So do abandoned cart emails work?

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buy now buttonThe theory is beautiful. I visit a retail website and pop the "House" Series 1 DVD collection into my shopping cart. Halfway through the checkout process and second thoughts strike. Should I rather buy something for the whole family?

I abandon the process and move on to other tasks. But...

Half an hour later and I get an email from that website saying that if I complete the order, they'll throw in series 2 at a 25% discount. OK! Forget the kids...I'm in!

Using email to recapture "lost" sales like this is a hot topic. It seems foolproof on the surface, but it's more difficult than it looks. And a recent survey suggests few are actually doing it, despite all the positive press.

One of the big problems is mastering the technical challenges of integrating website and email systems. Another is tackling the decision rules. Who gets what email and when?

Fortunately, Angel Morales offers some help on the decision issues, explaining the questions you need to ask before you set up an email recapture program (and how you might set about answering them.)

One issue commonly ignored by the evangelists is how you decide what offer to make in the recapture email. Or do you even make an offer? Would a simple reminder of a product's benefits suffice to win over the customer?

This looks to be another area where a deep understanding of your customers and their purchasing behavior is critical to turning a promising theory into dollars.

(P.S. The dark twisted parts of my soul sometimes make me deliberately abandon shopping carts, just to see if I get a nice discount offer via email later...)

More on advanced email techniques | Tags: , , ,

[This post brought to you by Campaigner Email Marketing]
Permalink | September 21, 2007 | 0 comment(s)
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