Performance-based marketing-services firm Think Partnership yesterday formally announced a piece of technology that enables online merchants to automatically send e-mail offers to people who have abandoned shopping carts on their sites.

Dubbed Second Bite, the technology monitors when e-commerce-site visitors put items in shopping carts but fail to check out. The technology waits for a period specified by the merchant—say two weeks or a month—and then sends an e-mail to the shopper prodding them to compete the purchase.

The reason for the time lag is so that a shopper can visit, say, a jewelry site repeatedly, and put things in and take things out of the cart on each visit without getting an e-mail every time.

A Second Bite e-mail typically contains whatever offer the merchant would like to include and a link to the original shopping cart so the recipient can click on it and pick up where they left off.

Chad Herman, director of business development for Think Partnership, swears the software is easy to install. “You can sign up with us and literally have the system running within 24 to 48 hours,” he said.

There is no set-up or licensing fee. Merchants pay an undisclosed percentage of each sale completed as a result of Second Bite. The technology is also available through affiliate-services firms LinkShare, Performics, Commission Junction and Think Partnership’s own KowaBunga.

Herman said between 40 and 50 merchants are using the system. “We’ve been selling quietly for about eight months,” he said.

According to Herman, merchants have been experiencing an average click-through rate of 38% with Second Bite e-mails. Of those, from 8% to 20% convert to a sale, he said.

“We actually have one merchant who is getting a 70% conversion rate, but they’re an extreme example,” he said.

Performance-based marketing-services firm Think Partnership is expected today to formally announce a piece of technology that enables online merchants to automatically send e-mail offers to people who have abandoned shopping carts on their sites.

Dubbed Second Bite, the technology monitors when e-commerce-site visitors put items in shopping carts but fail to check out. The technology waits for a period specified by the merchant — say two weeks or a month — and then sends an e-mail to the shopper prodding them to compete the purchase.

The reason for the time lag is so that a shopper can visit, say, a jewelry site repeatedly, and put things in and take things out of the cart on each visit without getting an e-mail every time.

A Second Bite e-mail typically contains whatever offer the merchant would like to include and a link to the original shopping cart so the recipient can click on it and pick up where they left off.

Chad Herman, director of business development for Think Partnership, swears the software is easy to install. “You can sign up with us and literally have the system running within 24 to 48 hours,” he said.

There is no set-up or licensing fee. Merchants pay an undisclosed percentage of each sale completed as a result of Second Bite. The technology is also available through affiliate-services firms LinkShare, Performics, Commission Junction and Think Partnership’s own KowaBunga.

Herman said between 40 and 50 merchants are using the system. “We’ve been selling quietly for about eight months,” he said.

According to Herman, merchants have been experiencing an average click-through rate of 38% with Second Bite e-mails. Of those, from 8% to 20% convert to a sale, he said.

“We actually have one merchant who is getting a 70% conversion rate, but they’re an extreme example,” he said.