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Abandoned cart emails became a key part of the CRM playbook for a reason. They’re easy to set up, look great in reports and are seen as a no-brainer for driving conversions. But let’s be honest. Most of them are blunt. They ignore why shoppers abandoned in the first place and often end up adding noise instead of value for the visitor.

In a recent piece, Rethinking abandonment emails with intent, we explored why this tactic so often falls short. The reach is limited to visitors you can actually email. The timing often misses the moment. And blanket discounts don’t just erode margin, they train shoppers to delay purchases.

If you haven’t read that yet, it’s worth a look. But this article is about moving forward. Here’s how CRM teams can use use intent with abandonment emails to make them smarter, more targeted and more effective.

Review why you are sending abandonment emails (and who to)

����’s easy to assume the goal of abandonment emails is simple: recover a lost sale. But was it a lost sale to begin with? Just having items in a cart isn’t always a signal of high purchase intent. Shoppers use them to shortlist products, compare options or as a save-for-later tool.

If the goal is to recover real opportunities, this tactic needs refining.

Not every abandoner should get an email. Without context, CRM teams risk:

• Sending to shoppers who are still browsing and not yet ready to buy.
• Triggering emails too soon or too late.
• Flooding inboxes with irrelevant reminders.

The consequences? Unsubscribes. Inbox fatigue. And lost trust. Excluding shoppers who aren’t ready to buy isn’t only a better experience. It also leaves room for emails that actually work, allowing you to send them with impact.

If someone’s adding to cart to compare or wishlist items, hitting them with a salesy reminder could risk turning them off completely.

So how do you make abandoned cart emails smarter, more targeted and more effective? Start here.

Optimising abandonment emails with intent

This isn’t about rebuilding from scratch. ����’s about fixing the foundations first, reducing downside and then optimising for growth.

Step 1: Analyse

Start by reviewing your current campaigns with intent data. Segment visitors by mindset and product affinity. Understand which groups engage and which ones churn. Look beyond standard metrics like open rates. Ask who clicked, who converted and, crucially, who unsubscribed.

Step 2: Exclude

Stop sending to low-intent visitors. Protect your list health by cutting out disengaged shoppers who are unlikely to convert. Focus efforts where they’ll actually move the needle.

Step 3: Improve

Optimise the emails you do send to high-intent visitors. This isn’t just about tweaking subject lines. Think about mindset. If a shopper is in discovery mode, avoid hard-sell copy. Instead, highlight educational content, social proof or unique selling points to build confidence. For those showing strong purchase intent, timely nudges and delivery reassurance might be all they need to convert.

One area many retailers get wrong is discounting. Blanket incentives erode margin and train shoppers to wait. Instead, reserve offers for visitors showing clear signs of hesitation, with an unlikelihood to return to site.

Grow with better emails and beyond the inbox

Once you’ve reduced downside and optimised for impact, you’re ready to grow further.

In email, you can tailor creative based on intent stage and affinities. Think beyond discounts or nurture flows. You can even explore dynamic recommendations for basket builders and cross-sell opportunities. This isn’t about flooding them with options but about making the right product feel obvious.

One of our customers, a leading UK jeweller, faced this challenge head on. Their CRM team realised their “one-size-fits-all” abandonment email was limiting relevance and risking engagement. They started with our exclusion and optimisation steps, then moved onto more context-driven creative.

They created three visitor groups: low, building and high intent. Each group received tailored emails. High-intent abandoners got a timely, persuasive message tied to browsed products. Lower-intent visitors were sent softer campaigns focused on brand USPs. Some received no email at all to protect list health.

The result? A 12% uplift in click-through rates and a strategy that felt more like a conversation than a conversion ploy. Read the full customer story here.

But your response doesn’t have to stop at the inbox.

Onsite, once you detect exit signals in real time, you can trigger supportive nudges before visitors abandon, such as delivery reassurance or save-for-later prompts. You can also surface email capture prompts for unknown visitors at the right moment to grow your contactable base.

When onsite and email journeys are connected, you’re no longer chasing abandoners after they’ve gone. You’re helping them complete the journey in the moment.

The impact when you get this right

When you rethink abandonment emails with intent, shoppers feel understood instead of pestered. CRM teams send fewer, smarter emails that actually drive revenue.

Metrics improve across the board too:

• Unsubscribe rates drop dramatically due to less inappropriate emails
• Click-through rates (CTR) climb as relevance improves
• Higher return visits and positive movement on intent to return metrics.
• On average, Made With è����Ƶ users see a 65 percent increase in campaign impact overall

This isn’t just about improving KPIs. ����’s about changing how shoppers feel when they hear from you. è����Ƶ-based emails create relevance, reduce noise and rebuild trust. They don’t just recover sales. They set the stage for long-term growth.

Want to see how intent-first abandonment emails work in practice? Get a demo to learn how Made With è����Ƶ helps teams recover more revenue without damaging their shoppers’ experience.

Abandoned cart emails are often seen as the gold standard for CRM success. They’re easy to set up, look great in reports, and are widely viewed as a no-brainer for driving conversions. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: they’re not the silver bullet we’ve been treating them as.

Most retailers rely on them as a core tactic. Yet the reality is they only reach a small fraction of abandoners. These are the people you’ve identified and secured permission to email. Even when these emails land in a shopper’s inbox, the moment has often passed. ����’s like walking out of a store and having the assistant chase you down the high street an hour later. That window to influence the decision has already closed.

To make matters worse, customers have learned how to game the system. Many now abandon carts deliberately to trigger a discount code. According to our è����Ƶ Gap research, 83% of online shoppers have used a discount code even when they were ready to pay full price. That’s margin erosion, but also proof that current approaches are blunt, and shoppers know how to exploit them.

����’s time to rethink how we handle abandonment. And it starts with the emails themselves.

The status quo: Abandonment emails as the default fix

Abandoned cart emails feel like an easy win: a shopper adds something to their cart, leaves, and a templated flow comes to the rescue. Subject lines like “Forgot something?” or “Your cart misses you” flood inboxes, often paired with a discount to lure the customer back.

On the surface, these campaigns perform well. High open rates. Strong click-throughs. Solid ROI. But let’s not kid ourselves: those metrics don’t tell the whole story.

• Limited reach: Only a fraction of abandoners are identifiable and contactable.
• Delayed timing: By the time the email lands, the shopper’s attention has moved on. Or worse, they’ve bought from a competitor.
• Added friction: Unless you’ve captured an email address and marketing consent, most visitors are already out of reach.
• Predictable patterns: Shoppers now anticipate these emails and wait for discounts.
• Generic messaging: Emails rarely account for why someone abandoned in the first place.

If we’re honest, these emails are less of a personalised recovery tactic and more of a reactive safety net. And safety nets don’t work for everyone.

