What is an Abandoned Cart Email?

An abandoned cart email is an email that is sent to a customer who has added items to their online shopping cart but has not completed the purchase. The email reminder may include the items that were left in the cart, as well as a link to continue the purchase.

Abandoned cart emails are a customer retention tactic that can be remarkably effective. According to a recent report from Klaviyo, businesses using cart recovery emails earn back 3% to 14% of lost sales, with an average revenue per recipient of $5.81.

This number is significant when you consider the potential revenue that can be generated from abandoned cart emails. When multiplied by the number of abandoned carts over the course of a year, it’s clear that this type of email can have a major impact on your bottom line.

Abandoned cart emails are a reminder to shoppers of what they left behind in their shopping cart, and encourage them to return to the checkout page and complete the purchase. You can customize abandoned cart emails with coupon codes, product images, CTA buttons, and more.

The average abandonment rate is 88.1% which means that nearly 9 out of 10 people who start the checkout process don’t finish it.

According to Statista, here are the average shopping cart abandonment rates by industry:

• Baby and child: 94.4%
• Luxury: 94.4%
• Airlines: 90.9%
• Fashion: 90.7%
• Cosmetics: 85.7%
• Retail: 84.5%

Ecommerce websites can improve their conversion rates and recover lost revenue by sending cart abandonment emails. Email marketing software can automate the process so you don’t have to manually send each message.

Why Should I Send Abandoned Cart Emails?

An abandoned cart email strategy can help you win back lost customers and increase sales.

This means that from every 100 users who abandoned their carts, 82 will complete their purchase after receiving a reminder of their empty online shopping cart. By sending these types of emails, you are increasing your chances of recovering lost sales and boosting your overall revenue.

Abandoned Cart Email Best Practices

Abandoned cart emails are an excellent way to bring customers back to your store.

Remind Customers What They Left in The Cart

It often takes people a while after abandoning their carts to decide whether or not they want to purchase. They may even return later and make a purchase.

As opposed to the cold outreach of a traditional sales letter, this is a warmer prospect.

There are many reasons why customers may abandon their shopping carts, such as issues with their internet. However, this doesn’t mean that they’re no longer interested in your product.

If you want to get customers who have abandoned their carts on your site back, the easiest way to do it is by saving their cart and then sending them a link to it.

Here’s one example from American Giant. The copy tells customers what they’ll miss out on if they don’t answer. It also provides a link that allows you to return to your cart without having to provide your information again.

The email quickly gets the point across and even offers product recommendations further down the message to help the customer find other relevant products quickly and easily.

Another great example is from Chubbies.

What stands out about Chubbies’ email is the way it is written. It uses fun and creative phrases such as:

“Allow me to teleport you”

“Let’s turn this party up to 11”

“Word up”

This makes the recipient want to click on the links in the email to learn more about the products offered by Chubbies.

Write Great Email Copy

The example of Chubbies and the great copywriting they employ is a good segue into our next topic: writing effective email subject lines.

Abandoned cart emails are a great opportunity to market your products in a compelling way. Make sure your materials are up to par and don’t slack off on this chance to engage potential customers.

Since abandoned cart emails are sent to welcome customers back, they may be more aligned with what you’d normally send as a welcome email than other types of messages.

What are the components of a good email marketing campaign? An eye-catching subject, compelling text, and high-quality images all contribute to a successful one.

These next few emails will help you excel in one or more areas.

Food52’s email takes a relatable approach to its messaging. In addition to showing its items and a link to the abandoned cart, it also includes a message that reads, “Hey! We noticed you left some stuff in your cart. Don’t worry, we won’t let them go to waste. Click here to finish up your purchase!”

These lines make the shopping experience feel more personal — like you’re shopping with a friend.

“Your cart called” and “It’s been waiting for you to come back and check it out.”

In an email, Adidas used the subject “sorry about your wifi” assuming that the receiver had left their site because their WiFi had stopped working.

It asks: “Is your Wi-Fi okay?” and “Did your Internet browser crash when viewing the gazelle logo?” with a link back to the shopping cart.

Here’s another example from Huckberry.

“Huckberry has a different approach to sales and inventory that you won’t want to miss out on. Our stock is often limited and we can’t guarantee that the items you have in your cart will still be available when you’re ready to purchase them. So don’t wait, act now!”

Using scarcity as a marketing tactic is a clever way to increase conversions. People are afraid of missing out on something they want, so they’re more likely to buy.

Huckberry urges its customers to buy soon to prevent them from experiencing anxiety.

These online stores are employing a variety of tactics, including the use of strong copywriting, to coax shoppers back to their carts and complete the checkout process.

Include a Call-to-Action (CTA) Button

The CTA button is an important tool in your email arsenal. It allows you to guide your viewers back to their shopping carts with just one click. By having a CTA button in your email, you can increase the chances of getting people to take the action you want them to take.

You can use a standard CTA like Return to Cart or Shop Now.

Or you can get more creative and use a CTA like:

“Why not take advantage of our amazing sale and get 30% off your purchase? Just click the button below to start shopping!

Try using a call-to-action that motivates people to “buy” or “purchase” the items in their shopping cart.

You can also test different CTA text in your email marketing software to see which version performs the best with your audience. This will help you see higher revenue per recipient and improve the results of your cart abandonment sales.

