How To Use Retargeting Ads To Recover Abandoned Carts And Increase Sales

Abandoned shopping carts are a stubborn and persistent challenge for online retailers, with around 75% of UK consumers pulling out of their transactions before completion in Q2 2024. (For mobile customers this was slightly higher at 77%, while computer-based users had a modestly better abandonment rate of 68%.) So, with only 25% of customers actually getting to the checkout, what can be done to reduce the problem of abandoned shopping carts? In this article, we’ll look at retargeting ads and the ways you can use them to entice back potential customers who abandon their shopping carts.

The power of retargeting

Retargeting adverts are designed to strategically re-engage customers who have abandoned their shopping carts, nudging them to complete their purchases. The adverts work by tracking visitors who leave your site without making a purchase, letting you display tailored ads and encouraging them to return. As these customers have already shown interest in your products and often intend to complete the purchase at some point anyway, retargeting can be a remarkably effective and powerful way to spend your advertising budget.

How to make the most of retargeting ads:

1. Segment your customer database for precision targeting

Not all customers who abandon their shopping carts do so for the same reason, so to maximise the effectiveness of your adverts, it’s important to segment your buyers so that they see an advert that aligns with their abandonment behaviour. Some users, for instance, may have merely browsed one or two pages on your site without too much interest, while others might have spent significant time on your website before adding items to their cart. These potential customers might need different personalised messages to convince them to complete their purchase. For example, the ‘considered purchase’ customer may have been deterred by shipping costs or simply ran out of time, and could be coaxed back by a straightforward discount incentive. The ‘casual browser’, on the other hand, might have security concerns or need more information about your business, and might be tempted back by gated content that reinforces your credibility.

You can also segment your database based on the types of products and the value of products abandoned so that the appropriate offer is provided to maximise conversions.

2. Create compelling retargeting ad copy

The key to successful retargeting is urgency. People are less likely to return to their shopping cart if they feel they have all the time in the world to do so. You need to incentivise them to act quickly. Getting your offer right is part of this, and urgent, compelling ad content is another. Many customers who abandon their shopping cart intend to return ‘at some point’, so your retargeting adverts should play on their fear of missing out. If they think you might imminently sell out of their items or they will miss out on a good discount, they may be encouraged to return. Emphasising limited stock items, or giving a generous time-limited percentage discount (10-20% for 24 to 48 hours) could encourage some customers to complete their transaction.

3. Use dynamic product adverts

Dynamic product adverts visually display the specific items that a customer viewed or added to their cart, which increases the likelihood of conversion by reflecting the exact products the user was interested in, rather than your brand in general. These advert categories can be set up on ad platforms such as Google and Facebook, and sync with your product feed to maintain accuracy.

Retargeting mistakes: avoiding advertising fatigue

Among some users, there is a growing backlash against online advertising, so you need to be careful with retargeting so that your strategy doesn’t backfire by annoying or disengaging customers. After all, people have good reasons for abandoning their shopping carts and many resent the feeling of being pressured by retargeting or follow-up emails.

The way to avoid this negative perception is by understanding your customer personas through surveys and requested feedback. From the perspective of the customer, for instance, some abandoned shopping carts aren’t ‘abandoned’ at all – they’ve simply loaded up a selection of products that they fully intend to purchase on payday or next week, and others may need more time to price up their options before making a decision between one or more vendors. Bombarding these people with adverts may push them into the arms of Amazon. A way to avoid this is to implement frequency caps to control how often the user sees your adverts, striking a balance between visibility and irritation. We recommend experimenting with different frequency settings to determine what works best for your customers so that you maintain a positive brand perception.

Analyse and optimise

Like any advertising campaign, regular analysis of your campaign performance is essential for delivering the best value for money from retargeting. Keep on top of important metrics such as your click-through rates for each advert, conversion rates, and your ROI from ad expenditure. It’s also worth experimenting with timings, as this can greatly influence the success of retargeting adverts. Ideally, ads should appear soon after a shopping cart is abandoned, while the experience is still fresh in the customer’s mind. However, feel free to use A/B testing to adjust your retargeting windows according to your product sales cycle to maximise effectiveness. Short retargeting windows may be effective for fast-moving and low-priced consumer goods, whereas high-involvement purchases might benefit from longer durations.

Find out more

Get in touch with the digital advertising specialists at JDR today to find out more about retargeting and how this advertising strategy can help you reduce your number of abandoned shopping carts.

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