$232 in exchange for $18000 sales: Here’s how ShopBase helps online merchants to optimize their abandoned cart recovery SMS

Cart abandonment is like a longing pain in the neck for online retailers! 

Every day,  69.23% of online carts are abandoned, which means that your sales numbers may only be one-third of what they could possibly be. You, eCommerce merchants, lose your potential orders, and sales numbers just stay still.

However, while cart abandonment is a nuisance, it also offers excellent opportunities to understand your customers, learn from their behavior, and in turn, helps us to bring out the solution to all of this.

We’re giving you the fact that many ShopBase sellers have been applying this method into practice with their business. And the results are worth the effort as the recovery rate has doubly increased from 1.39% to 3.27%. 

Know what’s even more awesome? The spending is only $232 using ShopBase abandoned cart recovery SMS to earn up to $18.000 in total revenue. Such numbers to be mindful of!  

So in today’s post, I want to show you how to nail your abandoned cart SMS automation with ShopBase and zoom in why this strategy is one of the most effective ways to drag the cart abandonment rate down to the ground.

Let’s go!

Understand why customers are leaving without saying goodbye

 It’s crucial to figure out the root cause of all these pains in order to assess whether you need to change some of your online practices or not.  

A recent survey by Baymard looks more specifically at the reasons for checkout abandonment. 

So in general, the lessons from the data above are that people are abandoning online purchases due to issues that can be fixed by better design and usability. 

However, once your customers decide to opt out, there’s a high chance they won’t come back, and all your effort of making it easier and more flexible to check out just don’t get the notice back from your dropped shoppers anymore. 

That’s when you need to think of a bigger picture and further solution to bring your customers back to your store as soon as possible. And adding text messages to your remarketing toolkit is one of the most powerful retention marketing ever. 

Change your mindset to reach the target!

First thing first, when encountering a problem, you need to come up with a know-how mindset and think of the most suitable approach to address the problem quickly. At ShopBase, we stick to data-driven decision making rather than just making decisions that are intuitive or based on observation alone. 

Here’s the flow that we’re currently working after:

• Goal: What can’t be measured, can’t be improved. That’s why the most important thing to make yourself think of is to determine a specific goal for your business to achieve. From which, you can gradually write down the to-do list and put them into practice.
• Hypothesis: Based on the key data sets, the next step is to identify all the factors and elements that might affect your results in the end and give out all the hypotheses you can think of to achieve that goal you set. 
• Test: With all that said, it’s time to put everything to A/B test A/B in order to know which ideas suit the best with your business.
• Analyze: Based on the metrics that present the project efficiency or how they might work, you need to analyze whether the numbers have improved or not. And if it’s not showing the result you’re expecting, then it’s time to figure out the reason why.
• Optimize: Continue testing your strategy, track where customers drop off, just make sure that your method is running the best it can and everything is fully optimized to make the most out of it. 
• Repeat until it hits the goal: Repeat the whole process even when it’s time-consuming but good things take time so try it until you make it. 

Breakdown and optimize all related elements 

So enough for theory, it’s about time to analyze everything and let the number do the talking.

Below is the SMS indicator when ShopBase first received the request from our customer for the optimal advice. 

The rate from Feb 17 to Mar 17, exactly one month long, was only at 1.39%, which was pretty low. Now, let’s do the math: 

• At a cost of $ 0.02 per one SMS, which means, ShopBase seller has spent a total of at least $80 for nearly 4000 SMS sent to earn $2470 sales. 
• Let’s say the cost of for goods and advertising accounted for 70% of this revenue, the net profit was at about: 2470 * 30% = $741.
• The Return of Investment (ROI) number, therefore, was: $741/80 * 100% = $9.26.

This means, for every $1 spent on SMS, this store earned only $9.26 in net profit.

The goal set is to at least double this ROI. Here’s how ShopBase comes to the rescue:

As you can see, every element from the SMS sent, SMS clicked rate to the order complete number hasn’t been showing good performance for a period of 30 days. From these stats, ShopBase analyzed all the relevant factors that can actually affect the result during this process, which includes:

• Time to send SMS
• The SMS content
• Call to Action line in SMS

This is the first content and the default sending time for recovery SMS:

ShopBase recovery SMS settings before optimization

As an eCommerce platform for many stores of all types from print-on-demand, general dropshipping to niche-focused dropshipping websites, this given content is still quite general. 

It can be beneficial for our merchants because they just have to turn on the recovery SMS settings and everything is all set so that any stores can use this feature. However, this also comes with “not-so-called-an-advantage” that all the SMS content would be similar for every store, which can cause boredom and non-interesting for customers to read, thus results in the low rate of clicked and seen SMS.

Therefore, ShopBase gradually tested each of the aforementioned factors, by changing one by one every week. Here’s the testing process: 

• In the first 2 weeks, we changed the content and added different types of coupon codes (discount code, free shipping fee) for each week.
• In the next  2 weeks, we switched to test the sending time and set the time to be closer to the moment customers abandoned their checkout cart. 

And the result we got after conducting an A/B test for the recovery SMS: 

• The sending time is after 10 minutes – 10 hours – 1 day compared to the time when customers abandoned their carts. The default sending time was quite optimal, therefore, we just needed to change the sending time of the first SMS from 1 hour to 10 minutes for an instant reminder.
• In the first SMS content, we take the advantage of shopping psychology when customers still remember and feel interested in the new items they put in their cart, we just simply reminded them about the order to encourage them to come back instead of immediately offering them with a discount code to avoid the revenue loss for the store.
• The second SMS, which is after 10 hours, if at this time that the customer hasn’t come back to buy the item and finishes their order yet, then please give them a discount code to kick off a stronger and more alluring offer. 
• Third time’s a charm so the last SMS should about reminding your customers again about the product and discount. 

