If you currently offer your products or services for sale via an eCommerce website, then you may be familiar with the issue of abandoned shopping carts. A feature which is present in every eCommerce website that we develop, allows you to view shopping carts with products that were not actually purchased. Your potential customer, visited your website, entered their personal information and added items to their cart. Then they simply abandoned the process for unknown reasons. This can be a very frustrating experience for online retailers because it’s literally money that’s being left on the table.

Have you ever wondered why you couldn’t close the deal? Was there a technical problem with the site? Shipping costs too high or unclear? Did they just go to grab a sandwich and never come back? A new report from Experian, which owns the CheetahMail email marketing business, shows that 61% of items left in an online shopping cart are not purchased.

There are several ways to lure your customers who abandoned their carts, back to your site to complete their purchase. One way is send them an automatic email the next day, reminding them about that valuable item they were about to buy. Research shows that 12% of customers who receive such re-marketing emails, actually return to the retailer’s website. Technology allows us to automate this task for you, while you focus on running your business.

As to why they abandoned their carts? We can help you with that too. Reasons will vary widely, but with the proper approach, you can diagnose the issues and greatly increase the number of your visitors who turn into paying customers.

Do you know what your customers are saying about your business online? Do you even know where to go to find out? Surveys show that brand reputation management is becoming a huge concern for businesses, because online consumers will post negative comments (especially on social media sites) when they are unsatisfied with your service. This is often called “brand bashing”.

As a local Atlanta business owner, you should be concerned – 70% of consumers research a local purchase online first, before heading out to the store. Assuming you are utilizing an online reputation management service – so you know when you have a bashing crisis – how do you handle the issue?

According to a recent eMarketer blog post, nearly one-half of survey respondents said they contacted the consumer directly. This tactic can however backfire if not conducted appropriately.

Online Brand Reputation Management Survey

So how should these issues be handled? It depends.

We can help you monitor your brand online and notify you as soon as you receive any mentions – social media, news sources, blogs etc. We also provide assistance in handling any brand bashing crises, should they occur.