The Problem: Why they fall short

There’s no denying abandoned cart emails deliver some results. But they’re flawed:

• Low impact at scale: Most shoppers won’t even see one. No email means no campaign.
• Lack of context: “You left something behind” doesn’t consider intent. Were they comparing prices? Still browsing? Waiting for payday?
• Delay kills momentum: The longer you wait, the colder the lead gets. What felt relevant in the moment quickly becomes noise.
• Margin drain: Blanket discounts train customers to delay purchases and wait for incentives.

These emails aren’t inherently bad. But in their current form, they’re blunt and reactive. They’re also increasingly easy for shoppers to tune out or exploit.

The Reframe: Fix the email, then think bigger

We don’t need to throw out abandoned cart emails. But we do need to evolve them.

Start by making them smarter:

• Segment for context: A high-intent abandoner may only need reassurance. A low-intent visitor might require education or a compelling USP.
• Time with care: Not every shopper needs a follow-up within an hour. Some need space.
• Rethink the content: Shift from discount-first to value-first messaging. Highlight free returns, flexible payments, or social proof instead.

This isn’t theoretical. One UK high-street jeweller used intent data to personalise abandonment emails, tailoring content and timing to match each visitor’s mindset. The result? A 12% uplift in click-through rates and a strategy that felt more like a conversation than a conversion ploy. Read the full story here.

But even the smartest emails have their limits. If we know when and why a shopper is about to abandon, why wait until they’ve left to act?

Every abandonment email is, by definition, too late. The shopper has already gone. That’s why leading retailers are complementing smarter emails with in-session interventions.

With real-time intent data, you can:

• Detect when a shopper is hesitating in the cart.
• Surface supportive messaging before they leave (e.g., save-for-later prompts or delivery reassurance).
• Reserve discounts for visitors showing exit signals, rather than everyone.

This approach doesn’t just recover abandoners; it prevents abandonment in the first place. And because interventions happen in the moment, they feel like help rather than a hard sell.

Future Vision: Abandonment reimagined

Abandoned cart emails still have their place. But they’re no longer enough on their own.

The smarter play combines:

• Smarter emails: Contextual, well-timed, and less reliant on discounts.
• In-session interventions: Adaptive experiences that engage all abandoners, not just the small percentage you can email.

����’s a shift from generic flows to contextual journeys. From chasing abandoners to understanding them. From reactive tactics to proactive engagement.

And when you get this right, abandonment isn’t just reduced. ����’s transformed.

Ready to rethink your abandonment tactics? Learn how intent makes abandonment emails more impactful or read our article on getting started with intent-based abandonment.

Retailers ask for emails with the goal of growing their audience, their campaign reach, and their influence.

But most retailers are asking at the wrong time, in the wrong way, and it’s costing them.

In our è����Ƶ Gap research, we found 55% of online shoppers dislike pop-ups that appear early in a session. 45% say they actively make them less likely to buy. One in five even say they’d leave a site altogether if interrupted too soon.

37% of the retail sites analysed as part of the report used pop-ups, with 79% shown within the first 30 seconds.

The problem isn’t the capture itself. ����’s the lack of context.

Most email capture strategies are built on fixed rules; time on site, page views, scroll depth. But these are proxies, not signals. They don’t reflect how a visitor is behaving or how likely they are to respond. They assume intent, rather than recognising it.

This isn’t about switching tactics. ����’s about responding to behaviour in real time.

Rethink: Why you’re capturing emails

When email capture is treated as a numbers game, relevance drops. And the risk goes up. You might gain a contact in the short-term, but ultimately lose a customer.

The right question isn’t how do we collect more emails? ����’s how do we make the exchange feel appropriate, valuable and well-timed. For both sides?

That means considering two things:

• Mindset: Where is the customer in their journey? Are they focused and confident? Or showing signs of struggle, and unlikelihood to progress?
• Value: What are you offering in return? Is it aligned to what they’re doing?

The best email capture doesn’t interrupt the journey. It supports it.

Optimise: Start capturing with è����Ƶ

To start with, optimise what already exists. Use intent segmentation to change when your capture prompts fire.

Play 1: Trigger email capture for abandoning visitors

Most email capture is delivered too soon, before visitors have shown any interest or given any signal that they’re ready for a value exchange.

The fix: Wait for signs of struggle or abandon, then trigger based on live behaviour.

Take On The Beach, who triggered capture only for visitors in the Engage or Build stages of the è����Ƶ Framework, who were showing subtle signs of drop-off. By adjusting the timing to match behaviour, they saw a 28% uplift in email sign-ups with no hit to conversion.

Why this works:

• You reach the right audience, in-session
• You increase sign-ups without sacrificing experience
• You stop defaulting to time-based rules that overlook nuance

Play 2: Ask for an email when a visitor is unlikely to progress

Instead of waiting for signs of struggle, or abandon, you can also target a visitor when they’re indicating they’re unlikely to move forward in their journey, by using è����Ƶ to Progress.

That’s what Le Chameau did. By limiting email capture to visitors who were unlikely to progress, and excluding focused shoppers entirely, they:

• Increased email sign-ups by 3%
• Drove 24% incremental revenue
• Protected high-value journeys from interruption

Grow: What comes next

Timing is essential. But message matters too.

Most capture prompts lead with a generic offer: “Sign up for 10% off.” But not everyone is looking to buy. And not everyone cares about a discount.

Visitors early on in their journey, who haven’t found the right product for them? Offer a newsletter prompt.

Shoppers who have a product affinity, but low likelihood to purchase? Suggest a save for later or price drop alert.

This approach moves email capture from a hard sell to a helpful nudge. Tailored to behaviour, aligned with intent.

It also opens the door to experimenting with softer incentives, different tones of voice, and varied placements. Especially for visitors who show high exit intent, but lower likelihood to return.

What happens when you get this right?

When email capture is powered by real-time intent:

• Sign-up rates increase, because prompts are more timely and contextual
• Conversion rates hold steady, because you don’t disrupt high-intent visitors
• List quality improves, with fewer disengaged or disinterested contacts
• Revenue grows, from visitors that may otherwise have been lost

Capture becomes strategic, not interruptive. And it builds long-term value in your customer base.

Your first three steps

If you’re looking to make an impact fast:

1. Replace time-based triggers with intent-led email capture prompts
2. Target abandoning or struggling visitors, and those unlikely to progress. Exclude focused shoppers
3. Align your offer or message to the visitor’s behaviour and mindset

From there, test new placements, value exchanges and copy aligned to intent predictions. And treat capture as a recurring opportunity, not a one-off chance.

Because when you understand visitor behaviour, you don’t have to interrupt to make an impact. You just have to respond at the right time.

Want to see how intent-first email capture works in practice? Get a demo to learn how Made With è����Ƶ helps teams grow their lists without damaging their visitors’ experience.

An engaged customer list is a valuable asset. ����’s no wonder most retail websites go for the obvious way of growing it: triggering a pop-up to everyone. Often seconds after someone lands, or as they go to exit.

Yet, asking for someone's email address moments after they arrive feels abrupt and annoying. ����’s not the best start to a new relationship, is it?

