Don’t you love it when you’re shopping online and 2 seconds after you arrive at a brand’s website, a welcome form immediately pops up? It’s like being bombarded by a salesperson immediately after you enter a store. 

“Hey! Welcome! Do you want to be best friends!? Give us your email address and we’ll send you cool stuff!” 

Whoa, whoa. You haven’t had a chance to look around yet. You’re not ready to take your relationship to the best friend stage, and you’re surely not ready to give them your email address. 

To do popup forms well, timing is everything (jury is still out on the eager salesperson, though). You don’t want to annoy people immediately after they land on your website.

There is a way to create a better experience: exit-intent forms. Allowing people to browse your site before a form pops up lets them get to know your brand before you ask them to be your friend. 

What is an Exit-Intent Popup?

Source: ouithepeople.com

An exit-intent popup is a form that appears when someone is about to leave your site. This type of form is triggered when someone moves their cursor above the address bar, i.e., showing intent to leave your site. Exit-intent popups help reduce web abandonment rates and increase conversions. 

For ecommerce brands, exit-intent forms are a simple and effective way to get people to sign up to your email list. Growing your list is the key that unlocks the door to successful marketing. How many dollars do you put into paid advertising vs what you see in return? 

Email is a channel that you own completely; you decide what information to collect, how to use it, and how to tailor the experience. Growing and owning your list gives you the ability to create better relationships with your customers. And your efforts will pay off. For every $1 you spend on email marketing, you receive $42 in return. That’s a higher return than any other marketing channel. It’s well worth the time it takes to figure out an effective way to get people on your list. 

We see more and more ecommerce brands using exit-intent forms to grow their list. And for good reason. According to Bounce Exchange, 70% - 96% of shoppers abandoning your site will never return. So, an exit-intent form is a great way to convert some of those visitors, and give people time to get to know your brand before you ask them for their email address. 

Here are 6 ways for your ecommerce store to use exit-intent forms. 

Discount for First-Time Purchasers

Source: nutrifoodz.com 

Entice shoppers with a special offer before they bounce. For ecommerce stores discounts, gifts, or free shipping for first-time purchasers are all great options. Use your copy to really make people think. Do I want that 10% discount? Or do I click no… 

Drive Urgency With Limited-Time Offers

Source: hautehijab.com

Drive a sense of urgency with your exit-intent popup. Using phrases like “last chance!” "last call at this price!” or “don’t miss out!” drives urgency, and creates FOMO (fear of missing out). If there's one thing shoppers don’t want to miss out on, it's a great deal. 

This countdown timer that Funky Chunky uses on their website? Creative and impactful. It’s attention-grabbing, and lets you know exactly how long you have to come back to this offer. 

Save Abandoned Carts

Source: sarahflint.com 

Roughly 75% of all shopping carts are abandoned. Put your forms to work and use exit-intent to capture those abandoned carts. Sarah Flint uses relevant and eye-catching “before you go” language on their form. 

Address Common Obstacles

Source: alastin.com 

Another great way to use exit-intent popups? Address common obstacles and highlight solutions. For ecommerce stores, shipping and returns are often obstacles for consumers. Catch people right before they’re about to leave a product or checkout page and give them exactly what they need (i.e. free returns or shipping). Alastin offers free shipping on your next order to persuade shoppers to try out their product. 

Your offering doesn’t have to be a gift, you can address why your product is the best, or why you’re better than your competitors in an exit-intent form as well. 

Show Off Your Products

Source: resinobession.com 

Add value by showing off new items or best sellers. People love (and need) social proof. Whether you show it through new offerings or customer reviews, keep people on your site for longer and remind them that other shoppers love your products too. Resin Obsession kept us coming back for more with this timely exit-intent form. 

Spin To Win

Spin to win forms are just… fun. This may come as a surprise, but people love to win things. And they love to spin things. These forms are eye-catching, and they often have a positive impact on the final conversion. Boo-yah!

Source: funkychunky.com

Source: kreyolessence.com 

Extend an Invitation

Source: drinktanks.com  

Remember when we said that asking people for their email address 5 seconds after they land on your website is a bit aggressive? If you ask for their email address after they’ve had some time to look around, you can reframe the ask into an invitation. 

Hey, now that you’ve seen our products and know more about us, come join our inner circle… and here’s what’s in it for you. 

Extending an invitation—versus asking a pesky question—might land better with customers. Ready to grow your list with exit-intent forms? Try out Drip today!