How to Recover Missed Opportunities in Abandoned Shopping Carts |  |
- How to Recover Missed Opportunities in Abandoned Shopping Carts
- School of Rock Franchise: Can You Really Franchise Music?
- Continue Your Education … At One of These Events in 2014
- Why Employees Are Always A Bad Idea: A Review
| How to Recover Missed Opportunities in Abandoned Shopping Carts Posted: 22 Dec 2013 04:00 PM PST
According to independent Web research, abandoned shopping carts are as high as 67.75%. Think about that for a second. All your effort spent after optimizing the landing pages, perfecting your informative style and pricing strategies are in vain as 7 out of every 10 people will definitely stop at the finish line. Isn't that quite depressing? Consider a few facts:
The truth is, you can actually recover the loss if you are willing to develop the right strategies. What Leads to Abandoned Shopping Carts?It is not simply because customers change their mind at the last minute and then leave their shopping cart. There's something more to it. Let’s explore those issues. Customers Encounter Unexpected CostsImagine this: You have spent time at the grocery store picking up items for a party you’re hosting. When you approach the checkout, the assistant announces the total including taxes, bag fees, packaging fees and card processing fees. Would you continue your purchase at this particular grocery store or try another one? These unexpected costs increase the risk of cart abandonment. When it comes to your online store, free shipping and transparent transactions are important to increase online spending. The “Just Browsing” AttitudeEcommerce research indicates that 99% of first time visitors won’t buy on their first visit and 75% who initially abandoned their shopping cart return to ultimately buy it. The following is the complete breakdown of 'time-to-purchase' data:
You need to be presentable as much as possible while they continue their search. More importantly, know that the more a person abandons their cart and the more they return to your site – the more likely they are to convert. Customers Found a Better Price ElsewhereStudies show that 'time and price' are the two important factors regarding why shoppers abandon their carts. If you want to understand the role of pricing in cart abandonment, you need to understand that all cart values are not created equally. Lower shopping carts contain higher amounts of product goods, therefore, visitors abandon their shopping cart specifically to find a better price elsewhere. When a customer abandons their shopping cart, below are few important strategies you can utilize to recover and convert them: Save Their Wishlists or Cart for Later As we’ve discussed, research indicates that the majority of the online shoppers do not make a purchase the first time they visit your website. But many do return to eventually purchase the product later. Encourage them to return to the checkout process and allow them save their wishlists. Remind them of their saved items and make them believe that you are a trustworthy and helpful resource to buy from. Retarget Them to Get Their Attention Back The more frequently the shopper sees your ads and your marketing after abandoning their shopping cart, the more likely they are to return to buy from you. But pay special attention to recency. Overdoing it can be annoying and can actually make them completely discard your site. It is better to test and measure to find the ideal mix of frequency and recency to retarget them successfully and turn them into buyers. Try To Be More Creative Try out triggering certain types of messages and offers depending on what's in the cart. For instance, high-priced items can absorb free-shipping rather than low-priced items. On the other hand, there are a few product categories that involve longer time frames to make the decision to purchase. In such cases, instead of any discount offers, a reminder will be effective without knocking your profit. Most importantly, the more exclusive your products are, the less you need to entice your customers with discounts and other lucrative offers. Integrate Images of Abandoned Items If someone searchs for exercise pants then sets one in their shopping cart and abandons it to look for other designs, there’s a good chance that the shopper does not remember that exact pants they saw on your site earlier. They get overwhelmed with choices. When you send an email with an image of the pants, you can include some reviews from other customers regarding that product, ratings and images of other similar pants. Don’t forget to add a call-to-action that leads the buyer back to their original cart. If they have to start over from the beginning, there’s a chance that they’ll run away again. Don't Force Visitors to Register to Checkout Do not make customers sign up for an account and fill out a form just to checkout. It has been estimated that 14% of shopping cart abandonment happens because visitors do not find a proper checkout option. Give your guests the option to sign up for an account or continue on as a guest. If you want them to register, you have to