Shoppers visiting your e-commerce store may or may not be ready to make a purchase right away. But if they’re interested in a product, you want to make the most of that opportunity. A wishlist feature is a great way to engage customers by letting them save items they like for future purchases.
Swym’s Wishlist Plus app lets you seamlessly add a wishlist feature to your e-commerce store so you can start experiencing the benefits right away. Featuring integrations with Shopify and BigCommerce as well as top marketing platforms like Klaviyo and Mailchimp, Wishlist Plus helps bring customers back with the tools you need to solve your unique challenges.
In this article, we’ll discuss the benefits of having a wishlist feature, why wishlists are important in e-commerce, and best practices to consider.
What is a Wishlist?
A Wishlist comes in all shapes and sizes but is incredibly common in e-commerce—for good reason! A wishlist is a personalized collection of products on your site created by shoppers and customized based on their preferences.
When a customer finds an item they’re interested in, but isn’t ready to buy right away, they can save the item to their wishlist. Then, they can come back to your store later and view their wishlist to rediscover saved items, purchase them, or share the list with a friend.
Why You Need a Wishlist Feature on Your eCommerce Store
1. Boost Your Sales
Your brand’s number one goal is to increase sales. Adding a wishlist app to your e-commerce site helps boost activity and generate more sales. The conversion rate of Wishlist Plus customers of Credo Beauty is 210% higher than the brand’s average. But, how?
Your customers might not always be ready (or able) to buy a product they want. Adding a wishlist allows them to save the item for later and come back to buy when they’re ready. In other words, you’re playing the long game—and patience pays off!
Wishlists are also great for generating reminders. Once shoppers add an item to their list, you can reconnect with targeted marketing campaigns and messages that encourage them to return and make a purchase.
2. Increase Customer Engagement
Speaking of reminders, engagement is everything. Besides encouraging customers to make purchases, you also need to constantly connect with your audience to build brand loyalty and earn repeat sales.
A wishlist feature gives you the opportunity to engage your customers across multiple mediums, including email, SMS, and social media. Once shoppers make a list, you can reach out with targeted campaigns featuring their saved items and similar recommendations. Fashion and accessories brand Princess Polly did this and saw a 3x increase in engagement after adding Wishlist Plus to its mobile app.
Shoppers may want to save items for a home they’re planning to buy or for a friend’s birthday several months away. Without a wishlist, they’ll quickly forget and may end up purchasing their items somewhere else. But once shoppers add items to a wishlist, they’ll have a convenient place to turn when it’s time to buy.
3. Wishlists Tell You What Customers Are Thinking
When it comes to improving your e-commerce store, there is nothing more powerful than data from your customers. Wishlists are a great way to collect first-party data while also offering a feature most shoppers enjoy.
With wishlist data, you can create personalized campaigns as well as optimize your catalog, inventory, and future products. Crunchyroll used Wishlist Plus to gain insight into customer preferences and used that data to create emails that experienced open rates of over 50% (230% higher than industry averages).
With a wishlist feature on your site, you can:
- Identify trending items and items that aren’t generating interest to tailor your future offerings.
- Measure the effectiveness of your marketing and follow-up campaigns to see which tactics are working and re-create the best strategies.
- Determine which items added to a shopper’s wishlist are most likely to be purchased later and use this information to guide your follow-up marketing strategy.
- Learn how your customers interact with your brand and the products you offer to make more informed web design decisions and update your storefront.
4. Great for Sharing and Gift Giving
Wishlists aren’t just for the shoppers who visit your store. They’re also highly sharable, which makes them perfect for gift-giving. Shoppers can make a wishlist full of gifts they’d love to receive from your store, then share it with their friends and family members who need ideas.
Likewise, shoppers can also make a wishlist with gift ideas for others that they intend to buy later. Wishlists make shopping from your store easier for buyers who aren’t familiar with your brand and ensure they’ll always find the right gift.
5. Better User Experience
Shoppers often want to spend time browsing your e-commerce store before making a purchase. Having a quick way to save favorite items improves the customer’s shopping experience. In fact, 40% of shoppers find their experience more enjoyable with a wishlist!
One of our customers, a design agency – Noticed, used Wishlist Plus to help Sew Trendy upgrade its user experience. The result? The brand’s conversion rate increased by 187% and nearly 8,000 new users signed up for its email list.
Ultimately, when the customer is happy, you’re building a long-term relationship that can lead to many sales in the future.
Wishlist Best Practices
Once you’ve decided to implement a wishlist on your e-commerce site, what comes next? There are a few best practices you should follow to get the most out of your wishlist feature. Here are important tips to keep in mind:
- Use Social Proof: Shoppers want to know what others are buying. Show how many others have wishlisted an item and be sure to display ratings and reviews on the wishlist page.
- Create Urgency: Don’t let customers forget about their wishlists. Follow up with targeted marketing campaigns and encourage shoppers to come back and make their purchases.
- Make Wishlisting Easy: Shoppers shouldn’t have to work hard to make a wishlist. Once they sign up with their email, make sure the experience is seamless and simple.
- Use Sales To Your Advantage: A price drop might be just what a customer needs to come back and purchase an item on their wishlist. Try offering sales periodically and advertise them to your wishlist users.
- Make Buying Seamless: Once a shopper wishlists an item, make it easy to get that item into their cart. It shouldn’t take more than one click to move a product from a wishlist to the cart.
Conclusion
A wishlist feature greatly improves your e-commerce site. Shoppers want and expect this feature because it makes your site more engaging and personal. With the data you’ll collect through your wishlist app, you can create better marketing campaigns, fine-tune your inventory strategy, and better understand your audience. With the right wishlist strategy, you’ll be on your way to more sales and more happy customers.
Ready to get started with Wishlist Plus for your e-commerce store? Download the app from the Shopify App Store and start making the most of your customer engagement today.
