Since Manduka rolled out its first yoga mat in 1997, yogis and teachers worldwide have loved its high-performance, ethically made yoga mats and accessories. Dedicated to providing products with unparalleled quality and minimal environmental impact, today Manduka sells yoga mats, props, accessories, and clothing, supporting and inspiring the practice of yoga.

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The challenge: Overcoming purchase barriers with a diverse product range 

Like many ecommerce retailers, Manduka is always striving to improve both its revenue and its customer experience. 

With a large product range and plenty of product information online, the buying process could sometimes feel tricky to navigate for customers. They could always call or email Manduka with questions, but this extra step added friction to the buying process — which can lead to abandoned purchases.

“Sometimes our website can feel a little confusing when someone isn't an experienced yogi who knows what they need because we have a lot of product information. Different products serve different needs, each with wonderful benefits. The product description pages can try to highlight the benefits or compare products. But it would be easier for customers if somebody could just jump in and offer to answer any questions.” 

— Jessica Botello, Customer Service Manager at Manduka

Eager to find new ways to communicate with customers, highlight its latest products, and make it easier for customers to find the information they want — all with the aim of driving more revenue — Manduka turned to Gorgias.

The solution: Gorgias Convert provides proactive, tailored on-site campaigns including exit campaigns and product tips

Manduka began using Gorgias Convert in April 2023. Using the campaign builder, Convert allows merchants to create highly targeted and proactive on-site campaigns that seamlessly transform website visitors into revenue, driving up upsells, conversions, and retention.

“Getting all our campaigns set up has been very easy and very straightforward, and they’ve worked really well. It’s pretty clear what to do, and our Gorgias Convert rep has been very responsive and helpful.”

— Jessica Botello, Customer Service Manager at Manduka

Because Gorgias Convert offers unlimited on-site campaigns, Manduka was able to test out and fine-tune all kinds of campaigns to increase revenue and enhance customer experience. The campaign dashboard makes it easy to analyze each campaign’s performance. By continually optimizing its campaigns, Manduka drove consistent month-over-month growth using well-timed nudges and offers. In fact, A/B testing revealed that the group exposed to on-site campaigns experienced a remarkable 6.7%  higher conversion rate compared to the group who didn't.

Manduka’s most successful strategies have been exit campaigns and tips on choosing and using certain products. Here, we take a closer look at three of Manduka’s top-performing campaigns: 

Discount code in return for an email address (exit intent)

When a shopper looks likely to leave Manduka’s website and meets certain conditions, this campaign triggers. A message offers a discount code if they sign up for email or SMS marketing messages. Manduka enabled Quick Responses and Chat, so customers can get in touch if they have any questions.

Between April–August 2023, this on-site campaign achieved:

• Total campaign revenue: $32,349.46
• Impressions: 62,690
• Clicks conversion rate: 25.28%

Here’s the set-up for this campaign:

Exit campaigns are fantastic for bumping up average order value, reducing cart abandonment, and increasing customer loyalty and retention. 

“Everybody wants a discount. So they're about to leave the site and then they see a message saying: you can get $20 off. And it’s: ‘Okay, let me get that coupon, and now I'll keep looking. Yeah, with $20 off, I think I will.’ That's why this campaign is the biggest hitter for us.”

— Jessica Botello, Customer Service Manager at Manduka

Cross-sell campaign to push orders over $100 and gain free shipping

This campaign targets shoppers who are getting close to the order value threshold for free shipping, by suggesting small additional items they may be interested in. This makes it quick and easy for customers to top up their order with relevant products in order to unlock free shipping.

Between April–August 2023, this campaign achieved the following:

• Total Campaign revenue: $11,788.91
• Impressions: 37,586
• Mobile Clicks Conversion Rate: 19.65%
• Desktop Clicks Conversion Rate: 12.06%

“People want free shipping. So if they've already got over $75 worth in their cart, they're almost there. Then we pop up and suggest: check out these items. It’s a curated list of the easy little add-ons that you'll need anyway for your yoga practice, but will also take you over the free shipping threshold. What's really helpful is that it pops up, rather than the customer having to go through the menu and look for things.” 

— Jessica Botello, Customer Service Manager at Manduka

Tips and recommendations for choosing yoga props campaign

Between April–August 2023, this campaign achieved the following:

• Total Campaign revenue: $3,851.73
• Impressions: 6,310
• Clicks Conversion Rate: 11.5%

To help customers choose the best product for their needs even outside of business hours, Manduka created this campaign. It recommends Manduka’s Guide to Yoga Props article to customers browsing the yoga props and accessories page for more than 15 seconds.

“This yoga props blog suggestion campaign is really great because we have several options, and that can feel confusing to someone who doesn’t know which one to get because they are new to yoga and aren't familiar with which props would benefit them. The blog explains in more detail how to use the different props in your yoga practice, and the different benefits of a round bolster vs a rectangular bolster. So it helps people go ahead and choose the right product for them.”

— Jessica Botello, Customer Service Manager at Manduka

Here’s the set-up for this campaign:

Using on-site campaigns for customer education is popular with customers and helps close more sales, including cross-sells and upsells. By recommending articles that proactively address customer queries and concerns, merchants can reduce the need for subsequent customer support tickets and the likelihood of returns due to not choosing the right product.

“Chat campaigns with information about our products and links to our blogs are getting a lot of engagement from our customers. It’s been really great to see how many customers are very interested in that education.”

— Jessica Botello, Customer Service Manager at Manduka

The results: 284% more chat campaign revenue in just 5 months

After using Gorgias Convert for just five months, Manduka achieved a dazzling 284.15% cumulative increase in campaign revenue, totaling over $70k for the period. This was fuelled by the company’s commitment to fine-tuning and optimizing its campaigns for maximum impact, rather than being content with the initial campaign’s decent results.

As well as generating higher revenue, Manduka has also enhanced its customer experience. The customer service team chats with customers more, and the automated, proactive messages save customers time and effort in searching out answers or assistance.

“Gorgias Convert has helped us make the shopping experience more intuitive. We can give a nice prompt to remind people of promotions we’re running, highlight specific product features, or just remind them we're here to help and answer questions. The chat campaigns make it easy for customers because they lead them to us, as opposed to them having to search for how to contact us for assistance.” 

— Jessica Botello, Customer Service Manager at Manduka

Implementing Gorgias Convert has allowed Manduka to upgrade the way it communicates with customers, and provide more tailored and helpful experiences — resulting in a revenue-driven customer service team. 

“Gorgias Convert is amazing, we highly recommend it. Because you can tailor the customer experience. And you can fill in the spaces that a typical website cannot. Gorgias Convert is almost a one-to-one translation of the in-person retail experience to the online retail experience where that wasn't available before.”

— Jessica Botello, Customer Service Manager at Manduka

Next steps: creating more advanced on-site campaigns to amplify customer experience

Jessica and her colleagues are still exploring all the ways Gorgias Convert can help Manduka improve both revenue and customer experience. They are especially excited about the potential to provide a tailored VIP experience for repeat customers, similar to the personal touch of an in-store shopping experience.

“We want to be able to target our repeat customers who have purchased a lot, and say, ‘Welcome back! Here's a new product that would go wonderfully with the item you bought last time’. It would be a wonderful translation of the in-person retail experience where staff know what you like, so they can assist you better.” 

— Jessica Botello, Customer Service Manager at Manduka