How Online Retailers Are Walking Away From $3 Trillion A Year

This post is sponsored by SaleCycle.

Have you ever started to shop online, put a few items in your shopping cart, and then walked away without buying anything?

You're not alone: In 2013, 68% of online consumers did the same thing. The buying habit, referred to as "cart abandonment," may be harmless to consumers, but it's costing retailers a lot of money.

Remarketing company SaleCycle estimates that retailers will lose out on $3 trillion worth of abandoned purchases this year. While there are a number of reasons shoppers don't end up purchasing items in their cart - maybe they've lost their Internet connection, or are comparing prices on another site, or simply got distracted - there are plenty of ways for brands to win back these "almost customers."

Companies like SaleCycle have managed to help retailers recoup customers and increase online revenues by up to 10% using email remarketing tactics and on-site messaging. Sony saw its online sales increase by 7% when it began sending emails to customers with subject lines that read, "Don't Worry, We've Saved Your Basket," two hours after an abandoned purchase. The emails featured full details and images of the items placed in the consumer's basket, along with an estimated delivery date.

Through on-site remarketing, brands are able to capture consumers before they leave the website. Recommending items related to what's already in a consumer's cart or reminding someone of the company's free shipping policy may be just the nudge someone needs to complete a purchase.

"The second a customer abandons, they become a red-hot prospect and the marketing man's best friend," says SaleCycle founder and CEO Dominic Edmunds. "They might not be ready to purchase just yet, but you want to make sure it's you, and not your competitor, at the forefront of their mind the moment they are."

In 2014, consumers are expected to spend more than $1.4 trillion in online shopping, according to e-commerce company Rakuten. Which means there are trillions of dollars in potential revenue left on the table for retailers who are wise enough to do something about it.

To learn more about how to combat cart abandonment and what an increase in online sales will mean for your bottom line, register for SaleCycle's upcoming webinar, "The 10 Essentials to Successful Remarketing."

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