Recover Lost Sales: 16 Amazing Abandoned Cart Emails
Let’s assume you own a successful shop. You have figured out the inventory and you have a lot of traffic. Your customers are loving your products. Did you cover all bases?
Not necessarily. There could be a lot of sales that have been lost. How? Through shopping cart abandonment.
Nearly 88% of online shopping carts are abandoned after a customer has made a purchase. Your sales numbers could be only one-tenth what they might be.
You may not be able to convince all cart abandoners that they should go through checkout. However, you can triple your sales. It is possible that some customers never intended to buy. However, it is worth making the effort to eliminate any remaining hesitations.
This article will discuss how to recover abandoned customers when they abandon their carts using Email Marketing. Next, we will share the email marketing tools needed to create one.
What are abandoned cart emails?
Customers who have added products but did not check out will get abandoned cart emails.
It is an extremely effective customer loyalty tactic. According to Klaviyo, cart recovery emails are able to return 3%-14% sales for businesses, and the average revenue per recipient at $5.81.
This doesn’t sound like a lot. This number is not impressive if you multiply it by thousands of abandoned shopping carts in a year. It’s obvious that abandoned cart emails can generate more revenue.
These emails remind shoppers about what they have forgotten and encourage them to return for the full purchase. Emails from abandoned carts can be customized with coupons codes, product images, and CTA buttons to bring people back to checkout.
Statista provides data that shows the average abandonment rate for shopping carts is 88.1%. However, this can vary by industry:
- Baby and child: 94%.
- Luxury: 94.4%.
- Airlines: 90.9%.
- Fashion: 90.7%.
- Cosmetics: 85.7%.
- Retail: 84.5%.
Both small and large companies can send cart abandonment emails to increase conversion rates and recover revenue. You can automate this process by using email market software.
The best examples of abandoned cart emails
Now that you are familiar with what an abandoned cart message is, let’s take a look at some great examples to get inspiration.
- Casper.
- Rudy’s.
- Whisky Loot.
- Nomad.
- Dollar Shave Club.
Casper
Subject Line: Did someone forget something?
Casper automatically sends you its cart abandonment email if there is anything left on its website. The subject line, “Did I forget something?” is captivating and encourages you to click. To draw you in, the email contains the catchy and playful headline “COME BACKING TO BED”.
Casper’s emails are clean and easy to understand. To show its products’ worth, Casper includes testimonials in its emails. Readers also have the option to view additional reviews if they wish.
Rudy’s
Subject Line: Don’t let free shipping be wasted.
Rudy’s sends an amusing email follow-up as part of its cart abandonment campaign. It is easy to understand the headline “Don’t put it off like a program update”. Customers will be aware that if your software isn’t updated, it could go bad. It is important to remember that bad thing can happen if you do not buy your chosen items.
Rudy’s includes photos of the products left behind and offers free shipping to customers as an incentive to make their purchases.
Whisky Loot
Subject Line: Your cart has just begun to wake you up.
Whisky Loot reminds customers to check their carts every day. It’s a hilarious example. The subject line of “Your cart is sobering-up” is sent when a shopper abandons one of its subscription boxes. This message can help increase the open rate or conversion rate.
The email begins with a question. It then lists all of the possible uses for the whiskies contained in the box. The humorous items make viewers laugh, and they can even imagine themselves using them in these funny ways. Whisky Loot concludes with a FAQ section, and a CTA button stating “TREAT YOURSELF”.
Nomad
Subject Line: Nomad Gear Is Selling Quickly.
Another example of Nomad is the abandoned cart email. The subject line conveys the fear of missing the opportunity (FOMO) to get people to click. The imagery is brand-appropriate, with playful copy and clear instructions on how viewers can get their cart back.
The email addresses another common issue. The email’s section “Afraid of Making the Leap?” provides comforting information about Nomad’s return policy, two-year warranty, and other details. This adds credibility to the email and shows the brand stands behind its products.
Dollar Shave Club
Subject Line: Where have you been?
Dollar Shave Club has a reputation for its funny and friendly marketing campaigns. The email series that was abandoned is no different. The subject line is brief and gives readers an incentive to read it more.
Bullet-point copy makes it easy for readers to understand and lists the reasons Dollar Shave Club razors make good products. The brand’s monthly boxes are illustrated with clear imagery. Dollar Shave Club provides a money-back guarantee of 100% to all customers, to remove any doubts or encourage them to use the service.
Email best practices for abandoned cart emails
It is easy to create abandoned cart emails and they can help customers who are reluctant to buy again. Three things should every abandoned cart email include.
An example of the things they’ve left behind
It is possible for your customers to decide that they want to buy again after a few hours. It might take some time for your customers to recall what they saw when they abandoned the items. This is a warm lead, not like the cold reach from a standard company email format.
Customers might abandon carts for unanticipated reasons. Customers may abandon their carts due to problems with their internet provider. However, they might still want to purchase the items. It is possible to get customers back by saving their carts or showing them the items they want to buy.
Take a look at this American Giant illustration. It is a simple message that informs the customer about what they have given up. Even better, it provides a link that allows you to quickly return to your cart.
This is another email recovery from Perigold. It’s simple yet effective. It communicates quickly and also offers product recommendations to help people locate other products.
One more outstanding example. Chubies has a great email that excels in three dimensions: compelling visuals and great copy. It also includes multiple links.
Pay close attention how Chubbies wrote this email. “Allow us to teleport to you”, “Let’s turn this party into 11” and “Word up” all fit with the image of a shorts retailer running fun-loving individuals. Note that you can return to your cart by clicking on any of these links in the email. (Active links are located in the title, main picture, and the big button at bottom of the email.
Great email copy
As a transition point, the example from Chubbies can be used as a template for great copy.
