This article will help you understand:
- What a Price Drop Basket Trigger is
- Why you should use a Price Drop Basket Trigger
- How the Price Drop Basket Trigger works
- How to use/customize all the different settings and filters, so it fits your solution
- How to combine the Price Drop Basket Trigger with product recommendations
🔍 Note: before you get started, it's essential to understand that Raptor isn't an e-mail marketing system, meaning it doesn't send e-mails directly. Instead, Raptor integrates with your chosen e-mail marketing provider, allowing you to utilize all of Raptor's functionalities alongside with the features in your e-mail marketing system.
See all e-mail marketing systems Raptor works with here: Raptor integrations
What is a Price drop Basket Trigger
In the vast e-commerce landscape, there’s a common challenge: users add products to their online baskets, but then exit without completing the purchase. Did you know that more than 70% of online sales vanish due to this behavior?
Most e-commerce companies run a classic abandoned basket flow to follow up with these users. But what is your next step if the abandoned basket trigger does not activate the users? These potential buyers are teetering on the edge of decision-making.
What if you could give them that final nudge? The Raptor Price Drop Basket Trigger does exactly that by monitoring items added to shoppers’ baskets and waiting for those products to drop in price. It automatically sends out an email notification informing them of the reduced cost. This isn’t just about re-engaging customers; it’s about striking while the iron is hot and converting those who have already expressed a high level of interest by taking action.
A Price Drop Favorites scenario could look like this:
The trigger can, of course, be configured to fire only for products that are in stock since there is always a lookup in a product catalog to check the stock status. The purpose of this email is to inform the user that the product in their basket has dropped in price.
Redirect to products or the favorite list?
There are two methods for creating an Abandoned Favorite e-mail with Raptor.
1. Redirect to basket:
The ideal solution for a Price Drop Basket Trigger is to redirect the user directly to the user's basket. This requires storing all basket IDs in your database, each with a unique ID. This ID, referred to as basketid in Raptor, should be sent with all basket events. This enables Raptor to combine the BasketId with the list of products in the basket, which is necessary for restoring the basket link. Your web shop also need a generic URL such as https://www.mywebshop.com/basketid
2. Redirect to products: If you're unable to recreate the basket using the basket ID and a generic URL, you can also set up an abandoned basket where users are redirected directly to the product page.
Trigger settings
The Price Drop Basket Trigger can be configured in the following manner:
1. Runtime
The Trigger setup exists of two different runtime settings:
- Automated: the Trigger runs every hour.
- Scheduled: the Trigger will run at a specific time. The schedule is custom, and can be customized to whenever you want the Trigger to fire.
It is common for e-commerce companies to reduce prices at night, which is why using a scheduled runtime for Price Drop Triggers can be beneficial. Most users open their email between 9 am and 4 pm, making this the optimal time to activate your Price Drop Trigger.
💡 Example: At 5 am, a price reduction is applied to all products, generating a “pricechanged” event that activates your price drop trigger. Setting the scheduled runtime to 9 am allows the trigger to wait 4 hours before firing, optimizing your chances for a conversion with perfect timing. Before sending, a check is performed to see if the user has purchased the product or if the product is out of stock.
2. Look back period
The look back period defines how far back the Trigger should look to retrieve customer data. During this period, the Trigger analyzes user actions to identify satisfying behavior, particularly for users who should receive a Price Drop Favorites Trigger. The longer the look back period, the more Triggers will fire. Raptor recommends a look back period between 30 - 60 to fetch as many users as possible, while still being relevant for the user.
💡 Example: The Trigger utilizes the user's behavior within the last 30 days.
3. Waiting time
Define the delay time that should pass before the user receives the Trigger. Note that latency is only relevant when your runtime setting is set to automated. Raptor recommends that the Price Drop Trigger fires relatively quickly after the price drop. This ensures that the items which have been discounted remain at their reduced price at the time of sending. Users are then able to make a purchase before the item is set back to its original price or becomes sold out.
💡 Example: The Trigger should fire 2 hours after the prices drops.