let them know the benefits they receive from doing so. Don't Leave Tasks for Later If people have questions regarding a product they want to buy from your site, have your company’s telephone numbers ready for them to call. If their questions are not answered as soon as possible, they are most likely to abandon their shopping cart. In addition to your company’s customer service phone number, an email address can also immensely help a customer. Last but not the least, consider developing a retargeting email program and making use of abandoned shopping cart apps that can help you recover the loss through mobile push notifications to win back the customer by sending a customized notification with a reminder of what they have left behind their cart. Learning more about how to recover abandoned shopping carts can help you drive revenue to enhance your bottom line. Shopping Cart Photo via Shutterstock The post How to Recover Missed Opportunities in Abandoned Shopping Carts appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| School of Rock Franchise: Can You Really Franchise Music? Posted: 22 Dec 2013 01:00 PM PST
For some, franchises have a reputation of being "cookie-cutter" or generic type businesses that don't give owners much room for creativity or personalization. That's what Amy Renzulli thought before she opened her own School of Rock franchise in Oak Park, Illinois. The School of Rock offers lessons and camps for people who want to learn how to create rock music. This might seem like an unusual fit for a franchising system, but Renzulli said that that type of business is what has made her franchising experience so positive.
Renzulli said in a phone interview with Small Business Trends:
Renzulli first learned about the franchising opportunity when she enrolled her daughter in the Chicago School of Rock. She had never considered opening a franchise before she heard of the opportunity, though she said she's always been interested in becoming an entrepreneur in some capacity.
She said, ”When I was working with School of Rock on starting the business, they basically gave me a palette and all the tools to work with and just let me fill in the rest.” In terms of the collaboration between company and franchisee, Renzulli said that she's been most impressed with the support she has received from the entire School of Rock community:
School of Rock also guides owners with things like marketing and curriculum. Vice President of Development for School of Rock, Aaron Delfausse, said in an email interview:
Delfausse said that School of Rock’s franchising system aims to keep the feel of a very local business while still utilizing a national brand and network:
School of Rock opened its first school in Philadelphia in 1998. The company started franchising in 2004 and now has more than 125 locations throughout 7 countries. As for Renzulli, since she opened her School of Rock, she has completed her original goal of enrolling 100 students in the first year within the first four months. And she has even enrolled as a student herself, taking voice and keyboard lessons in School of Rock's adult program. "I'm not a musician at all, but I feel really honored to be able to learn from some really great rock musicians," she said. So there you go. Some say you can franchise anything — and apparently that’s true, even for a creative activity like music. Images: Oak Park School of Rock The post School of Rock Franchise: Can You Really Franchise Music? appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Continue Your Education … At One of These Events in 2014 Posted: 22 Dec 2013 10:00 AM PST The year is winding down, for sure. Most of 2013′s conference and events are done with (although there’s still a webinar or two on the schedule!). And most of the contests (except for one) are finished for 2013. But now’s the time to plan for 2014, and we’ve got an excellent line-up for you. By attending a conference, seminar, webinar or hangout you can continue your own education. But don’t stop with yourself. Encourage key employees to also sign up. Send them to a conference — it’s a perk for them that shows you value them. It’s also an investment in your business. The more they know, the more value they can add for your business. And as far as contests and awards — well lots of benefit can be gotten from those. Monetary value, public relations and industry recognition, to name a few. So check out our list below. And remember, this is a partial list. To see the full list or to submit your own event, contest or award listing, visit the Small Business Events Calendar. Featured Events, Contests and Awards
AM Days is the must attend event for affiliate managers who are responsible for their company’s affiliate marketing strategy, management and operations. Whether you have an existing affiliate program or you are creating a new initiative, AMDays offers you valuable insight into how other online retailers are successfully implementing and managing their affiliate programs. Topics include: Affiliate program set up; Affiliate recruitment techniques; Affiliate marketing fraud; M-commerce; and much more.
