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Chrome and Firefox are changing the way online visitors can opt into web push notifications via browser prompts. This change will directly affect the way that you collect web push subscribers for your Shopify store, so be sure to read this post in full to find out what you need to do!
At the moment, web push notification opt-ins can be seen as quite intrusive, with some websites triggering browser opt-in prompts to appear as soon as a visitor lands on a page.
Most merchants use this strategy of displaying an auto-prompt straight away without a two-step subscription. They do this because it helps to generate many more subscribers.
Here at Firepush, we recommend setting up your web push opt-in process carefully, making use of our middle-man signup forms to explain why you’re capturing subscribers.
This is a two-step opt-in process that helps you to collect better quality subscribers and will most likely result in a higher ROI and increased sales for your store.
Video tutorial explaining how to set-up two-steps pop-ups with Firepush:
In any case, Chrome and Firefox are addressing some of the problems around web push opt-ins by making changes that are designed to improve the user browsing experience.
This involves introducing ‘quieter permissions’ where browser opt-in prompts are shown at a more relevant time and in a less intrusive way.
What you need to know about quieter permissions for Chrome
In Chrome, the typical opt-in prompt appears as a default notification subscription box with two buttons: ‘Allow’ and ‘Block’. Web visitors have to choose one or the other or close the subscription box to get rid of it.
This can disrupt the user’s web browsing experience and lead to web push notifications getting a bad reputation, instead of them being considered a useful service.
Chrome is rolling out a change that means web notification opt-ins will be shown in context, and at a relevant point in the visitor’s journey.
The Chrome quieter permission UI will be enabled in the following ways:
Manual activation - web users will be able to choose to manually activate quieter permissions for web push opt-ins via their browser settings.
This option will be available in Chrome version 80, expected to be released on February 4th 2020.
Automatic enrolment - Chrome will automatically enable quieter permissions on sites with very low opt-in rates and for users that frequently block web push opt-ins.
For automatic enrolment, this will roll out gradually after the Chrome 80 release.
What you need to know about quieter permissions for Firefox
Firefox rolled out quieter permissions earlier this month (January) in Firefox 70 and 72. Before the update, web visitors would see a default notification subscription form with two buttons: ‘Allow Notifications but ‘Not Now’.
If the visitor clicked on ‘Not Now’ they’d be shown the opt-in form again the next time they visited the same website.
There was also a drop-down box next to ‘Not Now’ where visitors could click on ‘Never’ in order to banish the opt-in box permanently (or at least until they cleared their browser history).
So effectively, there was an extra step that visitors needed to take in order for this to happen - not great for the user experience, as you can see below:
Since the update, Firefox requires user interaction (such as clicking a button) in order to display a notification opt-in box, otherwise the quieter permission opt-in kicks in.
The latter takes the form of a speech bubble icon in the address bar - web visitors have to click on that to opt-in.
Another change is related to the ‘Not Now’ button. This has been replaced with ‘Never’ to eliminate that extra step for web visitors who don’t want their browsing experience interrupted. Here’s what the new browser opt-in experience looks like:
How will these browser changes affect your push notification marketing efforts?
Ultimately, the quieter permissions initiative is going to have an impact on how you collect subscribers.
It will likely mean that you get fewer signups, but don’t be concerned about that.
The changes will actually result in you getting better quality opt-ins - subscribers that are genuinely interested in what you have to offer; people who have already interacted with your store.
The quality of your subscribers is much more important than the quantity of them. Because you’ll be getting qualified subscribers, you’ll probably see an increase in engagement.
Note that these browser changes won’t have any impact on your existing subscriber database. Only new subscribers will be affected.
How Firepush can help you work around quieter permissions
- A customized and contextual opt-in experience - unlike the default notification boxes described above, Firepush allows you to customize your signup forms.
You can set out what the visitor can expect to receive from you content-wise, should they opt-in.
This provides context to web visitors, so they won’t be surprised when they get a web push notification from you and they will, therefore, be less likely to opt-out in the future. - Easily include incentives to encourage opt-ins - as part of your opt-in form, you could include a message about how you regularly have special offers and free shipping incentives, or that your blog newsletter contains tons of product-related tips and tricks. This can help to attract subscribers.
Firepush has a range of opt-in methods including:
- A popup form.
- A flyout widget.
- Embed buttons.
We recommend that you switch your opt-in method to a flyout widget (see example below). As of 6th March, we will automatically switch to this method for you, if you take no action to change your signup forms beforehand. This is to ensure your opt-in requests continue to be seen.
You can alter the style and color of your signup forms to fit seamlessly with your store branding. We recommend that you trigger your popup opt-ins to appear between 8 and 15 seconds after a visitor lands on your store website to achieve the best results.
Quieter permissions is a good thing
We know you might be worried about these browser changes as they will inevitably have an effect on your subscriber database. However, we believe that quieter permissions should be looked at positively because it can actually improve your web push notification marketing efforts by:
- Only capturing qualified subscribers that want to receive your web push messages.
- Increasing your engagement rates.
- Helping to reduce your unsubscribe rates.
User experience counts for a great deal in online browsing and shopping. It makes sense to try to avoid having visitors immediately reject your web push notification opt-in requests. In the case of Chrome, in particular, you’ll need to try to increase your opt-in rates so that your store doesn’t end up falling into the quieter permissions automatic enrolment category.
You can encourage those all-important, qualified signups by concentrating on providing value and context to your store visitors via your Firepush customizable signup forms.
If you have any questions on how best to do this, reach out to our support team who will be happy to help!