4. Limit
The limit determines how many Triggers a user can receive within a specific period (e.g., 24 hours). For instance, a user may receive a maximum of 1 Raptor Trigger within 24 hours. Setting a limit helps prevent spamming users with excessive notifications. The limit can also be combined with other Triggers, such as Category Interest, Abandoned Basket, and Price Drop Product Interest.
💡 Example: The user may receive a max. one e-mail within 24 hours.
5. Minimum discount
This function determines the minimum amount by which a product must be discounted before the Trigger activates.
- Percentage: here, you specify what the minimum discount in percentage should be to ensure relevant products to your customers. Raptor recommends setting the minimum discount percentage between 10-20 % to ensure enough Trigger volume simultaneously with providing attractive offers.
- Absolute discount: here, you specify the minimum absolute discount, i.e., the actual amount saved, to ensure relevant products for your customers. Raptor recommends setting the minimum percentage discount along with the minimum absolute discount. We recommend setting this setting to a decent value like €10 or 50 Danish kroner and simultaneously apply the minimum discount percentage. This will filter irrelevant offers out.
💡 Example: if an apple that normally costs 3 kr. is reduced with 50% then the new price is 1,50 kr. and thereby you only save 1,50 kr. which is not a significantly offer.
6. Disqualify settings
Depending on various use cases, there will be examples where you do not want to send a Price Drop Trigger to a customer. The Raptor’s disqualification settings allow you to customize the setup to fit your business needs.
Disqualify if the user has seen the offer: here you decide if you want to disqualify users that already have seen the offer. If the user already has seen the offer, it can be unreasonable to send the Trigger because the user is aware of the offer. However, if the goal is to remind users of the offers, it doesn’t matter whether they have seen the offer before, as the aim is to encourage them to make a purchase. The Trigger will consider the latest seen price and compare it with the OnSalePrice (current price) and check if the minimum discount percentage and minimum discount actual are satisfied.
Disqualify settings for users buying the product before the price drop: depending on your business type (one-time purchases vs. repeated purchases), you might consider changing this parameter by setting the number of days back in time. This means the Trigger checks if the user bought the offer product within 60 days. Thus, if the user has bought the offer product within that time frame, then the person will not receive a Price Drop Trigger.
👀 Usecase:
One time buyers
If you, for example, sell sofas, your sale will be dominated by one-time purchases, i.e., you do not buy the same sofa twice. In this case, you do not want to send offer products that the user already has bought. To avoid promoting the same sofa, consider implementing a longer disqualification period, such as 60 days
Repeated purchases
If you are a grocery store where the customers repeatedly buy the same products, it will be relevant to set a short disqualifying period, like 7 days which allows to trigger on products that the user repeatedly purchases but is still long enough not to agitate users. If the period is to short you can end in the situation where the user just has bought the product before the offer announcing, and then the user will get a triggered mail that the product is on offer which can agitate some users and resulting in refunds to get the product cheaper.
This is what the Trigger with the above mentioned settings will look like in the e-commerce funnel. Remember that all these settings are customizable (When the Trigger that runs every hour catches a Price Drop event, an e-mail will be send after one hour. After this, the limit period will not send any other Price Drop e-mails for 24 hours):
Organizing your Triggers
1. Execution order: When you've activated multiple Triggers, you can set a priority to determine the order of them. The Trigger with the lowest index set in the execution order will activate first. For this to work, the Triggers set with execution order must activate simultaneously.
💡 Example: If you've set up a Product Interest, Category Interest and an Abandoned Favorites Trigger, you need to set all Triggers with the same latency to utilize execution order functionality.
2. Trigger grouping: Using the limit, you can ensure that the user receives only a specific number of Triggers within a certain period. With "Trigger group," you can choose which Triggers should disqualify each other. In some cases, you may want a Trigger to always activate, regardless of what the user has received previously. For example, a Price-drop Trigger that only activates when there is sale on your website.
👀 Usecase: Suppose you have 4 Raptor triggers in your setup: Product Interest, Abandoned Basket, Category Interest, and Price Drop Product Interest.
Here, two Trigger groups are set up, named "Group 1" and "Group 2."
