If they leave anything in their shopping cart, send a simple email a week later. Ask if they still want it and offer a discount.
Here’s an example from GoDaddy:
Dear Andy Sernovitz,
The last time you shopped at GoDaddy.com, you never completed your order and left the following items in your cart: _____
We’ve saved that order information for you… but only for a short time. Complete your order NOW and you’ll save an additional 10%!*
But hurry, this could be your LAST CHANCE to SAVE! To complete your order, simply enter source code xxxxxxx into your cart. Prefer to complete your order by phone? Then call 1-480-505-8821 and mention the source code to your representative.
Thanks, as always, for being a Go Daddy customer.
Sincerely,
Bob Parsons
CEO and Founder
GoDaddy.com
Apple once had the same option, really nice way to push people over the edge of doubt
A downside of this could be, once you know you can get a discount if you put stuff in your cart and don’t buy it, there will be a lot of delay between the buying decision and actually placing the order.. (you wouldn’t have got the discount if you ordered right away, right?)
I agree that there’s a short term gain but a long-term problem as people delay ordering to get the discount. One alternative would be to offer people a significant discount (10-20%) on a future order if they buy what’s in their cart. Then the retailer potentially gets an incremental order.
The thing with Apple – they still do it. If you put something in the basket on their store site, but don’t push it over the edge to checkout, you get a phone call a couple of weeks later! I’m sure they’ll have some sort of minimum value spec to attract such ‘personal’ attention . . . which works.
Once in a while, I’ve left a cart half completed…generally rushing out the door. Always wonder why the retailer hasn’t sent an email out a few days later. A “can we help you…did you have a problem last time you tried to order from us” would be a nice customer relationship building move. Hmmmm…maybe they don’t want my biz.