It is important for E-commerce players to understand how website push notifications work – they cannot afford not to. Website push notifications work similarly to mobile app push notifications. Except, they are obviously for websites, not apps, and can be accessed on all devices. Website push notifications are clickable messages sent from a website to that website’s subscribers.
Why are they important? E-commerce businesses use a variety of ways to grow their business and the traffic to that business. These methods include exploring various communication channels; such as, email, social media, SMS and push notifications (apps and websites). The purpose of pushing these communication channels is to reach and engage users during different kinds of campaigns.
These communication channels each have their own unique uses and pros and cons. It is up to the E-commerce player to determine which channel is the most effective for each unique situation. Optimizing these push notifications successfully allows an online store to enjoy results. Consider the following channels so you can make the most of them in your next campaign:
Email – Email is typically used to deliver curated product suggestions and to advertise upcoming sales and discount offers. It is used to ask a subscriber for information: product reviews and recover abandoned carts. In some cases, it is also used to deliver tracking details and order confirmation information.
According to a study by The Radicati Group, there are 2.6 billion email users. Meaning, 1 out of 3 people have some kind of email account. The advantage of email is that a sent email will stay in the inbox, making it accessible at any time – unlike social media messages and notifications. This fact makes email the most useful for giving a subscriber delivery information. According to Zipstripe, the disadvantage of email is that the average time it takes an email recipient to view their email messages is 6.4 hours.
Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and other social media networks work best for delivering time sensitive offers and discounts. This is especially true considering that people spending more time on social media websites than any other online activity. The problem that many online stores run into with social media is the engagement, or lack thereof. Only 0.07% of your Facebook audience will interact with your posts. The percentage for Twitter engagement is even lower at 0.03%. While social media will help you establish a brand and build a relationship with your audience, it won’t be as effective for interacting through messages designed to achieve a specific purpose on a specific time frame.
SMS – 90% of SMS messages are read within the first 3 minutes. This speed in communicating makes SMS very effective for the business that needs their message to be received and read quickly. For example, “Your cab is arriving” or “Your item will be delivered today”. The disadvantage of SMS is that messages are hard to find later one, and they can only contain a maximum of 160 characters.
Push Notifications (Mobile apps) – According to a survey by global marketing cloud service agency Responsys, open rates for push notification are 50 percent higher than for email. Click rates are up to twice as high. Another advantage over email is that push notifications for mobile apps deliver messages in real-time.
Keep in mind that app push notifications and SMS are different. App users are able to control the kind of messages he or she wants to receive by using opt-in/opt-out options. SMS messages, on the other hand, are harder to disable.
Push Notifications (Website) – With desktop usage still accounting for 42% of total internet time, website push notifications fit into a very unique spot. While app push notifications are limited to mobile devices and tables, websites push notifications include both of these devices and desktops. Because building a quality app can be an incredibly expensive undertaking, many small businesses cannot justify doing so. Fortunately, mobile websites can reach more people than a mobile app ever could.
Starting Your Online Store
If you are planning to launch your online store, this information can help you make the most of website push notifications and other communication channels. The important thing to remember is to always listen to your audience. For help with getting your business on its feet, consider what an ecommerce merchant account from a provider like emerchantbroker.com can do for you.