3 Ways to Use Web Push Notifications and Boost E-commerce Conversions

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If you’re already up to the task of building a list of subscribers who’d like to receive web push notifications, you might be wondering what kind of messages will keep users engaged?

Below are a few ways to maximize user engagement with web push notifications. But before that, if you’re evaluating the use of web push notifications for your e-commerce website, take a look at this video or you can read all about push notifications here.

Web push notifications are one of the easiest ways to bring users back to the website once they leave. Got a great offer? Discounts only for the next couple of hours? Be ready for an instant hike in traffic after sending a web push notification to all the opt-ins.

It is a great way to retarget the users because of two reasons,

• It demands less commitment from users to opt-in. Clicking “yes” is always easier than submitting the email id. This makes web push notifications preferable over emails.
• Let’s be honest, retargeting is expensive. You don’t even know if your visitor wants to see you again. With voluntary opt-ins, you could be sure of user willingness to see your messages.

It’s interesting to know how these push notifications work and how you can leverage Web Push Notifications to Boost E-Commerce Conversions.

There are three main strategies to maximize the impact of web push notifications and increase conversions.

1. Broadcast

We see many companies adopting an email newsletter-type mindset to send web push. Send a few web push notifications every day and send them to everyone.

Does it work? Answer: Kind of.
There will always be some percentage of people who click. The question is how well does it work compared to alternatives. Much like emailing all recipients on the distribution list of your newsletter, it works. Some percentage of people will always respond. However, with web push notifications, you’re only tapping into a part of what’s possible. We’ve seen typical broadcast web push messages in media and publishing deliver 15-30% click-through rates. Not bad, but media and publishing are best suited for broadcast because of the breaking news or trending content nature of their business. They have a following, many brand loyalists, and are used to the “breaking” nature of news. However, if your site is content-focused, but not necessarily time-sensitive in the case of breaking news, or is e-commerce, the broadcast can push people away. Even promotional messages are in the high single-digit click-through rate category. Know your audience and know why they opted in. That will guide you. It is recommended that the more targeted, the better.

2. Targeted Broadcast

Targeted Broadcast moves you toward more thoughtful messaging. The goal is to push more messages out to more subsets of your audience. Push political news to those who read political news stories vs. lifestyle. As you become more relevant, you add more value to the user in push messages which payback. It’s best  to hone in on relevancy is to “think one layer deeper.” What I mean is- think about getting someone to your site. That’s layer one. Once they click into a section or category that’s layer two. Here considering one layer deeper means focusing on layer two. Create user profiles and don’t send users a Sports news alert if they visit the Travel category 20 times in the last three months. Sportscafe, a sports website in India uses web push notifications in a very targeted way.

Gaurav Konar, co-founder of SportsCafe shares their approach,

I can push breaking news articles specifically to cricket enthusiasts while sending tactical football analysis to users who relate better to those types of messages.

You can read the complete success story here.

3. Auto-triggered

This is where we see the leaders of web push experimenting and generating the highest possible response rates, providing the most value.

Web push messages which are auto-triggered based on an individual’s behavior are more relevant and hence, garner higher click-through rates. Any website that has created a series of steps for a user to walk through has the opportunity to re-engage them in a personalized way if they fall out of the process halfway through. Media and publishing companies with premium subscription services and e-commerce companies with a standard purchase process can take significant advantage of knowing who the person is, at which step in the purchase process they dropped off and can message them on how to quickly jump back in and complete purchase easily.

Bonus Material – 9 Web Push Notification Strategies to Boost Web Conversions

We work with customers who drive 7% of people to return and purchase if they leave the purchase process. They drive 8% of people back to add an item to their cart if the users were browsing just moments before and dropped off. These alerts are timed to happen 15min after the actions took place. The alerts include product names, brands, etc. They are highly relevant, timely, and often provide incentives (value) in exchange for taking the proposed action. In this category, highly targeted news alerts based around artists or celebrities with a loyal following works best. Add AI-driven time and content optimization, and you will be multiplying response rate and impact.

If you’d like to learn about more benefits of implementing web push notifications for your website, talk to us.