Sound familiar? A customer adds items to their cart then vanishes, leaving you wondering how to reel them back in. Maybe they got distracted, found a better deal, or simply forgot. No matter the reason, losing that sale is frustrating, and it can feel like you’ve lost them for good.
Reengaging customers is about reconnecting with those who’ve drifted off, whether it’s due to a lapse in interest or a negative user experience. It’s rarely personal — shoppers disengage for all kinds of reasons. But here’s the problem: Inactive customers chip away at retention and revenue, two things that are crucial for any ecommerce retailer.
The good news is that disengaged customers offer a chance to reestablish connection and loyalty. Master customer reengagement, and you’ll build stronger relationships, helping you stay profitable and competitive. Read on for easy strategies you can start using today to turn lapsed customers into loyal ones.
Why Reengagement Is Critical for Ecommerce Success
It’s tempting to think disengaged customers can be replaced, but acquiring new ones is more expensive than it may seem. In 2013, merchants lost $9 for every new customer they gained. In 2022, that cost surged to $29, a 222% increase.
Not to mention, Qualtrics finds that organizations risk 6.7% of their revenue — or $3.1 trillion globally — when they lose customers due to poor experiences.
This shows why it’s worth reengaging customers who’ve already shopped with you instead of pouring more money into finding new ones. It’s easier on your budget, takes less time, and honestly, saves your sales and marketing teams a major headache.
Customer retention also directly impacts two key metrics that define long-term business health: revenue growth and customer lifetime value (LTV). Long-term revenue reflects your brand’s profitability over time, while LTV measures the total value a customer brings throughout their relationship with you. And here’s the best part: By prioritizing retention, you’re cultivating loyal relationships with customers who’ll keep coming back (and might even bring their friends).
How To Identify Inactive Customers
Before reengaging inactive customers, you must first identify who qualifies as “inactive.” Not every return or unopened email signals disengagement. To pinpoint inactive customers, use the following checklist as a starting point:
- No purchase history within a defined timeframe (as in, six months or a year)
- Consistently low or no engagement with marketing campaigns
- Decreased website or app activity
- Frequent product returns without follow-up purchases
- Lack of interaction with loyalty programs or promotions
Once you’ve identified inactive customers, segmentation helps you target them with personalized messages, leaving out your engaged audience. Analyzing customer behavior reveals why they lost interest — whether it’s too many returns, irrelevant marketing, or something else — so you can create tailored strategies to win them back.
Bloomreach simplifies the process with smart data analysis, giving you a clear view of inactive customers and helping you create targeted segments for reengagement. No more drowning in spreadsheets — our tools make reconnecting with customers effortless and effective.
5 Effective Strategies To Reengage Ecommerce Customers
Once you’ve identified your inactive customers and understand how data and segmentation help organize these contacts, it’s time to focus on re-engaging them. These five strategies are a great place to start:
1. Personalize Your Outreach Using AI-Driven Insights
AI technology has revolutionized how we understand and interact with customers, making it easier than ever to reengage those who’ve gone quiet. AI analyzes past customer behavior to figure out how to bring them back. For example, it might send a discount email to someone who browsed but didn’t buy, or reach out on social media with a message tailored just for them.
Bloomreach takes this to the next level with real-time, data-driven campaigns tailored to each customer. From personalized email and SMS to social media and in-app messaging, Bloomreach ensures your outreach stays consistent, relevant, and impactful across every channel, helping you build stronger, longer-lasting relationships.
2. Leverage Email Marketing Campaigns
Email marketing may be old-school, but it’s still one of the most effective ways to connect with customers. In fact, email marketing generates an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent.
Instead of sending a generic message asking customers to come back, try these tactics:
- Abandoned cart emails: If a customer left items in their cart, send a friendly reminder with a nudge, like “Grab it now before it’s gone!” Sweeten the deal with a discount or free shipping.
- Win-back campaigns: Create a series of win-back emails designed to rekindle interest. For instance, “We miss you!” could highlight new arrivals or offer an exclusive deal for returning customers.
- Product recommendations: Use customer data to suggest items based on their previous purchases or browsing habits, such as “We thought you’d love these.”
Bloomreach elevates your email marketing by focusing on the little things that make a big difference. Whether it’s perfecting your subject lines or timing your sends just right, Bloomreach ensures your reengagement emails land at the perfect moment, turning ordinary opens into sales that’ll have your team grinning from ear to ear.
3. Use SMS and Push Notifications To Drive Urgency
Did you know the average American checks their phone 205 times a day? SMS messages and push notifications are hard to ignore because their immediacy taps into our natural curiosity.
SMS and push notifications are the perfect medium for creating a sense of urgency, especially with time-sensitive offers. An SMS or push notification like, “Flash sale: 20% off all skincare products, today only!” reminds customers of your brand while encouraging an impulsive purchase.
With Bloomreach, delivering these urgent messages is a breeze. Whether your customers are scrolling through social media, texting, or browsing your app, Bloomreach makes sure your message lands at just the right time and place. Plus, with audience targeting, your campaigns hit the mark without feeling pushy.
4. Create Loyalty Rewards and Incentives
Customer loyalty is like the holy grail of ecommerce. While a well-placed Instagram ad might get someone to click “Buy Now,” keeping that same customer engaged with your brand (and excited enough to tell their friends) is a different ballgame.
