E-commerce Retargeting: Advanced Techniques For Bringing Shoppers Back To Your Store

Unlocking the power of customer retention can skyrocket your ecommerce success, with studies showing that increasing retention rates by just 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95%. In today’s fiercely competitive online marketplace, bringing shoppers back to your store is not just a strategy—it’s a necessity for sustainable growth and profitability.

The cart abandonment rate of an online shopping cart currently stands at 70.19% in 2024.

It translates to the fact that 7 out of every 10 prospects leave your store without buying anything. 

If you have an online store, then you do know how hard it gets. The struggle to turn visitors into buyers is getting real day by day with so much competition.

That said, if you are facing the same situation with your e-commerce business right now, then do not worry because there is a solution.

Enter → E-commerce Retargeting!

E-commerce retargeting has been more than nice to have — it’s an essential strategy for successful e-commerce. You may considerably improve your conversion rates and keep customers coming back for more with advanced retargeting techniques.

In the post, we discussed precisely what e-commerce retargeting is, why you need it, and most importantly, how you can leverage advanced techniques to bring shoppers back to your store.

What is Retargeting in E-commerce?

Before we delve into the more advanced stuff, let us make sure we’re all on the same page about what this is in the first place.

Retargeting, also referred to as remarketing, is actually how you can get back in front of users who earlier interacted with your website or mobile app.

But how does this real magic work? It is all about cookies, pixels, and tracking—not the edible kind of cookies, so don’t lose your sleep.

When visitors hit your website, this small piece of code will drop an anonymous cookie into their browser. This way, as that user travels the web, you will know them and be able to display ads related to previous interactions they have had with your site. E-commerce agencies in the USA leverage this retargeting strategy to enhance online shopping experiences and increase conversion rates. 

By understanding user behavior, these agencies can create personalized ad campaigns that effectively target and re-engage potential customers, driving sales and improving customer retention.

Different Types of Retargeting

There are four kinds of retargeting you can use:

• Site retargeting — This usually targets users who have visited your website and then left without converting.
• Social media retargeting — Ads are shown to users on social media platforms depending on the user’s interaction with your site or social media profiles. Utilizing a tool like Facebook CRM can enhance your social media retargeting by providing more detailed customer insights and personalized ad experiences.
• Email retargeting — Emailing customers who have demonstrated interest in their products/offerings.
• Search retargeting — This targets users based on the keywords they’ve searched for, even if they haven’t visited your site yet.

Overview of the E-commerce Retargeting Process

The e-commerce retargeting process looks like this: a visitor lands on your site, views certain pages, may add something to the cart, but leaves without purchasing.

Thanks to the cookie placed inside their browser, you can now show them your ad as they surf other websites, use social media, or even check their email. These ads remind users of what they are interested in, encouraging them back to finish the sale.

Retargeting campaigns can be run using specific platforms and tools. Some of the popular ones include Google Ads, Facebook Ads, AdRoll, and Criteo. The platforms will help you construct and manage your campaigns for retargeting. Then, you can view their performance and optimize them further.

7 Reasons Why Your E-commerce Store Needs a Retargeting Strategy

Now that you know what retargeting is, you may very well ask, “Do I need this for my e-commerce store?” 

The short answer is: absolutely! 

Here are seven compelling reasons your brand needs a solid retargeting strategy:

Reason 1 – Combats Cart Abandonment

Remember that scary cart abandonment rate we mentioned earlier? Retargeting is your secret weapon against it.

Many customers will simply add products to their cart but not proceed to checkout. Retargeting allows you to remind such customers of what was left behind by running ads featuring the exact product they left behind. It reminds customers of what is of interest to them and allows them to complete their purchase.

Reason 2 – Makes Your Brand More Memorable

Think of how many advertisements you see daily. Do you recall a majority of them off-hand? It’s pretty challenging because they are forgettable. 

Retargeting brands your business. Even if someone didn’t buy at that moment, they will see your ad every time they go online. Perhaps they see your logo your products or even your brand colors.

With repetition over time, people will slowly add your brand to their subconscious. Therefore, when it is time to make a purchase, they are very likely to think of your store.

Reason 3 – Higher Conversions

Regular ads are akin to shouting in the crowd and hoping that someone gets the message. 

Retargeted ads are more like talking with somebody who has already shown an interest in what you have to say.

These ads work far better because they are set in front of previous website visitors. They know who you are and what kind of product you sell, which enhances the possibility of their clicking your ad and subsequently buying the product.

Reason 4 – Boosts Customer Lifetime Value

Getting a new customer is great. Getting them to return, however, is even better. Retargeting helps in this regard as well. 

You can run ads for people who have purchased before, so you can remind them about your store or show them new products they might like.

This keeps your brand top of mind and gets them coming back to repeat purchases. As time goes on, repeat customers only become more valuable.

Reason 5 – Allows for Personalized Marketing

Retargeting allows you to produce ads that feel they are tailored for each individual. 

Take the scenario whereby someone looked at some red sneakers on your website. You can show them ads specifically about those sneakers or other similar styles.

This is extremely personal, so it will appear relevant and not as if something was just flashed in front of one’s face. You are virtually having a salesperson who can remember what every customer likes.

Reason 6 – Saves Money on Advertising

Ads are expensive. If you’re trying to reach new users who aren’t interested in products like yours, or related services, then boy, is that an expensive proposition.

Retargeting is cheaper because you’re only focusing on people who have already shown some sort of interest.

This type of highly targeted approach very often gets better bang for fewer bucks.

