Retail Apps: Are Your Push Notifications Driving Conversions?
We’ve seen time and time again that push notifications are the key to retention. It’s 2016, and people are saturated with more apps than they can fit on their home screens. A user might download a retail app and bookmark a few items only to forget about it the next day. Right now, it’s more important than ever for apps to reach out directly to their following.
But knowing that push matters is only half the battle. How can a retail app craft a push notification campaign that successfully drives conversions? Sending the wrong message at the wrong time could lead to the user uninstalling your app, so it’s important to get it right.
To solve this problem, we compiled a handy Push Playbook for Retail Apps. This guide teaches you everything you need to keep shoppers engaged. We’ll go over a few retail-specific techniques to understand how to make the most of your app installs.
Send Notifications Based on User Behavior
The first rule of push notifications: always personalize.
Across all verticals, personalization is key to push notification engagement. Our second data science report found that personalizing push notification content can increase open rates by 800 percent.
After all, no one wants to feel like the target of a generic marketing blast. Users have spoken through their habits that customized messaging is the way to go.
How should a retail app personalize its push content? For one, you can offer recommendations based on a user’s browsing history and preferences. If a person recently browsed a particular product category, like shoes or jackets, try sending a message that suggests similar products. These suggestions can be as broad or narrow as you’d like — A/B test your messages to find the perfect balance.
Another option is to identify user preferences based on overall habits. If a person has bought two or three items from the same brand, consider recommending items in different categories by the same brand. Similarly, if a user has a long purchase history but they shop exclusively in a single category, you might get better mileage out of recommendations that don’t stray from that category.
Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment
Shopping cart abandonment is a recurring problem in retail. Only 10 percent of users complete purchases on mobile. If your users fail to convert after adding an item to their cart, there’s a chance that they were successfully engaged with your app — they just forgot to finish the deal.
In situations like this, a gentle reminder to check out could save you a lost purchase. Better yet, you can use deep linking to make the experience as seamless as possible. If the user’s cart is already full, link them straight to the checkout page; if not, take them to the item they last looked at.
A/B Test Coupons to Increase Sales
Retail apps have a few different types of coupons to choose from, but it may be unwise to depend on one type to serve your whole audience. Some buyers prefer coupon codes that work on their whole order, while others prefer flash sales that offer deep discounts on a small pool of items. Even within coupon codes, users might prefer percentage-based discounts over price-based discounts, or vice-versa.
By A/B testing your coupons, you can identify how your audience responds to different coupon types. If there’s enough interest in a given type, place the user in a new segment and offer them more of that coupon type. Your coupon offers will be more effective if you target users who have shown a preference for them.
Of course, A/B testing shouldn’t stop there. You can continue to test each campaign flow to make sure that users aren’t falling off. This way, you’ll be able to cut a coupon campaign if it isn’t producing the right results.
Push notification engagement doesn’t have to stop there. Retail apps can employ even more techniques to bring users back into their apps, like geolocation-triggered messaging. Of course, it’s equally important for apps to maximize push opt-ins, and that often requires a strategy in itself.
If you’re searching for an end-to-end solution for your retail app’s push notification woes, our Push Playbook for Retail Apps is the place to look. Download the guide to learn everything you need to turn users into buyers.
Leanplum is the most complete mobile marketing platform, designed for intelligent action. Our integrated solution delivers meaningful engagement across messaging and the in-app experience. We work with top brands such as Expedia, Tesco, and Lyft. Schedule your personalized demo here.