2024 CASE STUDY
Abandoned Cart Recovery with Retargeting
How Strategic Retargeting Turned
Lost Sales into Revenue
A homeschool curriculum company faced a high abandoned cart rate, losing potential revenue at the final stage of the buying process. Despite a strong product lineup, many interested customers left their carts without completing the purchase.
By implementing a targeted DSP retargeting campaign, they re-engaged these warm leads and recovered lost sales, achieving a remarkable boost in revenue and list growth. Since the retargeting audience consisted of highly engaged users, the company strategically invested $6-7 CPM—higher than the standard $1.50-$2.50—ensuring ads appeared in the most prominent placements. This premium targeting approach proved worthwhile, as the average cost per acquisition remained below $5 due to the high-value audience segment.
The Challenge
Overcoming Abandoned Cart Losses
The company struggled with re-engaging prospects who showed strong purchase intent but abandoned their carts before completing their orders. Despite effective traffic generation through Google Ads, social media ads, and email marketing, a significant 78% of potential customers failed to complete their purchases.
This was notably higher than the industry standard of 70%, highlighting a critical gap in their sales funnel. Identifying this highly engaged audience as a prime retargeting opportunity, the company sought a solution to recover these lost sales and improve their overall marketing ROI.
The Solution
Precision Retargeting to Recover Abandoned Carts
To address the abandoned cart issue, the company implemented a highly targeted retargeting strategy:
Pixel Implementation: The cart page, checkout page, and success page were pixelled to track customer behavior accurately.
Audience Segmentation: The audience was segmented to include those who had reached the cart and checkout pages but excluded those who completed their purchases (reached the success page).
Targeted Ad Spend: By focusing solely on non-purchasers, the campaign avoided wasting ad spend on converted customers while maximizing engagement with warm leads.
The Results
Significant Sales Recovery and Engagement
The retargeting campaign delivered outstanding results, particularly when extended to a 90-day period. Allowing for longer exposure and repeated visibility, the extended retargeting duration ensured the highest conversion rates as customers were given time to reconsider their purchase decision. Industry studies suggest retargeting for 30 days yields around a 10% conversion rate, while extending to 60 days improves conversions to 13%, and a full 90-day cycle can result in up to a 16% conversion rate.
The homeschool curriculum company experienced the following results:
21% Recovery Rate: A notable portion of abandoned carts converted into completed purchases over the 90-day retargeting period.
18% Increase in Overall Revenue: The campaign directly contributed to increased revenue.
High ROI: Over 12.5x ROI on retargeting ad spend due to the prolonged campaign’s success.
This extended retargeting approach proved essential in achieving long-term sales recovery and audience re-engagement.
Key Takeaways
Lessons for Effective Cart Recovery
Data Matters: Proper pixel implementation across key pages (cart, checkout, and success pages) allowed for precise audience segmentation, ensuring only non-purchasers were targeted.
Audience Segmentation Reduces Waste: Creating a highly specific audience of cart abandoners while excluding those who completed purchases prevented unnecessary ad spend.
Extended Retargeting Delivers Results: The 90-day retargeting period allowed for repeated visibility and customer reminders, resulting in a higher-than-average conversion rate.
Higher CPM for a Higher-Value Audience: Investing in a $6-7 CPM, above industry standards, was justified as it targeted highly engaged users, leading to efficient conversions and a CPA under $5.
Urgency Messaging Works: Personalized ad creatives with urgency messaging and limited-time offers were critical in motivating faster conversions.
Retargeting Complements Broader Marketing: When paired with initial traffic strategies like Google Ads, social media, and email campaigns, retargeting amplified the overall sales impact and revenue recovery.
Conclusion
This case study highlights the power of strategic retargeting in overcoming abandoned cart challenges. By leveraging precise audience segmentation and extending retargeting over a 90-day period, the company successfully recovered lost sales and achieved significant revenue growth. The results emphasize how critical it is to balance ad spend with audience targeting, ensuring minimal waste while maximizing conversions. This approach serves as a model for businesses seeking sustainable growth through thoughtful and data-driven marketing strategies.
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