must only retarget users who are likely to buy from you again.
- Boosts conversion rate as you are recovering people who were close to making a purchase.
- Creates a way to get more customers as you recover people who have abandoned their carts and are likely to be ready to buy again.
Why is it important to have a cart abandonment recovery strategy?
Did you know that around 69.99% of users abandon their carts?
The reasons for this are endless: they may have trust issues or poor loading experience. Fit Small Business suggests multiple reasons for the cart abandonment. One of these reasons is that people tend to abandon their carts because of the extra costs associated with their purchase.
If cost is the primary concern, you can retarget them with a coupon code that pushes them back to your website and make the purchase. With BiteSpeed, you can retarget these customers and get them back to purchase from where they are most active: WhatsApp.
It allows you to personalize the message with the relevant product image they browsed and a discount code. This way, you can create a sense of urgency and make them feel like they are getting a good deal. Doing this can increase the chances of converting these users who were on their way out.
Using this abandoned cart strategy, you can even send messages to people who have left without making a purchase, asking them why they did so. Based on the response, you can tailor your follow-up message appropriately—the whole process is automated and keeps things simple.
By lowering your shopping cart abandonment rate and implementing recovery campaigns for abandoned carts, you can increase the number of conversions on your site.
Let’s dive in and look at some RoI driving strategies to recover abandoned carts.
10 Stellar abandonment cart recovery strategies
You can recover abandoned carts via multiple channels, including email and social media. To help you keep things simple and reap the benefits of abandoned cart recovery, we’ve compiled a list of abandoned cart strategies and tactics below.
These are things you can do to help you recover abandoned carts.
1. Create multiple payment options.
A single payment option might not convince people who have abandoned their carts to complete the transaction. In fact, 9% of users will abandon their cart if they can't find their preferred payment method on the checkout page.
You can solve this by offering multiple payment options, such as credit cards, Paypal, Stripe, COD, and other online payment services. This allows customers to choose the payment method that’s most convenient for them.
You can also provide a short description of what will happen if they select a particular payment method and why they should choose it over all the others. For example, if you offer PayPal as a payment option, you can explain that it allows customers to pay in just a few clicks without sharing their credit card details.
Here is an example from Phool about offering different payment options while providing a short description for each payment method,
Moreover, you can also offer discounts on selective payment methods and explain why choosing them is a good idea. For example, you can offer a 10% discount for customers who prepay instead of cash on delivery because this will help you reduce the return to origin (RTO) and help with your cash flow.
2. Use exit intent pop-ups.
Exit intent pop-ups are a powerful abandoned cart strategy to recover abandoned carts. They appeal most strongly to consumers who have already decided that they want the product but haven't made the purchase yet. The exit intent is triggered when someone moves their cursor toward the top of their screen and clicks on it.
Most shoppers know exactly what they want to purchase – but aren’t always sure whether it’s the right decision for the price. If you can capture their attention with a compelling offer at the right time, you’re more likely to make a sale, as BigCommerce suggests, that exit-intent popups can increase a D2C store’s conversion rate by as much as 20%.
To make the best use of these pop-ups, BiteSpeed helps you to create a custom message that will resonate with your audience. You can choose your template from the pre-built template library to create a simple and effective pop-up that will grab your customers' attention.
Moreover, you can add gamification like "spin the wheel" to hook your user's attention and make them take action like this,
When your users submit their phone numbers, you can target them again via WhatsApp or through other retargeting ad campaigns to make them complete their purchase.
3. Retargeting ads.
Retargeting ads are a form of online advertising in which D2C brands pay to promote their products to the users who've previously visited their website but left without making a purchase. Using browser cookies and IP addresses, retargeting tracks website visitors' activities to deliver ads.
For example, if a user visits your website and leaves without purchasing anything, you can create a retargeting ad that will appear on the user’s social media feeds.
Here is an example from Fashion Nova that shows a user’s previous activity on their site and the products they viewed but didn't purchase.
To recover abandoned carts, retargeting ads help you increase sales by showing your products to potential customers repeatedly. In fact, retargeting can generate an ROI of 1,300%. However, to be successful with retargeting ads, you must ensure they’re using the right tools.
