Abandoned cart emails are an effective strategy to increase conversions and encourage customers to make repeat purchases from you. They serve as subtle reminders, reconnecting shoppers with things they showed interest in but did not purchase. When done correctly, these emails can recoup a considerable part of lost sales and create an indelible impression on your customers.
In this post, we’ll look at what makes these examples effective and how you may implement similar methods in your own email campaigns.
What is an Abandoned Cart Email?
You may have received an email to persuade you to complete your purchase if you have ever left your online shopping cart empty.
An abandoned cart email is an automated notification that appears when an online shopper adds an item to their basket but does not complete the transaction. By reminding customers about the items in their cart and encouraging them to finish their transaction, it re-engages customers.
To further encourage you to finish your purchase, abandoned cart emails typically include a unique incentive, such as a coupon code or exclusive promotion.
Why You Need Cart Abandonment Emails
It’s a very successful strategy for retaining customers that e-commerce businesses employ to boost sales.
Indeed, according to a Klaviyo analysis, companies that use cart recovery emails recover 3.33% of lost sales—the highest percentage of any email flow—and generate an average of $3.65 per recipient.
This number isn’t particularly impressive on its own. However, abandoned cart emails can boost income when you scale them by thousands of abandoned carts over a year.
- Recover Lost Sales
Remind customers to complete their purchase and increase conversions.
- Low-Cost Revenue Increase
Users have already demonstrated purpose, resulting in a high ROI with minimal cost.
- Strengthen Customer Relationships
Personalized emails demonstrate that you care and improve the experience.
- Gain Insights
Track behavior to enhance messaging and product strategy.
- Automate Retargeting
Set up automatic flows that run continually in the background.
- Personalize Offers
Include names, product photos, and personalized recommendations.
- Reduce Future Abandonments
Customers are more inclined to return and purchase.
Abandoned Cart Email Best Practices
Understand Why Your Clients Abandon Their Carts
To find the solution and the right approach to high cart abandonment rates, you need to look at the root of the problem. Consider the experience of your customers. What is the most likely cause for them to leave their cart when they are buying on your website?
According to Statista’s report “Top reasons for cart abandonment among online shoppers worldwide 2024”, the most common reasons why people don’t complete their purchases online are the following:
- Expensive shipping
- Comparison shopping
- Unexpected fees at checkout
- No intention for purchase or unnecessary purchase
- Slow delivery
- Limited payment options are available
- The discount code doesn’t work
- No return policy information
Of course, there are more reasons that can influence your prospects’ desire to complete purchases. Here are more things that you need to consider to prevent clients from turning away at the checkout:
- Complicated checkout
- Technical issues
- Payment security concerns
- Interruptions
- Lack of urgency
If you understand the reasoning of cart abandonment in your case, it’s much easier to address it and use the best practices in cart abandonment emails. The most popular strategy to get this information is to ask for feedback. Run a simple survey to know what part of your client’s experience made them leave the checkout process unfinished. In the abandoned cart email example below, you can see exactly how it can be done.
Example:
Subject Line: Oops… What did we do wrong?
Personalize Your Abandoned Cart Message
Email personalization is the key strategy used by professional marketers. Your abandoned cart emails stand out when they are personalized. To add a personal touch and boost engagement, always refer to the consumer by name. In the email, you should also mention the abandoned products. This may encourage them to change their mind and finish the purchase. You can also recommend similar or related products that can interest users for cross-selling or upselling.
Example:
Subject Line: Get it before it’s gone!
Send Email Series
If you want to maximize the chances of cart recovery, sending 2–4 emails is a common rule of thumb. When a customer leaves their cart empty, don’t email them too soon. Keep it brief and send your first reminder two to four hours following abandonment. It should feel natural and welcoming.
Think about sending a follow-up email reminder 24 to 48 hours after the initial one if your customers don’t respond. To increase the impact of the second reminder, you can add a tailored offer or make it a little more salesy.
This is our best abandoned cart recovery plan, which includes 4 emails:
- Email #1: A reminder (4 hours after)
Aims to remind the customer of the item they were interested in.
- Email #2: Objection (24 hours after)
The goal is to persuade the customer to finish their purchase by explaining why you’re the right brand for them and why your product is the best on the market.
- Email #3: Discount with a 48-hour deadline (48 hours after cart abandonment)
Send this email within 24 hours after the last one to introduce the incentive.
