What are Abandoned Cart Email
Abandoned Cart Email is a great strategy to recover lost sales. Many customers browse products, add them to their shopping carts, but never complete the purchase. This is called cart abandonment, and it can result in a significant loss of revenue for ecommerce businesses.
Fortunately, there is a way to recover some of those lost sales. You can do this with an abandoned cart email. This is an automated email sent to customers who have left items in their shopping carts without checking out. This email reminds the customer of their abandoned cart. It aims to convince them to complete their order.
Klaviyo reveals that businesses using abandoned cart recovery emails recoup 3% to 14% of lost sales, with an average revenue per recipient of $5.81.
In addition to being effective, abandoned cart emails are easy to set up and customize. You can use catchy subject lines, personalized content, and clear calls to action. This will help you create engaging emails that appeal to your customers. Also, you can include product images, discounts, free shipping offers, or social proof. This will increase the likelihood of conversion.
- By sending abandoned cart emails, you can also learn more about your customers’ behavior and preferences.
- You can track the open, click, and conversion rates of your emails and use this data to optimize your email marketing strategy.
- You can ask customers for feedback on why they abandoned their carts. Use this to improve your website design, checkout process, and product selection.
Abandoned cart emails are a powerful tool for ecommerce businesses to increase sales and customer loyalty. If you are not using them, you are missing a huge opportunity to grow your business and increase your revenue.
Why Should You Send Abandoned Cart Emails
Recovering Lost Sales
Abandoned cart emails can help recover some lost sales. They remind customers of their abandoned carts and offer a simple way to complete their purchases. This greatly increases the chances of converting them into sales.
Improving Customer Experience
An abandoned cart email may not prompt an immediate purchase. But, it can help collect vital data on why the cart was abandoned. Businesses can then use this to improve the customer experience and reduce future cart abandonment.
Saving Time and Money
Automated abandoned cart email workflows allow businesses to spend more time focusing on other marketing tasks. They help retain existing customers, reducing the need to acquire new ones.
Building Customer Engagement and Relationships
Abandoned cart emails allow for personal engagement with customers. They show that a business values its customers and wants to win them back. This can boost customer loyalty and strengthen relationships.
Optimizing Marketing Efforts
Abandoned cart emails can be automated. This saves time and resources. It also optimizes marketing by consistently reaching out to customers who left their carts.
How Long Should You Wait Before Sending an Abandoned Cart Email
- Research shows the best time to send the first abandoned cart email is 30 minutes to an hour after a customer adds items to their cart.
- The second email should be sent 24 hours after the first.
- And the third email should be sent 24 to 48 hours after the second.
Sending three abandoned cart emails significantly outperforms sending just one, with a 63% increase in sales experienced by businesses that adopt this strategy.
However you should use personalization tools and techniques to optimize send time based on the customer’s behavior.
Factors such as the time of the day, the day of the week, the time zone, and the purchase cycle can have an impact on when you should send your emails.
Strategies to Create Effective Abandoned Cart Emails
Strategy #1: Design an Effective Subject Line
One of the most important elements of an abandoned cart email is the subject line. The subject line is the first thing that the customer sees in their inbox, and it determines whether they will open the email or not. A good subject line should be catchy, relevant, and appealing to the customer’s emotions and needs.
Reminder Subject Lines
These subject lines simply remind the customer that they have items in their cart, and that they should complete their order before they sell out or expire. They are usually short and simple.
Examples:
“Wait! Your order is not complete.”
“Quick reminder.”
“Haven’t you decided yet, {Name}?”
Discount Subject Lines
These subject lines offer the customer a special deal or incentive to come back and buy. They can include a percentage off, a free shipping offer, or a bonus gift.
Examples:
“10% discount for orders over $50. Hurry back now!”
“It’s Now or Never! Your 15% off is expiring.”
Personalized Subject Lines
These subject lines use the customer’s name or other personal details to make the email more relevant and engaging.
They can also include product recommendations based on the customer’s browsing history or preferences.
Examples:
“This is just for you, {Name}.”
