Do Abandoned Cart Emails Work?

Do Abandoned Cart Emails Work?

Yes, abandoned cart emails work. The latest studies show that about a third of all abandoned carts can be recovered with the correct email sequence and strategies.

Knowing that abandoned cart emails work is just one part of the equation. The others know why people quit their carts, how these emails work, and how to make yours as effective as possible to ensure the recovery of as many abandoned carts as possible.

What Are Abandoned Carts?

An abandoned cart happens when someone adds products to their cart on your online or e-commerce store but does not complete the purchase.

People who abandon carts already know about your brand’s products, have an interest in them, have visited the website and looked through your products, picked at least one of them, and added it or them to their cart.

They might also already have completed the first step or steps towards completing a purchase but did not enter their payment details to finish it.

Looking at all the steps they have taken to get to where they stopped, it is obvious that someone who abandons a cart on your website has cleared many hurdles. Usually, these people need a little nudge to finish the payment process.

How Does an Abandoned Cart Happen?

There are several reasons why people abandon their carts. One is unexpected shipping costs. Most people expect they will be required to pay some shipping for the products they purchase unless you tell them otherwise. However, they might encounter shipping costs that are too high and take a step back when they realise how much the costs of the product plus the shipping will be. To address this, offering transparent pricing and options like same day delivery can help alleviate concerns and reduce cart abandonment rates.

Another reason is unexpected conditions. Some businesses place conditions, such as having to create an account before completing the purchase. Some people do not like this and would instead check out as guests, especially if they buy a single product from you or are buying because of a sale in your store.

The other reason is that the store is not offering their preferred payment option. People love convenience, especially when they are shopping in a hurry. They want payment options they are familiar with, so they can complete checkout faster and go on with their days.

They expect popular and familiar payment options such as credit and debit cards, PayPal, or local payment options, as some websites provide in Asia, South America, or Africa. These customers may not want the hassle of learning how to pay using another method, so they abandon their carts and shop on websites that give them these options.

Some people also use your website for comparison shopping. Unfortunately, you have to lose a sale this way, but it happens. Those doing comparison shopping will add products to the cart, see the total plus shipping, and then compare that to what they got on other websites.

In some cases, a customer may realise they do not have enough money in their bank account or available through the payment option they prefer. They may then abandon the cart, hoping to come back but forget and never do.

Lastly, some people are easily distracted or forgetful, so they do not complete the payment.

How a Cart Abandonment Email Works

The sending of these emails is triggered when a customer abandons their cart. Depending on the business, sending the first email can be triggered after a few hours.

Creating an abandoned cart series is the best course of action, and research shows that three emails are the optimal number. One email runs the risk of being lost inside a customer’s inbox, so three emails let you create a better strategy, and four emails can come across as spammy and annoying.

The First Shopping Cart Reminder

The first email in your sequence should be a gentle nudge, reminding a customer that they left some items in their cart. While some recommend being told they forgot something, that is not always the best language to use. Some people consider this language condescending and alienating and will be less likely to complete the purchase.

Instead, tell them they left something in their cart, something incredible is waiting for them, or something along those lines.

Also, try not to offer a discount in this email because you might lose some revenue from people who would have converted without it. This tactic can also come across as pushy and desperate, and many people do not like that.

When designing this first email, ensure it has the image of the product or products left in the cart, the product’s name with a short description (one or two sentences), a call-to-action button, and a way to contact support if they need help.

Availing a way to contact support is especially important because some might not have completed their purchase due to some issue during checkout, and helping them with it might result in a completed sale.

Many marketers recommend sending this email one to two hours after someone abandons their cart.

The Second Abandon Cart Email: The Offer

You should set up your abandoned cart email automation in such a way that if someone completes a purchase after receiving the first email, they should not receive the second or third emails. However, a subscriber might not have seen your email or need a little more nudging to complete their purchase.

The second email is where you use whatever you need to get a customer to convert. Since high or unexpected shipping costs are a significant cause of cart abandonment, offering free shipping or a shipping discount can produce great results.

If you already offer free shipping, you can leave it out of this email entirely or use a sentence or two to remind the customer that you provide it.

Another reason is the customers not being sure about a product. Including reviews alongside the product, as well as some customer testimonials, can help.

Introducing a sense of scarcity and FOMO while providing a coupon or discount can also help convince those still undecided. Everyone loves a good deal, which might be what convinces those still undecided.

Using Abandoned Cart Software To Automate The Second Email

Because many people are more likely to convert within the first 24 hours after abandoning their cart, send this second email before this time is up. Avoid sending this email too soon after the first one. This is because you do not want to seem spammy or pushy.

Additionally, some people do not have email notifications set up, so you should give them time to see the first email before sending out a second one with the offer(s) you picked.

The Third Abandoned Cart Email: The Final Offer

The offers in your second email might not be enough to convince some people, so your third email gives you a chance to make the final offer. This should be a much better offer than what you provided in the second email and should be something the business can afford.

A 10% discount can achieve great conversion rates for most businesses, but some can go as high as 15%. When providing this offer, you should be careful with the copy you use on the call to action.

You should use language that makes the coupon code seem personalised and customisable. The language should also show that it will expire soon to create a sense of urgency.

Also, consider adding some recommended products at the bottom. Doing so works well for those who have purchased the same product or an alternative elsewhere but may still be interested in similar products.

These recommendations should be highly personalised, and the secondary benefit of adding them is that they can help increase the average cart order values for additional purchases made. You can also provide a discount for these products to try to get a sale from a customer who would not have made one anyway.

For the best results, send the third email about 24 hours after sending the first email. This period should be enough to ensure people have considered the offer from your second email before giving away more discounts prematurely.

Cart Abandonment Retrieval Checklist

Planning and Strategy

• Develop an abandoned cart email strategy to recover lost sales.
• Identify potential customers who have abandoned their online shopping cart.
• Choose an ecommerce platform that supports abandoned cart recovery features.

Crafting the Email

• Use abandoned cart email templates to create a consistent look and feel.
• Craft a compelling subject line that creates a sense of urgency.
• Include abandoned cart email examples for inspiration.

Content and Messaging

• Highlight the items left in the shopping cart on the checkout page.
• Use abandoned cart messages to remind customers what they’re missing.
• Create a sense of urgency to encourage immediate action.

Incentives and Offers

• Offer free shipping or a discount code to entice cart abandoners back.
• Highlight customer loyalty programs to incentivize completion of the purchase.

Execution and Timing

• Choose an email service provider that specializes in ecommerce businesses.
• Schedule abandoned cart emails as part of a follow-up email sequence.
• Send abandoned cart reminders at strategic intervals to maximize impact.

Monitoring and Analysis

• Track ecommerce sales data to measure the effectiveness of your abandoned cart email sequence.
• Monitor how many customers abandon their shopping carts before completing a purchase.
• Adjust your abandoned cart email templates based on performance metrics.

Additional Tips

• Use abandoned cart templates to quickly implement new cart abandonment campaigns.
• Consider the impact of shipping fees on cart abandonment rates.
• Test different subject lines to see what resonates most with your audience.

By following this checklist, you can effectively tackle cart abandonment issues, engage potential customers, and recover lost sales, ultimately boosting your ecommerce sales.

Conclusion

Abandoned cart emails are a great way to recover sales you might have lost. Setting up these emails right can help you recover up to a third of these lost sales. Automate the process to make things easier on your marketing team.