The thing is, eCommerce makes these things easy to overlook. For most teams, a visitor's reaction to the pop-up is only perceptible through proxy metrics like close or conversion rate. This doesn’t give you the full picture. What’s not measurable is the number of people who were there to buy but didn’t, because of the email capture.����

So we asked shoppers.��

Our è����Ƶ Gap report found that showing an email capture pop up too soon has a 1 in 5 chance of causing a visitor to abandon your site.

Let’s be clear. ����’s not all email capture pop-ups that frustrate customers. Some are viewed as valuable and helpful, with conversion rates in high double figures. It all comes down to timing and context.��

We’ve heard from the shoppers, so it’s only fair we did the same with the retailers. We spoke with nine ecommerce leaders to understand why a catch-all approach to email capture pop-ups is still the norm despite how they make shoppers feel.��

The status quo of email capture��

More than half of shoppers find pop-ups annoying. 1 in 5 dislike them so much it stops them from shopping. Yet, 79% of pop-ups are triggered within the first 30 seconds.��

Is this the best approach we have in 2025 and beyond?��

“How we shop online has changed a lot over the last 5-10 years, yet we’re still relying on the same tactics. Customers are more savvy, shopping across multiple websites and are protective over who they give their personal information to.”
Jackie Barnett, Head of CRM at MandM��Direct

As Jackie points out, immediate email capture pop-ups might have worked 10 years ago, but today's shoppers are worried about data security. Plus, with overflowing inboxes, most people are reluctant to offer up their info. Time on site pop-ups might well be “the way we’ve always done it,” but it won’t wash with today’s customers.����

Another reason the industry is stuck using an outdated method? FOMO.��

“Most brands do email pop-ups early or on exit because it feels safe. Like, catch the visitor before they leave or bounce. It's a numbers game--more eyeballs, more chances.”
‍Natalia Lavrenenko, UGC manager/Marketing manager

����’s a numbers game when it should be a people game. Where’s the value in collecting 1000s of email addresses of annoyed people? Will they read your emails, or mark them as spam? That’s if the email’s even real.

So, what’s really at stake here?��

“If you've got a lot of inbound organic traffic, combined with a good lead magnet, you can do well on that 1%-2% conversion on popups. The con is that you're annoying everybody else.”��
‍Brenna Milleville, Founder at Elly and Grace

Capturing emails from a tiny percentage of all traffic while actively irritating the vast majority. ����’s a pretty bad deal, and everyone knows it. So why is this method still being used?��

“There's pressure to capture volume. Just like the pressure to send more marketing emails, even though we know it’s ineffective. It can be hard to justify more targeted efforts without data, especially when a belief persists that more activity = more revenue.”��
‍Alfie Calas, Head of CRM��at thortful

This is the reality for many ecommerce teams. Goals and targets that direct them away from doing better work.��

It comes down to what can be measured and what data is available. While it’s obvious a smaller, engaged list will outperform a larger, disengaged one, having the data to prove it is the stumbling block.��

“Customers who consent to email tend to have a higher LTV, so capturing their email is a priority. The more emails we have, the more customers we can keep speaking to, the more chance we’ve got at cost-effectively retaining them!”
Jackie Barnett, Head of CRM��at MandM��Direct

As Jackie shared, the rationale behind capturing every email address vs. just those that matter is the idea of chance.��

Email capture pop-ups triggered after 30 seconds on-site equate to a scattergun approach based on a wish and a prayer. What’s ignored is the loss of potential immediate sales from the people put off.��

This isn't news to ecommerce professionals, but it's not just the pressure of targets that has seen it become an accepted behaviour. It's the limitations of visitor data and the targeting options available in their tech stack.

“Most out-of-the-box tools only allow for a handful of triggers, so marketers are restricted in the ways they can be creative about approaching customers for email capture.”��
‍Alfie Calas, Head of CRM��at thortful

“The prevalent [email capture] methods don't consider the unique journey and mood of each visitor.”��
‍Ben Read, CEO at Mercha

����’s worth reiterating; a web page tells you nothing about the customers’ buying stage.

So when tools are limited to triggering pop-ups based on page or time on site, you miss critical signals. Your experience becomes disconnected from the context of the visitor.

If retailers want to improve their relationship with customers, this status quo has to change. The focus needs to shift to the shopper and how they behave in the context of the whole experience. This is how we create higher opt-in percentages, less friction, and more meaningful lists.

The cost of generic email capture

So much effort goes into crafting the perfect welcome email series, the tone of voice, database segmentation, data security practices, etc. But so little goes into the moment when customers are asked to sign up. Yet there’s much at stake. 40% of shoppers say email capture pop ups make them less likely to buy.

“I've learned that how and when you ask for an email can make or break a relationship with customers…Focus on building relationships, not just lists.”��
Asim Rahat, Founder at Oswin Hyde

Asim found out the hard way: get it wrong, and there’s rarely a second chance. A poorly-timed pop-up might get closed, but it also sets the tone.��

So, what’s the real cost of generic, ill-timed pop-ups?��

The negative shift in perception and lost sales you’ll never track.

“A huge issue is the unseen impact on people who find these pop-ups a total turn-off. What percentage of potential customers are being lost each day due to this one-size-fits-all approach?��Plus, the cost of the voucher codes being handed out to customers who would have purchased anyway or had no intention of making more than one purchase.”��
‍Jackie Barnett, Head of CRM��at MandM Direct

Because generic email capture is a catch-all, it’s hard to work out what’s in it for the customer.�� Retailers resort to bribing visitors with discounts. This leads to a bad outcome: lost margin.

Offering discount codes in sitewide pop-ups might help you capture emails, but that’s because you’re giving money away to everyone by default. We’ve already explored the status quo of discounts in this article if you want more on the subject.��

Fundamentally, generic email capture pop-ups cost you customer relationships, margins, and sales. But if this is the industry standard, what options do retailers really have?

Approaching discounts based on visitor intent

“Imagine someone is browsing sneakers, comparing a few models, maybe even checking delivery options. They’re clearly into it, but not quite ready. That’s when a “Hey! Want 10% off your first order?” feels helpful, not annoying.������’s like catching them at the right moment in-store, not shouting at them the second they walk in.”
Kardelen Ozyurda, UX & CRO Manager at PUMA

That’s the shift. Ask when it feels natural.��

If you're not sure when these moments occur in your customer's online buying experience, consider when you might go over to a customer in a store setting to ask if they want more help, more information, or some material to take home. This exercise can also help you work out what to offer in return—whether that’s a newsletter, discount code, or a stock alert.

