CentrPort Study Provides Rules of Re-Engagement

Customers who abandon Web transactions are not necessarily lost forever, a CentrPort Inc. study reveals. The Westport, Conn.-based firm found that Fortune 1000 businesses often have the opportunity to re-engage customers, but they fail to leverage their existing ad server, email and Web site systems to identify and capture this market segment.

CentrPort’s study of online purchasing abandonment was generated from the company’s customer data, collected over 16 months during 2002-2004, with findings that point to instances of re-engagement. The study, conducted among the airline, automotive, financial services, telecommunications, and other industries, found that in the 10 days following abandonment, businesses interacted with one-third of the customers who didn’t complete their online transactions. While 20 percent of the subsequent interactions occurred back at the Web site, 80 percent occurred via banner ads on third-party sites.

The findings indicate that a concerted effort by businesses to coordinate messaging across points of interaction – ads, call centers, Web sites – would likely yield customer re-acquisition. In fact, another CentrPort study found that coordinated one-to-one messaging across both banner ads and corporate Web sites would increase customer re-acquisition by an average 25 percent.

Jon Diorio, vice president of marketing for CentrPort, describes these interactions with abandoners as a step beyond contextual advertising. “We’ve gone from mass to contextual to uniquely identifying an individual to creating a profile where we can create consistent and logical messaging regardless of where they are and the time passed.”

“Banner ads, email and various other forms of Web content should recognize you as an abandoned customer and deliver messages that are specific to who you are, what you’ve told us, and what we’ve been able to divine from where, when and how,” Diorio continued. “The more we see you, the more we evolve your profile and the messages can be tailored and defined.”