Group 1: Contains Product Interest, Category Interest, and Abandoned Basket. These Triggers can disqualify each other. So the user only receive one Trigger from the group within a specific period.
Group 2: Contains only the Price Drop favorites. This Trigger will always activate regardless of other Triggers the user has received, since it is in it's own Trigger group. The Trigger may disqualify itself, depending on the limit settings if there are multiple price drops in with a short interval.
Trigger filters
If certain products need to be excluded from Trigger communications, filters can be set up in Raptor's Data Manager. Filters can be created based on all product information's in your Product Catalog.
Examples:
- Exclude products low on stock
- Exclude products with a low contribution margin
- Exclude products from a specific category
- Exclude products from a specific brand
👀 Usecase: Sport24’s practice of removing products from their Price Drop Triggers when the stock status is less than 5 serves a valuable purpose.
By doing so, they give users a fair chance to purchase the discounted products. After all, there’s nothing more disappointing than falling in love with a product only to find out it’s sold out after seeing the reduced price.
If you have stock status in your product catalog, it’s easy to filter out these products in Raptors Data Manager.
Data Enrichment
Raptor's Trigger events are enriched with data that can be used to provide a more personalized experience in your e-mail marketing tool.
Raptor Price Drop Favorites Triggers always include:| Data | Description |
RecommendedId |
The product the user has visited |
Productname |
The name of a product fetched from the product feed |
Categorypath |
The products category |
BrandId |
The ID of the brand |
Timestamp |
The time the Trigger was fired |
EventName |
The name of the event fired to the last-mile system |
EmailmarketingId |
Email or ID used in the email marketing system |
If additional data from your product catalog is desired to be included in the Trigger, this can easily be included, for example:
- RetailPrice
- Discount
- OriginalPrice
- OnsalePrice
- ProductCategory
- ProductDescription
- BrandName
- Stockstatus
- Producturl
- Imageurl
Also custom fields can be populated with any relevant information you wish to include to enhance the Trigger data.
- Customfield1
- Customfield2
- Customfield3
- Customfield4
- Customfield5
👀 Usecase: Send an email with a subject, like:
- Your Basket Just Got Better: [Productname] Price Drop
- Price Update: [Productname] Discounted!
Example e-mail:
Technical requirements
How does it work?
Raptor monitors prices in the product catalog in the ‘OnsalePrice’ parameter. When a price changes, a ‘pricechange’ event is generated, activating the Price Drop Basket Trigger. Combined with user tracking, Raptor can identify which users have in discounted products in their basket.
Tracking and Restoring the favorite list:
Like the Abandoned Basket Trigger there is two ways setting up the Price Drop Basket Trigger depending on your setup.
Read more about the two different ways to handle baskets her: https://support.raptorsmartadvisor.com/hc/en-us/articles/13953185700124-Abandoned-Basket-Trigger
1. Price drop Basket redirect to basket
Tracking:
Event type (P1): Basket
ProductId (P2): When a product is added to the basket, the productid should be fired in ProductId (P2).
ItemPrice (P12): Send the actual price of the product under Itemprice. The sales-price if the item is on sale - otherwise the original price.
Basket Content (P10): A comma-separated list of all ProductId's in the basket, must be fired at every basket event, when a product is added or removed from the basket.
BasketId (P11): The unique ID of a basket.
RUID (Email Marketing ID): E-mail or other External identifiers for the e-mail marketing system must be set under RUID (Email Marketing ID). Read more about user tracking here.
Generic URL:
Your web shop need a generic URL such as https://www.mywebshop.com/basketid. The combination of the genric URL combined with the basketid will redirect the client to the basket.
💡 Example:
Generic url: https://www.mywebshop.com/basketid=
BasketId: 45046e39-d048-4841-b3dd-f1629aaab3e9
The user will be redirected to
https://www.mywebshop.com/basketid=45046e39-d048-4841-b3dd-f1629aaab3e9
Read more about the Product Catalog setup in the Product Catalog documentation Raptor’s Help Center.