It should be obvious to the visitor why you need their email address, because there's value for both parties.��

“We ask for push notification permissions after customers have done a 'high-value' action, like adding a product to their basket or purchasing. It's an easier value exchange when the customer can see the why behind giving their permission. We found the rate of acceptance skyrocketed when we did this.”
Alfie Calas, Head of CRM��at thortful

If you find yourself cringing at the idea of only asking people at the end of the journey and not everyone, consider this: intent-based email capture reduces impressions by 50%. But it also grows sign-ups by 40%.��

You know why?��

Because it only triggers when appropriate.��

“Context is everything. Email capture should be aligned with genuine value, like after engaging content, unlocking a discount, or adding to cart. The more it feels like a fair exchange, the better. The key is making it feel earned, not demanded.”
‍Niall Young O'Brien, CRM Manager at Represent

The more value you can convey, the higher the conversion rate of your email capture.��

What’s wild is transforming something that actively annoys people into something that they are happy to sign up for, just by changing when you show it. ����’s no longer one-sided.

What you say is just as important as when you ask. The more relevant what you say is to the individual, their mindset, and stage in the buying journey, the more likely you’re going to get your form filled in. Not only that, but relevancy has an added bonus when it comes to relationship building.��

“Personalise the ask, tie it to behaviour, interest, or value. Relevance builds trust, trust builds lists. Ask when you’ve earned it. Timing + relevance = quality leads and higher conversion.”
Brad Ledson, Email Marketing & CRM Manager��

Brad echoes what Jackie said earlier. Today's customers want, or even need, to trust the company asking for their information before they will give it away.

If you offer a discount for first-time buyers shortly after someone checks out as a guest, they aren’t going to have much faith in your brand. Likewise, if the visitor is in product research mode, offering a discount won't resonate as well as offering a handy guide to the product.��

Retailers want relationships, not emails. But old tactics and poor tech haven’t kept up with how customers should be treated. The status quo prioritises capturing emails over customer experience and sales. To flip the script, retailers need to ask for emails at the right time in the right way, based on buyer intent.��

Want to capture emails without subjecting your customers to generic, inappropriate pop-ups? Explore Email Capture with è����Ƶ.

Thanks again to all the ecommerce experts who shared their thoughts with us:��

, Head of CRM at

, Founder at ��

, UGC manager/Marketing manager at

, Head of CRM at

, CEO at

Founder at

, UX & CRO Manager - Ecommerce Europe at

, CRM Manager at

, Email Marketing & CRM Manager

We need to talk about how ecommerce brands collect emails.

Pop-ups demanding your email the second you land on a site? We've all seen them. We've all clicked the 'X'.

Yet this is still ecommerce’s default behaviour. A visitor hasn’t scrolled, clicked or even looked around, and already the brand is asking for their data. Sometimes dangling a discount. Sometimes just promising to keep them "in the loop." But always interrupting. Always assuming.

����’s digital directness at its most extreme. And the numbers show it is doing more harm than good.

As we found in The è����Ƶ Gap report, 55% of shoppers dislike pop-ups that appear early in a session. 45% say those pop-ups make them less likely to buy. And one in five say they would leave a site altogether if interrupted too soon.

Yet 79% of the leading retail sites we analysed fire pop-ups within the first 30 seconds.

Brands might think they are winning because the database grows. But what they are really doing is playing a game of short-term gain, long-term pain.

The people and teams at these brands are aware of this. We know because we asked them for an article on ecommerce’s email capture issue. But despite knowing it, most don’t have an easy way of changing their behaviour.

This is one of the biggest blindspots in ecommerce. ����’s time to rethink the entire logic of email capture.

Email capture works...But at what cost?

For CRM teams, email capture is a KPI. The more addresses in the database, the better.

But the real question is not whether these pop-ups collect emails. They do. Some of the time. Around 2% of the time, in fact.

The question is whether they should.

Because when you look closer, that growth comes with a hidden cost. And it is more than just a momentary annoyance.

Shoppers are irritated. Journeys are disrupted. Trust is eroded.

And perhaps worst of all, most email capture pop-ups offer a discount as the incentive. Usually 10%. It feels easy. It feels like a win. But the truth is, you’re not just interrupting a visitor. You’re also handing out margin you never needed to give away.

Yet inside ecommerce teams, nobody measures the downstream impact. Very few ask how those emails perform once collected. Whether they open the emails. Whether they engage. Whether they unsubscribe immediately or, worse, mark it as spam.

Because the metric is the email captured. Not the value of that email.

It is the lazy default. A blunt trade-off between quantity and quality. And it only survives because brands never step back to challenge the assumption that capturing an email is always better than not.

But is it?

Imagine this offline. A shopper walks into a store, takes two steps past the entrance, and a salesperson jumps in front of them demanding their contact details in exchange for 10% off. It would be absurd. Yet online, it is the norm.

We measure the upside. We ignore the downside.

Why do brands still do this?

Because it is easy.

Because the tools make it easy.

Because the KPI is set. Grow the database at all costs.

The truth is, the tools most ecommerce teams rely on aren’t built to do anything else. They only support rigid, rule-based triggers. You can fire a pop-up after a set time, after a certain number of pages, or when a mouse scrolls to the top of the screen. Blunt instruments that don't adapt to what the visitor is actually doing.

Because the tools are so limited, teams don’t have to think strategically. They pick one of the arbitrary options, turn it on, and move on to the next task. When platforms lead with convenience over context, strategy suffers. The tech shapes the behaviour.

But it is not just the tools. Organisational silos compound the problem. Email capture, discounting and experience are often owned by three different teams. Each has valid goals, but they are pulling in different directions.

CRM teams want emails. UX teams want less friction. Trading teams want conversions.

And no one asks the simple question: at what point would you be comfortable giving your email address to a retailer?

The anonymity of ecommerce only deepens the problem. I call this the veil of anonymity. Because shoppers can’t push back or protest, teams feel detached. When you remove human connection from the buying experience, it becomes easier to justify inappropriate interruptions. It becomes easy to forget that shoppers are real people.

How intent changes the game

This is not an argument against email capture. It is an argument for more appropriate email capture.

Not based on arbitrary page views or timers. Based on real behaviour. Real signals. Real moments of relevance.

You need to wait for the right time when the visitor has committed something towards that relationship before you ask that question.

And those moments will vary. There is no single 'right' page or second. Instead, teams should look at the journey through the lens of the visitor. Not the website.

For example:

• Browsing content? Offer to send more, like recipes or inspiration.
• Comparing products? Offer to save favourites to their inbox.
• At the basket, but hesitating? Offer to email them the basket or send price alerts.
• Showing signs of exit? Use that as the trigger to invite them to continue the conversation.

This is exactly what brands like Le Chameau and On The Beach have done by adding real-time intent to their email capture tactics.

Le Chameau used intent signals to show email capture only to disengaging visitors, not those in a focused, progressing journey. You can read the full play here.

The result:

• 3% more sign-ups.
• 24% incremental revenue from that segment.
  ‍

On The Beach used exit signals to trigger email capture earlier in the session, before visitors had fully disengaged. Explore their play here.

The result:

• 28% more email captures.

Not more pop-ups. Not more impressions. Just better timing. Better targeting. And better outcomes.

