Repeat customers are the bread and butter of eCommerce businesses. They not only spend more per transaction, but they also require less marketing investment to bring back to your store.
That’s why eCommerce remarketing is so important. By targeting customers who have already shown an interest in your product, you can bring them back to your store and increase their chances of making a purchase.
In this article, we'll take you through five different eCommerce remarketing strategies that can help recover some of those lost sales. These strategies can be used as part of a larger marketing campaign to boost sales for both new and old products and services. So what are you waiting for? Start recovering those lost sales today!
What Is eCommerce Remarketing?
eCommerce remarketing is the process of targeting past customers to your eCommerce store with targeted ads to encourage them to return and continue buying from you. Remarketing works by placing a piece of code on your eCommerce store (called a pixel, cookie, or tag) that allows you to track when someone visits your site. This code is then used to show targeted ads to those visitors browsing the web.
How is this different from retargeting?
Retargeting is a similar process, but it generally refers to targeted ads that are shown across the web, not just on eCommerce sites. Remarketing specifically targets people who have visited your eCommerce store in the past and encourages them to return and complete a purchase. They could have visited once, spent time browsing multiple pages, and even filled their shopping cart but have yet to complete a purchase.
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Benefits Of eCommerce Remarketing
There are many benefits of eCommerce remarketing, but the most important one is that it works. Remarketing has been shown to increase brand awareness by over 400% and can result in a conversion rate that is up to ten times higher than traditional display ads. Here are some additional benefits of eCommerce remarketing efforts.
Increase touch points
The more times someone sees your ad, the more likely they are to convert. Remarketing allows you to increase the number of touchpoints you have with potential customers, which can lead to more sales. Touch points can include things like email marketing, display ads, social media ads, and more.
Higher ROI
Because eCommerce remarketing is so effective, it generally has a higher ROI than other marketing efforts. In fact, eCommerce businesses that use remarketing see an average ROI of $16 for every $one spent on ads. That’s a pretty good return on investment.
Acquiring new customers can be a costly endeavor. This is where eCommerce remarketing comes in. By targeting past customers, you’re able to bring them back into your sales funnel at a fraction of the cost of acquiring new customers and increasing your customer retention.
eCommerce remarketing is effective because it's targeted to people who have already shown an interest in what you’re selling. They’ve been to your site before and they know who you are. Remarketing helps you remind them that you exist and that you have what they need.
Higher conversion rates
As we mentioned before, eCommerce remarketing can result in conversion rates that are up to ten times higher than traditional display ads. Conversion rates are the number of people who take the desired action divided by the total number of people who see the ad. The desired action could be anything from clicking on an ad to making a purchase. The higher your conversion rate, the more effective your eCommerce remarketing efforts will be.
Reduce cart abandonment
Cart abandonment is a big problem for eCommerce businesses. On average, almost 70% of people who add items to their cart end up abandoning it before completing a purchase. That’s a lot of potential sales that are being lost.
eCommerce remarketing can help optimize your shopping cart abandonment flow by reminding people of the items they’ve left in their cart and encouraging them to come back and complete their purchase.
With Sendlane, you can create automated eCommerce remarketing workflows that are triggered when someone browse abandons or abandons their cart. These workflows can send a series of emails over a period of time that encourages the person to come back and complete their purchase. These emails should include things like an attention-grabbing subject line, a reminder of the items they’ve left in their cart, a coupon code to encourage them to come back, and free shipping offers.
You can also create eCommerce remarketing workflows for people who haven’t purchased anything from you yet. These workflows can be triggered when someone subscribes to your email.
This is an example of how Forever21 used remarketing efforts to target a buyer for a specific item they were interested in. By offering a discount, they are more likely to come back and purchase.
5 eCommerce Remarketing Strategies
Before we dive into the different eCommerce remarketing strategies, it's important to understand that these strategies can be used as part of a larger marketing campaign. For example, you might use email marketing to reach out to past customers who have abandoned their shopping carts and display ads to reach people who have visited your site but haven’t made a purchase.
