If you run a Shopify store, there are two dominant competitors that are stealing your profits every day. But you may be surprised to learn that these competitors aren’t in your niche or your market. And they don’t even sell any of the products or services that you’re offering…
You need to watch out for these two most dangerous competitors facing your Shopify store.
Here’s the thing: according to independent research from the Baymard Institute, an average of 67.75% of all online shopping carts is abandoned.
Think about it, no matter how well optimized your checkout funnel is, close to 7 out of 10 people are going to fall at the last hurdle. Gutting, isn’t it?
What’s more shocking is that recent research from Forrester estimates that every year $31 billion dollars are being left on the table by e-commerce stores. Because of abandoned shopping carts. Now, for the kicker that may surprise you:
The majority of your visitors aren’t necessarily abandoning your site in favor of buying elsewhere. The reason is they’re abandoning your cart because of two often overlooked competitors…
Competitor #1 – Attention
Let’s face it, in today’s world of information overload, you’re not competing for customers, you’re competing for attention. And you’re competing with attention-grabbing websites like Facebook and YouTube, even more than you are with your “direct competitors”.
Imagine, the average Facebook user spends 700 minutes per month accessing their news feed and consuming content on the site. On top of that, over 6 billion hours of video are viewed each month on YouTube—that’s almost an hour for every person on the planet. Your visitors’ attention is being demanded everywhere.
Here’s another little thought, your visitors aren’t shopping in a vacuum when they’re on your site. In fact, their attention can be stolen by any number of everyday offline interruptions. Their doorbell or phone might ring, their spouse may call out that “dinner’s ready” or their children may barge in on them.
And once their thought process is disrupted, it’s harder to get them back on track. So you need to grab your visitors’ attention immediately… and keep it.
So how do you stop the “Squirrel Effect”?
Well, the answer is simple. First, you have to understand that you have 3 seconds maximum to grab a visitor’s attention. When they arrive at your webpage because of this fact. Talking about yourself, your company, or your product too much – or worse, droning on about something entirely irrelevant are all conversion killers.
The answer is, you have to make it all about them.
In those vital few seconds when a visitor arrives. You must join the conversation going on in their heads and quickly answer these three questions:
1. Do I think that this site has what I’m searching for?
2. What exactly are you offering?
3. What’s in it for me?
Here’s why this works: Visitors wants immediate affirmation that they’re in the right place and that they’re easily going to get what they want. So make sure you instantly communicate what you’re offering, what it’s all about and what’s in it for them.
Top tip: The Shoptimized™ Theme, one of the best premium Shopify themes, let’s you do al of the above out-of-the-box.
As an example, Duluth Trading does a fantastic job of capturing their visitors’ attention on their jeans category page. It’s immediately obvious what the page is all about and they swiftly convey the benefit of being able to “crouch without the ouch”.
Competitor #2 – Apathy
Now, here’s something that you may never have considered as a competitor – doing nothing.
How many times have you been sparked to search for an item by an idea, an ad, or a conversation with a friend? You’ve found the item, added it to cart but not quite been convinced that you need it when it comes to getting your wallet out.
This is just one example, but this kind of apathy is costing you plenty of sales. Your visitor may have decided the timing isn’t right or they’re not entirely sure. Although, the item is exactly what they need or they can’t justify the expense right now.
Whatever the reason, when the moment has passed it’s often never to be repeated.
At best you might get a few that add the item to a wishlist and come back sometime in the future. But the reality is that most do precisely nothing.
Now, naturally, it’s easy to assume that you’re losing business to your direct competitors. But often visitors are searching for a product on a whim. And if they’re not persuaded, they leave and forget all about the idea.
How to Win Back Abandoned Carts
Do you remember when I said that close to 7 out of 10 visitors abandon their cart?
Good. Well, how much more money would you be making if your website was able to recover 10, 20, or even 30% of your abandoned carts?
Cart abandonment email/SMS/chatbot campaigns can easily put extra profits to the tune of 6 to 7 figures in your bank account simply by sending a timely reminder about your product for those distracted or apathetic customers.
Not only that but getting another bite at the cherry gives you the opportunity to really drive home your value proposition, your guarantee, and your returns policy.
On top of that, you can use the messages to help tip the balance in your favor by reinforcing any social-proof elements you have. An example is reviews, the number of customers served, or any notable media mentions.
Here are 16 cart abandonment email tips to close-ranks on apathy and distraction. You can also get my free cart abandonment email templates here.
We’ve also written a really good article on Retargeting.
