Abandoned shopping carts are the bane of every ecommerce store. Studies show over 60% of online carts are ditched before checkout, leading to missed revenue. Luckily, wishlists provide a handy solution to combat abandoned carts and bring back hesitant customers.

Magento 2 offers robust wishlist functionality to help stores capture and convert more guest shoppers. In this article, we’ll explore 5 highly effective tactics to increase guest conversion rates using Magento 2 wishlists. By enabling guest wishlist creation, sending abandoned cart reminders, promoting social sharing, offering promotions, and displaying counts, you can turn window shoppers into buyers. Read on to learn actionable tips to boost conversions with strategic wishlist marketing.

5 Ways to Increase Guest Conversion Rates

Wishlists are an excellent tool for converting hesitant shoppers into buying customers. While most sites require creating an account to use wishlists, enabling guest wishlists removes friction. Combining guest wishlists with automated abandoned cart reminders, social sharing capabilities, returning customer promotions, and visible on-site placement draws shoppers back and motivates purchases. In this article, we’ll explore 5 proven methods for using Magento 2’s flexible wishlist features to increase guest conversion rates. These actionable tips will help you turn window shoppers into happy buyers.

1. Allow Guests to Create Wishlists

Enabling guest wishlist creation removes friction and encourages saving items for later. Most ecommerce sites require creating an account before a wishlist can be used. However, forcing sign-ups often deters shoppers who aren’t ready to commit.

With Magento 2, stores can allow guests to generate wishlists without requiring registration. This reduces barriers to save products, while still capturing user data like emails for follow-up. Studies show wishlisting leads to higher customer conversion over time.

Allowing seamless wishlist generation for all users, whether logged in or not, makes it easy for hesitant shoppers to earmark items. Lowering the effort needed to show interest in products results in more wishlists created. Then stores can market to these saved wishlists to turn window shoppers into paying customers down the road.

2. Send Abandoned Cart Emails Reminding About Wishlists

Abandoned shopping carts are a major missed revenue opportunity. But wishlists can help recapture those lost sales through targeted email marketing.

With Magento 2, stores can configure automated emails to be sent to guests who abandon their carts. These emails should remind shoppers of the option to save their items to a wishlist for easy re-finding later. Providing an incentive like a small discount for creating a wishlist from their cart can also help prompt action. Thoughtful email copy and design is key, for example “Don’t lose your items! Save them to your wishlist and we’ll email you a 10% off coupon.” Simple reminders like this bring shoppers back and get products back into the sales funnel.

Also Read: The Hidden Power of Twitter Impressions: Boosting Your Brand’s Visibility and Impact

3. Enable Wishlist Sharing on Social Media

Magento 2 comes with built-in wishlist sharing capabilities that enable sharing across popular social platforms. Activating social wishlist sharing helps drive conversions through social validation and word-of-mouth marketing.

When a customer shares their wishlist on social media, it generates visibility for your products as their connections see the items they’re interested in buying. This free exposure often leads to peer recommendations, driving social buzz and credibility for your brand. Enabling seamless social sharing of wishlists essentially crowdsources free marketing.

  • Allow sharing wishlist links on Facebook and Twitter
  • Add Pinterest integration to enable visual pinning of products
  • Share buttons should be prominently displayed on wishlist pages
  • Encourage sharing through reminders and messaging
  • Monitor clicks and engagement analytics to optimize

4. Offer Promotions for Returning Wishlist Users

Wishlists enable stores to collect guest email addresses for marketing follow-up campaigns. One highly effective tactic is to offer special promotions to returning wishlist users.

For example, you can send emails with exclusive discount codes only for customers who previously created a wishlist. The promotion can offer 10-15% off their next purchase if they buy items from their wishlist. The urgency of a limited-time coupon will incentivize them to return and complete the purchase.

Targeted promotions reward shopper loyalty and get wishlisted items into carts. The promotions don’t need to be major discounts either – even small coupons are enough to nudge customers off the fence. Just make sure your emails highlight the discount amount in bold graphics and don’t bury the details. With strategic promotions, you can turn abandoned wishlists into sales.

5. Show Wishlist Count & Items on Site Header

Strategically displaying wishlist information across your store boosts visibility and drives conversions.

  • Show total wishlist count in header – Having a visible wishlist count front and center acts as a motivator for customers to continue building their lists to increase the numbers.
  • Allow quick access to view wishlist – Next to the count, have a “View Wishlist” link or icon to provide instant access to their list. Frictionless navigation encourages more engagement.
  • Display top few wishlist items in header – Showcasing the customer’s top few wishlisted products in the header keeps the items top of mind. This prompts them to return and purchase.
  • Use notifications for new wishlist additions – When a customer adds a new product to their wishlist, display a small notification momentarily in the header confirming the add and showing the product thumbnail.
  • Test different placements to maximize visibility – Try putting the wishlist component in different header spots and use heatmaps to determine the optimal position for visibility and clicks.

Conclusion

Wishlists are an often overlooked feature in Magento 2 that retailers should tap into to increase guest conversion rates. As discussed, enabling guest wishlists, prominently promoting them throughout the site, sending abandoned cart emails with wishlist links, displaying related products on wishlists, and offering incentives for creating accounts are 5 proven tactics. Implementing even just a few of these tips can lead to more guests creating accounts, returning to complete purchases, and boosting conversion rates over time. With some strategic planning, wishlists can become a key part of any retailer’s customer acquisition and retention strategy.