Abandoned Cart Email Strategy Tips

An abandoned cart email needs a compelling copy and an easy way to get back to the cart, or at least a display of the items that were abandoned. The following tips can help you create an effective abandoned cart email. However, they are not must-haves, so if you can’t implement them, don’t worry.

Timing is Everything

If you’re looking to improve your abandoned cart email strategy, timing is everything. According to recent studies, the sooner you send an abandoned cart email, the better results you’ll get.

Email marketing agency Rejoiner confirmed this after analyzing millions of cart recovery emails on its platform. So if you’re looking to improve your chances of recovering lost sales, consider timing as a key factor in your strategy.

What is the best timing that drives revenue for its clients?

The average conversion rate for follow-up emails sent one hour after initial contact was 16%.

If you send an email too soon after a customer abandons their shopping cart, you’ll likely see lower conversion rates. However, if you wait too long to send the follow-up email, the results are even worse.

Rejoiner found that while emails are most effective, they won’t capture all the lost revenue from abandoned carts. It suggests using a three-part sequence to maximize recovery.

The first email should be sent one hour after abandonment. The second email should be sent one day after abandonment. The third email should be sent three days after abandonment.

Offer a Discount

Most shoppers leave items in their cart because their final cost is more than they anticipated.

When people are trying to calculate how much they’re going to pay, they’re usually just adding up the prices of each item in their cart. They might not always think about taxes or shipping, but if they do, they might underestimate the cost.

There’s an easy way to bring back customers who have been scared away by the final price: offer a discount.

Alex Mill’s abandoned cart email subject line was clear: “Get Them For 15% Off!”.

Once you opened the email, you noticed the items you left behind paired with this 15% off discount. The results? A whopping 55% open rate and a 10% click-through rate.

Most likely, this is a sale.

Creating discounts is a simple process. First, determine the amount of the discount. Next, generate a discount code. Finally, include the code in the abandoned cart email.

Now, you have to decide whether offering a discount makes sense for your own business. You know that not all customers abandon their cart for the same reason, but every store faces a different set of issues.

You may be able to encourage customers to purchase by offering a discount or free shipping, but you don’t want to lose too much in sales. It’s important to find the right balance that works for your store.

Include Social Proof

Social proof from previous customers is one of the best ways to build confidence with potential customers. It can help convince them to complete a purchase.

People like to see what other people think of something before they make a decision. This is why social proof is so important. It’s what gets people to take chances with brands.

Adidas includes social proof in its messaging to show viewers what recent buyers have said about the shoes they left behind. Through customer reviews, viewers can get a sense of what others think about the product before making a purchase themselves. This helps build trust and confidence in the brand and ultimately leads to more sales.

Reserve the Items in the Cart

Huckberry uses the possibility of your item selling out to encourage a purchase, which is a great way to take advantage of the scarcity effect.

If you guarantee that you’ll hold the abandoned items for your customers for a definite but limited time, they may be more likely to go through with checkout. This way, they can be sure that they won’t miss out on their desired products.

Small, independent retailers often run out of stock on the most popular products. Knowing this, customers may be more likely to buy.

This email by Beard Brand uses scarcity to encourage customers to purchase their goods before they’re sold out.

“We know that you want to reserve items for customers who’ve paid for them, just in case there’s low stock. And you should.”

If you’re confident in your stock levels and can afford to hold items for those who may not end up paying, then go ahead and reserve their cart.

Try Abandoned Cart Texts

An abandoned cart text is a message sent to a person’s mobile device that reminds them of items they have left in their online shopping cart.

SMS notifications are a newer sales tactic, but they work because people are more likely to see them than emails in their inbox. This can lead to higher click-through rates and sales.

You can send personalized text messages to shoppers who have abandoned their carts. Some text message marketing services, such as Manychat, will even allow you to include a clickable link that will automatically take the customer back to the product they were looking at.

How Do I Start Sending Abandoned Cart Emails?

There is no need to make elaborate abandoned cart emails. Several well-reviewed apps offer a variety of functions.

If you’re using Shopify, there are a few apps that can help you recover abandoned carts. These apps can provide you with functionality like automatic emails and reminders.

If you aren’t on Shopify, you can still use Rejoiner to send automated emails to customers who abandon their carts. These templates are designed to get you up and running quickly.

Just update the text, graphics, and anything else that needs to be changed so it’s consistent with your branding.

What Should I Write in Abandoned Cart Emails?

There are four things that every abandoned cart email should have:

• A personalized message – address the customer by name and mention what items they were interested in.
• A sense of urgency – let them know that the items they were interested in are running low or about to sell out.
• An enticing offer – give them an incentive to finish their purchase, like 10% off their order total.
• A call-to-action – encourage them to finish their purchase, and include a link back to the checkout page or their shopping cart.

Is it Legal to Send Abandoned Cart Emails?

Yes, it is legal to send abandoned cart emails. However, there are some restrictions on how these emails can be used. For example, the email must not be sent to someone who has already purchased from the store, and the email must not contain any sensitive information such as credit card numbers.

Additionally, the email must be clear about what it is and why the recipient is receiving it.

Conclusion

Sending an abandoned cart email can be a great way to recover lost sales and boost your bottom line. By following the best practices outlined above, you can create effective abandoned cart emails that will encourage customers to go back to your store and complete their purchases