“Hey there {Name}, complete your order now with just a simple click!”
Curiosity Subject Lines
These subject lines pique the customer’s curiosity and make them want to find out more. They can use questions, statements, or teasers that create intrigue or suspense.
Examples:
“Did Something Go Wrong?”
“We have put a gift in your cart, check it out.”
Attention-Grabbing Subject Lines
These subject lines use humor, shock, or surprise to stand out from the crowd and get the customers’ attention. They can use emojis, punctuation, or capitalization to add some flair and personality.
Examples:
“Is everything ok?”
“I did some investigating.”
Gentle Push Subject Lines
These subject lines give the customer a gentle nudge or a friendly reminder to complete their order. They can use positive reinforcement, social proof, or scarcity to motivate the customer.
Examples:
“It looks like you missed something!”
“Oops! You left something behind in your cart.”
Strategy #2: Use Personalized Incentive Offers in Your Abandoned Cart Email
Personalized incentives are tailored to each customer’s preferences, behavior, and cart contents. They can help you persuade them to come back and complete their purchase.
Personalized Discounts
Offer personalized discounts in the abandoned cart email to entice customers back. This can be based on the specific items in their cart or their purchase history.
For example, you can offer a discount on the exact items they left in the cart or provide a personalized discount code.
Free Shipping Incentives
Many customers abandon their carts because of high shipping costs or long delivery times.
You can overcome this by offering free shipping in your abandoned cart email. This can be a standard feature or a conditional offer based on a minimum order value or a specific product category.
Limited-Time Promotions
You can create a sense of urgency and exclusivity by offering time-sensitive promotions or special deals that align with specific customer interests and needs.
For example, use their past purchases or abandoned items to craft the offer.
Dynamic Content and Tools
Use dynamic content and smart tools to tailor your offers. This will make them more relevant and appealing to different customer segments.
For example, boost conversions with targeted promotions. Reach local customers with geo-targeted offers. Pair products that complement each other with personalized recommendations. Create a sense of urgency with countdown timers that show time running out. Build trust with customer reviews and ratings that showcase social proof.
Strategy # 3: Use AI and Automation
Cart abandonment is a chance to re-engage potential customers. You can persuade them to return to your website and complete their orders.
Manually creating and sending abandoned cart emails can be slow and inefficient. This is especially true with a large customer base and many products. That’s why you should use AI and marketing automation to your advantage.
AI and marketing automation can take care of many aspects of the effort, allowing businesses to concentrate on other areas.
AI-Powered Abandoned Cart Email Generators
Use AI tools to auto-generate abandoned cart emails. This lets you reach potential customers without manual work. These tools can help create personalized and effective email content.
Behavior-Based Triggers and Automated Email Flows
These features let you set up rules and workflows. They will automatically send abandoned cart emails to your customers based on their actions and behaviors.
For example, set up triggers to detect when a customer adds items to their cart but hasn’t checked out in a certain amount of time. Then, send them a reminder or an incentive via email.
You can also set up automated email flows. They will send follow-ups based on the customer’s response. This creates a sequence that boosts conversion chances.
Dynamic Content and Personalization
These techniques let you customize your abandoned cart emails. You can use relevant, tailored content for each customer segment. You can use AI to analyze your customer data. Then you can create dynamic content. It will change based on the customer’s profile, preferences, interests, or purchase history.
For example, you can use AI to generate personalized product recommendations, discounts, or coupons that are specific to each customer’s cart items or browsing behavior.
A/B Testing and Analytics
Leverage AI to conduct A/B testing of different email content, designs, and offers to identify what works best for your audience.
Additionally, use AI-powered analytics to measure the effectiveness of your abandoned cart emails and make data-driven decisions.
Strategy #4: Create a Series of Emails
Sending one email upon cart abandonment is better than sending nothing at all. However, a series of emails tends to deliver good results. A sequence of three emails is recommended, with each having a slightly different objective.
You can follow these best practices to create an effective abandoned cart email series.
Set Up an Abandoned Cart Workflow
The first step is to set up an automated workflow that will trigger a series of emails at different intervals after the cart is abandoned.
