January’s first batch of hits shared a rather dire industry perspective - vanishing traffic growth, rising acquisition costs, and consumers who are one poor experience away from churning. I know what you’re thinking ‘I just can’t look, it’s killing me…’ .. so, let’s look on the bright side. Where IS the opportunity for this year?
Checkout is a HUGE opportunity
Checkout may be the most under-appreciated step in the entire shopper journey. Enter the The Checkout Benchmark from Bold Commerce. For brands and retailers looking for the proof that their checkout is… or is not… up to snuff, this is exactly What'cha Want. The metric we’ve all been looking for is checkout completion rate; of all the checkouts started, how many actually finish. And, right away, the gap between mobile and desktop is clear. Mobile checkout completion reaches only 42%, while desktop rings up at 52% - a full 10 percentage point difference. Blended by device traffic shows that only 47% of all checkouts turn into orders; less than 1 of 2 shoppers that initiate checkout actually convert.
More striking, though, is the dramatic difference between the top performers and the under-performers. The top 25% of mobile sites are TRIPLING checkout completion compared with the bottom 25%. On desktop, the top sites double the bottom dwellers, although the difference is nearly the same as on desktop: 40 full percentage points. Clearly, few brands have reached their ceiling for checkout, and far too many are stuck on the floor.
Shoppers are Checking-in to Checkout
Another interesting insight from the Bold Checkout Benchmark Report, is that shoppers visit checkout multiple times before converting. On mobile, shoppers that ultimately completed checkout were 41% more likely to ‘check-in’ compared to those that abandon during checkout. Checkout is far more than accepting payment - it’s shipping/fulfillment, tax, subscriptions, loyalty, and much more. It’s an untapped opportunity to engage shoppers.
The Checkout Benchmark tells the true story from the edge of the journey. You’ll find all the checkout insights here.
Automated Emails Deliver
The 2021 Ecommerce Benchmarks from Klaviyo are here, and it provides the proof that every email marketer has been trying to tell us for years - relevant emails work. And the most important element of relevance is of course knowing ‘when’ to send – at the right moment of engagement in the shopper’s lifecycle. Those core four triggered events – welcome, abandoned cart, abandoned browse, and post-purchase follow up – continue to make it rain for retailers, as the automated flows outperform standard campaigns for all key metrics - higher open rates, click rates, and conversion rates. And for those old school email marketers, flows are the hip new term for triggered messages. Call ‘em what you will, automated messages trounce the batch ‘n blast messages that plug up our inboxes.
For a real wow moment, take a look at how much more revenue automated emails generate. Automated emails are anywhere from 6x to 25x more productive than campaign emails. This isn’t a statement to stop marketing campaigns - those campaigns provide reach that automations likely cannot replicate. This is a case for making sure you have automations in place for all relevant customer actions.
That rounds up the greatest benchmark hits from January 2022. What did we miss? Let us know in the comments.