A more considered playbook for email capture

Want to do the same? Here’s how to rethink your approach:

When should you ask?

• Not on entry
• When visitors show signs of struggle, hesitation or exit
• When they have built some product affinity or journey progression
  ‍

Who should you ask?

• Not everyone.
• Exclude visitors in a Focus state, who are progressing naturally
• Target those most at risk of leaving or showing hesitation

What should the offer be?

• Not always a discount
• Offer content, save-for-later prompts, alerts, or softer relationship-building asks

And above all: stop thinking of email capture as a one-shot pop-up. Think of it as a sequence of opportunities to connect, at the right moment for the right customers.

You get a pop-up demanding your email before you’ve even looked around. How does that make you feel?

That is the question we should be asking of every tactic, every journey, every decision.

Because this is not just about collecting more emails. Or it shouldn’t be. It is about thinking in terms of value as much as volume. From interruptions to relationships. From blunt force to appropriate timing.

It is always better to start a relationship with respect than to do a fast grab for 10%.

Want to see how others are using intent to grow email lists without hurting experience? Read up on Email Capture with è����Ƶ.

Retailers aren’t discounting to be generous. They discount to drive conversion. But when you throw codes at everyone, all the time, it stops working. And, they’re not always needed.

Our è����Ƶ Gap report found 83% of online shoppers say they’ve used a discount code when they would have paid full price.

That’s not incremental revenue you’re gaining. That’s margin erosion.

Worse still, this catch-all approach conditions customers to expect a discount. Once they’ve had that 10% off, they’ll wait for it next time.��

Shoppers aren’t fooled. They know the discount game. And they’re playing it better than most retailers. I’ve definitely logged in to my account, added some items to my basket and waited for that abandon basket email to come through. More than once.��

But we’ve already covered the problem with the status quo of discounting, both from the ecommerce leader’s perspective and why we think intent changes things. This piece is about how to solve it.

To be clear. We’re not saying discounting needs to stop. But it does need to change.

Rethink: Why you’re discounting��

Conversion rate matters. But it doesn’t tell the full story.

Of course if you give somebody a better deal they’re more likely to convert. So when it comes to the pros of discounting, we feel it’s smarter to be looking at metrics like:

• Incremental revenue: Are you gaining additional purchases, or giving away a % to those you’d have had anyway?
• Margin protection: Are discounts going to those who actually need them? Who wouldn’t purchase without?
• è����Ƶ to purchase: Are you helping someone over the line, or just handing out money to all?

Most retailers discount too early, too often, and to too many people. The fix isn’t more codes. ����’s smarter targeting.

So where do you start?

Rethink: Who you’re discounting

At Made With è����Ƶ, we use a framework that maps where a visitor is in their buying stage (Engage, Build, Maintain, Convert), and what behavioural signals they’re showing (Focused, Struggling, Abandoning).

That gives us 12 core intent-based segments. And not all of them need a discount.

Start with visitors in the Maintain or Convert stages who are showing signs of struggle or abandonment. These people have intent. You’re just helping them follow through on it when they signal they’re hesitating, or going to leave.

On the other side, visitors in earlier stages or those showing focus don’t need an incentive nudge (at least not yet!). Give them one, and you’re spending margin unnecessarily.

Once you know who to target, the next step is how and when to show the offer.

Optimise: 2 ways to start discounting with intent

You don’t need to build something new. Just optimise what you’re already doing. Once you’ve tightened your audience, it’s time to rethink your triggers and delivery.

Play 1: Trigger discounts for high-intent abandoning visitors

Most retailers show discounts on landing. Pop-ups fire after 30 seconds, three pages, or immediately. But these rules have nothing to do with actual buying behaviour, they’re just proxies.

Instead, you should look for visitors with purchase intent. Then wait for signs of abandonment. Only then do you trigger the offer. And deliver it to visitors directly on site - not through an email sign-up campaign.

Appliances Direct adopted this play and focused their incentives on the Convert Abandon segment, also known as visitors showing high intent but clear exit signals. By targeting only this segment, they saved 42% in margin while maintaining conversion rates. See how Appliances Direct did it.

Better Bathrooms also used this exact approach to great effect. By targeting Maintain è����Ƶ Abandon visitors showing hesitation on PDPs, they triggered context-aware discounts only when abandonment looked likely. The result? A 25.6% increase in conversion rate without widening the net. Read more about Better Bathrooms' approach.

Why does this work?

• These visitors are already ready to buy, but something’s causing them not to
• You reduce giving away unnecessary discounts to casual browsers
• You create a smoother journey (no email sign-up delay, no inbox hunting for a code)

Besides, our è����Ƶ Gap report found 85% of online shoppers leave the site just to go find a discount code anyway. So either don’t make blanket offers, or don’t make them. Serve it when it matters instead.

Play 2: Offer timely incentives for struggling visitors

Not every visitor needs a discount. But some need a little help before they slip away.

While we recommend most retailers start by targeting Abandon signals, there’s a critical opportunity earlier in the journey. Struggling visitors. Our Maintain and Convert Struggle segments are shoppers who have shown clear intent, but are starting to lose confidence or momentum.

By detecting this behaviour in real-time, you can intervene. Either with the same promotional offer or a lighter-touch incentive, such as free delivery or even a lower-value discount.

These nudges help prevent drop-off before it turns into abandonment, while letting you reserve larger offers for those who really need them.

You can also factor in a visitor’s intent to return to site in the future. If someone is abandoning with high purchase intent but is unlikely to come back, you might want to push a stronger offer.

This is where the nuance of real-time intent shines. You’re not treating everyone the same. You’re responding with the right kind of support at the right time.

The core segments in our framework make these two plays possible with minimal effort. But the power of real-time intent data can take discount strategies even further.

Grow: What comes next

By this point, you’ve cut waste and improved impact. But what if you could push performance even further without giving away more?

Once you’ve refined your targeting and timing, the next stage is relevance and context. This is where Optimise starts becoming Grow.

Made With è����Ƶ lets you track affinities to products, categories, price points or brands based on rising purchase intent. You can use this to personalise the discount depending on visitor interests or your margin.��

Seasalt Cornwall used this data to deliver category-based discounts only to visitors in the Maintain Abandon segment - those with clear product interest showing signs of hesitation. The result? An 89% uplift in conversion rate by focusing offers where they mattered most. Read the full Seasalt case study.

But this is just one way of interpreting it. Other examples include:

• Varying the discount amount based on product margin (e.g. 20% off dresses, 5% off jewellery)
• Offering an alternative incentive, such as free delivery on larger high-ticket goods, to further protect margin
• Using copy that makes the discount feel personal (“Still thinking about that top? Here’s 10% off”)

Now you’re not just nudging in the right time and place, but with the right offer for them. Tailoring both incentive type and depth to how your visitors are behaving, and where they are in their journey.

This is where smarter discounting becomes smarter merchandising.

What happens when you get this right?

