Have you ever shopped at an ecommerce store and just when you’re about to close your browser window, you find yourself confronted with a pop-up promising you a discount code if you sign up for the brand’s email list? Perhaps you decide to linger on the site, continuing to browse with that 10% discount in mind.
What you’ve experienced is a great example of an exit intent pop-up. Exit intent pop-ups, also known more simply as exit pop-ups, are a tool that ecommerce business owners use to keep website visitors on their sites and increase their intent to purchase.
So, how do exit intent pop-ups work, and how do you create exit campaigns for your own website? Here’s an overview of this valuable resource for ecommerce store owners.
What is an exit intent pop-up?
An exit intent pop-up is a pop-up overlay that automatically appears when a website detects that a site visitor might close their browser window or navigate to another page. Certain movements around the page typically trigger the pop-ups to appear. On desktop, for example, websites track online shoppers’ cursor or mouse movements, so if their cursor heads toward an exit button, exit intent technology can rapidly render a pop-up window. On mobile devices, exit intent pop-ups might be triggered by behaviors like rapidly scrolling up, tapping on the browser’s address bar, switching tabs, or being inactive for a while. Depending on the exit intent, different pop-ups may have different messages that encourage visitors to remain on the site.
Before the user exits, an exit intent pop-up appears with a message to seize that visitor’s attention. Most commonly, the pop-up offers a discount code in exchange for the visitor’s email address. The visitor will then receive the code via email, along with other email marketing campaigns in the future. Pop-ups might offer other incentives, like a free gift or free shipping.
The right exit intent pop-ups can convert visitors by extending the customer journey. That’s why pop-ups are often an important element of a conversion rate optimization (CRO) strategy. A 2024 report from DiviFlash reported that pop-ups can increase conversions by 4%. Pop-up maker OptiMonk reports an even higher average increase in conversions (11%) across all types of website pop-ups.
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Best practices for creating effective exit intent pop-ups
- Feature a strong CTA
- Include eye-catching imagery
- Run A/B tests
- Use custom pop-ups for different audiences
Whether your goal is lead generation or immediate customer conversions, follow these best practices for high-converting exit pop-ups:
Feature a strong CTA
Include a call to action (CTA) that is clear, direct, and action-oriented. Whether your pop-up offers 15% off or a free sample box, make sure it tells users what you want them to do. Usually, that’s sharing their email address. Common button copy variations for email capture pop-ups include “Sign up” and “Sign up now.”
Include eye-catching imagery
A bold, on-brand visual or product image can capture users’ attention and reinforce your message. Make sure the image aligns with your brand identity and doesn’t distract from the CTA. For instance, if you’re offering a discount on a set of cookware, feature a striking image of those pots and pans. If your pop-up functions as an email lead magnet, include a visually appealing graphic related to the content that email subscribers can receive.
Run A/B tests
You can gain valuable insights about your marketing messages by A/B testing pop-ups with different offers or messaging. For example, you might:
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Keep the design consistent, but test different copy on the module.
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Keep the design consistent, but test different offers.
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Keep the offer and copy consistent, but test different designs or visual styles.
Measure the performance of each variant and lean into the most successful version.
Use custom pop-ups for different audiences
When you create exit intent pop-ups, you can pursue precise targeting strategies by placing them on different landing pages, each with its own traffic source. For instance, you could have one designed for people who arrive at your site via pay-per-click Google ads and another for organic website traffic. Each unique exit intent pop-up could contain a message that’s specific to its expected visitors. This helps you tailor your marketing messages and get more people to engage with your pop-ups.
5 exit intent pop-up examples
Exit intent pop-ups take different forms and contain different types of marketing messages. Here are some examples you can use as inspiration for your own exit pop-ups:
1. My Skin Feels
The exit intent pop-up for My Skin Feels is a classic email capture form. It offers a 10% discount in exchange for an email address. It shows a simple, striking image of one of the brand’s signature products, and its font matches the page on which it overlays. In many ways, it resembles a welcome pop-up, which appears when you first land on a webpage, but it’s activated when your mouse movements suggest you might leave the site.
2. Good Girl Snacks
In this exit pop-up example, Good Girl Snacks asks for a phone number instead of an email address. This may align with efforts to reach Gen Z visitors, who tend to engage more with SMS messages than emails. As with other exit intent pop-ups, this message appears when a user’s cursor movements suggest they might be leaving the site.
3. Pot Gang
Discount codes are one way to entice site visitors, but they’re not mandatory. Pot Gang’s approach is to entice email sign-ups with a nod to what information you can expect from their newsletter (in this case, updates on what seeds are available). The pop-up window is small and unobtrusive, using the same color scheme as the rest of the website. It cleverly reverses that color scheme (turquoise font on a chartreuse background instead of vice versa) to make the pop-up stand out.
4. Waterboy
Everyone likes free stuff. Waterboy leverages this fact by offering a free trial pack as part of its exit intent pop-up. Notably, the pop-up doesn’t contain a form field to enter an email address, but if visitors click the “Claim Free Gift” CTA button, they’ll be taken to a form where they provide their info. This pop-up is simple, with lots of white space and a very clear value proposition: free stuff.
5. Kloo
Coffee concentrate company Kloo takes the “free stuff” concept to a new level by showing the physical product you’ll get for free. It’s an elegant coffee shot measurer, and it’s depicted in a stylish photograph within an exit intent pop-up. Kloo asks for an email address in the initial lead capture form, but users will also have to provide a phone number and mailing address to receive the shot measure. The user gets a genuinely valuable product, and Kloo gets extensive customer information for its database.
How to add an exit intent pop-up to your ecommerce site
Creating pop-ups is refreshingly easy if you’re using Shopify to power your ecommerce store. The Shopify App Store offers a wide range of exit intent pop-up solutions including 1Click Popups, Pop-Up Hero, and OptiMonk. They integrate seamlessly with every web page on your Shopify website, from your homepage to your checkout page. You can customize these pop-ups to align with your target audience and brand image.
Exit intent pop-up FAQ
What is the purpose of an exit intent pop-up?
An exit intent pop-up exists to keep website visitors from navigating to other websites. It usually does this by enticing them with discount codes or free products in exchange for contact information.
How do you trigger an exit intent pop-up?
You trigger an exit intent pop-up by moving your cursor toward your browser’s back button or address bar. This indicates you might leave the page, which prompts the pop-up to appear.
How do exit intent pop-ups work on mobile?
Mobile exit intent pop-ups detect actions like tapping on the browser’s address bar, switching tabs, and rapidly scrolling up—all of which may indicate a user’s intention to leave the page. They can also be triggered by long periods of inactivity.