It will seem salesy if you try to bring customers back too soon after they abandon their carts. But if you wait too long, those leads grow cold, and your competitors have time to snatch them away. With the right tools, you can create a custom retargeting strategy that ensures the right people see your ads at just the right time.
4. WhatsApp Cart Recovery Reminders
Despite their effectiveness, many brands have not started using abandoned cart recovery messages on WhatsApp. People often notice these messages immediately because of increased visibility and send back answers faster than via text message with a 60% open rate.
There are three types of abandonment,
1. Abandoned checkout - where people reach the checkout page but do not complete the transaction.
2. Abandoned carts - where people add to the cart but don't even reach the checkout page.
3. Product abandonment - where people view the product but don't even add it to a cart.
Brands should approach this like a funnel and tweak their messaging accordingly.
- Abandoned checkout = Bottom of the funnel
- Abandoned carts = Middle of the funnel
- Product abandoned = More on top of the funnel.
With this in mind, brands should tailor their messaging accordingly.
For the first two stages, you can follow different strategies to get your customers to complete their transactions. In most cases, people who abandon their carts are reminded by sending them a message within hours of abandoning them. This allows you to get creative in your messages and still stay on top of your customer’s minds. For example, you can decide to give them a 10% off if they make their transaction within a few hours to induce a FOMO. Alternatively, you can simply ask them why they left, and then make changes based on their responses.
But with product abandonment, you can hardly reengage them as they only went as far as viewing the product and didn’t even add it to the cart. This is where you need some smart technology to help you track those who viewed your product but didn’t buy it so that you can market to them later.
And BiteSpeed helps you do just that.
Here's an interesting statistic: only 10% of your visitors will reach the checkout page. 90% won't convert at all. The only way to turn these remaining 9 out of 10 into customers is via BiteSpeed's abandoned carts and product abandonment features, which gives brands a much higher return on investment by converting more visitors into customers.
You can also send shipping updates and order receipts directly on WhatsApp after an order has been placed. This will help you build better relationships with your customers and keep them updated about what’s happening with their orders.
5. Make shopping easy for your users.
It’s essential to make the shopping experience easy for your users. You should give them all the information they need about a product and what it comes with. This could include images, price, availability, size charts, and detailed descriptions.
Make it simple for users to checkout; don't complicate it with multiple steps. Provide a transparent view of the number of steps needed to complete the checkout process, and make it easy for users to edit their orders. Here is an example from Ineze about the checkout process:
6. Send cart abandonment emails.
When you send cart abandonment emails to your users, you’re reminding them that they left something behind and want them to return it. In general, if your cart abandonment emails are well-written and tailored to your audience, they can positively impact your revenue and help you recover abandoned carts.
According to Salesforce, personalized follow-up emails were 17.6% more effective than general re-engagement campaigns. This statistic makes cart recovery emails one of the most successful email marketing techniques used by D2C companies today.
A well-crafted cart recovery email campaign can lead to a significant increase in sales. Here is how Adidas leverages email to get its customers to complete their purchases:
When adequately designed and personalized, these messages effectively reach out to shoppers who have left your website without completing their purchase.
7. Build loyalty.
Loyalty programs are a great way to encourage repeat customers and build loyalty. For example, you could offer a discount for people who have purchased from your site before or give away free shipping on their first order with you as a thank-you for trying out your brand.
When you offer free shipping or a discount, your user will return to your site and place the order, as shipping costs are the number one reason that holds a new customer back from ordering.
8. Offer coupon code at the checkout page.
As most users abandon their cart because of the cost, offering a coupon code at the checkout page is another excellent way to encourage repeat customers and build loyalty.
This will help recover abandoned carts and increase repeat customers, who may be more likely to order again if they know they will get a discount.
Here is an example from Lavie that used a coupon code and free shipping to encourage the new buyer to order and try the brand.
When you can replicate the same, it can help you get more customers and increase revenue.
9. Offer chatbot support.
A study found that about 95% of consumers said good customer service is crucial for building brand loyalty. Another 60 percent reported abandoning one company and switching to its competitor because of poor service.
If the customer is unsure about a product or has questions, they will be more hesitant to buy. If customers contact a company via email or social media, their queries may go unanswered for days. This will likely lead to cart abandonment.