When intent-based discount works, you don’t see conversion drop. You see:

• Stable conversion overall (because the people who don’t need a discount don’t miss it)
• Higher conversion for those who do receive the discount
• More incremental revenue and margin saved

You also build a better customer base. One that’s not hooked on the discount drug.

Discounting doesn’t have to feel like a trick. It can feel like understanding your visitor, and using the levers you have available to you.

Your first 3 steps

If you're looking to make an impact fast, here’s where to begin:

1. Replace early blanket discount pop-ups with intent-based triggers
2. Offer high-intent abandoning visitors a discount while they’re in-session
3. Intervene with high-intent struggling visitors, offering the same or a lighter incentive

From there, you should explore your segments further. Looking at affinity and intent to return data to identify the next priority.

This isn’t about giving more or even less discounts. ����’s about giving smarter discounts, only when they make a difference.

Want to see how Made With è����Ƶ makes this possible? Get a demo of our real-time intent agent.

The status quo of ecommerce discounting is broken.

A pop-up offering 10% off before you’ve even looked around. A banner shouting about today’s limited-time deal (limited or not). Indiscriminate abandon cart emails. If you’ve ever shopped online you’ve seen these tactics. If you work in the industry, you’ve likely done at least one of them.

Discount codes are everywhere. Retailers use them to drive urgency, clear stock, reward loyalty and, more often than not, to hit this week’s revenue target.

But, despite its shortcomings, discounting itself is a strategic choice. Discount codes themselves aren’t the problem. The way we use them is.

We recently shared the floor with retail professionals to hear the in-house view on ecommerce’s discount dilemma. This is our perspective. One that reframes why discounting, as it stands, is failing both customers and brands.

Why online retailers rely on discounting

����’s not hard to understand why discounting is so widespread. Ecommerce teams have a limited set of levers they can pull. When the goal is fast execution and short-term impact, discount codes often win by default.

They’re fast to deploy. Easy to measure. Valuable to customers. And they usually produce some sort of lift.

But that default setting is precisely the problem. Discounting isn’t being used strategically, it’s being used generically.

Most retailers still rely on a narrow set of triggering rules. Things like page type, category or product viewed, basket value or visitor type (e.g. new vs. returning).

These are blunt instruments. They don’t reflect how someone is behaving. They don’t consider their mindset. And they certainly don’t factor in what stage of the buying journey that visitor is in.

So when these rules are used to trigger promotions, it means most discount codes are offered to the wrong people, at the wrong time.

The immediate problem isn’t that retailers are defaulting to discount codes for short-term revenue gains. The problem is that these discount code campaigns aren’t run effectively due to the current limitations of triggering rules that retailers have at their disposal. And this leads to issues.

Let’s be honest. Blanket discounting does one thing really well: erode margin.

Need more proof? The è����Ƶ Gap report found that 83% of online shoppers have used a discount code even when they were ready to pay full price. That’s not incremental. That’s revenue left on the table.

Mass discounting also trains customers to expect a deal. It teaches them the rules to trigger offers. It hurts brand perception. And makes it harder to measure what’s actually working. After all, not every abandonment is price anxiety. Not every visitor needs a financial incentive.

If you can't time your discounts to context, you're not optimising their delivery. You're often just giving them away. This is something intent can solve.��

Why intent data changes things

People don’t buy in fixed journeys. And they definitely don’t all behave the same just because they’re on the same page.

But today’s discount logic doesn’t recognise that. A new customer on a PDP gets the same code as a casual browser with no interest in buying. A focused, high-intent visitor gets the same popup as someone barely engaged.

This is the real issue: discount codes are being fired without understanding what the visitor actually needs. What the context behind their actions is.

Starting to think in terms of customer intent fixes that, by letting you understand not just who the visitor is, but what they need in that moment. Regardless of where they are on site.

This is what our real-time intent agent unlocks for ecommerce teams. But I’m here to cover the change in thinking, not our product.

With intent data, you can make predictions on your visitors’ likely actions. You can identify not only the current stage of their purchase journey and what you need to do for them, but behavioural signals on whether they’re focused or struggling.

By starting to think about discount codes through this lens, you can move from fixed experiences. You can start to:

• Identify which visitors are likely to abandon but are also likely to convert if nudged
• Spot hesitation in real-time and respond with the right incentive
• Avoid discounting visitors who would have bought anyway

While the possibilities vary by brand and category, this unlocks some fairly universal opportunities. If you are going to do discounts, there are a couple of moments you really should be targeting. And they aren’t linked to page type or other retrospective data.

Two real-time moments where discounts works wonders

Discounting becomes impactful when it's tailored to real-time visitor context. We’ve seen this play out again and again across brands, and across shoppers’ journeys.

With this in mind, two of our è����Ƶ Segments are not only popular with our customers, but effective targets for discounting:

Convert | Abandon

• These are visitors deep in the journey, showing signs of exit
• They’re likely to buy, but not guaranteed
• A timely incentive here can rescue revenue

Maintain | Abandon

• Visitors who’ve built intent but are showing abandon signals
• They might be looping, hesitating, or comparing
• If their likelihood to return to the site is also low, a discount here protects the sale

These are moments when a discount can pay off incrementally. And while they are informed by visitor actions, they are not triggered directly by them but the context behind them.

While our product buckets visitors into è����Ƶ Segments from our framework, it’s just a starting point. è����Ƶ data can give ecommerce teams an abundance of datapoints to combine with their existing insights, from affinities to specific behavioural predictions.��

This gives retailers the flexibility to trigger discounts for the most appropriate segments to maximise incrementality. All based on where they are in their buying journey and how they are feeling in real-time.

This approach isn’t theoretical. Appliances Direct used this logic to save 42% in margin by only offering discounts to visitors with high purchase intent showing abandon signals. Seasalt Cornwall saw an 89% uplift in conversion by combining these segments with affinity data.

Flipping the traditional discount logic

Let’s take things further and rethink three common discount triggers based on the typical rules.

New customer discounts. Just because someone is new doesn’t mean they’re unsure. Instead, look for signs of struggle. Not all new visitors need a discount to convert.

Product-based discounts. Some people are already sold. Others never will be. Target hesitation, not just product type. Sell the value, not the price.

Time on site discounts. Time alone isn’t a sign of purchase intent. Look for signals like repeated views, erratic navigation or clear signs of exit.

To summarise, discount codes aren’t evil. The way we do them is often just…a little lazy.

Discount codes should be used to influence behaviour, not to cover for a lack of understanding. They should incentivise action, not act as a tax on uncertainty.

The good news? Most ecommerce teams don’t need different discounts. They just need better timing. Smarter triggers. And a shift in mindset.

Rethinking retail discounting doesn’t mean giving it up. It means doing it with more precision, more relevance, and more respect for the customer journey. It means delivering them with intent.

Want to see what discounting with intent looks like in action? Learn more about how Made With è����Ƶ makes it possible.

Visitors filling up their carts before abandoning them is a constant source of frustration for ecommerce retailers.��Reducing cart abandonment is often at the top of to-do lists.

