Retention.com’s role is to capture the contact information of anonymous visitors to your online store.
You have the freedom to engage and monetize this new audience in any way you choose, and we can assist in four different ways.
How did we get here?
Retention.com is the well-publicized story of a company that discovered a little-known technicality: it can utilize the implicit consent of anonymous visitors rather than requiring explicit consent directly on the brand’s site to capture contact information from these anonymous visitors.
They act as a middleman, leveraging 3rd-party opt-ins from publishers whose terms of service stipulate that they may sell your data.
According to the company’s materials, this practice is legal in the US and compliant with the CAN-SPAM Act.
When they introduced this offering, it was met with skepticism, and many online brands raised eyebrows.
The reality today is that thousands of online brands are using their service, and what’s even more impressive is that high-profile customers are providing testimonials on their sites.
Challenge: highly fragmented buyer journey
The modern shopper uses multiple devices and makes several visits to various online stores before finalizing a purchase. The image below highlights the poor performance of key metrics throughout the buyer’s journey.
ACQUISITION: Over the last five years, customer acquisition costs (CAC) have surged by 60%, a rate that is unsustainable for future operations. On a typical site, 98% of all visitors still need to be identified, with their product needs unknown.
ENGAGEMENT: Shoppers are increasingly unlikely to use site search or navigation features to discover products independently. They abandon the site if a product of interest is not immediately visible. This behavior explains why 90% of all visitors leave without adding products to their online cart.
MONETIZATION: A purchase is not guaranteed even when a shopper adds a product to their online shopping cart. Due to various factors, including low commitment to the products added, 70% of all online carts are abandoned.
RETENTION: Attracting store abandoners to revisit your site is challenging. Only 5% of site visitors are returning customers, primarily drawn back by significant product discounts.
Retention.com solution: identity capture and visitor re-marketing
At its core, the Retention.com solution is simple: it helps you extend the buyer’s journey by identifying store abandoners, engaging them via email or SMS, and encouraging their return to your store.
Undoubtedly, the capability to expand your contact list through Retention.com’s identity capture is precious and can significantly lower your customer acquisition costs.
However, more than this tool is needed to constitute a complete solution. The responsibility falls on you to effectively utilize and monetize it.
Leveraging product-led growth (PLG) to monetize the Retention.com list
The product-led growth methodology essentially enables your products to sell themselves.
Here’s how it can help you better monetize your new Retention.com contacts:
Capturing visitors’ identities and attributes aids in addressing the ‘market’ aspect of product-market fit. However, having an extensive dataset on a visitor’s personal and prior behavior seldom reveals the specific product a shopper intends to purchase.
To address the ‘product’ side of product-market fit, the product-led growth methodology utilizes live visitor engagements with products as buying signals, adapting to shopper needs throughout the buyer journey.
Welcome flow
Acting and engaging with new contacts promptly is essential.
Retention.com provides a playbook that guides you through leveraging your email system and designing a welcome flow for newly captured contacts.
CHALLENGE: How can you make the email flow relevant to the contacts’ product needs so that more customers return to your online store?
Example: Klaviyo’s product recommendations
RETENTION PLAYBOOK: Merchants are advised to utilize product recommendations via an email system like Klaviyo to promote products based on browsing history or abandoned carts.
While beneficial, these recommendations fall short of closely aligning with shoppers’ implied interests derived from product interactions before site abandonment.
PLG SOLUTION: Enhance your emails with personalized recommendations to achieve:
- A high degree of relevancy for products recommended based on prior abandoned buying sessions.
- The ability for shoppers to discover products they have not yet viewed.
Merchandizing
The initial page views are the most critical element in determining the overall success of the buyer journey.
CHALLENGE: To ensure returning visitors are delighted and prevent repeat store abandonment.
Shoppers are unlikely to use search and navigation
RETENTION PLAYBOOK: Lacks strategies for increasing visitor engagement.
Marketers rely on the current site design and functionality, assuming that shoppers are motivated and willing to work to discover products that interest them.
PLG SOLUTION: ‘Cast a wide net’ with a variety of product recommendations to achieve:
- An increase in shopper interaction with products.
- Detection of buying signals for further personalization of the buying experience.
Personalization
Shoppers expect personalized shopping experiences.
CHALLENGE: How to quickly establish product-visitor fit when actual product needs are unknown.
Shoppers often need clarification about what they want.
RETENTION PLAYBOOK: Personalization is recommended but lacks support.
Standard personalization solutions are not optimized for the specific needs of Retention.com contacts.
PLG SOLUTION: Adapting to shoppers’ buying signals in real-time to achieve:
- Connecting visitors as quickly as possible with products they are interested in.
- Reducing cart abandonment by showcasing products that shoppers want to buy.
Upsell & Cross-Sell
It is easier to cross-sell or upsell to a customer already purchasing than to convince them to return and buy a second product later.
CHALLENGE: Identifying which product will maximize the average order value without causing an adverse reaction from the buyer and leading to cart abandonment.
Shoppers often need clarification about what they want.
RETENTION PLAYBOOK: Cross-selling or upselling strategies should be emphasized.
Many popular applications rely on risky, rules-based methods to recommend products for upselling and cross-selling.
PLG SOLUTION: A hybrid approach that merges merchant-defined rules with adaptive algorithms to achieve:
- A consistent increase in average order value.
- An enhancement in overall customer lifetime value.
In closing
Retention.com offers a valuable new approach to engaging with visitors early in the buyer journey. It enables D2C brands to lower their customer acquisition costs when used effectively.
If you want to monetize your investment in Retention.com fully, Obviyo can help you achieve improved revenue outcomes at every buyer journey stage.