The recovery SMS after conducting an A/B testing

And finally, hard work paid off. This is the final results calculated from March 21 to April 19 (less than a month) after optimizing everything:

The recover rate has incredibly doubled from 1.39% to 3.47%!

• With $0.02 * 11181 = $232.62 spent on SMS sent, the revenue earned is up to $17,916.81. 
• Say that the cost of goods and advertising expenses is at 70% of these revenues, the net profit will be $5375. 
• The provisional ROI is $5375 / $232.62 * 100% = $23.

That is, for every $ 1 spent on SMS, this store earned a net profit of $23. We officially exceeded the original goal in less than a month!  

*Extra tip!!!

During this time, ShopBase suggests that all the store owners can update and optimize the SMS content due to the current issues and trends to inform customers and keep them stay up to date, such as:

• Mention the general #stayathome situation
• Store’s niche – especially for print on demand stores (e.g: Family, Mother’s day, Father’s day, etc)
• Store’s category – for dropshipping sellers (e.g: Pet stuff, kid toy, home decorations, health supplies, etc …)

>> More ideas about the profitable dropshipping niche in 2020

All in all, by putting this process into practice:

Give out the hypothesis based on data set >> A/B test >> analyze all the possible factors >> optimize everything at its best >> repeat until you make it, you can apply this method to not only the recovery SMS but also to drive the conversion rate of your store, run effectively Facebook/Google ads, etc. 

Text message ideas for the best recovery SMS

Here I have listed out some of the most suitable SMS content for different categories, as suggested by SMS Bump. Please refer and apply for your SMS content if needed. 

1. GENERAL

• {{ .shop.name }}: Bored at home? Here’s a $10 gift voucher for your next purchase! Stay safe and enjoy! [Discount Code]. Text STOP to opt out.
• {{ .shop.name }}: Hi {{ .customer.first_name }}, as our loyal customer this April we offer you a 60% discount on our “Luxury & Me” collection. Stay home in style: [Discount Code]. Text STOP to opt out.

2. FAMILY

• {{ .shop.name }}: Is there such a thing as TOO MUCH care for the family? We got your back! 30% discount on all family items! Have Fun! [Discount Code]. Text STOP to opt out.

3. SHOW SUPPORT

• {{ .shop.name }}: We’ve extended returns to 60 days and made deliveries contactless. Just so you can continue shopping with us safely and securely!{{ .abandoned_checkout.url }}. Text STOP to opt out.
• {{ .shop.name }}: Hey {{ .customer.first_name }}, we are in this together! Take a look at our most recent social initiative and join us in our cause: {{ .abandoned_checkout.url }}. Text STOP to opt out.
• {{ .shop.name }}: Psst… We are just stopping by to tell you: we are here for you! Enjoy a 15% discount and unlimited free shipping and return! [Discount Code]. Text STOP to opt out.
• We at {{ .shop.name }} are more focused than ever on helping and supporting local communities affected by COVID-19. Find out more on: {{ .abandoned_checkout.url }}. Join us, too! Text STOP to opt out.
• {{ .shop.name }}: You stay home, we`ll do the rest for you. 20% off your next order – safe and secure, no-contact deliveries to your home! [Discount Code]. Text STOP to opt out.

4. STAY AT HOME

• {{ .shop.name }}: Hey {{ .customer.first_name }}, we have extended our Stay-at-home Sale until end of April. Enjoy 15% off selected items: [Discount Code]. Text STOP to opt out.
• {{ .shop.name }}: Spending some time at home? Why not reorganize your closet? Check out our top 7 ideas! 15% off on your next order: [Discount Code]. Text STOP to opt out.
• {{ .shop.name }}: Hey {{ .customer.first_name }}, order our new Pamper Package with 15% discount and indulge in some well deserved self-care while at home![Discount Code]. Text STOP to opt out.

5. TOY STORES

• {{ .shop.name }}: Work from home with bored kids in isolation? Say no more! 35% discount on ALL toys this April![Discount Code]. Text STOP to opt out.

6. FITNESS SUPPLEMENTS & SPORT EQUIPMENT

• {{ .shop.name }}: Need an energy boost? Join our new weekly training sessions with a special 30% discount from us: [Discount Code]. Text STOP to opt out.
• {{ .shop.name }}: Hey {{ .customer.first_name }}, now is the time to set up that home gym you always wanted! Here is a 15$ gift voucher for all sporting gear this April! [Discount Code]. Text STOP to opt out.
• {{ .shop.name }}: Hey {{ .customer.first_name }}, now is a great time to start daily yoga practice at home! Enjoy 30% discount from us on all yoga equipment: [Discount Code] Reply STOP to opt out.

If you’re selling your products with ShopBase, your recovery SMS feature has already been integrated to your store and ready to run. 

>> You can read Abandoned checkout follow-up emails and SMS guide for more information!

Other than that, if you’re a merchant on a different platform, you will need to install a third-party app for this SMS feature. 

Money just doesn’t grow from trees. Smart tools make it so. Let’s sign up with ShopBase today to try out all ShopBase powerful features and start scaling your business right now!