- Email #4: Final opportunity to receive a discount (48 hours after the previous email)
This is an extended strategy that we recommend using, but even a two-email sequence shows better results than a single email. It will increase the chances of cart recovery.
Example:
Mention the Product in the Cart
If you’re trying to inform customers that they’ve forgotten stuff in their cart, make sure you tell them what’s truly in their cart. Since many people now shop online, your clients might not even recall what they were considering purchasing from you. Customers can be steered back to your website by gently reminding them that they have things in their baskets and explaining what those items are.
Example:
Subject Line: Your tea is right where you left it.
Write an Eye-Catching Subject Line
For a lot of people, the subject line determines whether an email is significant enough to read. Readers are much more likely to read your email if the subject line captures their interest.
The subject line primes the reader for the abandoned cart copy, even though the copy itself is crucial. Your subject line should not only draw the reader in and encourage them to open your emails, but it should also prepare them for the rest of the message. As you see in the example, you can make it fun to draw more interest.
Example:
Subject Line: Did a bug crash your order?
Offer Incentives
Offering a discount or free shipping is an easy method to win back clients who were put off by the final price. If your business and budget allow it, we recommend this tactic for your abandoned cart emails. Just choose the amount, create a discount code or a coupon, and add it to the email with the abandoned cart.
Example:
Subject Line: Special offer – 15% Off.
Best Abandoned Cart Emails
Let’s take a look at our top choices for abandoned cart email examples. We’ll highlight our favorite features of each so you may use them in your own abandoned cart emails.
Days Brewing Co
This brand presents us with a simple yet stylish abandoned cart email example. The design shows a minimalistic layout with illustrations for different beverages to fit the overall branding. It also includes the picture of the product forgotten in the cart. The main focus here, in our opinion, is on the creative copy. With phrases like “Almost”, “You are close” in both abandoned cart message and subject line, the brand emphasizes the simplicity of their checkout and order processing. To encourage clients even more, they add a promo code that grants 10% off for first-time buyers.
Subject Line: You are so close 🍺
Alo Yoga
This brand sends a simple reminder email, helping clients remember that they have items waiting for them in their carts. It showcases the style of clothes that clients considered but didn’t buy. What we would also recommend to improve this abandoned cart template is to list the exact item from the cart, not just the style, to make it more personalized. On the other hand, Alo Yoga uses this email as an opportunity to show more of their assortment by adding product recommendations. This template also fits the browser abandonment flow.
Subject Line: Take a second look!
Bite
Bite shows us a minimalist abandoned checkout email with straightforward copy and design. It’s perfect to send as part of an abandoned cart email sequence when you don’t want to repeat yourself or overwhelm recipients with complicated messages. This example has a direct call to action both in the title and on the main button, as well as the forgotten product. Even with these few elements, such emails prove to be effective for cart recovery.
Subject Line: Hey! You left this behind.
Bebemoss
Among the cart abandonment email examples, this one has a lot of features that we favor. The company doesn’t make things too complicated in their emails. Just beneath the brand name, they describe their objective. They also mentioned scarcity (limited quantities available). To finalize the email, they add a large button with a clear call to action in a contrasting color intended to grab attention.
Groove Collaborative
Bright colors that go in line with the branding style of Groove Collaborative adorn their abandoned cart email example. The copy also adds intensity by mentioning a free gift for only those who complete their orders. This showcases how brands use the combination of offering incentives and FOMO to achieve their objectives. To make it even better, this template contains the brand’s standards and assortment, allowing subscribers to find out more info about the company and their products.
Subject Line: Where’d you go?
Chatters Salons
Starting from the subject line down to the email copy, Chatters Salons focuses on creating a sense of urgency and FOMO around the items left in the cart. As one of the top abandoned checkout email examples, this message also follows the recognized principle of personalization by addressing the recipient by their name and listing the products.
Subject Line: Don’t miss out! Get it before it’s gone…
Adored Vintage
Adored Vintage’s abandoned cart email has a nice and conversational tone (you, us). The brand offers an incentive to complete your checkout (10% discount), and the heading (Second Chance…) is precisely aligned with the substance of the email. It also contains a prominent CTA button and no unnecessary pictures.
Luno
Telling customers that you saved their cart is a great tactic to show that you care about their interest in your products and a subtle way to remind them of things that they thought to buy from you. Luno effectively uses this strategy in their cart abandonment email.