Reason 7 – High Cross-Selling and Upselling Potential

Retargeting does not have to be reselling the same thing. It is also superb for introducing your customers to other products they may like.

For instance, if someone had purchased a laptop from you, you might let them see ads for other associated accessories that may interest them, like a laptop case, a wireless mouse, and more.

This is a marketing strategy known as cross-selling, raising the value of each customer. It is like when a waiter recommends a side dish that will complement your main course—the overall experience is enhanced, and he gets a bigger sale.

Simply stated, retargeting does the following: keeps your brand at the top of the customer’s mind, brings them back into the store, and encourages a purchase over time.

It can all help you create more sales and a more powerful, successful e-commerce business.

5 Advanced Retargeting Techniques to Bring Shoppers Back to Your Store

Now that you’re convinced of the power of retargeting, here are some advanced techniques that really can bring your eCommerce retargeting to a higher level. 

These strategies will bring more shoppers into your store, raising conversion rates.

Dynamic Product Ads

Digital dynamic ads are those in which content, format, or targeting is changed dynamically based on the free flow of data and user behavior.

In other words, this is a kind of ad where products are shown to users who have either viewed or added items to their cart.

Dynamic product ads require setting up a product feed—including the product IDs, names, prices, and images. You can later upload this feed to ad platforms like Facebook and Google and create an ad template.

The platform will fill this ad with relevant products so the user sees it, dynamically.

Some of the best practices for creating effective dynamic ads include:

• Uploading quality images of the product
• Crafting ad copy that creates urgency
• Price inclusion and special offers
• Test different ad formats (e.g. Carousel ads, collection ads)

Segmented Retargeting

Not all visitors to your website are created equal, and neither should they be treated like they are in your retargeting strategy. That’s where segmented retargeting comes into play. 

Segmented retargeting lets you separate your more general audience into specific, bite-sized groups. You can even base the division on user behavior, demographics, or past purchases. After segmenting, you can create much more relevant and effective retargeting campaigns.

When you’re segmenting your audience, consider including the following:

• Cart abandoners
• Cart viewers who did not add to the cart
• Past purchasers
• High-value customers
• Seasonal shoppers

After knowing whom to target, you can then create custom messages. For example, you may offer a discount to cart abandoners, recommend complementary products to past purchasers, or show new products to frequent browsers.

There are many tools for segmentation such as, for example, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and customer data platforms. By using them, you will be able to collect and analyze the data you have gathered regarding the creation of meaningful segments.

Cross-Channel Retargeting

These days, customers have several channels to get in touch with your brand: your website, social media, email, mobile apps, etc. 

Cross-channel retargeting allows you to make the experience uniform across all touchpoints. This way, you will amplify the strength of your retargeting. 

However, you need to have insights into the buyer journey across various channels when planning a cross-channel retargeting strategy. This means mapping customer contact along the journey customers take through different touchpoints with your brand on various platforms and devices.

The success of multisite retargeting is based on the core of synchronizing your data across platforms. This means that if a user views something, you will too, no matter from where they are watching your ads.

For example, if a customer abandons their cart on your site, you can retarget them with a Facebook ad, circle back with an email reminder, or even display a banner ad as they’re browsing around the web.

Predictive Retargeting

Imagine knowing when a customer is going to purchase your product and delivering the ad at that very moment.

That is what predictive retargeting promises. It’s a technically sophisticated process, putting machine learning algorithms to work against customer behaviors for the prediction of future actions.

Predictive retargeting is fueled by vast data about customers: navigation and purchase history, along with demographic details. Machine learning algorithms use this information to predict future behavior through meaningful pattern detection.

Predictive retargeting will require you to collaborate with platforms possessing machine-learning abilities or to find a special retargeting provider who would be able to help you in the following: 

• Predicting the likelihood of a customer making a purchase
• Predict which products will most interest a customer
• Predict when and how to reach each customer

Sequential Retargeting

Sequential retargeting involves the creation of a set of ads having some sort of logical progression.

You will have to first think about the customer journey before you develop your sequential retargeting campaign. Ironically, this means creating a storyline of sorts for your ads, perhaps something like this: first, brand awareness; second, the features of the product; third, common objections; and lastly, offer presentation.

Timing and frequency are important in sequential retargeting. You don’t want to burden customers with ads, yet you need to have enough frequency to tell your story.

A good rule of thumb would be spacing these ads out over days or even weeks, based on your usual sales cycle.

How to Measure the Performance of Your Retargeting Campaigns

If you want to gauge whether your advanced retargeting techniques are bringing in the desired results, you need to keep an eye on the right metrics. 

Some KPIs to track include the following:

• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) — This will give you your revenue for every dollar spent on advertising.
• Conversion Rate — The percent of users who convert on a desired action after being served your retargeting ad.
• Click-Through Rate — The percentage of users who click on your ad post impression.
• Customer Lifetime Value — How retargeting efforts are going to bear on customer value over time.

There are various tools available to help you analyze your retargeting performance, including Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, and specialized retargeting platforms. These tools can provide detailed insights into how your campaigns are performing.

Conclusion

There you go! E-commerce retargeting is not just pelting your past visitors with the same ad over and over. Instead, it’s about being smart, creative, and sensitive to the experiences of your potential customers.

Keep in mind that this is all about being relevant and useful. Most importantly, you need to use the advanced techniques we discussed in this post to remind shoppers why they were interested in your store in the first place.

At the end of the day, it is about the relationships you’re able to form — not just making quick sales. Simply put, if you treat your visitors like people, you’ll most likely be able to turn those window shoppers into customers.