However, a chatbot can resolve this problem by offering immediate service through real-time conversations between the customer and the brand.
WhatsApp chatbots are a great way to support your customers while they are on your site. They can answer basic questions and help people find what they’re looking for, which makes the shopping experience more seamless. You can also use chatbots to capture visitors' information so you know what kinds of products or services they may be interested in down the road.
Here is an example from Curlin on how the WhatsApp chatbot helps them to answer questions and resolve their customer’s problems.
When the user submits their information, the user will be taken to their WhatsApp messages and see the automated response from the chatbot. This makes it easier for them to access their information and feel supported by you.
BiteSpeed helps you create a WhatsApp chatbot that you can use to provide customer support and build trust with the users. You can also use the chatbot to allow customers to place orders through text messages by selecting the products from the menu.
Once they build their cart, they will be taken directly to the checkout page, making the entire process seamless. Here’s how Fitshot helps its users to enquire about their product and helps them to build their cart without leaving WhatsApp,
The bot is designed in a way that it can be easily customized and branded according to your needs. This makes the shopping process simple for your users, and it helps you avoid the cart abandonment ratio.
Oftentimes, support is viewed as just another cost. By combining WhatsApp marketing with chatbots and support in BiteSpeed, your support team can start driving sales by responding to product specific queries people often ask in response to a marketing campaign.
10. Use trusted symbols and reviews.
One of the biggest reasons for shopping cart abandonment is the concern about payment security—things like stolen identities, misusing credit card information, or incorrect charges. You can help alleviate these concerns by adding trusted symbols and reviews to your website. This includes security badges, Verisign seals, and a trust rating from an independent authority.
For example, including a visible badge that says your site is secure can make customers feel more at ease when purchasing from you.
You can also include customer testimonials and reviews on every page to help build trust. With BiteSpeed, you can collect testimonials and image reviews from customers directly from WhatsApp and display them on your website. This makes it easy for customers to leave reviews and makes them feel more connected with your brand.
Encourage your existing customers to add reviews with the original images. This will help new users to get a better idea of the quality and reliability of your products.
How can BiteSpeed help with abandoned cart recovery?
The best way to recover abandoned carts is to reach out to the customer and ask them what they’re looking for through WhatsApp. As multiple users face multiple objections while completing their purchase, it’s essential to address these objections and provide the customer with a simple solution to complete the purchase.
This is where BiteSpeed comes in.
Though cart abandonment retargeting is a great way to recover lost sales, it’s not enough. You must keep your customers engaged after they’ve abandoned their carts and get them back on track. With WhatsApp marketing tools, you can create a workflow that automatically sends the cart abandonment message when your new customer leaves without purchasing anything. You can ask what stopped them from buying the product and understand their needs better.
Based on their response, you can send a follow-up message that convinces them to buy. This way, you’re recovering lost sales and getting a deeper understanding of your customers.
BiteSpeed also helps you create exit intent popups with coupon codes or discounts that push the customer to purchase. You can select from the many templates available in the application or create your own.
Once they opt-in to get their discount, you can send WhatsApp updates to your customers in future marketing campaigns to upsell or cross-sell more products. This way, you can increase the lifetime value and average order value of each customer.
You can start and use BiteSpeed for free and use it to recover abandoned carts in no time. Even with the free plan, you can send abandoned cart recovery messages via WhatsApp, making it a great tool to increase your revenue at no additional costs.
Conclusion
More than just sending email reminders abandoned cart recovery is about building a more positive shopping experience that entices customers to spend more time on-site and make purchases. It’s a win-win situation for both the customers and D2C brands.
Shopping should be a smooth, enjoyable experience. D2C merchants can improve their bottom line by removing the barriers that cause customers to abandon carts (such as unexpected shipping costs and long checkout processes). You can effectively recover abandoned carts and increase revenue by implementing simple strategies.
Using BiteSpeed, you can increase your revenue by recovering abandoned carts and turning them into new customers. From pushing your new customers about completing their purchases to sending personalized messages to your users, BiteSpeed has various tools to help you increase your revenue.
Want to check how BiteSpeed helps you boost your revenue by recovering abandoned carts? Schedule a free demo and we will walk you through the steps.
