When the world went into lockdown in 2020, retailers were forced to improve and expand their online presence, particularly for mobile. Online retail sales increased from 13.8% to 19.6% in 2021, with experts predicting this will spike to 49.7% by 2025. eMarketer anticipates purchases from a mobile device will make up 69.9% of total online sales by 2024. The shift from “shop front” to “screen front” sales has opened a new can of worms for retailers in the form of Abandoned Carts. Cart abandonment is a major e-commerce challenge however, adding an SMS alert to the retargeting strategy is proving to make a massive difference.
According to Gartner, the average person checks their phone 58 times a day with more than half of those occurring during working hours. This is why SMS is so successful in driving an immediate response from shoppers and increasing mobile conversions. It consistently outperforms email in terms of click-through rates, with 98% of messages opened within 90 seconds of delivery; compared to 90 minutes for email.
According to Drip, 41 studies found that the average cart abandonment rate is just under 70%. Meaning almost 7 out of every 10 shoppers won't complete their online purchase. The immediacy of SMS is what makes it your golden ticket when it comes to turning these abandoned carts into completed purchases. Click-through rates for Abandoned Cart SMS are in excess of those for email (36% vs 3.2%) as well as higher conversion rates.
Here are some tips on how to compose your Abandoned Cart SMS
LESS IS MORE
Keeping cart abandonment text messages short, sweet and simple with a clear CTA is more than enough. Send customers a personalised message with specific product information, a unique URL to send them back to their shopping cart and maybe even a discount code to seal the deal.
USE A SENDER ID
Rather than send your message from a number, replace this with your shop name. Sending your SMS using a Sender ID increases the likelihood of your Abandoned Cart SMS by identifying you as the sender immediately. If the customer has shopped with you recently, they are instantly reminded of the items they were considering and are likely more inclined to read what’s on offer.
TIMING
Timing is crucial when it comes to converting an Abandoned Cart into a completed sale. Remarketing messages should ideally be sent 30 minutes to an hour after the visitor has abandoned their cart however, reaching out to customers all depends on their behaviour and the product they are buying.
ALWAYS INCLUDE A LINK TO CART OR CHECKOUT
Thanks to the smartphone, customers can purchase anything they want no matter where they are. This culture of instant gratification means retailers need to provide an immediate, instant and direct means of getting them to the checkout. Include a checkout or view cart link in your SMS to entice the purchase completion.
INCLUDE AN OPT-OUT
All marketing messages you send must include an unsubscribe function. With SMS, either instruct the recipient to reply ‘STOP’ to unsubscribe (if sending from a number) or include an Opt Out link. This covers all legal requirements without detracting from the main content.