For example, you can send the first email a few hours after the abandonment, the second email a day or two later, and the third email a few days after that.
Each email should have a slightly different objective.
- The first email can be a friendly reminder that the customer left something in their cart.
- The second email can be a follow-up that shows social proof, such as customer reviews or testimonials, to build trust and credibility.
- The third email can offer incentives to overcome any hesitations. These can be free shipping, discounts, or bonuses.
Use Customer Segments to Target Customers
Not all customers are the same, so you should not send the same emails to everyone.
Use customer segments based on criteria like demographics and purchase history. Use them to create personalized emails for different groups.
This can be done using a CRM system that allows you to segment customers and send targeted emails based on their attributes and actions.
Personalize the Abandoned Cart Email Series
Personalize the content of each email in the series. Mention the cart items, address the customer by name, and include personalized offers or discounts.
This can be achieved using dynamic content and personalization tools.
Include Clear Calls to Action
The last but not least tip is to include clear and direct CTAs in each email in the series that make it easy for the recipient to complete their purchase.
The CTA should be easy to understand and encourage action.
For example, you can use phrases like “Shop now” or “Complete your order” to guide the customer to the next step.
Strategy #5: Add Multiple Channels
Customers today shop across multiple channels, so it’s important to reach them where they are. That’s why you should consider adding more channels to your abandoned cart campaign, besides email.
SMS Marketing
Incorporating SMS marketing can be very effective. SMS messages have a high open rate. They can quickly capture customers’ attention. This channel allows for quick and easy engagement with customers who have abandoned their carts.
Push Notifications
Web push notifications can re-engage customers who abandoned their carts. These notifications appear on the customer’s device, no matter what site they are browsing. This provides an additional touchpoint to remind customers about their abandoned carts.
On-Site Retargeting (Pop-ups)
On-site retargeting, such as pop-ups, can be used to re-engage customers who have abandoned their carts while they are still on the website. This approach offers a quick, personal way to urge customers to finish their purchase.
How to Measure the Effectiveness of Abandoned Cart Emails
Abandoned cart emails are a powerful way to recover lost sales and increase customer loyalty. However, to make the most of this marketing strategy, businesses need to measure how effective their emails are and what impact they have on their bottom line.
Open Rate
The open rate shows how many recipients opened the email out of the total number of recipients.
A high open rate means that the email has a catchy subject line and a trustworthy sender name that entices recipients to open it.
Click-Through Rate
The click-through rate shows how many recipients clicked on a link within the email out of the total number of recipients who opened it.
A high CTR means that the email has a clear and compelling call to action that motivates recipients to click through and return to their cart.
Conversion Rate
The conversion rate shows how many recipients completed a purchase after clicking through the email out of the total number of recipients who clicked on a link within the email.
A high conversion rate means that the email has successfully persuaded recipients to buy the products they left in their cart.
Revenue per Recipient
The revenue per recipient shows how much revenue each recipient of the email generates on average.
A high RPR means that the email has a significant impact on the business’s revenue and profitability.
Time Spent Reading the Email
The time spent reading the email shows how long recipients spent reading the email on average.
A long time spent reading the email means it is engaging. Its content is relevant, so it captures recipients’ attention and interest.
Tools or Software That Can Help Track the Effectiveness
Abandoned cart emails are a powerful way to recover lost sales and increase conversions. However, to make the most of this strategy, businesses need to track and measure the effectiveness of their emails.
Email Service Providers (ESPs)
These are platforms that enable businesses to create, send, and track email campaigns.
Some examples of ESPs that offer abandoned cart email features are Klaviyo, Sender, and others.
They provide metrics such as open rate, click-through rate, and conversions to evaluate how well the emails are performing.
Ecommerce Platforms
Ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce have tools to track cart abandonment. They also measure the performance of abandoned cart email campaigns.
Marketing Automation Software
Marketing automation platforms provide analytics, targeting, and email automation. They help measure and optimize abandoned cart emails.
Photo: @Emma Rahmani via canva.com