Having a customer add items to their cart only to abandon it later is frustrating. Every time this happens, you miss out on a potential sale, and it may feel like there’s not much you can do to prevent it! What if WooCommerce cart abandonment recovery offers could turn those lost sales around?
Yes! By offering incentives such as opt-in discounts, flash sales, and even loyalty points, you can encourage your customers to hit purchase and keep coming back in the future. This is exactly what we’ll dive into in this post.
We’ll cover what cart abandonment is and why it can be harmful to your wholesale business. Then, we’ll lay out six WooCommerce cart abandonment recovery strategies you can implement to avoid this. Without further ado, let’s get straight into it!
An Introduction To Cart Abandonment (And How It Can Harm Your E-Commerce Business)
Cart abandonment is when an online shopper adds an item to their cart but doesn’t complete the purchase (ever). Unfortunately, this is pretty common, making it a big hurdle for lots of online stores, including wholesalers.
In fact, studies show that cart abandonment rates fall between 60-70 percent. Depending on your industry, you could see rates as high as 94 percent. What’s more, since wholesale orders tend to be larger, one sale can make a huge difference in your bottom line.
If someone leaves items in their virtual bag, you might think it’s simply because they changed their mind about buying the product. However, there are many complex factors that contribute to customers abandoning their carts. For example:
- Hidden fees
- Unexpected shipping or tax costs
- A complex checkout process
- Insufficient payment options
We’ve covered these common reasons in our full guide about WooCommerce abandonment. In this guide, we cover general WooCommerce best practices you can implement to avoid cart abandonment. Check it out below:
At the end of the day, cart abandonment means a lost sale for your e-commerce store. While you can’t force potential customers to purchase something from you, you can leverage WooCommerce cart abandonment recovery strategies to prevent this from happening. Let’s explore them in the next section!
6 Offers To Prevent Cart Abandonment In Your Online Store
Now that you know what cart abandonment is, it’s time to look at some tactics you can use to mitigate it. Below, let’s explore six powerful WooCommerce cart abandonment recovery offers that will help keep customers from leaving unclaimed products on the virtual table!
1. Opt-in discounts
An opt-in discount is a deal that users get in exchange for “participating” in some way. It is most commonly used when companies ask visitors to enter their email addresses to receive a discount code. Opt-in discounts can be a crucial part of your WooCommerce cart abandonment recovery strategy, as they encourage customers to complete their purchases by offering them immediate value.
When customers know they will get a valuable deal in return for something so simple, they’ll likely be more willing to share their email addresses. Once you get this information, you can send visitors crucial marketing materials such as newsletters and promotional offers.
The good news is that pretty much any business can use opt-in discounts as an incentive, regardless of the type of product or services they offer. For example, Edible Arrangements offers 15 percent off an order in exchange for email signup:
This type of deal will likely help you build your email marketing list.
If you’re looking for a tool to help you register new wholesale customers and collect emails, you can get the Wholesale Lead Capture plugin in one of Wholesale Suite’s bundle options:
Our tool lets you recruit wholesale customers using customizable forms. This way, you can ask buyers for their email addresses and then send them a discount reward for signing up!
2. Abandoned cart email offers
An abandoned cart email sequence is when you send an email to a user after they leave items in their cart. This can be a highly effective way to get customers back on your website, which is why it’s part of the best WooCommerce cart abandonment recovery strategies.
While the average e-commerce email open rate hovers around 20 percent, abandoned cart email open rates skyrocket to approximately 40 percent. This example from Homage demonstrates this type of message:
You can implement an abandoned cart email sequence by sending a series of messages:
- The initial email. This is the first email you send out to your customers as a reminder that they have an item in their cart. Timing is important, so you should ideally send it within a few hours of cart abandonment.
- The follow-up email. This will follow your first message and should go to the customer within 48 hours after the initial one. It can contain an attractive offer such as a discount, deal, or free shipping. In addition, you may want to include a call-to-action (CTA) button to help streamline the checkout process.
- The final email. If the first two emails didn’t work, you can send a third and final message to your buyer. This might offer to answer any questions and repeat your CTA or discount offer.
3. Flash sales
Flash sales are special offers that only last a certain amount of time. They are effective because they grab users’ attention and can generate hype about deals.
To do this, flash sale marketing may use techniques such as countdown timers, as seen in this example by the wholesale store DHGate:
In a nutshell, this kind of deal creates a sense of urgency and may trigger consumers to grab the deal quickly. That’s because they might be more inclined to make a purchase when they feel they are at risk of missing out on a good offer.
If you serve wholesale customers in your WooCommerce store, you can run scheduled wholesale sale prices with Wholesale Prices Premium. This allows you to set specific times for your flash sales, which fosters a sense of urgency. Strategically timing these sales encourages bulk purchases and helps prevent cart abandonment.
