This weekend I ordered some new headphones from a Shopify store.
At first I wasn't quite ready to order but I added them to my cart so I can take a look at them later and pick which color I wanted.
Couple of hours later, I get an email from the store with a 10% off coupon from their abandoned cart.
Well, if they are just going to give away money... I don't mind if I do.
When I mentioned this to my wife she laughed and told me how she often hears people doing exactly that. It's a while consumer strategy now.
While those coupons "work", I was already going to buy them at the full price. The 10% off is just lost profit for the store.
When many Shopify store's are just tossing out 10% abandoned cart coupons after a couple of hours, it's no wonder customers become discount shoppers.
A better option would have been to offer an add-on incentive.
What goes well with headphones? How about an extension cord for wired ones and a charging cord extension for wireless?
Simple products the store can source in bulk for cheap, while still letting abandoned carts feel like they got something. All without taking such a large bite out of the main product's profit.
The better option would be to use a discount ladder. Start with a reminder, then send a free add-on, then a 5%-off coupon, and finish with the 10%.
Those require a more sophisticated abandoned cart system but once they are setup, they tend to just work.
Mix that with a retention campaign using customer segmenting like from Repeat Customer Insights and you can systematize a lot of customer acquisition and retention. Then you can measure and optimize it.
Eric Davis
Find patterns in customer behavior
You don't have to be in the dark when it comes to your customers. Using their existing behavior, Repeat Customer Insights shows you patterns and optimization potential for Shopify stores, leading to more and better repeat customers.