On an average day, 69% of people abandon their online shopping. During Black Friday, basket abandonment rates increase to 75%!
There are many reasons why people abandon their online baskets. But at this time of year it’s more likely that people are shopping in multiple tabs at the same time, comparing prices and looking to grab the best bargain they can find. So having a strategy in place to recover this lost revenue is crucial and can make a huge impact to your bottom line.
If you haven’t already invested in basket abandonment recovery technology, now is the time to do it. Learn how we help brands recover 12% of revenue lost to basket abandonment.
If you already have an abandonment programme running, here are some tips to that will help you optimise your Black Friday emails and drive more revenue:
1) Change your trigger timings
Because of the short lived nature of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you’ll need to shorten your email trigger times to run within the new period of your campaigns.
According to research by Forrester, a whopping 90 percent of cart abandonment leads go cold within just one hour. So ideally (although dependent on your brand and product offering) you’re already triggering your abandonment emails within this time frame. However, during the Black Friday period, where it’s not unusual for brands to use hourly flash deals, it could prove crucial to deliver these emails much more quickly.
2) Revise your creative
It’s easy to overlook the creative you use in basket abandonment emails. After all, they’re set up to run in the background all year round. So this is just a reminder to revisit your creative and ensure it’s in keeping with the rest of your Black Friday campaign. This will include a seasonally themed email template and messaging that is both timely and relevant. Consider how your messaging can create urgency e.g. “these items are going back up in price soon!”.
3) Add new elements
Get creative when revising your templates and consider additional elements that could improve them.
Countdown timers drive urgency and are a compelling visual to feature in the header of your email. Use it to emphasise that time is running out on that deal.
You might also consider offering additional value to get the sale over the line. This might be an extra percentage off or a free gift wrap service.
Another way to encourage purchases is to feature low stock alerts on items your recipient is interested in buying which you can identify from their browsing behaviour. This is especially effective at this time of year.
4) Make their shopping experience easier
As we said, there are many reasons to why people abandon their online shopping. But at this time of year it would be prudent to address the top five reasons why people leave websites at the checkouts:
- Additional costs (shipping, taxes, fees) – ensure your costs are visible and clear and aren’t just sprung on shoppers when they reach the checkout
- No guest checkout – don’t force your shoppers to create a profile in order to buy from you.
- Complex/long checkout process – revise your user journey and consider how you might simplify it.
- Unclear order summary – can shoppers easily access their basket and see all items, costs and delivery fees in one place?
- Website errors – test the checkout experience on multiple devices and in multiple browsers.
Takeaway
Basket abandonment recovery is an essential investment for eCommerce businesses all year round. And in this blog post we’ve highlighted why it’s particularly effective during busy times such as Black Friday.
The tips we’ve provided are simple and effective ways to optimise your basket abandonment emails and help them stand out in your recipient’s inbox during the Black Friday frenzy.
For more advice on how to improve the effectiveness of your marketing over Black Friday and the Christmas period, check out our guide below.
