How Remix uses retargeting to gamify its sales

The popularity of secondhand shops is growing globally. As consumers become more price conscious and conscientious of their carbon footprint, they’re turning to alternatives to stock their closets.

Luckily for them, Remix has elevated secondhand shopping from the funky store down the street to a massive online marketplace, operating in nine European countries.

Wojciech Soltys, head of performance marketing at Remix, shares how Remix is using gamification and data-driven retargeting tactics to reach more customers than ever.

How Remix meets the need for speed

To reach shoppers, Remix employs a little bit of good old “FOMO”: “fear of missing out”. Products appear only once in targeted ads, so customers have to move quickly to grab items they want.

“Our customers become hooked because we’re always able to surprise them with new items,” says Wojciech Soltys, “They never know what kind of product we’ll have uploaded tomorrow.”

Wojciech’s focus is on performance marketing, which means driving traffic to acquire new customers, and retargeting those customers.

“We need to retarget our customers fast, because the products on our website are moving fast,” says Wojciech. “With 12,000 new products daily, we need to update our product feed as often as possible.”

Retargeting for customer loyalty

By working with Criteo, Remix retargets people who’ve visited certain product pages to notify them of new promotions. A sophisticated AI engine powers Criteo’s dynamic product ads. This means Remix can maximize the entirety of their ever-changing catalog.

“When I joined Remix, I knew one of the first things we needed was a dynamic retargeting solution,” says Wojciech, “It’s a must-have if you’re running an eCommerce business.”

Remix segments its retargeted customers based on cookie data. The brand has two major segments: “converters”, who are customers that have completed at least one purchase, and “visitors”, who haven’t yet made a purchase. Once they’re in the converters segment, Remix’s customers tend to be loyal. They return and make multiple purchases during each month.

“We take that into account in our acquisition efforts,” says Wojciech. “We’re willing to pay a high amount (CPO) for a new customer because we know that it will pay off for the company in terms of lifetime value.”

Since activating with Criteo, Remix saw an 80% growth in transactions from users whose first touchpoint came through Criteo’s acquisition campaign.

To further boost lifetime value, Remix uses retargeting to reach out to converters with personalized ads based on their previous purchases and behavior. Remix entices shoppers back to buy again with special promotions, discounts, and loyalty rewards.

After their first transaction, Remix customers have a total lifetime value of 825,340 EUR, with an average of 3.9 transactions per user over the course of their lifetime. In March 2019, Criteo was the last touchpoint for nearly 15% of Remix’s new orders.

What’s next for Remix’s marketing strategy

Data and ad-tech solutions help Remix stay ahead of industry trends and shifting audience behaviors.

“The purchase path will become ever shorter,” says Wojciech, citing the growing importance of mobile. “Retargeting needs to be immediate, almost in real-time.”

Wojciech believes it’s just a matter of time before mobile becomes the dominant channel for transactions. For now, Wojciech says shoppers still tend to browse products on mobile and then purchase on desktop. Retargeting helps Wojciech reach those customers across devices.

“Our strategy is to not mix retargeters in the same market,” adds Wojciech. “Otherwise, you’re cannibalizing and bidding against yourself. You’ll end up paying twice for the same inventory.”

Wojciech encourages ecommerce marketers to find solutions, test them, and then choose only one to move forward with.

“My experience is that Criteo is one of the most efficient of those tools, if not the most efficient one. I can’t imagine running an eCommerce shop without retargeting.”

Want to drive audiences back to your site? Get started with retargeting.