2. Price drop basket redirect to products
Tracking:
Eventtype (P1) : Basket
ProductId (P2): When a product is added to the basket, the productid should be fired in ProductId.
ItemPrice (P12): Send the actual price of the product under Itemprice. The sales-price if the item is on sale - otherwise the original price.
Basket Content (P10): A comma-separated list of all ProductId's in the basket, must be fired at every basket event, when a product is added or removed from the basket.
RUID (Email Marketing ID): E-mail or other External identifiers for the e-mail marketing system must be set under RUID (Email Marketing ID). Read more about user tracking here.
Product Catalog:
The Product Catalog must be set up with the following parameters:
- ProductNumber
- ProductUrl
- ImageUrl
- OriginalPrice
- OnsalePrice
🔍 Note: It is important that the field 'Onsaleprice' always holds the product’s price, even when the product is not discounted, which means the parameter must never be null or empty. Raptor monitors the field and activates the Trigger when prices in 'Onsaleprice' change.
Find tracking for setting up the product product catalog here: https://support.raptorsmartadvisor.com/hc/en-us/articles/13480621408156-Setting-up-a-Product-Catalog-for-Recommendation-Engine
🔍 Note: Ensure that the ProductId in the tracking matches the ProductNumber in the Product Catalog.
Combine the Trigger with e-mail recommendation modules
Combination 1
Abandoned Basket x Personal recommendations (The personal shopping assistant)
Let's make shopping feel like it's tailored just for the user. With our personalized recommendations, we're all about enhancing the shopping experience. If the user already got some goodies on the favorite list, why not present some other items that complement their choices perfectly? It's like having your own personal shopper, suggesting items that go hand in hand with what you already love. So go ahead, explore our cross-sell recommendations, and discover even more treasures to add to your basket. Look for the module 'The personal shopping assistant (additional sales)' in Raptors Control Panel.
E-mail example:
Combination 2
Abandoned Basket x Customized Recommendations
Gain control of your recommendations by utilizing the Merchandising items strategy. This strategy is based on items selected by you in the Merchandising tool and then sorted by the users' personal preferences or general popularity. Build a query of products such as "new arrivals," "products on sale," or accessory products that you wish to push to all users who receive an Abandoned Basket e-mail.
The module maintains itself, automatically removing products that go out of stock or no longer meet your query. Additionally, all selected products are sorted according to each individual's preferences. Look for the module 'Items of Customized Feeds sorted by personal preferences and popularity'.
🔍 Note: In order to use the Merchandising module, access to Merchandising is required.
E-mail example:
Combination 3
Top selling items on sale
Popular items are often in high demand, and showcasing them can capture the attention of users, encouraging them to spend more time browsing the site.
Highlighting top-selling products that are on sale can create a sense of urgency and exclusivity, prompting customers to make a purchase before the deal ends.
When customers see that certain items are popular and have been purchased by many others, it builds trust and encourages them to consider those products more seriously.
🔍 Note: If you wanna build you recommendations on products on offer, simply go to the data manager and make a new product with products on sale.
Look for the module "Most popular items" in the Raptor Controlpanel
E-mail example:
Abandoned Basket reminder
A a price drop basket reminder email is a smart strategy for several reasons.
By reminding users, you trigger their memory about the specific product. It nudges them to revisit the site, reinforcing their intent to make a purchase.
Users might also need more time to decide or may have been busy during their initial visit. Consistent messaging increases the chances of conversion.
Some users delay purchases. The reminder encourages them to act promptly before the discount expires.
Also the reminder emphasizes that the reduced price won’t last forever. FOMO drives action—users fear missing out on a good deal.
Users perceive the reminder as an urgent call to action. They understand that time is of the essence.
Last a timely reminders show that your brand cares about users’ interests. Even if they don’t convert immediately, the positive interaction contributes to a favorable brand experience.
In summary, a well-timed reminder email complements the initial notification, reinforces user intent, and optimizes conversion rates.
The price drop basket reminder trigger is easy to set up. Simply clone your price drop basket trigger, change the event name and the latency, and then you are good to go.
You might want to consider the disqualifying and limit settings for the user, depending on your business.