Dive Brief:
- Answerbook, a new service that promises to help retailers target shoppers with personalized e-mails based on their web, e-mail, and purchase histories, launched Wednesday.
- The service is designed for smaller retailers like the ones hosted on Shopify, but Answerbook will work with larger clients to scale up its offerings.
- Triggered by activity such as shopping-cart and site abandonment, Answerbook e-mails have produced a 15% to 40% sales lift in testing.
Dive Insight:
Founded by JobLoft, Cupid.com, and TeamSave impresarios Chris Nguyen and Lee Liu, the system uses data on website preferences, clicks, and prior purchases to target customers with personalized e-mails automatically.
Answerbook requires a single line of JavaScript to track page views, shopping cart activity, and purchases. Various triggers such as shopping-cart abandonment then prompt the user to send an e-mail containing incentive offers or recommendations. The system is compatible with popular bulk e-mail services such as MailChimp. In testing, Answerbook has produced sales lifts of 15% to 40%.
Once its initial offering is established, the company plans to expand into mobile commerce with personalized push notifications and text messages.