How to Send Abandonment Cart Email Series
By Sam Nguyen
Drive 20-40% of your revenue with Avada
What is one of the most significant obstacles that nearly all online businesses face? Abandoned shopping cart. On average, two customers add products to their online shopping cart but never complete the transaction for every customer who completes a purchase online. Every year, tens of billions of dollars’ worth of items are abandoned in people’s carts.
If you, as a retailer, are able to solve this issue, your store’s profits will skyrocket. Although cart abandonment can never be entirely eliminated from your online shop, the good news is that automated email marketing is excellent at recovering a significant portion of these otherwise missed sales. An abandoned cart email sequence will recover more than one-third of all abandoned carts.
In this article, I will share with you how you can send abandonment cart email series and some ideas for this type of emails that you can put into practice right away. Let’s jump right into the details!
What are Abandoned Cart Emails?
Abandoned cart emails are a form of ecommerce email automation that is activated when a shopper adds products to their online cart but drops without completing their purchase. These emails will usually include a short note reminding the shopper of their cart, as well as information about the product(s) they left behind and a CTA button to return to the cart. As in the following example from Public Rec.
5 Simple Steps To Create An Abandoned Cart Email That Convert Sales
Step 1: Craft a compelling subject line.
Even the best abandoned cart email is useless if it is not opened. As a result, creating well-written subject lines that function as your ecommerce store’s second impression is critical. Subject lines for abandoned cart emails should be clear, urgent, and appealing. The aim is not to be overbearing, but to remind the customer of what they’re missing. Here are some examples:
- Your cart is expiring
- Oops, you forgot something
- Still thinking it over, Mary?
- Good news: your price dropped!
- Your new spoon is only two clicks away
These examples are great because they not only provide a brief reminder about the cart, but they also have a helpful tone that informs the customers of what they are missing out on.
Step 2: Have an urgent CTA.
Every good email contains a call to action (CTA), and your abandoned cart reminder should be no different. The CTA should compel your customers to return to their cart and complete the order. Avoid using terms like “buy” or “pay” because these consumers might not be ready to buy. Instead, use a phrase like “return to your cart” to encourage your customer to proceed.
To draw your customer’s attention, your CTA should be bold and in a bright color. The customer understands what the email is about right away, but the language isn’t so pushy that they feel stressed.
Step 3: Show the abandoned product.
Although this will seem to be an easy task, it is critical that you highlight the product that was left in your customer’s cart. Since your customers can forget what they added to their cart, this imagery will serve as a fast reminder. Put the picture in the email’s header and add the CTA button beneath it.
Have the price and title, in addition to the product picture, so there are no surprises when they return to your website. Complement the product photos with a catchy graphic that grabs the customer’s attention. We suggest creating a dynamic design, such as a GIF or slideshow, while remaining consistent with your brand’s theme.
Step 4: Showcase the product with user-generated content.
How many times have you asked a friend for a restaurant suggestion or watched a YouTube product unboxing? Using user-generated content in your abandoned cart emails, such as photos, feedback, videos, and so on, is an efficient way to catch your customers’ attention and wallets. In reality, 79 percent of consumers say user-generated content influences their buying decisions.
We suggest using feedback from the items left in the cart in your abandoned cart emails to create confidence. Integrate Instagram images that display genuine product use if you want to really catch their attention. Your consumers will be able to imagine themselves using your goods, which will entice them to purchase them.
Step 5: Provide a coupon (if necessary)
Everyone wants to save money. Include a coupon or discount offer in your abandoned cart emails to sweeten the deal. However, as a precaution, you should not offer a coupon to someone who is willing to pay full price. Include the following strategies to effectively use coupons without undervaluing your product:
- Consider psychological sales offers such as free delivery or loyalty program rewards.
- Just give coupons to regular customers to increase not only sales but also loyalty.
- If you’re sending an email sequence, provide a discount email with the final email as the final attempt to close the deal.
