How to Use SMS Marketing to Reduce Cart Abandonment And Improve Sales in Your E-commerce Business

Shoppers leaving items in their carts is alarming for your business. 

So, how can you get your customers to buy products they have abandoned in their carts? 

The solution is simple. 

Send them a cart abandonment message. 

What’s a better way to do this than using SMS? 

You know it. People will more likely notice receiving an SMS than an email. And this is what makes SMS more effective.

Before diving into how you can reduce cart abandonment to improve sales, here’s one thing you need to understand: The wonders of SMS marketing.   

So let’s dive in!

See The 7 Top Benefits of Bulk SMS in Retail Marketing

What is SMS marketing?

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You guessed it. SMS marketing is precisely what it sounds like – promotion done via text messages, but how does it work?  

SMS marketing examples include the following: 

• Welcome offers
• Seasonal offers
• Order confirmation
• Shipping updates
• Customer service updates 

This beginner’s guide on SMS marketing can help you gain a deeper understanding. 

Now that you know what SMS marketing is, let’s see how it can help your business. 

Want to know how? 

You can use text message marketing to reduce cart abandonment and improve sales. Yes, it’s true.  And that’s what we will be addressing in this article.

Let’s start by looking at why customers abandon their shopping carts.

Why do customers abandon shopping carts?

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According to a research carried out by Barilliance, an e-commerce store loses about 75% of its sales to cart abandonment. Yikes. That seems like a problem. But with every problem, there is a solution. 

Let’s look at some top reasons shoppers abandon their carts.

Technical errors 

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We all know how tricky this can be. Guess how much of a percentage a SaleCycle report suggests? 

Yes, technical issues account for as much as 4% of cart abandonment.

Sadly, technical errors cover a range of potential problems your customers could face. 

For example, your customers may need help to complete a form due to a technical problem with the site. Some other technical issues can also result from bad website design or UI copy.

In other cases, customers can get frustrated when the site is slow or freezes, especially when this happens on the payment screen. 

When this happens, customers may lose the confidence to purchase their desired product and abandon their shopping cart.

Many times, customers might have yet to try purchasing the product again. No one wants to lose their hard-earned cash to system glitches.

Technical errors result in low customer satisfaction and make you lose a lot of profit.

Inadequate payment options

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The latest SaleCycle report has something to say about this. Survey notes that the absence of a preferred payment option is one of the problems. On the down side, it accounts for 6% of cart abandonment.

When your customers can’t find a payment option that is convenient for them, they could easily quit. 

Here’s an important factor. You should offer your customers many payment options to get one that suits them. 

It should range from traditional credit and debit cards to alternative systems. Such as PayPal, skrill, and, if possible, extend to cryptocurrencies. 

It could also be about convenience. Even if a customer can use a credit or debit card, the effort to input numbers (especially on mobile) can be a hassle. Some actually prefer to use other methods. 

It’s simple – the more payment options you offer, the easier it is for your customers to make payments. 

Unexpected shipping cost

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You’re probably wondering what SalesCycle suggests about shipping costs. Unfortunately it  accounts for 23% of cart abandonment cases. 

Imagine a scenario where your customer is about to check out. And then, realises that the shipping fee is half the cost of the product. Now, who would want to proceed? 

These costs can annoy your customers. 

You know what it leads to? 

Cart abandonment. 

In some cases, your customers may have regrets after purchasing the product.

Long and confusing checkout

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You know what your customers loathe? 

A long and confusing checkout process. It will send your customers back before they pay for their product. 

But do you know what annoys your customers the most? Sometimes, it can come in disguise as long forms. 

Yes, certain things like names and addresses are important but you must still keep it short. 

Unnecessarily long forms can be mentally draining – and no one wants that hassle.

This contributes to a poor experience, resulting in 28% of cart abandonment.

How to create and convert abandoned carts into sales with SMS campaign

Converting abandoned carts into sales is something businesses find difficult. 

But there’s a solution. 

A step-by-step process to help you convert abandoned carts into sales. That, too, with SMS marketing campaigns. 

Let’s take a look.

Make the message fun and engaging

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Your customers appreciate a bit of humour. Try to make your messages exciting to get your customers to click on your link and return to their carts. 

There’s one more way to do it. Write your SMS copy in such a way that moves your customers to desire your products. This could mean working on an interesting brand voice and tone.

Also Check: Bulk SMS Integration For E-commerce Platforms

Follow up with more than one message

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Your first message will help you convert customers, but what about the ones you don’t reach? 

Not to worry. All you have to do is follow up on the first cart abandonment message by sending a second one.

