Wishlists are an often overlooked feature in Magento stores – and that’s dangerous! They are non-intrusive and reduce cart abandonment while making shopping more convenient for the customer. And Magento supports them for free, while useful extensions like Multiple Wishlist are also available.

So, there’s no reason not to use Wishlists in Ecommerce, this much is clear. It is however fundamental to do so in an active way – by using them passively you cannot unlock their full potential. And how do you do make sure of that? Well that’s what we set out to discover!

Without further ado, let’s look at tips on how to use Wishlists to increase sales:

1) Wishlist for visitors / guests

With so many webstores out there to choose from, customers are overwhelmed. Among this sea of offers, it’s harder and harder to garner their attention, so every moment they spend on your Ecommerce counts.

Imagine this scene: Bill, a potential customer, is looking for hats and sweaters. He skims through a couple of stores and then finds yours. The layout and product prices please him, but he doesn’t have much time and is not willing to create an account.

Bill is one of many customers that would like to favorite some items and even return to check for deals – but in a hassle-free, uncompromising way. By being able to add products to a Wishlist without being registered, they will feel more comfortable.

It’s possible to purchase and install modules to offer such functionality through Magento Connect.

2) Retain customers who are on mobile

Let’s think about Bill again. He always has his smartphone in hand and often browses social media while commuting. While he skims through content, distractions constantly show up: a couple talking, a sudden stop, message notifications and so on. He tries, but can’t complete any purchase. There’s just too much going on.

This is not an uncommon scene, it’s the growing Mcommerce. “In the second quarter of 2015, U.S. adults spent 59% of their time on mobile and 41% on desktop, but just 15% of their dollars on mobile and a staggering 85% of their dollars on desktop”, explains the Business Insider website, citing a ComScore study.

The outlet adds: “Users get so frustrated when trying to shop on their phones that they far more often than not abandon the process”.

That adds up with the competition. A lot.

In this scenario, using Wishlists adjusted to mobile environment will surely make your webstore stand out. For instance, Bill would finally be able to buy the saved list of products by visiting your store from home at a later time. Either with his computer or his smartphone.

3) Make use of the data generated by the Magento Wishlist

Wishlists may be just a collection of products for the customer, but they can be so much more for the store owner.

When properly used, they can provide additional insights on users preferences and products’ desirability, among other statistics. Why additional? Well, it’s possible to study that with the sales report… But Wishlists go for the extra mile by making more sense of many raw numbers.

An example: examining Bill’s wishlist reveals that he’s thinking of buying similar hats and sweaters that are from a different set. Also, the items are from an old collection. If this is a trend seen among many users, maybe the new collection needs more highlight and the cross-sale approach needs to be overhauled.

Remember, though: without taking some time to process and make sense of this information, it’s hardly valuable.

4) Notify about sales / replenishment of products

This tip ties in neatly with the previous ones. It’s also one of the keys to move from a passive approach to Wishlist to an active one.

Customers need some incentive to return to their saved lists of products. Getting back spontaneously? Possible, but unlikely, unless he or she is in dire need for what’s in the cart.

By notifying customers about sales and inventory updates regarding items in their Wishlists, you are gently pushing them to the cart again. They will be pleased.

5) Multiple Wishlist

The ultimate way to extend the Wishlists functionalities is to allow users to have more than one of them. That way, they can organize their experience as they like.

Our friend Bill, for instance, could make one list for hats, one for sweaters and yet another one for computer games. That way, he can track better his shopping goals, be it to share the lists on social media, be it to make bulk purchases on certain categories.

The Multi Wishlists module is a sturdy solution for this – when a customer adds an item to the Wishlist, he can choose to which one and if he would like to create a new one. With it, the user can manage his lists. In turn, the webstore admin can manage every users’ list.

M1 Multiple Wishlist Allow customers to create and manage multiple wishlists. Users can add products in bulk to the cart and move items between lists. The admin can manage all wishlists. View Details

M2 Multiple Wishlist Allow customers to create and manage multiple wishlists. Users can add products in bulk to the cart and move items between lists. The admin can manage all wishlists. View Details

Conclusion

Using Wishlists the default, passive way, is easy. Being active, on the other hand, takes work. But when thinking about the increased conversion rate and costumer satisfaction… it’s definitely worth it.

Hopefully those tips will help your webstore increasing retention and sales!