Download Through Targeted Emails, Crocs Entices Customers Back

CASE STUDY
Technology
Small/Midsize
Business
Marketing
& Sales
Through Targeted Emails, Crocs Entices
Customers Back to Their Carts
A
sk any online retailer: Abandoned
Casual
C73 M19 Y40 K1 C65 shopping
M29 Y79 K22
C61
M20
K3 of their existence.
carts
are
theY78
bane
shoemaker
Some estimates say at least 70 percent of online
Crocs is
shoppers leave items in their carts without ever
clicking the “buy” button. Abandonment rates for
recovering lost
fashion and footwear sites are even higher.
revenue by
C0 M60 Y100encouraging
K17 C28 M88 Y70 K19 C48 M89Most
Y84 K49
M66 Y61don’t
K52 do anything about it. But by
onlineC61
retailers
shoppers to
June 2014, casual shoe company Crocs decided to take
action to recover lost sales attributed to the dreaded
return to their
abandoned shopping cart. “Our goal was to reengage
abandoned
site visitors who placed products in their shopping
online carts.
carts and left before completing their purchase,” says
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1
BY L AU R E N
G I B B O N S PAU L
MISSION: CONVERT BROWSERS TO BUYERS
Abandoned shopping carts have been a problem for
Crocs ever since the company opened up shop online.
In recent years, cart abandonment rates approached a
disheartening 95 percent. Crocs is far from alone in
facing this problem (see Figure 2, “The Scope of the
Problem”), but that doesn’t do much to soften the blow.
FIGURE 1
Crocs at a Glance
HEADQUARTERS: Niwot, Colo.
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 4,000
Kelsey Vendetti, email marketing manager, North
INDUSTRY: Casual footwear
America, at Crocs. “We knew we were leaving money
YEAR FOUNDED: 2002
on the table.”
ANNUAL SALES: $1.2 billion (2014)
Founded in 2002, Crocs shot to fame in 2007 when
its colorful clogs were embraced by boaters, gardeners
PAIRS OF SHOES SOLD: More than 300 million
and children. Today, the company sells more than 300
POINT OF INNOVATION: Croslite™ material, a
footwear styles, including boots, wedges and loafers.
proprietary technology that makes Crocs shoes
Closing more online sales in an ever more competitive
soft, lightweight and odor-resistant, according to
market was a matter of getting “the right content in front
the company.
of the right customer at the right time,” says Vendetti.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ACTIVITY: Since 2007,
With today’s busy lifestyles, some people need a
the Crocs Cares program has donated more than 3
gentle reminder or an offer of help to get that job
million pairs of shoes to people in need all over
done. Providing that input in a non-pushy way was key.
the world.
Source: Crocs
Toward that end, in June 2014 Crocs tested a
1. http://baymard.com/lists/
cart-abandonment-rate
JUNE 2015
© Copyright 2015.
Forbes Insights.
All rights reserved.
marketing conversion platform aimed at turning
“Abandoned shopping carts are probably the biggest
around its soaring cart abandonment rates. The system
problem that e-commerce websites have,” says Glenn
identifies shoppers who leave items in their cart
Gow, CEO of consulting firm Crimson Marketing.
without completing the purchase and sends targeted
“[E-tailers] spend a lot of money trying to get people
emails at specified intervals to encourage them to
to the website and get them engaged. The Holy Grail
finish their purchase. Since the full implementation of
is the checkout. If the shopping cart gets abandoned,
the tool went live at the beginning of 2015, Crocs has
they struggle to try to figure out why.”
improved its abandonment rates by nearly 5 percent—
better than expected. Plans are in the works to expand
the use of the marketing platform to tackle abandoned
browse and abandoned search.
FORBES INSIGHTS
1
FORBES
INSIGHTS
CASE STUDY
Prior to implementing the marketing conversion
solution, Crocs used a homegrown cart recovery
program that triggered up to two emails, the first of
which was sent 24 hours after a shopper abandoned
Since the full
implementation
of the tool went
live at the
beginning of
2015, Crocs has
improved its
abandonment
rates by nearly 5
percent—better
than expected.
FIGURE 3
Recoverable Revenue
$4 TRILLION: Amount of merchandise forecast to
be abandoned in online shopping charts this year
the cart and a second that followed at the 72-hour
75%: Percent of shoppers who have abandoned
mark. “This ‘send cadence’ was not optimized,” says
shopping carts and say they plan to return to the
Vendetti; in other words, 24 hours is too long of a time
retailer’s website or store to make a purchase
lapse before sending the first email. “By then, people
had either moved on and bought something
somewhere else or forgotten about it,” she says. “Our
program was not serving our customers well enough
63%: Percent of abandoned cart merchandise
that is potentially recoverable by online retailers
Source: BI Intelligence and SeeWhy
to get them back to the site.”
