Imagine that you run a successful online store, keep a loyal customer base, have figured out inventories, and maintain a good traffic volume. You'd assume that you have everything under control.

However, you may still be wrong. You might lose significant amounts of money when users don't complete their purchases if you have not yet implemented abandoned cart tracking procedures.

Studies show that 88% of customers abandon their online carts before making a purchase. Does that mean that your sales are just over 1/10 of what they could reach? Probably not, but while you might fail to successfully convince everyone who abandoned their carts to complete the checkout process, you still can eliminate as many remaining doubts as possible.

This article will show how an email marketing abandoned cart campaign can help you win lost or doubting customers back.

What Is an Abandoned Cart Email?

Abandoned cart or cart recovery emails are emails you send to customers who’ve added items to their cart in your online store but haven't checked out. The email serves as a gentle reminder to customers who failed to complete their purchase. It's a surprisingly successful strategy used by online retailers to retain customers and boost sales.

According to a recent Klaviyo survey, businesses that send cart recovery emails recover from 3% to 14% of lost purchases, with an average revenue of $5.81 per recipient. Consequently, abandoned cart emails can substantially increase your revenue when you compound it by thousands of abandoned carts over a long period.

Abandoned cart emails motivate customers to finish their purchases by reminding them of the items they’ve left behind. To entice customers to the checkout page, you may personalize abandoned cart emails with special discounts, product photos, call to action (CTA) buttons, and more.

According to Statista, the average percentage of shopping cart abandonment, which varies by industry, is 88.1%, including:

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

Both big and small e-commerce companies send cart abandonment emails to increase conversion rates and recoup lost money. You may even automate the process with email marketing software, so you don't have to send each message manually.

What a Cart Abandonment Email May Look Like

Ugmonk

Ugmonk's abandoned cart email takes a direct approach. They strongly emphasize customization, giving the impression that the owner or designer is getting in touch with you to address any inquiries.

Additionally, there are two in-line CTAs here, allowing the customer, if they choose so, to complete their purchase immediately. Your target audience might prefer this straightforward strategy.

23andMe

23andMe's abandoned cart email is concise, focused, and contains only a few words: the opening line ("Don't forget to order your kit"), the call to action ("Order today"), and the closing line ("Have additional questions?"). With this email, customers will not be distracted by irrelevant information and instead focus on the desired action, i. e. purchase completion.

Cart Abandonment Email Strategies

Abandoned cart emails are easy to make and are pretty effective at recouping lost sales. Every abandoned cart email needs to contain three things.

1. Reserve Their Cart’s Content

Customers may refrain from the purchase for unforeseen reasons. For instance, a customer might have abandoned their cart due to a problem with internet connection. The easiest way to win back those clients is to remind them what they’ve intended to buy and provide a link to their cart.

Look at this example from American Giant. It's a straightforward message outlining which goods the customer has left behind. Even better, it provides a link to quickly return to your cart without going through the login process.

Here is another precise and efficient cart recovery email from Perigold. The email makes its point fast and even provides product recommendations to make it easier for readers to find other relevant products.

We have one more outstanding example. With this excellent email, Chubbies has excelled in three areas: eye-catching graphics, strong copy, and numerous links.

Pay particular attention to Chubbies' writing style in this email. The phrases "Allow me to teleport you," "Let's turn this party up to eleven," and "Word up" all fit the description of a business managed by joyous individuals selling shorts.

Additionally, keep in mind that clicking any of the three links in the email returns you to your basket. The headline, the primary image, and the large button at the bottom of the email all include live links.

2. Superb Copy

Consider abandoned cart emails as an extra marketing chance. Because of their function they may be more in line with welcome emails than with what you typically send.

What elements go into a successful marketing email? An eye-catching subject line, compelling writing, and quality photos are crucial. The next few emails are exceptional in one or more of these categories.

The Food52 email has an excellent copy. In addition to displaying your items and a link to your shopping cart, it approaches its objective in a genuinely relevant manner. "Your Cart Called" and "It's hoping you'll come back and see it" give the shopping cart a personal touch and motivates customers to return and check on a buddy.

Adidas doesn't mind using a solid subject line in emails, such as "Sorry to hear about your Wi-Fi," presuming the recipient's Wi-Fi had crashed and that was why they’ve left the site.

