It’s a scenario that most online shoppers are familiar with: as the process of purchasing that must-have product gets underway, the ephemeral nature of the internet whisks them away to pursue some other interest, to scroll some other feed.
Perhaps that must-have product gets stashed away on a wishlist, never to be seen again, the fleeting moment for a connection between consumer and product evaporating as quickly as it arrived.
SmarterHQ, a personalization platform for marketers and advertisers, announced a new service dubbed Wishlists and Favorites, to make sure that scenario doesn’t always mean lost revenue for brands, retailers and advertisers.
Launching just before holiday planning and preparations get underway, SmarterHQ said its new capability could mean opening promising avenues to connect with consumers and lead to deeper segmentation and more advanced retargeting.
“Ninety-five percent of consumers admit they do other things while shopping, so it makes sense why wishlisting is on the rise—list interactions enable multitasking customers to go back and view products when convenient for them,” Michael Osborne, president & CEO of SmarterHQ, said. “Our launch of Wishlists & Favorites simplifies a brand’s ability to identify and connect with those who are actively engaging and showing interest in things they are more likely to buy—allowing marketers to send extremely relevant messages such as product alerts or holiday gift guides based on items they’ve wishlisted throughout the year.”
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Features of the new program include the addition of a product’s wishlist and favorite interactions alongside traditional viewing, carting and purchasing data. Wishlists and Favorites can also identify audiences who have shown interest in certain categories or brands without actually making a purchase—and then retarget their messaging toward that customer in order to capitalize on circumstances like price drops, low inventory moments and promotions.
Through SmarterHQ’s automated, personalized messaging service, consumers can be coaxed to revisit the products that they once admired. Already, retailers like DSW have begun to implement the service into their business.
“DSW continues to look for ways to deliver hyper-personalized messages that our customers are expecting,” Melissa Durham, the director of CRM and Loyalty at DSW, said. “SmarterHQ’s new launch of Wishlists & Favorites fills an existing gap delivering relevant messages within our customer journey.”
Wishlists and Favorites also has the potential to be even more effective during the holiday season, according to SmarterHQ, as the data that has been collected over the course of a year can be utilized toward the singular purpose of holiday shopping.
This “announcement is especially timely for B2C marketers in the midst of planning for holiday shopping and travel season, as Wishlists & Favorites enables them to re-engage customers who are farther down the funnel and displaying intent to purchase specific items,” the company explained.