Reengaging inactive shoppers can be as simple as offering loyalty rewards, where customers earn points for discounts or perks. For example, a skincare brand might send an email offering triple points with a message like, “You’re only 200 points away from a free moisturizer!” This personalized incentive encourages a return visit while making customers feel valued.
Bloomreach makes loyalty programs more personal by using data to customize rewards for each customer. If your shopper loves eco-friendly products, Bloomreach might send them discounts on sustainable items. This approach makes the rewards feel more relevant, helping to bring customers back for more.
5. Retarget With Personalized Ads
Ever noticed an ad for something you recently viewed online? That’s retargeting, or ads that remind customers about your brand after they’ve left your site. Whether on Google, LinkedIn, or shopping apps, these personalized ads create a relevant nudge, encouraging shoppers to return and complete their purchases.
Dynamic retargeting makes personalization even better. Imagine a customer adds shoes to their cart but doesn’t check out. A timely ad showing the exact shoes with a message like “Still thinking about these? They’re waiting for you!” can bring them back, especially with a limited-time discount.
Where your ads appear matters, and Bloomreach removes the guesswork by using data to place ads where your customers are most likely to engage. Our platform aligns your retargeting strategy with broader marketing goals, syncing campaigns, creative, messaging, and placements to bring customers back.
Measuring the Success of Your Reengagement Campaigns
To see how your reengagement campaigns are doing, keep an eye on key metrics that show how customers are responding and how it’s affecting your bottom line. Here are a few important ones to watch:
- Click-through rate (CTR): Measures the percentage of customers clicking on your emails, ads, or notifications
- Conversion rate: Tracks how many users complete desired actions, like purchases or loyalty program sign-ups
- Retention rate: Shows how many customers return to shop with you over time
- Average order value (AOV): Reflects how much customers spend per transaction
- Customer lifetime value (CLV): Evaluates total revenue generated by a customer over their relationship with your brand
Bloomreach simplifies tracking and improving your campaigns with its analytics platform, pulling data from all your channels for real-time performance insights. If an email campaign isn’t performing, it suggests tweaks like new subject lines or timing adjustments. It also identifies customer trends to refine segmentation and special offers, helping you optimize for better results.
How Bloomreach Helps Ecommerce Marketers Rengage Customers
Bloomreach is packed with features that help ecommerce brands win back customers who’ve lost interest. Designed with ecommerce in mind, it’s an all-in-one platform that helps you catch shoppers’ attention and hold it, no matter how their tastes or preferences change.
Bloomreach addresses marketers’ need for smart reengagement strategies in several ways:
AI-Powered Personalization for Tailored Customer Experiences
Bloomreach’s Loomi AI acts like a personal shopper for each customer. By analyzing behavior, preferences, and past purchases, our platform crafts outreach that feels tailor-made. Whether it’s recommending an accessory to match a recent purchase or nudging a customer toward an abandoned cart, Bloomreach ensures your messaging hits the mark.
The magic is in real-time adjustments — as customer behavior shifts, your campaigns adapt, keeping your messaging fresh and relevant. With AI-powered personalization, every touchpoint feels thoughtful, helping you reengage customers and increase revenue at every stage of the customer journey.
Seamless Omnichannel Campaign Management
Bloomreach makes omnichannel marketing feel effortless by creating consistent user experiences across email, SMS, push notifications, social media platforms, and beyond. No more juggling multiple tools or struggling to align messaging across platforms. With Bloomreach, all your campaigns are managed in one centralized hub, so you can say goodbye to silos and redundant tasks.
Need to adjust an offer or update creative? Easy! With seamless integration across channels, you save time while delivering a consistent brand experience, whether your target audience is checking their inbox, scrolling their feed, or tapping a notification. Bloomreach delivers efficiency and influence in one platform.
Actionable Insights From Robust Data Analytics
Bloomreach turns raw data into valuable insights by analyzing customer behavior to help you create smarter reengagement strategies. Our powerful platform tracks key metrics like LTV, retention rates, and campaign performance, giving you a clear picture of what’s working and what’s not.
Want to understand why customers are dropping off or which campaigns are bringing in the best ROI? We make it easy with user-friendly dashboards that answer those questions in a snap. With these insights, you can adjust your strategies, shift resources where needed, and keep your audience engaged. It’s data-driven marketing made easy and effective.
Scalability for Reengagement Campaigns at Every Level
Bloomreach effortlessly scales reengagement campaigns, whether you’re reaching a few thousand or millions of customers. Our automation features handle the heavy lifting, managing execution and optimization so you can focus on the bigger picture.
Need to personalize offers for a huge audience or launch a flash sale across several channels? We’ll make sure that everything runs smoothly without sacrificing quality or speed. By automating the repetitive stuff, we help you stay consistent with messaging while saving time and resources, no matter how big your business or audience gets.
Reengage Customers, Grow Your Revenue
Reengaging inactive customers might seem challenging, but with Bloomreach, it’s easier (and more profitable) than you think.
Our platform streamlines the process with AI-powered personalization, seamless omnichannel management, and real-time insights. With Bloomreach, you can rekindle interest, build lasting loyalty, and turn dormant shoppers into devoted fans, all while scaling your efforts as your business grows.
Don’t let sales slip away. Bloomreach can turn your reengagement efforts into real results with a smarter, more personalized approach. Request a demo today.