My Inbox: Abandoned Shopping Cart

Earlier this week, Jon wrote about E-commerce R.O.I. and mentioned that 60% of users will abandon a shopping cart before finishing the checkout process.

I was one of them yesterday.

Let me explain -- I received a catalog in the mail from a company called IDville.com, which sells employee identification tags and such. We've been contemplating enacting a security policy at our building where all visitors must sign in/out. So, I started the order process for a Visitor Log Book at IDville.

However, during the checkout process for this $17.95 item, I realized they wanted another $8.00 to ship the item to me. This made me change my mind and convinced me that I might be able to buy a similar item locally.

Now the important part of the story. IDville impressed me by sending the following email this morning:



As you can see, they noticed that I never completed the order yesterday. Since I had started the checkout process they had already captured my email. Instead of just forgetting about me and losing the sale, they then sent me an email with a link to "proceed to checkout now."

This is very smart.

Not only did it remind me about their company, but it gave me yet another option to complete the transaction I had already started. If they can get just 20% of the people to come back and complete an order by using this method, it could mean an increase in revenue of 50% or more. Great idea.

My Inbox: An Interesting Story

I don't usually like these heartwarming stories, but this one is truly
interesting...

In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Mbembe approached it very carefully.

He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it.

As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments.

Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.

Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day. Twenty years later, Mbembe was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son.

As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe, lifted its front foot off the ground, and then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly. All the while staring at the man. Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant.

Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mbembe's legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn't the same elephant....

My Inbox: Test Time

I received this email today and it reminded me of my college days. Like these kids, I quickly learned that you don't get points for being funny. :(

My Inbox: Count Your Lucky Stars

I seem to be getting plenty of forwarded email about people who have much to be thankful for. After having a son born at 1 lb 11 oz, I seem to appreciate the little things in life so much more. On to the email which shows a white truck that left the roadway and flipped over a culvert:


My initial reaction at this point was, "Wow, that guy totally skipped that culvert and landed on the other side. Considering the obvious drop off right there he sure was lucky." I then continue on to open the second image, which clearly shows how lucky he really was.


At this point, you might be thinking to yourself, "I knew there would be a really big cliff there". You've got nothing on me! For those of you who are never satisfied, I've thrown in two more videos of very lucky people.



He doesn't even think twice before running back to the car... blowing the whistle and calling for help. Yet another reason to plant a tree.



Enjoy your day and remember to count your luck stars!