13 Abandoned Cart Email Ideas and Examples
Let’s get one thing straight: there are successful ways to drive conversions that do not depend on a discount. Sure, adding a discount is the most common cart abandonment technique, but our analysis of hundreds of cart abandonment shows there’s a lot more to consider! Consider the following cart abandonment examples:
1. Send more than one cart abandonment email
Consider sending out several emails to encourage a purchase. Consider the fashion retailer Vince Camuto. They keep their initial cart abandoner email easy by bringing in the product picture and information to remind the consumer of what they left behind. They sent another reminder with an offer for 10% off on any regular priced item one day after the first cart abandoner email was sent.
2. Increase demand with scarcity
Who wants to miss out on the must-have things of the season? Consider using phrases like ‘just 1 left’ or ‘almost sold out’ like Monica + Andy, a baby clothing store. They use the message not only in their email copy, but also in their subject line.
3. Brag about the benefits of your product
Make use of feedback from social media or on-site. This serves as a great message to the consumer about the product’s consistency, rather than just the product itself. Take a look at this email from Boka, an oral care company. Inside their cart abandonment email, they have real customer testimonials. This focuses on the product’s value, which can help drive conversion, particularly if they’re shopping competitors.
4. Highlight your return policy
Allbirds, a DTC footwear company, excels at this. They express their no-hassle return policy by clear messaging in their cart abandonment emails. This gives consumers peace of mind in their purchase decision, which is particularly important given the risk of purchasing online.
5. Offer help and include contact information
Jeffers, a pet supply company, assists customers through abandoned cart emails by providing assistance during the check-out process. Customers are encouraged to use the live chat feature to ask any questions they may have about the product, or to call for advice from a pet professional.
6. Mention any ongoing sale
If you are running a seasonal sale, you should mention it in the cart abandonment email to motivate the customer to complete the order. For instance, in one of the cart abandonment emails, the furniture brand Lulu & Georgia listed a summer sale in the subject line and said, “Bring your items home during our Summer Sale.”
7. Capture attention with emojis
Emojis will help your abandoned cart email stand out in the inbox. Milani uses the cart emoji in the subject line and creates a sense of urgency in the email by stating that the cart will only be accessible for a limited time.
8. Include relevant product recommendations
If a customer is uncertain about the product and is always searching for other choices, including specific product reviews in the cart abandonment email might be a good idea. DSTLD, a clothing company, included related items in the email’s “Exclusively for you” segment at the bottom.
9. Highlight your discount
This is an intriguing approach – a very straightforward subject line that mentions the bid “How does free shipping sound?” And a 15% discount on your next purchase?” Take note of how 15% off is only valid for the next order, not for the items in the cart! We also like the fun checklist in the email body!
10. Use FOMO
Whisky Loot creates a section in the email titled “What you’re missing out on” that they use to share information about cool features that are only available after the order. They also build a sense of urgency by offering a voucher that is only valid for 24 hours to entice reluctant consumers to act.
11. Share your brand values
At the bottom of their cart abandonment email, jewelry brand Wanderer bracelets shares information about the company’s principles and initiatives. This is a nice way to remind customers that by shopping, they are helping environmentally sustainable projects and communities in need.
12. Create confidence
In your abandoned cart series, emphasize your satisfaction guarantee and return policy to encourage consumers and make them more likely to complete the order. Just above the CTA “Finish shopping,” Harry’s mentions the 30-day service guarantee and full refund.
13. Have some fun
Cart abandonment emails do not have to be just about product information and refund policies. Using on-brand creative and messaging to remind consumers of why they liked your brand in the first place. Shinesty has created a fun abandoned cart email!
Best tool for sending abandonment cart email series
If you’re in need of a tool for designing and sending your abandonment cart email series, we’d recommend AVADA Marketing Automation. It provides you with all the features that you need to send the best abandoned cart recovery email.
Final words
That’s it! I hope this article has provided you with valuable information about how to send abandonment cart email series. Please feel free to leave comments below for further discussion on this topic!
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