4 ms·

One guy doing a split-test on one client -- the second one you cite -- is not what I would call "a study": http://www.conversiondoctor.com/conversion-blog/coupo

One guy doing a split-test on one client -- the second one you cite -- is not what I would call "a study": http://www.conversiondoctor.com/conversion-blog/coupon-codes-increase-checkout-abandonment http://www.conversiondoctor.com/conversion-blog/coupon-codes... Look at other reasons people abandoned carts in that PayPal/Comscore study: Wanted to comparison shop: 37% Lack of money: 36% Wanted to look for a coupon: 27% Wanted to shop offline: 26% Couldn’t find preferred pay option: 24% Item unavailable at checkout: 23% Couldn’t find customer support: 22% Security concerns: 21% http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Sad-Tale-of-Abandoned-Shopping-Carts/1007156 http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Sad-Tale-of-Abandoned-Shopp... When you look at the big picture findings from this survey, it makes you realize: 20-40% of people will abandon a cart for ANY reason. And none of these "studies" have looked into what the conversion rates for people who DO use coupons are. When you introduce a coupon to a good customer, or at the right moment, does that INCREASE conversions? I'd would bet good money the answer is yes. And I would bet you money that that increase outweighs the seemingly random "25% of people quit a cart for every possible reason." There is no such thing as a one-sided effect. BTW -- abandoning a cart is not the same thing as quitting a checkout in progress. Beginning the checkout process is a much bigger indicator of intention than putting stuff in your cart. Many people just put stuff in their cart as a kind of shopping list, or "I might want to look at this more later." Which is no doubt why cart abandonment rates are so high.

mijustin 13y ago
I agree; those studies aren't great. I wrote the post from an anecdotal POV, and just started digging into the research once the discussion came up here. ;) On further inspection, here is some research that might support my point: - Oliver & Shor found that: "prompting for a code in the absence of having one had negative effects on fairness, satisfaction, and completion when compared to the control." http://www2.owen.vanderbilt.edu/mike.shor/research/promo/jpbm_reprint.pdf http://www2.owen.vanderbilt.edu/mike.shor/research/promo/jpb... - This study by Oliver & Swan (1989) found a big link between a consumer's perception of pricing fairness, and their overall satisfaction with a purchase. http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1251411?uid=3737720&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102530121071 http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1251411?uid=3737720&ui... - Xia, Monroe, & Cox found: "For price comparisons, the other-customer comparison has the greatest effect on perceived price unfairness because of the salience of such a comparison" http://bear.warrington.ufl.edu/weitz/mar7786/Articles/price%20fairness.pdf http://bear.warrington.ufl.edu/weitz/mar7786/Articles/price%... - This study by Google found that in a real-world setting, "that more than 40% of shoppers have left a retail store without purchasing because they knew they left a coupon at home". http://www.google.com/think/research-studies/from-clipping-to-clicking.html http://www.google.com/think/research-studies/from-clipping-t...

mijustin 13y ago

I agree; those studies aren't great. I wrote the post from an anecdotal POV, and just started digging into the research once the discussion came up here. ;) On further inspection, here is some research that might support my point: - Oliver & Shor found that: "prompting for a code in the absence of having one had negative effects on fairness, satisfaction, and completion when compared to the control." http://www2.owen.vanderbilt.edu/mike.shor/research/promo/jpbm_reprint.pdf http://www2.owen.vanderbilt.edu/mike.shor/research/promo/jpb... - This study by Oliver & Swan (1989) found a big link between a consumer's perception of pricing fairness, and their overall satisfaction with a purchase. http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1251411?uid=3737720&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102530121071 http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1251411?uid=3737720&ui... - Xia, Monroe, & Cox found: "For price comparisons, the other-customer comparison has the greatest effect on perceived price unfairness because of the salience of such a comparison" http://bear.warrington.ufl.edu/weitz/mar7786/Articles/price%20fairness.pdf http://bear.warrington.ufl.edu/weitz/mar7786/Articles/price%... - This study by Google found that in a real-world setting, "that more than 40% of shoppers have left a retail store without purchasing because they knew they left a coupon at home". http://www.google.com/think/research-studies/from-clipping-to-clicking.html http://www.google.com/think/research-studies/from-clipping-t...