How Client Recovered over $480k in Revenue with ONE SMS Strategy
Our Client
The Back Story of an eCommerce Blockbuster
What started as a family business, owned by a seasoned interior designer and a savvy digital marketer, now is the go-to place for people looking to bring a little extra pizzazz to their lives, from stay-at-home moms to professional make-up artists. The brand’s one true goal is to create mirrors that are not just part of the ordinary furniture, but are the highlight of the household and have the power to transform any room into a place where their customers could feel glamorous and great. Just like their personal Hollywood movie set.
SMS with an Oscar for Abandoned Cart Recovery
As the UK went into full lockdown in March of 2020, the store kept operating as usual but people’s shopping behaviour had changed. And Adam’s resourcefulness was once again put to the test.
Being a very successful and established niche store, Client wasn’t suffering from lack of exposure or new visitors to their website. It was quite the opposite actually, as Adam was able to significantly improve the store’s rating by applying some SEO strategies and affiliate marketing.
The issue they were facing was getting those visitors to complete their orders. With people beginning to focus their spending entirely on the bare necessities, Client had to battle an average abandoned cart rate of 75%. Adam had to make this the focal point of the store’s marketing strategy and find a solution that would be more successful in recovering those orders than the other marketing means he was relying on. And he had to do it quickly.
As if on cue, Adam kept hearing about SMS marketing and SMSBump in several of the Facebook groups he is in. Attracted by the little to no investment required to start with SMS, it took him less than a week to get convinced and onboard – between the full lockdown in the UK on March 22 of 2020, to March 28 when he sent his very first abandoned cart SMS reminder.
Fast forward to today, or just a year later, Client was able to recover over $480 000 worth of abandoned carts. All of this with two simple SMS automated messages.
“There's no better ROI in eCommerce than SMS.”
Reminder #1: After 1 hour
This first reminder is very casual and its goal is simple – to get the customer to pick their phone up again and complete their order. The message doesn’t rely on any psychological gimmicks, sense of urgency or scarcity, to entice shoppers to return to their baskets. It doesn’t even offer an incentive. Attuned to the brand’s goal to provide customers with upscale products that will give them a sense of glamour and confidence, Adam understood that discounting the products so early on in the funnel would not correspond with their values.
Instead, Client focuses on personalization by addressing the customer by their first name. True to the brand voice, the message has a calm call-to-action that reminds them of their incomplete purchase. And of course a link that will take them right to the checkout, where they can finalize their order
Interesting to note is that this message is in fact the default SMS we have for this abandoned cart reminder in SMSBump.
"Why change it if it works? And it does."
What also plays a key role in the success of this message is the timing. Allowing 1 hour for their customers to deliberate the order is long enough, yet not too long. For a brand like Client that sells high-end items and generally has a higher average order value (in this case – over $250), 10-15 minutes might not be enough time for a customer to decide if they want to go through with their order. An hour, though, proves to be sufficient and what’s more – it makes it so the brand is still top-of-mind for the customer when they receive the abandoned cart reminder.
This simple and straightforward approach seems to be working very effectively for Client, as this reminder resulted in an ROI of 38x, with a conversion rate of over 70%! Even more interesting is the fact that all it took for Client to recoup their SMS investment is a single order!
Reminder #2: After 1 Day
This second reminder is where Clients’ voice and personality really shines through.
In tune with the brand’s mission to make every customer feel special in their own home, this second abandoned cart reminder offers shoppers “a special treat” from their very favorite store. On top of the £10 personalized coupon code, customers are also incentivized to complete their order as “it’s almost sold out”.
Just like with the previous reminder, timing plays a key role here as well. This second notification fires off 1 day after abandonment and is targeted at all those customers who perhaps needed a bit more time to think about buying an item that wasn’t of utmost necessity for them. As the store began using SMS right in the beginning of the pandemic, it had to also think about the change in consumer behaviour and buying patterns at the time. With millions of people having to cut back on “extraordinary” expenses after being laid-off, it was important to show understanding and allow more time for a calculated decision.
The feeling of exclusivity, combined with the sense of scarcity and proper timing, deserve a standing ovation for resulting in an ROI of 150x.