Subject Line: Your Luno Air Mattress Order.
Italic
This brand’s email strikes with a simple yet stylish design that includes all the essential elements. It highlights the benefits of the deal, offers the incentive for completing the checkout, and lists the item left in the cart. A contrasting CTA button directs the recipient’s attention and increases effectiveness.
Subject Line: Still thinking about it?
Taco Bell
This famous restaurant chain captivates with a colorful abandoned cart email design and on-brand style elements. While the visuals are vivid, the copy is rather simple but no less effective.
Subject Line: Your cart is waiting for you.
Purple
Purple’s abandoned cart email is simple and effective, featuring the brand’s logo, colors, and tone of voice. They effectively reiterate benefits and answer objections with offers such as 0% interest financing, free delivery, and a 100-night trial period. The email has downsells and many CTAs, both in the first line and throughout the text. Because they’re selling a higher-priced item, the email focuses on reaffirming the satisfaction guarantee while also addressing pricing worries.
RNWY
This is a good abandoned checkout email example that shows how brands entice customers to return to the cart by listing all the benefits of their products. The visuals are also pleasing to the eye, with the contrasting color scheme and carefully placed accents.
Subject Line: Ready to order?
BLK & BOLD
There are several things that we like about their abandoned cart email examples by BLK & BOLD. The email headline “Don’t make us put it back on the shelf” provokes curiosity and stands out in the inbox. They keep things simple and to the point. They also mention their mission to help at-risk youth, adding meaning to the message.
Aura Bora
Rich and colorful, this email design example goes in line with the branding of Aura Bora. The copy also follows the theme, with a Q/A-like message where they ask questions in the titles and give their offers as answers. We also like the subject line for this one, which is basically a compliment that can quickly draw interest, especially if the recipient has forgotten what they added to the cart.
Subject Line: fyi: you’ve got good taste.
Bebel Rabbit
Another vibrant abandoned cart email example is by Bebel Rabbit. The specific part that we like is the social proof that the brand included after the cart item. With the fitting title, this message with client reviews can help incline clients to finalize their purchases.
Subject Line: See What The Buzz Is All About!
How to Create a Successful Abandoned Cart Email: Our Recommendations
Here are some more tips from Flowium’s experts that you can use to improve the convenience of your own abandoned cart emails:
Abandoned Cart Email Design Tips
- Organize the email so that the reader is directed to the “Complete Purchase” button.
- Make finalizing the purchase as easy as it can be by adding the link that leads clients directly to the cart.
- Make sure your email’s CTA button is prominent.
- Use branded colors, fonts, and logos to maintain consistency and reinforce recognition.
- Keep the layout clean and mobile-friendly to ensure readability on all devices.
- Use high-quality product images that show what the customer is missing.
- Place visual hierarchy elements (like bold headers and white space) to guide the reader’s eye.
Abandoned Cart Email Copy Tips
- Create an attention-grabbing headline that entices the reader to click and view the email.
- Include your brand’s mission statement and tone of voice in the email.
- Maintain a conversational tone by using “you” and “we.”
- Give the reader a reason to complete their purchase, such as a voucher for 10% off or other incentives.
- To promote uniqueness and demand, dispel concerns, and highlight the advantages of your products, bring up scarcity.
- Incorporate your calls to action (CTAs) into your emails at least twice.
- Personalize the email with the shopper’s name or the specific item they left in the cart.
- Use persuasive language that emphasizes benefits over features.
Create Effective Abandoned Cart Emails with Flowium
We hope that you now have a decent understanding of what an effective abandoned cart email looks like. Engage your customers, implement in a way that aligns with your brand, and increase conversions.
FAQ
- Are emails about abandoned carts effective?
Yes, communications about abandoned carts can help recover lost purchases. Businesses that employ abandoned cart emails recover 3.33% of lost sales, with an average revenue per recipient of $3.65, according to a recent benchmark by email service provider Klaviyo.
- What should I include in a cart abandonment email?
A call to action that encourages visitors to make a purchase, actionable language, and a reminder of the things left behind should all be included in emails about abandoned carts.
- Do cart abandonment emails comply with data privacy regulations?
Abandoned cart emails use first-party data, i.e., online behavioral data that you can collect only after receiving explicit consent. Therefore, these emails fully comply with regulations and don’t threaten the data privacy of your clients.