You can think of abandoned cart emails as a bonus marketing opportunity. Make sure you are making all your marketing materials engaging. Don’t let this happen. You might also find that abandoned cart emails are more in line with welcome emails because of their purpose.
What are the key ingredients of a successful marketing email? A catchy subject line, good copy, and great images are all essential. These emails excel in at least one of these areas.
Food52 is our favorite email. We love the copy! The email uses a real-life approach to messaging and displays your items. See: “Your Cart Called” and “It’s hoping you’ll come back to see it”. These phrases personalize the shopping cart and make you feel like a friend should be there.
Adidas uses bold subject lines. It also says: “IS YOUR WI-FI OKAY?” as well as “Maybe you browser crashed when viewing the iconic Gazelle silhouette”. With a link back, the customer’s cart.
Also, take a look here at this Huckberry.
Huckberry has a different appeal.
There is a sense that there is urgency. If you are really desperate for those items, you should not wait. Online retailers who are smart know how to capitalize on scarcity as a psychological sales trigger. Customers worry that the product they want might not sell. Huckberry understands that fear and urges customers to act quickly.
The six stores featured in this article use compelling copy to persuade customers to click back on their cart and complete the purchase.
Include a CTA (call-to-action) button
CTA buttons are used in emails to guide users towards their shopping cart. It’s the area of your email viewers need to click in order to take the action you want. CTA buttons come in many styles depending on what brand you are using, but all of them have the same goal: To get people to their shopping carts.
You can either use a standard CTA, such as Return to Cart and Shop Now. You can be more creative with a CTA like Society6, where you can say “Get My 30% Discount”!
You should aim to create a CTA that is both action-packed and effective. Verbs such as “get” or “shop” can be used to encourage people to place items in their cart. In your email marketing software, you can test different CTA messages to find which one resonates with your target audience. This will allow you to generate more revenue per recipient and increase the effectiveness of your cart abandonment program.
Email Strategy Tips for Abandoned Cart
A compelling email about an abandoned cart needs to be included. It should also include a link to return to the cart. Or at least show the items that were removed. If you are able to put them into practice, the following tips will not be a must-have, but they will help you.
Consider timing
Recent studies have shown that the earlier you send an email to abandon cart emails, the better the results. After analyzing millions of cart recovery emails, Rejoiner found this out. The aim was to find the right timing that would drive revenue for clients.
The results? Rejoiner found that following up emails sent within one hour had an average conversion rate (16%). Sending an email too soon will likely result in lower conversion rates. The results will be even worse if you wait.
Rejoiner also discovered that the first email may be the most effective but it won’t recover lost sales due to cart abandoners. It suggests using a 3-part series to get the maximum revenue:
- First email sent an hour after abandonment.
- Second email, sent one-day after abandonment.
- Third email sent three days after abandonment.
Offer a discount
Most customers abandon their carts after the final price is higher than they had expected.
When people consider how much they’ll pay for a product, they often add up the cost of each item to their cart. They forget to include shipping costs and taxes, which can lead to them lowering their estimates.
This is why the top reason people abandon cart was because of excessive costs.
It’s easy to get customers back from being scared by the final cost: give them a discount.
Alex Mill’s abandoned-cart email subject is “Get Them for 15% Off!”. Once you open it, you will see the items you left behind with this 15% off discount. These are the results. It is likely that you will make a sale.
You can create discounts easily. Simply choose the amount you want, create a discount code and then leave it in your abandoned cart email.
It’s time to evaluate whether discounts make sense in your business. Although you may know that customers are abandoning carts frequently, every store is different. Although you can encourage customers to buy after receiving a discount, or free shipping, there is no way to guarantee that they will. However, you don’t want your sales to suffer.
It’s not an easy line to walk. You have to decide whether or how to offer discounts. There is no right answer. Your customers might walk away from deals due to prices or for reasons that have little to do with them. It is up to you to find out how they behave.
Add social proof
Social proof is one of the most powerful marketing tools you have. It can help you build trust with cart abandoners, and it can also encourage them to purchase. Social proof is a way to get people to look at what other people have to say about a product. They are more likely to trust your brand if they hear good things about it.
Adidas also uses social proof in the email it sent, as described above. Viewers can view customer reviews to see what other buyers think about the shoes.
The items you wish to reserve can be added to your cart
Remember how we talked about Huckberry using the possibility that your item will sell out to encourage purchase? You can also take advantage of the scarcity effect in another way.
Let me tell you, your customers might be encouraged to use checkout if you promise that you will hold the abandoned items for them for an indefinite but limited period.
Customers understand that popular items are often sold out in small stores with no sophisticated supply chains. Customers may feel more motivated to purchase if they know the items will be kept for them.
The following Beardbrand email informs shoppers that their items are in reserve, but they will soon be gone. It uses this psychological trick in order to get people to buy before the supply runs out.
We have made “reserve the goods” a great-to-have but not a necessity because we know you want to ship the items to customers who have already prepaid in case of shortages. This is a good idea. Only offer to reserve the cart if your stock is large and you can afford to hold them for others who may not be able to pay.
You can test abandoned cart texts
An abandoned cart message, which is similar to an email about abandoned carts, is sent to the person’s mobile phone. This is a more recent sales recovery tactic. However, people are more likely see an SMS push notification rather than an email in their inbox. This can lead to higher click-through rates and sales.
To personalize your text messages, you can use the information you have collected about a customer, such as their name and what products they left behind. ManyChat and other SMS Marketing providers allow you to add one-click links to take customers back to Shopify product pages.
Your e-commerce business can make more sales
Ecommerce marketers and online store owners need to send abandoned cart emails in order to increase sales. Because of the high abandonment rate for shopping carts, they are very easy to set up and should be used by all. Take the advice of these pros to help you get started in recovering sales.