The way we both see and deal with this challenge needs a rethink.

Not all visitors reaching the checkout stage have the same intent or are in the same stage of their buying journey.

Data shows that intent at checkout varies, and therefore nuanced strategies are required to truly understand and address this persistent problem.

Key takeaways

Focusing on intent to combat cart abandonment

1. Data shows varied intent at checkout.��Our LLM data validates distinct differences in intent at the checkout stage.
2. Higher intent equals higher purchase likelihood.��Visitors with stronger purchase intent are more likely to complete their transactions.
3. Tailoring treatment based on intent.��Different intent levels require different approaches to maximise conversion rates.
4. Checkout visitors differ from browsers.��Visitors at checkout are not the same as those just browsing; treating them differently is crucial.
5. Reconsidering the traditional checkout mindset.��Evidence from our LLM suggests that people buy in stages and should be treated based on their intent throughout the buying journey.

So, let’s dive in–starting with the big question…

Abandon the old way?

Should ecommerce ditch the traditional checkout mindset?

We're all familiar with the traditional checkout funnel:

Conversion rate optimisation specialists have spent years showing that navigation complexity, weak CTAs, slow page loads, ambiguous pricing, insufficient product information, site security, and cumbersome checkout processes all contribute to cart abandonment.

Yet it's easy to overlook a critical factor:��intent.

è����Ƶ is everything

Traditional approaches have treated every visitor at checkout as if they are the same.

Some are ready and willing to buy, while others are still browsing or wrestling with indecision. Missing these differences means missing out on potential sales.

Sophisticated data models now give us more precise insights into visitor behaviour.

The conventional checkout mindset is outdated.��Our data-driven insights reveal that buying is a process occurring in stages, not on product pages.

Visitors at checkout can range from curious to committed. Recognising and acting on these differences is essential.

High è����Ƶ = High conversion & lower likelihood of cart abandonment

Visitors with a strong intent to purchase are focused shoppers. Even though they may move items in and out of the cart, they are progressing steadily towards conversion with a low likelihood of abandoning.

Conversely, low-intent visitors often abandon their carts.

Treating both groups the same means irritation for those with high-intent (and often unnecessary discounting), and ineffective messaging for those with low-intent.

High-intent visitors crave a seamless, swift checkout process. Low-intent visitors might need a nudge—a well-timed discount or additional information could tip the scales.

In-session strategies

Maximising conversion through intent recognition

Take a look at the graph below. It shows visitors ranked by their likelihood to buy, from lowest (red) to highest (green), and how well they actually convert (CVR).

Our data reveals a clear distinction: from cautious 'considerers' (red) to decisive 'buy-now' enthusiasts (green).

High-intent shoppers boast an impressive 77% conversion rate, while low-intent browsers lag behind at 63%.

è����Ƶ is a critical factor to conversion.

����’s not just about items in a cart; understanding intent helps us tailor our approach—guiding the unsure and facilitating seamless transactions for the ready-to-buy.

Browsers vs Buyers

Tackling cart abandonment: The spectrum of intent in segments

There's a nuanced spectrum underlying audience segments and their varied intents.

Grouping your audience by states: focused, struggling, or abandoning; allows you to target each segment uniquely and intervene effectively, even during the checkout phase.

You can dig into the intent-based segmentation framework for a clear approach to optimise your ecommerce strategy, including tackling cart abandonment.

Actionable tips

Implementing intent-driven practices

• Segment Visitors by è����Ƶ:��Use analytics to categorise visitors by behaviour and intent.
• Tailor Checkout Experience:��Customise the checkout for different intent levels.��Provide extra assistance for low-intent visitors and streamline the process for high-intent visitors.
• Monitor and Adjust:��Keep an eye on your checkout performance and tweak based on intent data.

Tools and resources

Enhancing execution with precision

• CRM Systems:��Integrate with intent data to personalise visitor experiences.
• Heatmap Tools:��Tools like Hotjar can help you understand visitor interactions on the checkout page.

Conclusion

Leveraging intent for ecommerce success

Understanding and acting upon intent isn’t just beneficial—it’s essential for driving conversions.

By adopting an intent-based approach, ecommerce retailers can enhance customer satisfaction and achieve sustainable growth.��

So, harness your data insights, personalise the shopping experience, witness fewer abandoned carts and watch your checkout process prevail.

The ecommerce landscape has evolved dramatically over the past decade. Technological advancements, shifts in customer behaviour, and global events like the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated online retail.

An estimated 24 million online stores worldwide compete for attention and spending. Platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce have simplified online retail, empowering entrepreneurs and established brands to establish their digital presence.

But a significant challenge bubbles underneath all this progress: competitive advantage through pricing strategies—a race to the bottom.

In this race, profit margins are sacrificed in favour of cutting prices to stay relevant and keep conversions high. Unfortunate side effects like eroding brand value and conditioning customers to expect discounts as the norm have been accepted at the price we pay to play.����

For many ecommerce brands, this has become a dangerous balancing act: how to drive sales without compromising profitability or brand integrity.

But there are ways to leverage discounting, not as a desperate measure but as a strategic growth lever.

You can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty by tailoring discounts to customer behaviours while safeguarding profit margins.

In this article, we’ll explore the challenges ecommerce retailers face with traditional discounting strategies, examine segmenting and targeting your audience effectively and discuss the impact of strategic discounting on brand perception and profitability.

Protecting your margin

The problem

• The cost of goods is skyrocketing
• Prices are constantly under pressure due to intense market competition
• Brands feel compelled to sacrifice margins to maintain or grow market share through widespread discounting��

Discounts can give an immediate boost to sales figures, but often don’t contribute to sustainable growth. They merely accelerate revenue to meet short-term goals.

The solution

Implementing a real-time segmentation framework.

Their current state (whether focused, struggling, or abandoning), and most crucially, their intent, tells you when to step in and offer a discount or whether you can safely stay out of your customer’s way and allow them to purchase.

By segmenting your audience based on these stages, you can identify where customers stand in their buying journey, allowing you to make more appropriate offers.

This segmentation can be integrated into on-site discounting strategies and CRM platforms for managing discounts in behavioural campaigns like abandoned cart communications.

As an example, customers showing focused behaviour with a high intent to purchase may not need discounts to convert. In such cases, retailers can opt to hide or reduce discounts, preserving margins and focusing on opportunities for incremental sales.��

By strategically understanding customer intent, ecommerce brands can steer clear of the race-to-the-bottom mindset prevalent in the market.

This approach ensures profitability while still meeting customer needs effectively.

Protecting your brand

The problem

• Online retail competition intensifies
• Retailers increasingly rely on promotions
• Constant and widespread discounting
• Brands are trapped in a cycle of perpetual discounts to outdo previous campaigns

Over-reliance on discounts damages brand perception. Many customers now question the authenticity of pricing and categorise some brands as “discount retailers.”

