10 Steps to Cure Abandoned Cart Syndrome

Abandoned cart syndrome cuts straight to the heart of e-commerce. Potential buyers flag an item (or several items) for purchase... but click away before the final checkout ? . 

Naturally, carts are discarded in brick-and-mortar settings, but it’s especially frequent for online shopping… and so much more costly. Statistics show carts are abandoned annually at an average rate of 70-80%, and at a tune of about $4.6 trillion dollars.

In a 2019 SalesCycle study of over 250 leading global retailers (including Dyson, Puma, and others), researchers discovered even higher spikes in some industries (jewelry and home furnishings top out at over 88%), and learned that major sales help to curb the abandonment trend. For example, Black Friday and Cyber Monday typically see a 5-10% decrease.

But it’s not just that these lost opportunities are causing a flawed sales funnel. They can also be disruptive to a store’s inventory, potentially harming demand for products and even site analytics (particularly when items in the cart appear as if they have already been sold out).

How to Maximize Abandoned Cart Conversions with SMS Solutions

Luckily, you can recapture much of this business by understanding what link in the funnel went astray and establishing retargeting strategies with text marketing campaigns. Business Insider estimates solutions like these can bring $2.75 trillion back into the fold. 

1. Launch a Reminder Campaign

When abandoned carts happen, respond by triggering an automatized reminder text to shoppers upon leaving an item (or more) in their cart. Everyone’s busy and it’s certainly possible your customers simply forgot… particularly in the world of e-commerce where shoppers can get easily distracted by other things around them.

EZ Texting’s custom integration with Zapier makes it easy to set up automatic workflows that send automated workflows (or “Zaps”) to customers with abandoned carts in your Shopify, Square, WooCommerce, or Wix storefronts, among others. Just set it, forget it, and watch the otherwise lost revenue come rushing in!

2. Encourage Two-Way Messaging

Stop abandoned carts immediately and right in their tracks. When customers waiver, the sale is disrupted. With two-way messaging, customers can text your business and receive immediate responses, without the hassle of call-waiting or lengthy connections to reach the correct department or salesperson. 

3. Offer a Too-Good-To-Miss Discount

Everyone likes a great deal. And it’s quite possible your customer was interested in the item but reconsidered based on the price. Or that they were saving it for later, hoping the price would come down. 

Follow up with a texted discount to further entice the customer to complete the order.

4. Use MMS to Entice Shoppers

MMS promotions with an impactful image of video can increase engagement by over 250% when compared with a text-only SMS (which are already 6X more powerful than emails). Take advantage and show your products and services in their best light by making MMS a regular part of your text marketing strategies.

5. Gently Add Pressure & Create Urgency

Everyone wants a hot-ticket item — so give the impression of rarity and add a timeclock  to a purchase. When shoppers see phrases like “Low Inventory” or “Running Out,” they’ll be more tempted to buy sooner rather than later. 

Relay this type of messaging in a Reminder Campaign so customers know they need to act fast. By sending via a text message, you further highlight the urgency since texts are usually opened within minutes, or even seconds, of receipt.

6. Streamline Payments

Shopping fatigue is real. If your website is complicated — with numerous pages for customers to click through, chances increase that a customer will leave.

Apart from ensuring that your website is as user-friendly as possible, you can also simplify payments with a SMS text that will securely link back to check out.

7. Save Billing & Shipping Info

Time is money. And in the case of abandoned carts, saving your customers time could translate into more cash for you. Store billing and shipping info to simplify the payment process if your website can support it.

8. Ensure Efficiency

Customers have become accustomed to streamlined and automatized procedures. They expect it from the checkout process, just like they expect it in your communications (which is why text marketing is the preferred channel). 

The less steps you require a customer to navigate, the more likely they will be to purchase.

9. Minimize Sticker Shock

When shoppers are on a budget, the last thing they want to find in their carts are any previously uncalculated costs. Be transparent about the true price of an item, including any add-on fees like shipping and taxes. An unpleasant surprise at checkout can both deter and annoy a would-be customer… not only from this purchase but future sales as well.

10. Personalize Your Messaging

Personalize the shopping experience, and you’ll boost your customer relationships while making more sales. Easily add the client’s name and item(s) of interest in pre-set fields to your text message reminder.

You can even reference a special occasion that the abandoned items might be for, such as an upcoming holiday.