74% Of Online Retailers Lose Sales Due To “Irrelevant Promotions”

A new study by OrderDynamics reveals that just under three-quarters of online retailers (74%) miss out on sales because they have promoted items of little relevance to their shoppers, reports Digital Marketing Magazine.

As retailers gear up for one of the busiest times of year, many of them could be pushing customers away due to promoting irrelevant products, as well as ignoring consumer preferences on end-to-end order tracking and failing to build on relationships with their customers via intelligent follow-up, according to the research.

Examples of irrelevant promotions found in the study include a clothing retailer that sent promotional emails about ladies’ sweatshirts to a man who saved men’s fleeces in his online shopping cart. A pet supplier also sent promotions on dog and cat food to someone who only browsed the aquatics page of the website.

It seems that retailers are yet to find the right balance when it comes to emailing their customers: a third of retailers never followed up when researchers involved in the study signed up to their mailing list. However, some went too far the other way, with one retailer sending out a staggering 17 emails in a month.

In addition, despite many consumers preferring to receive order tracking, only 15% of retailers offer order tracking through their website.

The OrderDynamics study claims that customer acquisition and retention is comparable to a “dating game,” and that retailers “must walk a fine line between romancing customers and over-approaching them” to ensure a seamless shopping experience. Failure to get this right can result in losing not just that first sale, but the customer relationship, too.