This shift in customer perception threatens brand reputation, especially for retailers focused on quality and higher price points, threatening their long-term growth.

The solution

Discounting based on intent to purchase.

The issue isn’t discounting itself but how we execute it. Generic and blanket discounting strategies need to be replaced with strategic discounting reserved for those who actually need it.

Pinpoint where customers are in their buying journey precisely—whether they’re engaged, hesitating, or at risk of abandoning their carts—and, crucially, their purchasing intent.

Use real-time behavioural data to offer discounts only to those showing low intent, are struggling, or highly likely to abandon. Strategically deploy discounts to these specific customer segments at the right moments.

This approach reduces discounting noise, protects brand perception, and responsibly uses discounts as a strategic tool for sustainable growth.

By demonstrating a nuanced understanding of customer preferences and needs, you can not only meet immediate sales goals but also build trust and foster loyalty.

Discount smarter, not harder

Whether you’re protecting margins or brand reputation, it’s clear ecommerce is stuck in a cycle of dysfunctional discounting.

Effective discounting isn’t just about slashing prices randomly; it’s about timing and relevance.

You need a game plan that identifies where customers are in their buying journey and whether they’re keen to buy or still window-shopping.

Instead, tap into intent data to figure out who needs that little nudge and when.

Segments for discounting

Here are a few segments you can implement to identify those that might need a helping nudge.

Basket Pauser

• Context:��Abandon behaviour
• Summary:��These customers have built up a basket and are now showing signs that they’re likely to leave and may return
• Objective:��Maintain è����Ƶ. What can you do to encourage this behaviour, e.g., save items for later (with email), sign up for payday reminders, etc., or convince these customers that now is the right time to purchase?

Basket Abandoners

• Context:��Abandon behaviour and unlikely to return
• Summary:��These customers have built up a basket and are now showing signs that they’re likely to leave and not return
• Objective:��Maintain è����Ƶ. This is likely one of the last chances you have to persuade these customers; think about appropriate messaging that can reduce their likelihood of exit. This is the perfect segment for you to highlight immediate value. ����’s extra time, and it’s probably your last-ditch attempt to keep them and persuade them to convert.

Struggling Buyers

• Context:��Struggle
• Summary:��Customers likely on the checkout who are showing struggle behaviours
• Objective:��Convert. They’re struggling and not checking out. Why? Are they checking discounts? Rather than push them through a checkout when you know this journey isn’t typical, how can you allow for the fact that they don’t seem ready to buy? Without cutting the checkout off, of course. Understanding and addressing this hesitancy is key to converting stalled checkouts into successful transactions.

Hesitant Buyers

• Context:��Struggling, not in Committing
• Summary:��Customers who showed they are ready to convert but are no longer on the checkout and who are showing struggling behaviours
• Objective:��Convert. The challenge with this segment is understanding and addressing the underlying anxieties that hold them back. That can be a set of questions you’re not answering effectively enough, concerns about the product, price, and trust in the brand. How can you influence their experience to remove any anxieties causing hesitation and promote motivating factors?

Last Chancers

• Context:��Abandon, low expected return
• Summary:��Customers who showed signs they wanted to convert but are now abandoning the journey and are unlikely to return
• Objective:��Convert. These customers have demonstrated high levels of intent but are unlikely to return and are predicted to exit soon. This is likely one of the last chances you have to persuade these customers; think about appropriate messaging that can be used to reduce their likelihood of exiting. This is the perfect segment for you to highlight immediate value. ����’s extra time and probably your last-ditch attempt to keep them and persuade them to convert.

Segments to avoid discounting

Here are some segments that might not need a discount, but may need other nudges instead.

Unengaged Browsers

• Context:��Struggle Behaviour with active events in Browsing (min. 10 events)
• Summary:��These customers are starting to interact with the website, but they’re not progressing from browsing and actively engaging in product discovery (yet). Unengaged Browsers are characterised by their lack of interaction beyond basic page views.
• Objective:��Engaging this segment means understanding why they’re hesitating, piquing interest and encouraging a deeper exploration of your site. Inspire these customers with categories/products to help progress them in their journey. They interact with the website but haven’t moved into a Refining Buying Stage.

Basket Convincers

• Context:��On a PDP with a high affinity for the current product but has not yet added to the basket
• Summary:��These customers are on a PDP, with a strong affinity for the product they’re looking at and high Add to Basket activity, but they have not yet added any items to the basket
• Objective:��Build è����Ƶ. How can these customers be convinced to Add to Basket? Consider product-specific anxieties and motivators that can be used to influence them. They need just the right nudge to transition from interest to action. The challenge lies in identifying and addressing the factors that can convert this hesitation into decisive action.

Struggling Evaluators

• Context:��Customers who haven’t added a product to the basket, have viewed multiple PDPs and haven’t built an affinity for any products
• Summary:��Broad Evaluators are the *tire-kickers*. They are shoppers immersed in the evaluation stage, showing an interest in what your brand offers but without any clear direction or behaviour towards purchase.
• Objective:��Build è����Ƶ. The objective is to guide deeper engagement with your brand first and then your products, not the other way around. They need help finding the right product. They need ease of comparison but also content to help them understand what product is right for their needs.

Product Persuaders

• Context:��Showing struggle behaviours, haven’t added any products to cart, have built product affinity/affinities but are losing momentum
• Summary:��Customers who have built a product affinity but have not added any items to the basket and whose journey is showing signs of slowing down / heading in the wrong direction
• Objective:��Build è����Ƶ. Their behaviour suggests a moment of hesitation or reconsideration. They have potential interest in specific products or categories but also need further persuasion or reassurance. How can you help these customers get back to a product and persuade them to actually add to basket?

Focused Shoppers

• Context:��Positive behaviours
• Summary:��These shoppers are on the cusp of conversion, are progressing nicely and are making their final decision(s) before moving to checkout
• Objective: Maintain è����Ƶ. Keep these customers on track (probably just leave them alone or use subtle enhancements to the journey), and if needed, help move them into checkout. Make things more accessible, and gently persuade them over the finish line.

Ready Returners

• Context:��Landed back on site (at least 2nd session) and have a high likelihood of committing
• Summary:��Landing page customers who have returned to the site and, after showing high intent to purchase, are likely back to purchase again.
• Objective:��Maintain è����Ƶ. Their behaviour is a testament to their previous unresolved actions. Having already shown high levels of engagement, the challenge now lies in nudging them over the final hurdle to complete their purchase. Try to understand why this behaviour exists. How can you get these customers back into their product purchase journey without distracting them when they return?

Embracing change for sustainable growth

You don’t have to get trapped in that discounting death spiral - it’s possible to use discounting as a strategic tool.����

Understanding customer intent allows you to be hyper-targeted with your discounting, protecting your margin and elevating your brand reputation.����

Dig deeper into our intent-based segmentation framework here, or get into some execution strategies for making discounting work harder.

Here’s to shaping the future of discounting—one smart discount at a time.