Website push notifications are clickable alerts sent by a website directly to a subscriber’s browser. They function much like mobile app push notifications—those alerts that appear in your notification panel—but instead of being app-based, they are web-based and can be received across devices such as desktops, mobiles, and tablets.
In this guide, we explore website push notifications specifically for the E-commerce industry. We’ll cover why online retailers should not overlook this channel, explain how website push notifications operate, and share ways to optimize campaigns to achieve strong results for your online store. Let’s begin.
Why Use Website Push Notifications
A quick overview of communication channels in E-commerce
E-commerce businesses rely on multiple strategies to attract new visitors and re-engage users who have already visited their websites. This includes using different communication channels such as email, social media, SMS, and push notifications (both web and app-based). These channels are also applied across various campaign types to connect with and engage users. Below is a brief overview of these channels and where each one is most effective.
Email is widely used for sharing personalized product recommendations, promoting upcoming sales and discounts, collecting product reviews, recovering abandoned carts, and sending transactional updates like order confirmations and shipment tracking details.
One of the biggest strengths of email marketing is its extensive reach. According to research by The Radicati Group, there are about 2.6 billion email users worldwide, meaning over one-third of the global population uses email. Another key benefit is longevity—emails remain in the inbox and can be accessed at any time, unlike social media messages or notifications that are often difficult or impossible to retrieve later. This makes email especially valuable for important communications such as order and delivery information.
However, email falls short when it comes to delivering urgent or time-sensitive messages. Zipstripe reports that the average email is opened after about 6.4 hours. As a result, email is not ideal for limited-time offers, short-lived coupons, or critical updates like “Your order is out for delivery.”
Social Media
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram are generally more effective than email for promoting flash sales and limited-period discounts, as users spend a significant amount of time on these platforms. The challenge, however, lies in engagement. Only a small portion of your audience is likely to take immediate action on a specific message.
Because of this, social media is less suited for campaigns that require a precise action within a defined timeframe. Instead, it is better used for brand building and nurturing long-term relationships with your audience.
SMS
SMS works best when you need your message to be seen almost immediately—around 90% of SMS messages are read within the first three minutes. This makes it suitable for sharing urgent business updates such as “Your cab is arriving” or “Your order will be delivered today.”
However, SMS is not ideal for information users may need to refer back to later, like receipts, since messages are hard to search afterward. Another limitation is the 160-character cap, which significantly restricts the depth and type of communication possible through SMS.
Push Notifications (Mobile Apps)
Push notifications are the primary communication method used by mobile apps. Compared to email, they are more effective for promotional messages because they are delivered instantly and generally generate higher response rates.
Although app push notifications may seem similar to SMS, there are key differences. App notifications allow users to choose what types of messages they want to receive and offer easy opt-in and opt-out options. SMS messages, on the other hand, are often sent without clear consent and are harder to disable, which can cause them to be viewed as a less favorable communication channel.
Where Website Push Notifications Fit In
Website push notifications occupy a unique position among communication channels. Unlike app push notifications, which are limited to mobile devices and tablets, website push notifications also reach desktop users. Since desktops still make up a significant share of total internet usage, web push notifications bring real-time messaging to this audience as well.
Cost is another major factor that makes website push notifications especially valuable for E-commerce businesses. Developing a high-quality mobile app can be expensive, and the return on investment is not always guaranteed. For many small and medium-sized businesses, mobile websites often reach more users than apps. Website push notifications allow businesses to send real-time alerts without the need to invest in app development.
Overall, website push notifications are a powerful E-commerce channel because they enable instant communication across all devices—desktop, mobile, and tablet—directly through the web.
How Website Push Notifications Work
Unlike mobile apps, which usually receive notification permission during installation, websites must explicitly ask users for consent before sending push notifications. The process typically works as follows:
First, the website requests permission from visitors through an opt-in prompt when they arrive on the site. If the visitor selects “Allow,” they are added to the subscriber list.
Once a visitor becomes a subscriber, the website can send push notifications to them. These notifications include a customizable title and message within specific character limits, along with a required URL. The messages are delivered in real time, even if the browser is not currently open. When the subscriber clicks the notification, they are redirected to the specified link.
Optimizing Push Notifications
After understanding why push notifications matter and how they function, the next step is learning how to optimize them to increase sales from existing subscribers. This section focuses on writing effective notification copy, choosing the right timing, deciding how often to send notifications, using segmentation for personalization, and identifying key performance metrics to track.
Copywriting for Push Notifications
Because push notifications have strict character limits for both the title and message, strong copywriting is essential. You need to communicate your message clearly and effectively within a very small space.
When writing push notification copy, the main objective is to encourage clicks. To achieve this, the message must deliver clear value to the subscriber. People are more likely to click when they immediately see how the notification benefits them.
Here are some practical tips:
- Be clear and direct – Subscribers are busy and don’t have time to interpret vague messages. Clear, action-focused wording tends to perform better. For example, “Jeffrey Archer’s latest novel now available” is more effective than “Have you read Jeffrey Archer’s latest?”
