Minimising cart abandonment through personalisation

Recent research suggests humans have shorter attention spans than goldfish⁹, highlighting the effects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle. This is reflected in cart abandonments.

Think about all the distractions that cause a cart abandonment on desktop, and add countless more that will put an end to the purchasing process on mobile - we receive a Whatsapp message we need to reply to; we reach our bus stop; we nearly walk out in front of a truck when crossing the road… Chances are we’ll forget about that new dress or pair of headphones that we came close to purchasing.

Distraction is just one of many reasons why carts are abandoned. Whatever the reason, personalisation will help to minimise the cart abandonment problem. There’s nothing particularly complex about it - it’s all about using customer data to bring them back to your app with the right approach at the right time.

Find the optimal time

Track when each user typically visits your store, and implement this to your advantage when messaging them. Attempt to bring them back when you know they are more likely to be thinking of you in the first place.

Campaigns of one

Use your user data to create campaigns that makes them feel like a person, not a demographic. A push notification that uses their name, and contextual information on a product that they’ve put in their cart is exponentially more powerful than one that says the cursed “we miss you”.

In-app messages

The next time that a user opens your app after their abandoned cart session is the perfect time to display an in-app message. A full-screen take-over, matching your brand’s style guide, and with a CTA of a link to the checkout, serves as an ideal reminder of an abandoned cart.

Optimise campaigns

A/B testing multiple versions of your campaigns will provide data for what works best in each of your campaigns. This way you can continue to improve and minimize the effect of cart abandonment.

⁹ Source: Microsoft Canada, Attention Spans