July 2, 2014 at 14:56Return mailing is an easy way to increase the number of customers by more than 13%
Continuing the topic of irrational factors that affect the buyer at the time of making a purchase decision, we decided to talk a little about such a thing as consistency and its use in electronic commerce.
The principle of consistency is what encourages each person to bring what has been started to the point that can be described as the completion of what has begun. Nobody likes unfinished business, and thanks to this, you can slightly increase the effectiveness of the online store.
Some statistics
According to a study conducted by Statista Inc. in the UK, about 67% of full shopping carts of online stores were never purchased. The user simply left the site without completing the purchase process and never bought these products again in this online store. Those. almost all stores in England receive less than half the profit.
The agency provides the main factors that caused this result:
1. In the process of placing an order, the price increased due to unforeseen factors - 16.14%
2. I just looked - 10.66%
3. Found the best price elsewhere - 10, 37%
4. The total price was too high - 9.22%
5. I decided not to buy - 7.49%
6. Navigation on the site was too complicated - 7.20%
7. The fall of the site - 6.92%
8. The ordering process is delayed - 6.05%
9. Excessive zeal of the store when checking user details, a large number of fields that need to be filled in to verify authenticity - 5.19%
10. Fear of becoming a victim of scammers - 4.90%
11. Not delivery conditions are suitable - 4.61%
12. Slow website - 4.32%
13. Prices are in foreign currency - 3.75%
14. My payment was rejected - 3.17%
Now let's take a closer look at the reasons for the refusal split into several groups:
- Items 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13 and 14 are non-price factors that you can easily get around by providing a direct link in a letter to a page from which the customer can easily complete the purchase process. Remember that the longer the process of processing the payment, the greater the chance that the customer will leave. Thanks to these points, you can return about a third of all departed customers;
- Items 1, 3 and 4 require a more detailed analysis in each case. Additional payments that unexpectedly increase the price of the goods during the order are bad taste that makes the buyer feel that they are trying to cheat. Give them up or keep losing customers. In the case of “found the best price elsewhere” and “the total price was too high”, it is necessary to assess the prospects of the client based on the amount of the unfinished order and the composition of the basket. If there is reason to believe that the customer has high purchasing power and his attraction will become a source of frequent and tangible purchases, you can offer him a discount that will make your offer more attractive.
Other points, such as “just looked” and “decided not to buy”, you can also try to get around with a discount, but for them the effectiveness of this approach is much lower.
In order to understand which group each departed visitor belongs to, use the activity tracking tools.
What to do with it and how does it relate to the sequence?
Some of these factors are easily eliminated due to site optimization and increased stability. But you also need to get visitors to return to the site. For this, the most traditional method that can only be imagined is mailing. Naturally, for this you must receive an email from a visitor at one of the stages of the purchase process.
The received letter, provided that it negates the factors that caused the refusal to purchase, to zero, creates an “unfinished business” that appeals to the principle of consistency. If at the time of receipt of the letter the client has not yet made a purchase in another store, he has no reason not to buy the goods from you.
Targeted mailing, based on the analysis of factors of failure and visitor activity on the site, will become a rather effective tool to increase sales.
A good article with examples of such mailings.
Some more statistics and
HereAn excellent infographic about the effectiveness of the "returning" letters is presented. According to these data, about half of such letters will be opened, more than 13% of recipients will follow the link, and a third of them will complete the purchase process. Simple calculations tell us that thanks to such letters we can increase the number of our customers by 13.6%. This means that if your customers made purchases in the amount of 100,000 per year, a simple mailing will bring you about 13,600.
How else can we use the principle of consistency
An excellent example of the use of this principle you can see every day in stores operating on the principle of self-service (supermarkets ) The moment when the visitor picks up the product significantly increases the likelihood of making a purchase.
In the context of online trading, this can be beaten in two ways:
- a guarantee of simple and free delivery. Make “I didn’t like it” a sufficient reason for the return, provided that the product has retained its presentation and has its original packaging. The visitor should know that over a certain period of time he will be able to easily get his money back.
- test period (marketing version of the first method). The process of making a purchase gives the client the feeling that he is taking on some obligations, which may become an obstacle to the transaction. Offer him another option. He leaves a cash deposit (transfers to your account an amount comparable to the cost of the goods), and you provide him with goods for “temporary use”. Return is possible under the same conditions as in the first option.