- Keep it concise – Character limits typically range between 40 and 120 characters, depending on the platform. This makes it crucial to focus on the most important value proposition and express it briefly.
- Create urgency through scarcity – As explained by Dr. Robert Cialdini in Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, people are more motivated by the fear of missing out than by potential gains. Highlighting limited availability, such as “Flash Sale! Only 12 hours left,” can increase engagement.
- Use social proof – Well-known phrases like IBM’s “No one ever got fired for buying IBM” demonstrate the power of social proof. You can apply this concept in push notifications by mentioning participation or popularity, such as “Over 4,000 marketers have already signed up” or “This article has 1,000+ Twitter shares.”
At the same time, it’s important to remain honest and realistic. Modern users can easily verify information, so claims should always be accurate and credible.
When to Send Push Notifications
Website push notifications are designed for immediate attention, which makes timing extremely important. A common mistake is ignoring the time zones of your subscribers. To avoid this, you must understand where your audience is located and ensure notifications are delivered at suitable local times. While this approach is more complex than sending a single broadcast, it is necessary in a highly personalized communication environment. After all, no one wants to receive promotional alerts late at night.
Timing also depends on the nature of the notification. Different messages perform better at different times of the day. Promotional notifications work best when users are relaxed and mentally available to explore an offer. On the other hand, light-hearted or entertaining messages are more effective in the afternoon, when people may be bored at work and open to quick distractions.
How Often to Send Push Notifications
As you expand your push notification strategy, message frequency becomes one of the most critical factors. Since push notifications are a high-attention channel, sending too many messages can overwhelm users and lead to opt-outs.
Because website push notifications are still relatively new, there is no universal benchmark for the ideal sending frequency. The best approach is to closely track performance indicators such as click-through rates, time spent on the page, bounce rates, and unsubscribe actions after each notification. This data will help you identify the frequency that works best for your audience.
Using Segmentation for Personalized Notifications
Personalization is already a proven strategy in E-commerce marketing, but it becomes even more important with website push notifications. A broad, untargeted approach can quickly result in users unsubscribing, as opting out is easy and often permanent unless users manually change their settings.
To avoid this, E-commerce businesses should divide subscribers into well-defined segments. One method is to collect user preferences during the opt-in process. Another effective approach is behavioral segmentation, which groups subscribers based on their on-site behavior—such as pages viewed, browsing frequency, or product categories explored. For instance, if a user frequently views spy thriller books, they can be categorized accordingly and notified when new titles in that genre are released.
Metrics to Measure Success
Click-through rate is usually the first metric considered when evaluating website push notifications, as it shows the percentage of users who clicked after receiving a notification.
However, relying solely on click rate can be misleading. Instead, analysis should focus on core business objectives—primarily sales—and supporting goals like visits to the checkout page or products added to the cart. By tagging notification links with appropriate UTM parameters, you can analyze performance in Google Analytics or similar tools. This allows you to assess whether users arriving through push notifications are actually completing desired actions, which is the true measure of effectiveness.
Q1. What are website push notifications in e-commerce?
Website push notifications are clickable messages sent to users’ browsers to share offers, reminders, updates, or alerts, even when they are not actively browsing the website.
Q2. How do website push notifications help e-commerce businesses?
They help increase website traffic, improve engagement, recover abandoned carts, promote discounts, announce new products, and encourage repeat purchases.
Q3. Do users need to give permission to receive website push notifications?
Yes, users must opt in to receive push notifications, making it a permission-based and more engaging marketing channel.
Q4. What types of push notifications work best for e-commerce websites?
Cart abandonment alerts, flash sale notifications, price drop alerts, back-in-stock messages, order updates, and personalized product recommendations perform best.
Q5. Can push notifications help recover abandoned carts?
Yes, timely cart abandonment notifications remind users about pending purchases and can significantly improve cart recovery rates.
Q6. How important is personalization in push notifications?
Personalization increases relevance and engagement, leading to higher click-through rates and better conversions.
Q7. How often should e-commerce websites send push notifications?
Sending 2 to 5 relevant notifications per week is generally effective, while overuse may lead to opt-outs.
Q8. What is the best time to send website push notifications?
The best time depends on user behavior and time zones. Notifications sent during peak activity hours usually perform better.
Q9. Do website push notifications work on mobile devices?
Yes, push notifications work on both desktop and mobile browsers without requiring a mobile app.
Q10. Can push notifications be automated for e-commerce marketing?
Yes, notifications can be automated for events such as cart abandonment, order confirmation, shipping updates, and re-engagement campaigns.
Q11. Are website push notifications better than email marketing?
Push notifications provide instant visibility, while email is better for detailed communication. Using both together delivers better results.
Q12. Are website push notifications suitable for small e-commerce businesses?
Yes, they are cost-effective, easy to implement, and scalable, making them ideal for businesses of all sizes.
Q13. How can the performance of push notification campaigns be measured?
Performance can be tracked using metrics such as opt-in rate, click-through rate, conversion rate, unsubscribe rate, and revenue generated.