"Is your Wi-Fi okay?" is a subtext followed by “Maybe your browser crashed when looking at the classic Gazelle silhouette" and a redirect link to the client’s cart.

Consider this Huckberry case as well.

Huckberry uses an alternative method of appeal. They state they can't promise that the items in the cart will still be there when the client decides to purchase because their sales and inventory are often limited.

This creates a feeling of necessity. You shouldn't wait if you want those things. Smart internet sellers know the potent psychological sales trigger of scarcity and how to capitalize on it. Customers worry that a product they wish to purchase could sell out. Huckberry capitalizes on this fear by urging clients to make purchases right away.

Every online retailer on our list uses persuasive copy and other strategies to urge customers to add an item to their shopping cart and complete the transaction.

3. A Call-To-Action Button

A Call-To-Action (CTA) button directs shoppers to their cart. It is the area where readers click to complete the action you want them to perform. Depending on your business, call-to-action buttons come in various designs. Still, they all aim to return customers to their shopping carts.

Use a standard CTA, such as Return to Cart or Shop Now. Alternatively, you could be more creative and use a CTA like the one from Society6, which reads, "Get My 30% Off."

Use a CTA button that is filled with action. Use verbs like "get" or "shop" to entice customers to complete their shopping. You may test several CTA texts in your email marketing program to discover which ones your audience responds to most. Your income per receiver will increase, and your cart abandonment series statistics will improve. For additional information, see our Email Marketing Best Practices.

Tips For Abandoned Cart Email Campaigns

Every email about an abandoned shopping cart should definitely use engaging language, have a simple means to return to the cart, and provide a list of abandoned items. In addition, here are a few recommendations and best practices for your abandoned cart email campaign.

Consider Timing

At first glance, the sooner you send an email regarding an abandoned cart, the better the results will be. Email marketing company Rejoiner validated this after examining millions of cart recovery emails on their platform. The objective was to determine the optimal period that would increase income.

According to Rejoiner, sending a follow-up email an hour later had an average conversion rate of 16%. Lower conversion rates are what you'll get if you send an email too soon or wait too long.

But even if the initial email is very successful, it won't make up for all the purchases that cart abandoners lost. To maximize revenue, employ a three-part series in your abandoned cart email strategy.

First email: cart reminder (sent 1 hour after cart abandonment);
Second email: follow-up (sent a few days later);
Third email: promotional discount (sent a few days after the second one).

Omnisend claims that for abandoned cart emails, a series of emails perform 63% better than a single email.

Provide a Coupon Code

Most shoppers will remove items from their shopping carts or even abandon them if the final price is higher than expected. People typically just add up the costs of each item in their shopping cart when calculating their final bill and don't always account for shipping expenses or taxes.

This often makes them disappointed in the checkout stage. The most common reason for cart abandonment is that additional costs make the whole shopping too expensive.

Offering a discount is an easy method to win back clients who were scared off by the final price.

“Get Them For 15% Off!” is the direct subject line of Alex Mill's abandoned cart email. When the customer opens the email, they'll see the things they’ve abandoned along with this discount of 15%.

You need to consider twice which discounts make sense for your company. Although you know that many customers are leaving their carts unfilled, no two businesses have the same issues. There may be a reasonable probability that your customers will decide to make a purchase after receiving a discount.

Provide Social Evidence

One of your most effective marketing tactics is social proof. It can persuade cart abandoners to finish their purchases. People are prompted to investigate what other users say about a product. If other people are raving about your brand, shoppers will be encouraged to take a chance and complete the checkout.

Adidas also uses social proof in its emails. Through customer reviews, readers can learn what recent purchasers had to say about the shoes they’ve left behind.

Retain The Cart's Contents

Even though you might leverage the prospect of your product selling out to motivate a purchase, there is yet another technique to benefit from the scarcity effect.

If you promise to retain the abandoned items for your consumers for a specific but limited period, you might nudge them to proceed with checkout.

Customers know that small online retailers with basic supply networks sometimes run out of popular items. They could be more inclined to buy if they know you’ll keep those products for them.

Beardbrand notifies shoppers in the email above that the products in their shopping cart are still reserved but the reservation will soon expire. This psychological ploy gets consumers to purchase before the inventory runs out.

