How web push notification help you to build recall and loyalty

When was the last time you clicked on a banner ad? Chances are it’s been a while and you’ve since forgotten what the ad was about. Over the years, internet users have become oblivious to banner ads and generating clicks has become increasingly difficult. The graph below exemplifies the sharp decline in banner ad engagement over the past two decades.

A report written by Mary Meeker, venture capitalist and former Wall Street securities analyst, reveals that the number of users using ad blocking softwares has skyrocketed.

In addition to not clicking on ads, people are  also preventing them from being displayed at all.  When it comes to e-Commerce  business, the challenges marketers face are no longer limited to cart abandonment or poor conversion rates. Competition has grown fierce over the years and many new companies have turned to paid promotions on platforms like Facebook and Google to keep up with the industry’s demands and maintain a competitive edge. Consequently, as more businesses continue to target the same users, Facebook’s average revenue per user is consistently increasing.  

Meanwhile, Customer Acquisition Cost continues to increase and standing out from the crowd has become more of a challenge. About 10% of the websites online today are e-commerces  giving users access to a wide variety of online store choices. It is difficult to stand out from, let alone beat such intense competition. No wonder it’s become so difficult to acquire new customers with the volume and intensity of online competition being so high. Reports point to the fact that it is 6 to 7 times easier to drive repeat transactions than to generate sales from a new customer. In other words, getting an already loyal customer to choose your products requires much less effort than it would to convince a new person to spend their money toward your brand.

When it launched 25 years ago, Amazon was merely an online bookstore. The company has now grown into the world’s largest online retailer. The e-commerce giant achieved this phenomenal growth by analyzing customers and aligning their marketing efforts with their shopping behaviors. Amazon’s secret ingredient is their loyal customer base, built over many years. There’s no denying that repeat users bring more value to a business than new customers which is why Customer Lifetime Value or CLV should always be taken into consideration. CLV is the total net profit that a customer generates during his or her entire journey with the business.

The ratio of CLV to CAC more clearly reflects the profits brought on by each customer. According to Klipfolio, the ideal CLV to CAC ratio should be 3:1, so a customer should generate three times what it cost a company to acquire them. Considering this ratio, it is evident that customer retention is critical to a business’ health and growth. It is also well known that selling to existing customers is comparatively easier and increasing the retention rate by 5% could help a business boost profits by as much as 25% to 95%.

Using web push notifications, iZooto, has helped 500 marketing teams generate 20 million repeat visitors and 200K in sales. Web push notifications have contributed up to 3% of total revenue for major retailers such as  Myntra and Jabong.

How web push notifications can help e-commerce stores

Let’s take a quick step back to understand what web push notifications are. Web Push Notifications are clickable messages that a user receives on desktop and/or mobile from a website. Technically, marketers can start sending notifications to users as soon as they subscribe to a store. Since these notifications are delivered even when users are not on your website, they enable retailers to build a definite recall. Visitors often shy away from sharing personal information such as email addresses or phone numbers. This is not an issue in the case of browser notifications since such  information is neither required nor stored, thus increasing the likelihood of increased subscriptions. Web push notifications tend to prolong the average time users spend on a website as well as  boost their cart value.

Reducing CAC by using web push notifications as a channel for retargeting :

• Effective retargeting can help e-commerce websites to reduce their CAC, as this enables them to retain their customers. However,  tracking these online customers is quite difficult as they aren’t clearly identified. Web push notifications make retargeting these customers easier since notifications are device independent. Your customers won’t even be required to visit your website to receive notifications from you. Web push notifications generate higher click-through rates s when they are directed at the right users. Therefore, it’s important to segment subscribers before pushing out notifications. Here are some notification templates which can be useful to e-commerce marketers. 

Driving CLV by sending relevant notifications to build recall :

• In addition to driving sales, sending out relevant web notifications also makes your brand, logo and domain more memorable to customers. The key here is relevance, not frequency. Communicating about special offers or wide product range over a period of time will help retailers build top of mind recall among their customers. This will further aid in enhancing the lifetime value of each customer.  

Upsell and Cross Sell :

• Boost average order value by encouraging customers to purchase more. Communicate the additional value that they will get by ordering a higher priced product efficiently with web push notifications. For instance, a customer who has previously shown interest in purchasing an LCD TV can more easily be geared toward a more expensive LED TV by conveying benefits such as better picture quality, low electricity consumption, etc.

Providing your customers with product suggestions that account for their buying preferences lets them know that you’ve taken their taste into consideration, rather than bombarding them with items they have no interest for. Now that they can have access to data about what customers want , marketers should seize the opportunity to cross sell relevant products. For example, a customer who has just purchased a mobile phone is likely to show interest for related accessories such as headphones.

Referring to customers’ purchase history and wishlists allows the segmentation of clients based on their previous needs and interests and enables a more personalized shopping experience.  Users are less likely to disregard a notification if the content directed at them is based on their user persona since it’ll be more relevant to them. Push notifications are also a great way to promote loyalty programs and enable customers to accumulate of points based on previous purchases. Foster a more positive shopping experience for customers by rewarding them for spending their money in your online store. Build campaigns to receive feedback from customers on their shopping experience and, in return delight them with actual gifts. Building loyalty amongst customers goes a long way as it could  lead to increased lifetime value.

With the help of web push notifications, e-commerce stores can easily reach out to new users and reconnect with disengaged customers. They also serve as a vehicle for information about new stock updates or the return of popular items. By using web push notifications,retailers can reward loyal customers, collect feedback and address cart abandonments.

This tool, which is already turning to be a strong ally for e-commerce marketers, is still being developed but has the potential to change the popular approach to online marketing.