eWayDirect Launches New Re-Engagement Tool

The new service basically identifies those customers who have previously agreed to receive your opt-in messages but who also fail to make a purchase on your site. Once the potential buyer leaves your Web shop, a customized e-mail — that can be related to the products the customer was viewing — is sent out to the non-buying browser.

EWayDirect says that the Web site re-engagement tool leads to an increase in purchases, and the company claims that using the follow-up re-engagement e-mails can generate up to 10 times more sales than regular e-mail campaign messages.

Marty Donner, Chief Revenue Officer at eWayDirect, said that sometimes a potential customer just needs encouragement. "Giving up on a Web site visitor who has not purchased makes no sense. That visitor was on the site for a reason and may simply need a bit more encouragement," he said.

The company's new re-engagement tool meets all criteria for industry and marketing best practices. For example, the e-mails can only be sent to customers who are in your e-mail database. Additionally, Donner said that a customer will only ever receive a maximum of one e-mail per day, regardless of how many times he or she visits your site and leaves without making a purchase.

Customizing the default re-engagement e-mail takes about five minutes, according to Donner, and no IT help is required.

Creating the Right Offer

Laughing, he said, "If you e-mail the customer and invite them to come back for a 20-percent savings, how long will it take to train your customers to never buy on your Web site when they visit?"

Instead, Donner recommends that Web shop owners send non-buying customers their weekly special via e-mail (or any Web promotion that you are already advertising) as the re-engagement e-mail offer.

As you administer your e-mail marketing campaign, eWayDirect carefully tracks e-mail metrics, looking at clicks, open, and unsubscribe rates to make sure your Web site re-engagement results are positive.

The company claims that their clients who have been using the new tool have not seen any increase in unsubscribe rates, but open rates on these e-mails have been as high as 60 percent. Donner believes this is simply because you are able to serve these-mails and target the customer at the right time — when you know they are looking for an item.

The process is much like targeting customers in a retail store while they are shopping — or just before they leave the store — rather than when they are at home, possibly not even thinking about a shopping trip, which is how most mass e-mail campaigns work, Donner said.

Pricing and Availability

EWayDirect pricing is set on a per monthly CPM basis, or cost per thousand e-mails deployed, making the platform affordable for even small Web shops with a smaller customer e-mail database.