Soon after a customer leaves their cart empty, you will send your first message to them. You can then send another a day later.

This will give you a greater chance to connect with your potential clients. 

And guess what? It’ll boost your revenue too.

But there’s a catch. The catch is that you’ll have to provide them with another reminder to purchase the products in their carts. 

Creating brand recall is a crucial aspect of SMS marketing. 

Sound as human as possible

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Why is this important? You’re reaching out to people, so you need to add the human element. Do not make your message sound robotic or too formal. 

Let your text message sound like you are having a conversation or an informal chat with a friend. 

You can add emojis or end the text with ‘enjoy the rest of the day. This helps to humanise your abandoned cart text message.

Include a discount

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There is nothing better in the world of online shopping than receiving a free discount. Or a coupon code. 

Every customer enjoys receiving a free gift. How about Including  one in your abandoned cart text messages? This way, you’re more likely to keep your customers.  

Hurry your customers by adding a deadline

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You know when customers can end up forgetting to purchase your product? If they decide that they would come back to buy it. 

This is why you need to create a sense of urgency in your customers so they can buy instantly.

There are two basic ways to create a sense of urgency: 

• Give your coupons or discounts an expiration date
• Alert customers that a product is going to run out. 

Personalise your message

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Adding a personal touch can go a very long way. There’s one easy way to personalise your abandoned cart text messages. And that is by addressing your customers by their first names. 

This greatly impacts how the customer views the message and sets the stage for a great customer experience.

You can also add personal compliments like “the product will look beautiful on you.” The entire message will make the customer feel like the message is unique to them.

Let your copy sell an idea

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Consider your target audience and the issues they are trying to resolve. Businesses can use this method to create incredibly persuasive communications and sell customers a concept rather than just a commodity.

Selling an idea will make your SMS marketing campaign more compelling and increase the probability that your customers will buy the items in their carts. 

For example, Tame the Beast sells the idea that their anti-ageing serum can land their customers a promotion. 

3 tips for creating an effective abandoned cart SMS recovery campaign

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Here are 3 tips to help you create effective abandoned cart SMS campaigns.

Don’t offer discounts all the time

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make when creating an abandoned cart text message campaign is continuously offering discounts.   

No doubt, discounts are an effective way to win your customers over to buy what they left behind. 

The point is – offering discounts all the time makes the offer lose its value. Your customers will gradually become bored. .

Include a link to your website in your SMS campaigns 

Never forget to put a link to your website in your SMS marketing campaigns. 

When your website link is included in your SMS, your customers will find it easy and more convenient to find and purchase the items in their cart. 

What else? Using website analytics, you can monitor and evaluate how effective your SMS marketing campaigns have been over a period of time. 

Keep your messages short and sweet

Let your SMS marketing campaigns be short and sweet. 

This will allow your customers to read your messages and understand what you’re trying to say effortlessly. 

You can follow these sales promotional SMS templates in writing your SMS marketing cart abandonment copies.

Let’s take a look at some abandoned cart SMS from real-life brands.

4 real brand examples of abandoned cart texts 

To make it better, we gathered some real-life examples. This way you’ll know exactly what your recovery SMS should look like. 

Take a look at these 4 abandoned cart text message examples, and take note of the selling point.

Bellami Hair cart abandoned SMS

How does it sound to have to pay less for a product you want? 

For Bellami Hair, offering a discount is the hook. They offset a discount code of 5% while creating a sense of urgency. 

Combining a discount and an imminent deadline form a strong incentive for the buyer to return to the cart and purchase the product.

Qalo cart abandonment SMS

What trick does Qalo pull off here? They offer personalised assistance. 

Sometimes, shoppers might leave products in their carts because they have questions. 

Qalo prompts its shoppers to send a text to the brand while emphasising that they are ready to assist.

Brooklinen cart abandonment SMS

Brooklinen is going all out and leaving nothing to chance. 

They offer cart abandoners, free shipping, and an exclusive offer to draw them back to purchase the products they’ve left.

Knix cart abandonment SMS

One way to make your cart abandoned SMS effective is to create a sense of urgency. 

Knix tells the shopper that the product they have carted will sell out if the shopper doesn’t buy it on time. It’s a brief but effective message.

Recover more abandoned orders

So what are you waiting for? You can now get your customers back, and Improve your sales with the power of SMS marketing and abandoned cart text messages. 

Always keep the following three tips in mind: 

• Don’t always offer discounts
• Always put your website link in your text messages
• Lastly, keep it short and simple.

Take some more ideas on executing a fruitful SMS campaign in a few easy stages. It’s time for you to stand out from the competition and be on top of SMS marketing.