Customers abandon shopping carts with items in them for a wide variety of reasons.
What can a business do to draw them back and encourage them to proceed with check out for their purchase?
A well-timed push notification can be an effective way to remind your mobile apps visitors that they have forgotten items.
How do you grab users’ attention and brings them back?
By delivering well written content that takes into account the customers themselves at a proper time.
There are three key parts to get right with this strategy. Make sure you discuss these items with your iPhone application developer or Android application developer before starting your mobile application development project so they can plan ahead to best serve your needs.
Message
Your message needs to not only grab the user’s attention but also give them a reason to come back and re-engage with your mobile app.
Typically the two factors that make the push notifications effective are sound copy and personalization.
Consider the effect a message like “You left an item in your shopping cart” as compared to “Hi Jan, the Stone Band Ring you selected is still in your shopping cart. Would you like to checkout now?” Clearly one is more inviting and likely to encourage action.
Don’t forget to utilize A/B testing with multiple messages to see which message works best for your user base. While the first message you write may sound great it might not be the right message for your audience.
Personalization
Personalization involves so much more than just including a users name in a push notification. With data you can determine the interests and preferences customers have. Customers often choose to opt-in to data programs to allow businesses to deliver content that reflects their interests and a business should not ignore the ability to improve their app by using data.
Relevant messages get results and with data you can make sure you are sending push notifications that fall within the interests of users. Send pushes to customers who have items in their cart that fall within the usual types of items they purchase. If you have a customer that regularly buys books but has a post card in their shopping cart, this probably isn’t the best time to send them a push. First of all, this items falls outside of their usual purchase patterns and it is also a low value item. Developing a set of perimeters to send out push notifications based on customer preferences and appropriate scenarios.
Consider sending pushes to clients with multiple items in their cart or higher value items. You want to send out push notifications that seem significant and not like spam to users.
Timing
The timing of a push notification can have a huge effect on how it is received.
There is no hard and fast rule. Experiment with different time frames to determine what works best for your consumers. Send out your message too soon and you seem eager, but wait to long and the customer may have lost interest in the item. Try sending out a notification 24 hours after the cart was abandoned and experiment from there.
Push notifications sent at appropriate times will be most effective and easiest for customers to open, while apps send in the middle of the night with leave a bad impression. Timing is important as users are more likely to act on messages received at convenient times, such as at lunch time or after work.
Conclusion
When customers abandon items in the cart on your app don’t feel like that sale been lost. With an effective push notification strategy these customers can be encouraged back to complete their purchases.
Photo: Jorge Quinteros (Flikr) http://bit.ly/1TqLahK
Mobile has gone from the next big thing to businesses finding themselves in a position where if they are not mobile ready they run the risk of rapidly becoming irrelevant to the marketplace. You don’t need to do much more than walk down the sidewalk one day and spend some time dodging the people looking at their mobile phones to realize just how big mobile is right now.
If you want to connect with your customers, mobile is essential in the modern marketplace.
If you want to get the most out of your mobile application development makes sure you look at the latest trends before speaking with an iPhone application developer or Android application developer. Here are 5 mobile trends predominate in 2015:
Data is key
Data not only helps target ads and increase conversions but allows you to deliver personalized content that is relevant to your users to increase engagement. You have no doubt seen how Google and Facebook use data to try and deliver the most relevant ads possible. The same type of logic can be applied to the content on your application.
Mobile applications that do not take advantages of the opportunities presented by using data are essentially throwing darts in the dark and not delivering content to an established target. Content and ads that are delivered based on the interests of a particular user catch the interest of users and improve engagement.
Leverage location
Utilizing location in your mobile program is a must. Adding location data into your program will allow you to add context into your marketing program. Tracking location on a mobile device is simple so there is no reason not to be leveraging location data. Studies have shown mobile messaging and ads are most effective within 5 miles of a businesses location so make sure you take this into account when you start developing your mobile application.
Interactive ads improve engagement
With the mobile market maturing we are seeing interactive ads starting to stand out and increase user engagement and acquisition. There is a sense that interactive ads are fresh and new. Additionally interactive ads can give users a feeling of being in control, engaging the user on a personal level. Compared to static ads, interactive ads are shown to increase a drive in sales, which means this trend is likely to stick around.
Native ads continue to grow
If you haven’t heard the term, native advertising describes a trend where ads emulate the look and feel of the apps or mobile websites where they appear. These ads typically are displayed as blogs, videos and infographics that are designed to entertain and enlighten the viewers without expressly promoting a particular brand. Native ads usually discuss topics related to products or services the company is offering and provide valuable information to users.
Video ads are popular
As the size of phones increases and cell phone service improves we are seeing video ads getting more popular. Video is more engaging than text or image based ads. They let advertisers tell a compelling story to entice customers in a way that other ad formats cannot match. Additionally video is a hot trend in general in the mobile world so video ads fit within a media format that is rapidly increasing in popularity.
While these trends are hot across the industry as a whole, make sure you analyze you brand and apps to see how each of these can fit in and remember that a one-size-fits-all approach does not work with mobile. Find the opportunities in your trends that will for for you and your users.
Photo: Sharon & Nikki McCutcheon (Flikr) http://bit.ly/1AFxqtz
Mobile devices have become a gateway to information for most individuals. If you think about it, your mobile phone might be the most personal device you have ever owned.
Your mobile device is how you search for local information, shop for goods and services, interact with social circles, perform work tasks, track your hobbies, entertain yourself and so much more. Mobile devices have become a focal point of our lives and our window to the world.
With mobile devices being integral to modern life, brands should approach mobile with the goal of creating experiences. Before you start your mobile app development and contact an iPhone app developer or Android app developer, make sure you understand the user experience that your customers want.
Mobile first
With mobile devices being many customers window to the world, a mobile first approach can help you build relationships with your customers. Users appreciate brands that are working to give them the tools they want and will be loyal to those that do. Brands that have made mobile a priority have been able to connect with customers in entirely new ways and adapt to them like never before.
Mobile is transforming the shopping experience
Smart phones have changed the shopping experience. Stores gave become showrooms to many rather than a purchasing center. Quality mobile experiences can work with the in-store experience to assist with consumers pathway to purchasing. Savvy brands understand that the shopping experience most likely began before a customer ever walks through the door and may end with an order via mobile app days after a visit to the show room.
Provide a unified experience
The combination of a brands’ in-store experience with that of their mobile apps and web site all contribute the the opinion consumers have of a brand. It is important for brands to maintain a consistent experience for customers that cuts across all platforms. This experience must allow orders at multiple points, customers won’t research your app on their mobile device and then order it later off your web site because you don’t offer commerce off your mobile application.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns (Flikr) http://bit.ly/1Bc702r