Online shopping cart abandonment rates are on the rise, with the average abandonment rate jumping roughly 6% from 71% to 75% during the first six months of 2011, according to data released by Listrak in October 2011. However, Listrak analysis shows that 77.5% of all shopping cart abandonment campaigns received from the top 1,000 online retailers were single messages, including 80% of the top 500 and 75% of the second 500.
In addition, 15.8% of campaigns from the top 1,000 retailers, including 16.7% from the top 500 and 15% from the second 500, sent two emails. However, only 6.7% of the top 1,000 retailers overall, including 10% of the second 500 and only 3.3% of the top 500, sent what Listrak terms the all-important third message.
Second 500 Have Better Message Timing
The timing of shopping cart abandonment messages differed greatly between the top 500 and second 500. Only 51.1% of the top 500 sent the first remarketing campaign within 24 hours of the abandonment whereas 73.1% of the second 500 reached out in that timeframe. In fact, 40.4% of the messages were received within an hour of the abandonment, compared to only 14.4% of the top 500.
The second message produced similar results. Only 38.9% of the top 500 sent the second message within 24 hours of the first whereas 46.1% of the second 500 sent within that time frame. The biggest discrepancy between the two groups was the 25-48 hour period, where the top 500 sent 27.7% of messages in this period compared to only 7.8% of the second 500.
The third message had an even greater discrepancy. Only 33.3% of the top 500 sent the third message within 72 hours of the second message, while 60% of the second 500 reached back within three days.
Second 500 More Likely to Include Offers
About four in 10 (41%) of the top 500 offered a discount in the first message, compared to 56% of the second 500. More than half (56%) of the top 500 offered a discount in the second message, a 36.5% increase compared to message one. However, 69% of the second 500 offered a second message discount, a 23% increase from the first message. Virtually no third messages from the top 1,000 retailers contained a discount offer.
Low Percentage of First Messages Personalized
Only about 27% of first messages sent by the top 1,000 retailers contained the customer’s name in the email copy, even though 100% of them had access to customer information from the checkout page. In addition, only about 39% of first emails included images of merchandise in the carts.
Compete: Free Shipping Drives Online Purchases
Free shipping is the feature most likely to encourage shoppers to purchase more goods online by a wide margin, according to a September 2011 white paper from Compete. Data from “The State of Online Retail” indicates that in Q2 2011, 77% of consumers said free shipping would encourage them to purchase more products online. In comparison, 56% cited free returns, the second-most-popular feature. This means free shipping is 39% more popular than any other online shopping feature. No other feature garnered a 50% response rate, with 43% of consumers saying an in-store return option would encourage them to purchase more products online.
About the Data: Listrak shopped 97.3% of the top 1000 sites (97.2% from the top 500 and 97.4% from the second 500), excluding sites where a military ID or exclusive membership was required and sites that were no longer functioning.