Now, with the automated solution in place, browsers
At the same time, the company did not have sufficient
who abandon items in the shopping cart receive an
internal technical development staff to devote to
email shortly thereafter, followed by another message
creating a solution. “We knew we needed an
a day or so later and a final one, possibly containing a
automated solution to help fight abandoned carts,”
discount code, if the purchase is still unconsummated
says Vendetti.
up to a week later.
ENGAGING WITH CUSTOMERS
“We wanted these messages to be customer-focused
When Vendetti and her team looked for a tool to
rather than pushy,” says Vendetti. To that end, the first
recapture cart abandonment revenue, their top
message assumes something went wrong on Crocs’
priorities were ease of implementation, quick
side with the transaction that prevented the purchase
implementation and ease of use. Early on, they chose a
from being completed. The second message is, “How
full-featured marketing conversion solution that would
can we help?” The third one—if necessary—introduces
give them the functionality to expand beyond email
an incentive, asking, “Does your shopping cart need a
campaigns in the future.
little push?” “We try to take the approach of ‘Let us
FIGURE 2
The Scope of the Problem
help you’ vs. ‘You forgot to buy.’ That is important,”
she says.
Forecasted online sales 2014
Crimson Marketing’s Gow applauds Crocs’ use of email
$1.4 trillion
follow-ups, particularly the one that blames the site.
Abandoned online sales 2014
$3 trillion
Source: Rakuten
The pilot program took about six weeks to get up and
“It’s an acknowledgment they may have made a
mistake,” he says, even if the site most likely was
functioning just fine. “They’re making their users feel
good,” Gow adds. “I give them huge credit for that.”
running. “That was on our side, creating the emails and
setting up the tags,” says Vendetti. The tagging was
However, he cautions all e-tailers against overuse of
done on Crocs’ website so that the tool could link the
discounts as an enticement. “Word gets out really fast,
items the shopper had been looking at to the follow-
and then your shopping cart abandonment rates will
up email messages. The trial program offered a
actually go up as people hold off on making the
sufficient proof of concept, and Crocs went ahead with
purchase until they get the discount,” Gow says. Save
a full implementation in January 2015.
these offers for VIP customers and use them sparingly,
he advises.
2
FORBES INSIGHTS
FORBES
INSIGHTS
CASE STUDY
FIGURE 4
Email Effectiveness
Fairly effective
Marketers see email as one of the most effective
digital channels (see Figure 4, “Email Effectiveness”),
Very effective
but critical to the program’s success, Vendetti believes,
Email
2012 2014
31%
“We are seeing
incremental
revenue grow
month to month.
It is exciting.”
Online display
—KELSEY VENDETTI,
EMAIL MARKETING
MANAGER, NORTH
AMERICA, CROCS
Mobile
2012
is that the messages avoid the hard sell. “Our
13%
34%
30%
2014
24%
36%
23%
2014
2014
service-level campaign and not come across as overly
19%
37%
24%
Overall, the cart recovery campaign is generating
additional incremental revenue each month and
32%
18%
33%
growing. “We’re thrilled,” says Vendetti. “This program
25%
Social media
2012
says. “It is important for our team to treat this as a
marketing-heavy or pushy.”
33%
2014 2012 messages so they can return to the Crocs.com website
at their own pace to complete their purchase,” she
19%
Advertising search engine
2012
customers now receive timely, engaging, personalized
30%
18%
34%
has proven the value of real-time triggered emails.” •
ABOUT FORBES INSIGHTS
22%
Base: 581 senior marketers Sources: CMO Insights/Accenture, 2013/2014
Of all the digital channels, email has seen the highest growth in
perceived effectiveness (percent of respondents).
Crocs’ email campaign nurtures customers as opposed
to pushing them to buy. “It’s continual outreach to
someone you know something about. You want to
create a great shopping experience that will bring
customers back,” says Gow. Studies also indicate that
buyers who abandon carts are recoverable by savvy
online retailers (see Figure 3, “Recoverable Revenue”).
Forbes Insights is the strategic research and thought leadership practice
of Forbes Media, publisher of Forbes magazine and Forbes.com, whose
combined media properties reach nearly 50 million business decisionmakers worldwide on a monthly basis.
Bruce Rogers
CHIEF INSIGHTS OFFICER
Brian McLeod
DIRECTOR, NORTH AMERICA
Writer: Lauren Gibbons Paul has written extensively on customer
relationship management and customer experience management for
more than 15 years.
EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
Certainly, the numbers suggest Crocs is very much on
the right track with the cart recovery campaign. “We
didn’t have a clear conversion rate goal so [the 5
percent boost] exceeded our expectations,” Vendetti
says. Gow agrees that the reclamation rate is
impressive. “The email cost is almost nothing because
you automated it, so those additional sales go right to
the bottom line,” he says.
“We are seeing incremental revenue grow month to
month,” adds Vendetti. “It is exciting.”
FORBES INSIGHTS
3
CASE STUDY
Technology
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