A customer typed a phrase into your store's search bar, scanned the results and left without buying. That doesn't have to be a lost opportunity. An abandoned search leaves a clear trail of purchase intent that you can use to return to the customer at the right moment with a relevant offer and recover valuable traffic.
Table of contents
- 01 What does abandoned search automation deliver?
- 02 Which industries is this scenario a good fit for?
- 03 What tips will boost effectiveness?
- 04 Summary
01 What does abandoned search automation deliver?
An abandoned search is a situation in which customers run a search on your website without adding any items to their cart. Ultimately, they don't make a purchase. In that case, you can send them an email about their abandoned search.
Using automation tied to abandoned searches enables you to:
- Retarget the most valuable traffic on your site - traffic that has a high probability of a repeat purchase.
- Increase basket value.
- Increase revenue and the number of returning customers.
In an abandoned search scenario, you can apply active retargeting of the customer based on their most recently searched phrases, e.g. "blue backpack". In the first email, two hours after they leave the site, you can send a dynamic email featuring the most recently viewed product along with recommendations for similar products. If the customer doesn't make a purchase within a day, you can send them, for example, an SMS with a link to the most recently viewed product.
For customers who respond to neither emails nor SMS, you can show them a personalized ad on social media featuring the most recently searched product, along with a message that the offer is available for a limited time.
02 Which industries is this scenario a good fit for?
This scenario works well in any store that has a large number of products and where customers frequently use the site's search feature.
03 What tips will boost effectiveness?
- Set the order of the scenarios triggered in your store to avoid a situation where a customer receives two emails back to back.
- Don't overdo the number of emails you send, either. Too many notifications can put a customer off. Limit sending to, say, three emails per week.
- Try testing different subject lines - you may find that the body of the email is enough but the subject doesn't grab enough attention.
04 Summary
An abandoned search is a strong buying signal - the customer was actively looking for something, so it's worth returning to them with relevant, personalized communication. A sequence based on the most recently searched phrases (email, SMS, social media ad) effectively recovers this valuable traffic and lifts conversion. Just keep an eye on your sending frequency and test your subject lines so you don't discourage the customer with too many notifications.