The principle of consistency is what encourages each person to bring what has been started to the point that can be described as the completion of what has begun. Nobody likes unfinished business, and thanks to this, you can slightly increase the effectiveness of the online store.
Some statistics
According to a study conducted by Statista Inc. in the UK, about 67% of full shopping carts of online stores were never purchased. The user simply left the site without completing the purchase process and never bought these products again in this online store. Those. almost all stores in England receive less than half the profit.
The agency provides the main factors that caused this result:
1. In the process of placing an order, the price increased due to unforeseen factors - 16.14%
2. I just looked - 10.66%
3. Found the best price elsewhere - 10, 37%
4. The total price was too high - 9.22%
5. I decided not to buy - 7.49%
6. Navigation on the site was too complicated - 7.20%
7. The fall of the site - 6.92%
8. The ordering process is delayed - 6.05%
9. Excessive zeal of the store when checking user details, a large number of fields that need to be filled in to verify authenticity - 5.19%
10. Fear of becoming a victim of scammers - 4.90%
11. Not delivery conditions are suitable - 4.61%
12. Slow website - 4.32%
13. Prices are in foreign currency - 3.75%
14. My payment was rejected - 3.17%
Now let's take a closer look at the reasons for the refusal split into several groups:
- Items 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13 and 14 are non-price factors that you can easily get around by providing a direct link in a letter to a page from which the customer can easily complete the purchase process. Remember that the longer the process of processing the payment, the greater the chance that the customer will leave. Thanks to these points, you can return about a third of all departed customers;
- Items 1, 3 and 4 require a more detailed analysis in each case. Additional payments that unexpectedly increase the price of the goods during the order are bad taste that makes the buyer feel that they are trying to cheat. Give them up or keep losing customers. In the case of “found the best price elsewhere” and “the total price was too high”, it is necessary to assess the prospects of the client based on the amount of the unfinished order and the composition of the basket. If there is reason to believe that the customer has high purchasing power and his attraction will become a source of frequent and tangible purchases, you can offer him a discount that will make your offer more attractive.
Other points, such as “just looked” and “decided not to buy”, you can also try to get around with a discount, but for them the effectiveness of this approach is much lower.
In order to understand which group each departed visitor belongs to, use the activity tracking tools.
What to do with it and how does it relate to the sequence?
Some of these factors are easily eliminated due to site optimization and increased stability. But you also need to get visitors to return to the site. For this, the most traditional method that can only be imagined is mailing. Naturally, for this you must receive an email from a visitor at one of the stages of the purchase process.
The received letter, provided that it negates the factors that caused the refusal to purchase, to zero, creates an “unfinished business” that appeals to the principle of consistency. If at the time of receipt of the letter the client has not yet made a purchase in another store, he has no reason not to buy the goods from you.
Targeted mailing, based on the analysis of factors of failure and visitor activity on the site, will become a rather effective tool to increase sales.
A good article with examples of such mailings.
Some more statistics and
HereAn excellent infographic about the effectiveness of the "returning" letters is presented. According to these data, about half of such letters will be opened, more than 13% of recipients will follow the link, and a third of them will complete the purchase process. Simple calculations tell us that thanks to such letters we can increase the number of our customers by 13.6%. This means that if your customers made purchases in the amount of 100,000 per year, a simple mailing will bring you about 13,600.
How else can we use the principle of consistency
An excellent example of the use of this principle you can see every day in stores operating on the principle of self-service (supermarkets ) The moment when the visitor picks up the product significantly increases the likelihood of making a purchase.
In the context of online trading, this can be beaten in two ways:
- a guarantee of simple and free delivery. Make “I didn’t like it” a sufficient reason for the return, provided that the product has retained its presentation and has its original packaging. The visitor should know that over a certain period of time he will be able to easily get his money back.
- test period (marketing version of the first method). The process of making a purchase gives the client the feeling that he is taking on some obligations, which may become an obstacle to the transaction. Offer him another option. He leaves a cash deposit (transfers to your account an amount comparable to the cost of the goods), and you provide him with goods for “temporary use”. Return is possible under the same conditions as in the first option.