Embrace the Abandoned Cart this Cyber Weekend

Who doesn’t love a bit of retail therapy? Especially when there’s the added incentive of a sale.

This year, Australians are pegged to drop $5.4 billion* across the four-day sale period – Black Friday (26 November) to Cyber Monday (27 November).

At Wisr, we’re all about making smarter decisions. Blowing your whole paycheck on a new robot vacuum or a slightly larger TV than the perfectly good one you have already – not smart. Purchasing a select number of items you were already intending to buy while they’re on sale – now you’re using your smart part.

For those of us who can’t resist the sexy sales marketing, it’s all too easy to get carried away. Those flashing email banners, the constant stream of sponsored posts and those disturbingly relevant banner ads that pop up on every website you visit – it’s a barrage that our inner capitalists can’t withstand.

When I was a kid, I used to love going to the shops with my mum. We’d wander around, try on a few things and then head home, having only spent a few bucks on a warm cinnamon doughnut. Window shopping was a simple pleasure. It still is, but it has become a very different experience now that retailers have moved online. 

The online shopping experience has become totally ubiquitous – half the time, we don’t even know that we’re being sold to. Brands are (very cleverly) crafting ads that look exactly like the content you would usually see in your social media feed. It’s kinda sneaky, but it works.

The reason shopping is so fun isn’t just because we’ve become suckers for consumerism. We have science to blame, too. When we’re gearing up for a new purchase, our brain releases dopamine because we’re anticipating a reward – the shiny, new thing. And when there’s an added incentive – say, a 40% off sale – the neurotransmitter responsible for producing dopamine really goes wild. 

That explains why we get such a kick out of browsing online. We don’t even have to leave the house in order to feel the shopper's high.

You can still enjoy that dopamine spike without dropping bulk cash on stuff you don’t actually need. Your brain still sends out those happy hormones in anticipation of receiving your fresh pair of runners, even when you don’t go through with the purchase. Most of the enjoyment comes from browsing and adding things to your basket. The fun always ends when it comes to punching in your card details and parting with your money.

Unless there’s an item you really need or were planning on purchasing anyway, this Cyber Weekend, try this:

• Browse to your heart’s content

• Add those new kicks to your basket

• Abandon that cart and never look back

On average, 70% of customers leave a site after adding something to their cart – that’s a huge chunk of potential sales. Marketers build entire strategies around enticing people to return after they’ve abandoned their cart. Automatically triggered emails, push notifications, even Facebook messages – “Oops, did you forget something?” – you know the ones!

A lot of them even come back with special offers to get you to follow through. That extra incentive might just be enough for you to hit the “buy now” button. But chances are, if you put 24 hours between that purchase, you’ll forget about it entirely. 

We’re not telling you to boycott Cyber Weekend or avoid buying anything you don’t absolutely need. But we do hope that when you choose to spend your hard-earned cash, it’s with intention.

_{*According to research conducted by the Australian Retailers Association in conjunction with Roy Morgan.}