4. First-order discounts
Let’s say a site visitor is new to your e-commerce store. They might have just heard of your brand but aren’t sure if they want to make a purchase or not…
Incorporating first-order discounts into your WooCommerce cart abandonment recovery strategy can effectively encourage new customers to complete their initial purchase. With wholesale customers, this is especially important, as they may be making a big (and potentially intimidating purchase).
This type of discount is usually advertised in the form of a popup, as seen on the Dagne Dover website:
If you have a visitor who has never made a purchase from your wholesale business before, this kind of offer can be what turns them into a loyal customer.
What’s more, creating this type of deal is simple. You can pair our Lead Capture plugin with a tool such as Advanced Coupons to maximize the effectiveness of your promotion:
Then, after their first purchase, you can add your new buyer to your email list and send them more irresistible deals later.
5. Buy One Get One (BOGO) deals
A buy one, get one (BOGO) offer means that when customers purchase one item, they get a second item for free or at a discounted price:
Giving your customers extra products encourages them to go ahead and make a purchase, which is why it’s such an excellent WooCommerce cart abandonment recovery tip. Bonus points if you promote it as a limited-time offer.
Furthermore, you can use Advanced Coupons to create BOGO deals with single products, groups of products, or entire product categories. The tool even lets you create tons of other offers, such as URL, bulk, and shipping coupons. All of these promotions can help reduce cart abandonment for your wholesale store.
6. Loyalty points
When you create a loyalty program or offer loyalty points, you reward buyers who repeatedly make purchases from your brand. A classic example of this is the Starbucks Rewards program:
With loyalty programs, the more a customer buys or engages with your brand, the more rewards they can earn. This encourages them to continue buying from your business over your competitors.
To offer loyalty points to your consumer base, you may want to create a tiered loyalty system. Basically, this will allow buyers to progress through the rankings, earning better benefits and perks as they earn more points.
Our Loyalty Program plugin takes minutes to set up and your buyers can start earning points instantly:
As loyal members reach higher tiers within your program, they are more likely to feel like valued customers. This in turn can encourage them not to leave items in their virtual shopping bag.
Additionally, since the Loyalty Program plugin works hand in hand with Advanced Coupons’ WooCommerce store credit feature, your customers will redeem their loyalty points to store credit which makes them want to stick with you long term to use it up.
Prevent Cart Abandonment With Wholesale Suite
If you run a WooCommerce wholesale store, in particular, Wholesale Suite can help you increase sales and lower cart abandonment:
Wholesale Suite includes four powerful plugins that help improve the overall wholesale shopping experience. With Wholesale Suite, you can:
- Easily set up and manage wholesale pricing across your WooCommerce store, enforce order and product minimums, tweak product visibility, and create multiple user roles.
- Create a streamlined order form that allows wholesale customers to place bulk orders quickly and efficiently, improving their shopping experience.
- Capture and manage new wholesale leads by setting up customizable registration forms, ensuring that only qualified buyers gain access to your wholesale prices.
- Offer flexible payment terms, create custom payment plans, and automate invoicing right within your WooCommerce store.
Wholesale Suite’s plugins improve the overall shopping experience for wholesale customers. By providing bulk buyers with a smooth and frictionless shopping process, you encourage them to complete their purchases and prevent instances of cart abandonment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is cart abandonment recovery?
Cart abandonment recovery encompasses all the strategies that encourage customers who have added items to their carts (but have not completed the order) to return and complete the purchase. These may entail offering deals such as discounts, special offers (like BOGO deals) or using tools such as abandoned cart email sequences and retargeting ads.
How to recover abandoned carts in WooCommerce?
Some of the most effective WooCommerce cart abandonment recovery strategies include setting up automated abandoned cart email sequences, offering discounts, and using retargeting ads to re-engage lost customers. Additionally, store owners can leverage limited-time offers or flash sales to create a sense of urgency and encourage customers to complete their purchases.
Is abandoned cart recovery worth it?
Yes! Implementing WooCommerce abandonment cart recovery strategies helps boost your store’s revenue by re-engaging and converting potential lost sales. By encouraging customers to complete their purchases, you not only increase immediate revenue but also expand your customer base and foster loyalty.
How do I reduce abandoned carts in WooCommerce?
To reduce WooCommerce cart abandonment, focus on streamlining the shopping experience and eliminating potential barriers to purchase. Simplify the checkout process, reduce the number of steps to complete the purchase, and offer multiple payment options to cater to different customer preferences.
Conclusion
Cart abandonment is one of the biggest causes of lost sales. While you can’t eliminate this entirely, there are key WooCommerce cart abandonment recovery strategies you can leverage to cut down on its frequency. To summarize, here are six customer deals to prevent cart abandonment:
- Opt-in discounts
- Abandoned cart email offers
- Flash sales
- First order discounts
- BOGO deals
- Loyalty points
Fortunately, these WooCommerce cart abandonment recovery offers are easy to implement with tools like Wholesale Suite and Advanced Coupons. These powerful plugins allow you to create irresistible discounts and deals to encourage customers to complete their purchases.
So, have you tried any of these strategies for your wholesale store? Let us know in the comments section below!