#ICON14 is the eighth annual conference for small business, hosted by Infusionsoft (previously called Infusioncon). Over 3,000 attendees expected. Confirmed speakers include Seth Godin, JJ Ramberg and Peter Shankman. Hashtag: #ICON14 More Events
More Contests
This weekly listing of small business events, contests and awards is provided as a community service by Small Business Trends and SmallBizTechnology. The post Continue Your Education … At One of These Events in 2014 appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Why Employees Are Always A Bad Idea: A Review Posted: 22 Dec 2013 06:00 AM PST
Want proof? Just check out Blakeman’s in-depth book, Why Employees Are Always A Bad Idea (and Other Business Diseases of the Industrial Age). The title was the reason the book caught my attention via Twitter. I like books that find ways to ignite our imaginations, and Blakeman certainly makes a solid attempt in envisioning fulfilling work. Blakeman wrote the book Making Money Is Killing Your Business, and is CEO of the Crankset Group. What Ails Big Business … and SmallThe book's title is the third of 7 "core business diseases" – archaic practices that are a cumulative result from society's overemphasis on technology. Employees are thus "silent" in their workplaces. They bring their productivity but creative thinking skills are limited (BTW, there is a chapter on why managers are a bad idea, too.) This message may sound like a new-age rant on the surface, but Blakeman's approach helps the reader think critically about what workplace they want to be in. It can also inspire small business owners to be mindful on what culture they want to establish, as small companies now have a capacity to operate like a corporation in many ways. Blakeman advocates how the Factory System in the Industrial Age replaced craft in small spaces, along with a perception of what meaningful work was suppose to be:
Blakeman juxtaposes historical perspective and an entrepreneurial experience in Africa with many of the themes played out in today's world. It’s about the quest to build value in how we work. In the following quote, for example, Blakeman notes the irony of what large corporations have done. Not so much a criticism on big business as much as how we have adjusted our life expectations as a result:
All of this contributed to the "diseases" that are symptomatic of the Industrial Age and require reframing business principles as needed. You'll read about the 21st century Industrialist, for example, which gave rise to the rugged individualist, or the idea of being big (just to be big). The qualities that worked well may not be a best fit for being engaged with the work expected. The Rise of the StakeholdersBlakeman is not saying not to hire employees. He’s saying that you need to treat employees differently today. He advocates that we are in a "Participation Age," a period in which workers must be fully engaged to provide valuable results. The Participation Age contrasts today's best practices by reframing employees as stakeholders who take initiatives and carry responsibility for their critical thinking, benefiting their peers and organization as a result:
Businesses highlighted in the book are from traditional industries. This makes the book a useful journal for managers who do not view their business as a "tech" business but need to assess how to best leverage applications that have a presence on operations, such as software-as-a-service tools. It's an interesting contrast to ideas advanced by tech-centric entrepreneurs like Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, authors of "Rework." Fried and Hansson present ideas expected from tech entrepreneurship. Blakeman's points about meaningful work compares, but with an added emphasis on reimagining responsibilities, even if roles seemed better kept at status quo. The solution to the woes of the industrial age is seeking meaning in our work. This message alone is not new, but Blakeman innovates by connecting the message to the historical industrial perspective. For example, the Industrial Age was meant to support Safety, Security and Stability. Those three have built a foundation for a new "S" – Significance. To drive home his point about how disruptive this concept is, Blakeman notes how Millennial professionals have come to value it:
Among the solutions advocated is a unique perspective on balance – the illusion of it being an attainable goal worth pursuing:
You may want to also take a few minutes to read the afterword, "How Capitalism Will Solve Poverty" and a global view of where engagement can take us. All in all, read this book to gain a new perspective on where your business fits in an increasingly technological world. Moreover, read it to learn how to best unleash your company culture into a productive one that will continually attract employees — employees who are engaged and treated the way the 21st century employee expects to be treated. The post Why Employees Are Always A Bad Idea: A Review appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
You have to love business authors who look for a new twist on ideas, especially when they encapsulate that twist in a book title. Chuck Blakeman (| You are subscribed to email updates from Small Business Trends To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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