5 Most Significant Elements in Mobile Push Notifications in Retail and E-Commerce

The popularity of apps in a retail sector has made many companies use their potential to combine offline and online sales. The example of such a solution is buying items in an app with an option to pick them up in a stationary store.  Let’s not forget about the ROPO effect (Research Online, Purchase Offline) that still exists and is very popular among customers.

An essential part of a mobile app should be Mobile Push communication, that increases users involvement and has a direct impact on brand sales rates. The popular Push notifications are short messages displayed on users’ phone screens. Mobile Push notifications in an app may be used in various situations, beginning with standard offer communication to even transactional notifications.

5 pillars of Mobile push effective communication

Promote your mobile app – make sure that users activity is encouraged 

From the very beginning you should contact your users and encourage them to start using an app. Bear in mind that nowadays an average user has many downloaded apps, often from competing brands, so we need to remember that it is easy to forget about some of them, especially when there is no contact with the user. Up to 21% of customers use the app only once before the deinstallation. Mobile Push notifications are an easy reminder of the existence of your company. Sending personalized messages is an efficient way to increase customer activity. Usual “check our offer” could be replaced by “Name, check our offer”. An added value of personalized offers is CTR increase – up to four times higher CTR is possible after the implementation of personalized information in communication. It is also worth contacting users, who have not logged in an app, by providing an additional discount or a reminder that a chosen product is available again. However, we need to keep in mind that sending such messages too often may cause the opposite effect and a user may turn-off the notifications.

The most user friendly solution - deeplinking

The outstanding characteristic of Mobile Push notifications, in comparison to SMS and MMS messages, is the ability to add the CTA button and redirect to a specific application tab. Sending notifications about a sale that has just started, e.g.  “-50% for all” is worth  redirecting a user to a dedicated sale, rather than to a main page, where a user has to search for it by themself. The redirect should be carried out in the same way as sending a voucher or a discount code – if we inform the recipient about a special offer, we encourage them to use it, making it easier for them to access it. Using deeplinks in Mobile Push communication may increase the conversion even to 56% in comparison to shipment, in which redirection to a specific offer has not been used. Deeplinks can also be hidden under CTA buttons and, in consequence, help increase the conversions significantly  - a button “buy now” containing a deeplink with direct redirection to a product not only will make it easier to find, but also encourage to make a purchase. 

Full massages personalization means better campaign results

Personalization may be used not only in order to increase users’ activity, but also in the communication offer. It is not the personalization based on declarative data, so the one provided  during registration (name, age, sex), but the personalization in accordance with shopping preferences. By collecting and analyzing behavioral data and users’ transactions, we can easily assess their preferences. That helps to provide personalized offers and proper targeting of sendings – if users search tabs with children products, it is worth sending them offers within this section.

Offer personalization could be used in an upselling process – suggesting the products connected with the last transaction. That means that if the customer has recently bought a laptop, it may be assumed that they may also need a screen, keyboard and mouse.

Declarative data could be used also during recipient group segmentation and then contact only those users, who meet the segment expectations. An example of such communication is sending a Mobile Push notification to users who indicated “Shop No. 10” as a favorite store, and which store will be closed due to renovation – in such a case it is worth inviting them to another nearest store. Another example of such segmentation is using declared sex and sending greetings for Women’s Day, or in accordance to birth date, sending shipment which contains an alcohol offer for users over 18 years old.

Take advantage of the potential of Rich Pushes – graphics and emoticons

One of the biggest advantages of Mobile Push communication is the opportunity to use the graphics in sent notifications. Similar possibilities are provided by the MMS channel, but Mobile Push notifications are incomparably cheaper solution. Maintaining your own branding in this communication channel not only allows to get familiar with the application, but also increases CTR even to 55%. By reducing the number of acceptable signs in a graphic notification, Rich Push is one of the most effective ways to encourage the user to shop, because often time purchases are made through the eyes, under the influence of the moment.

Although picture writing was excluded a long time ago, pictures are still paying our attention. That’s why using emoticons significantly emphasizes the notifications on your mobile. This is yet another factor increasing click-through rate on received Mobile Push. We can not forget that 15% of clicks on notifications converts directly into an in-app purchase.

Build positive experiences on every stage of consumer contact – transactional communication 

Mobile Push notifications could, or even should be used in transactional communication with users. Whenever a customer purchases something in an app with a delivery option, or orders in the popular in recent times “click&collect” mode, the most effective form of notifying them about the status of the order is contact via the application, i.e. the same channel that was used during the order. Mobile Push notifications do not require logging to Email, the message is visible even on a blocked phone screen. However, thanks to the deep links described above, after opening the notification, the recipient can go directly to the place in the application. This option allows the consumer to receive the ordered goods.

The aim of a transactional message is also to inform about the unfinished payment for the order or about the products that remain in the shopping card. In this case, it is also the most effective way to remind the customer about it by means of a Mobile push notification, which will allow them to easily complete the purchase.

However, transactional communication does not have to apply only to orders placed in the application, but like the retail application, through the Mobile Push notification, you can inform about the registration of a new receipt, or about the savings that have been achieved during stationary purchases using coupons from the mobile application. Currently, the largest retail and e-commerce companies invest in the development of mobile applications, Mobile Push communication making the mobile channel an equal sales channel.