The important thing is to create a cohesive campaign that uses multiple strategies to reach your target audience. With that said, here are five eCommerce remarketing strategies you can use to boost sales.
1. Personalize emails and newsletters
When you’re sending emails or newsletters to past customers, it’s important to personalize the message. This means going beyond the first name basis with customers and include information about their previous purchase history or items they’ve left in their cart.
People want to feel special. When you personalize your emails and newsletters, you’re showing your customers that they are more than just a number. This can go a long way in building customer loyalty and boosting sales.
An eCommerce tool like Sendlane can help you create effective personalized emails. Our site tracking and deep-data tools like multi-variable segmentation make it easy to create targeted, automated remarketing email campaigns to recommend products, engage visitors and entice them back to your site.
An example of a simple personalized remarketing email from Apple. This email is highlighting a specific geographic event and how the customer can benefit from it.
2. Use Google AdWords
Google AdWords is a powerful eCommerce remarketing tool. AdWords allows you to show ads to people who have visited your site or used specific keywords. You can also use AdWords to create dynamic remarketing ads that show people products they’ve viewed on your site or added to their cart.
It works by placing a piece of code on your site that collects data about the products people are viewing. This data is then used to create ads that are shown to people as they browse the web.
AdWords can be a great way to reach potential customers who might not be on your email list or who haven’t visited your site in a while.
3. Invest in Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads is another eCommerce remarketing tool that can be used to reach people who have visited your site or interacted with your brand on Facebook.
You can take the data gathered from cookies and use it to create targeted ads that are shown to people as they browse Facebook. You can target people based on their location, interests, or even the type of device they are using.
You can also use Facebook Ads to create lookalike audiences. Lookalike audiences are people who have similar interests and behaviors to your current customers.
Facebook Ads is a great way to reach people who might not be reached through other eCommerce remarketing strategies and even reach new potential customers who might not be aware of your brand or products. You can use Sendlane’s Facebook Custom Audience integration to automatically push contacts into an FB audience and create lookalike audiences based on your current customer base.
4. Target customers who purchased similar items
When you’re creating eCommerce remarketing campaigns, it can be effective to target customers who have purchased similar items in the past.
For example, if someone buys a pair of shoes from your store, you could show them ads for other shoes or clothing items that go well with the purchase they made.
You can also use this strategy to upsell or cross-sell products. Below is an example of a beauty company, Aillea, which used remarketing in an email to suggest new products to repeat customers.
You can use a combination of email and SMS marketing to reach your target audience and boost sales. SMS marketing is a great way to reach people who might not be checking their email regularly. You can use SMS marketing to send reminders about abandoned carts or special promotions.
Luxury jewelry brand, Ring Concierge, sent a targeted text message based on a previous customer’s recent search history. This is an easy and low cost way to keep the item top of mind and encourage the person to purchase. Including the direct link to the product removes barriers and makes the shopping experience easier.
This is an email recommending the same product, but without a remarketing spin on it.
Together, email and SMS marketing efforts can create a powerful eCommerce remarketing strategy that can reach people where they are and boost sales. Sendlane can help you blend your email and SMS strategies to create targeted, automated campaigns that engage your customers where they are active most and encourage them to take action.
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5. Incentivize purchases
Incentivizing purchases can add value for your customers and encourage them to buy more from your store.
You can offer discounts, free shipping, or even add a loyalty program to encourage people to buy more from your store. Offering incentives is a great way to boost sales and create loyalty among your customer base.
Sendlane can help you create tailored emails that are specific to your customers. Using behavior-based data, it’s easy to track where customers are in their journey and create emails & SMS that celebrate your customer, whether it's for a birthday, first purchase, or even at random.
Turn First-Time Purchasers Into Lifelong Customers With eCommerce Remarketing Strategies
A buyer's attention span is shorter than ever before, and eCommerce remarketing strategies are a great way to keep your store top of mind. By targeting people who have already shown an interest in your products, you can increase the chances of making a sale.
Personalized emails, Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, and targeted incentives are all great ways to reach your target audience and encourage them to buy more from your store.
By using these remarketing strategies, you can turn first-time purchasers into lifelong customers.