Make sure your supply is adequate and you have enough money to hold products for people who might not buy before offering to reserve a cart. Remember that you should first ship to clients who have already made payment if your supply is low.

Include Important Details

Your shopping cart abandonment sequence's opening email should ideally contain the following:

A clear call to action,
The product names of the abandoned items,
Product photos,
Product details like price, size, and color.

All this will remind customers of the items they've left behind, even if they are ignorant of the purpose of the email.

Hype the Product’s Features

Use online or social media reviews to generate social evidence. This is a fantastic reminder to the customer to focus on the product's quality rather than just the item itself.

Look at this email from the dental care provider Boka. Within their email for abandoned carts, they include a genuine customer review. This approach emphasizes the value of the product, which may increase conversion rates.

Boka emphasizes the benefits of its products — "heal the mouth and reduce disease and inflammation in the body" — and then links to the customer's cart.

Offer Easy Returns

Allbirds, a DTC footwear brand, opens its email with some wordplay and a shopping cart-related GIF.

Although the wording conveys a sense of urgency, our favorite part here is how the brand emphasizes its hassle-free return policy. This increases confidence and assures potential consumers, given that purchasing shoes from an online retailer is risky.

A link to the brand's help section and contact information for customer service are included after the shipment information to reassure customers even more.

Offer Assistance and Provide Contact Details

Customers can drop their cart because they can't decide what to buy. Jeffers, a retailing pet products company, strives to recover abandoned carts by providing customers with assistance during the purchasing and checkout process. Customers are encouraged to use live chat so that the brand's staff can help them. They can also contact a pet expert for advice.

Describe Any Current Sales

You might mention current seasonal sales in your abandoned cart emails to persuade clients to finish their purchases. For instance, Lulu & Georgia, a furniture retailer, urges customers to "bring your purchases home during our Summer Sale" in the subject line of one of its abandoned basket emails.

Repeating the CTA buttons enhances shoppers' likelihood of returning to their abandoned carts as they stand out against the gray-and-white backgrounds.

The product room image gives the customer a glimpse of what their home can look like with a few additional items added. This tiny hint works nicely with the summertime sale offer.

Use Emojis to Get People's Attention

Emojis in the subject line can help your abandoned cart email stand out in the inbox, just as Milani does. The business also creates urgency in this initial abandoned cart email by informing recipients that they can't hold their shopping cart indefinitely.

There is only one call to action, concise and direct ("Buy now"), encouraging the customer to checkout. The list of benefits of purchasing from Milani also entices the email recipient.

Include Relevant Product Suggestions

DSTLD, a clothing retailer, informs first-time customers of the 15% discount on their first order and includes similar items in the "Exclusively for you" section of its abandoned cart email.

Suppose you have a welcome offer similar to the customer’s order. In that case, it might be a good idea to mention it in your abandoned cart emails to these potential new consumers as an additional opportunity to make up for lost sales.

Abandoned Cart Email Faq

1. Do Abandoned Cart Emails Really Work?

Recent research on 500 top global businesses found that shoppers open 44.1% of abandoned cart emails. As much as 29.9% of abandoned cart email clicks result in a conversion.

2. How Many Emails Does An Abandoned Cart Need?

The length of your email series will vary depending on its goals and your subscribers' preferences. While each store is unique, most eCommerce sites use 2 to 4 emails to recover abandoned carts.

3. What Should I Write In An Abandoned Cart Email?

Here’s what a cart recovery email will usually contain:

Strong subject line;
Introductory text;
List of items left in the cart;
Special offer or discount;
Checkout button or call to action (CTA);
Reviews or social proof;
Closing text.

How Can I Improve My Abandoned Cart Email?

Provide a detailed list of the contents of the cart;
Use powerful calls to action;
Don’t overuse discounts;
Send emails an hour and a day after cart abandonment;
Implement dynamic content;
Personalize your cart recovery emails;
Use customer reviews and testimonials.

Conclusion

Abandoned cart emails are essential to boost sales, whether you run an online service or an e-commerce business. Given the high average incidence of shopping cart abandonment, it makes perfect sense to use them.

Abandoned Cart Emails: Examples & Tips - 2022 Guide