5 Ways to Optimise Your Cart Abandonment Emails

|by demi@wiredplus.com

Cart abandonment is a huge problem for marketers.

Want us to be more specific? Research shows that almost 70% of people add items to their online shopping cart only to leave without completing their purchase.

That means 7 out of every 10 people who add your products to their cart end up leaving without paying you. That’s a lot of potential revenue gone down the drain.

But that doesn’t mean you have to admit defeat just yet. You can bring some of those lost shoppers back.

How? By sending abandoned cart emails.

An abandoned cart email is an automated email campaign that gets triggered when someone leaves their cart behind. It’s one of the most effective emails that you can send. They generally have much higher open rates than other promotional emails do.

Are you sending abandoned cart emails to your visitors who leave something behind? If not, you’re missing out on some serious revenue.

5 ways to optimise your cart abandonment emails

Here 5 ways you can optimise your abandonment emails to increase your cart recovery rate.

Use a killer subject line

Some marketers might treat the subject line and preview text as an afterthought when crafting an email, but this is a mistake.

The subject line can make or break your email. If your email subject line doesn’t do the trick, your email is never going to stand a chance in an overcrowded inbox.

It’s crucial that the recipient knows what the email is about from the subject line. It should pique the shopper’s interest enough to open the email and engage with it.

Personalisation is key. You might include the subscriber name, company name, or product name to draw the shopper back in.

Here are some examples of effective abandoned cart email subject lines:

  • You left something in your basket – can we help?
  • Second thoughts?
  • Did Something Catch Your Eye?
  • Seen something you like?
  • Once browsed, never forgotten?
  • Oops! Looks like you’ve had trouble shopping with us 😳
  • Take another look…
  • They’ve been waiting for you

Not sure which email subject line would work best? Experiment!

By split testing different subject lines and playing around with length, tone, punctuation, or emojis, you can determine which versions get the best results.

Want to discover more subject line examples? Download our free resource ‘The Ultimate Subject Line Swipe File‘.

Include images of the products

A really simple yet effective way to win back your prospects back is to include images of the items they left behind. A product name just isn’t enough.

Take a look at this cart abandonment email from Surfdrome. The email includes an image of the abandoned product.

Most people like a visual when shopping, so this is a great way to increase your click-through rates and ultimately boost conversions. At the very least, it will remind shoppers of the feelings they had when they first added the products to their cart.

You should also include details for each product, such as price, style, colour, and size, so recipients know exactly what they’re missing out on.

Drive action by creating scarcity

Scarcity is a powerful marketing tactic. Creating a sense of urgency in your cart abandonment emails can help to drive a shopper to complete their purchase.

Use compelling copy, graphics, and CTAs that will drive consumers to convert. The idea is to make them feel like they’re missing out if they don’t buy soon.

Here are some effective ways to create urgency in your cart abandonment emails:

  • Include a countdown timer and reserve the cart for a limited time
  • If an item is popular, let people know that it’s likely to sell out if they don’t purchase soon
  • Show the number of people who have purchased the product in the last 24 hours
  • Make it clear if a product is limited edition
  • Let people know if their discount code will expire soon

Here is an example of this from Swoon. They use persuasive copy like ‘Your favourite designs are still in stock – for now!’ to try and draw the reader back in.

Remember though – don’t overdo it. Whatever you say should be honest and genuine. People will quickly lose trust in your brand if you’re constantly using scarcity tactics to push sales.

Offer a discount

Offering discounts on products can be an effective method for increasing cart recovery rates. People like to feel like they’re getting a bargain.

The main reason for cart abandonment after ‘I was just browsing’ is unexpected costs being too high. (Based on research from Baymard.)

As an example, that means that some shoppers might add your products to their cart, and then realise the delivery fees are quite high and leave your site as a result.

Maybe your products are more expensive than the visitor originally thought, or they’ve shopped around and can save a bit of money elsewhere.

To solve this problem, try sending your lost shoppers a discount code or a freebie. It could be the final push they need to complete their purchase.

It’s important to keep in mind that you don’t want to make it look like your products aren’t worth their original price. It’s good practice to offer discounts to first-time customers only. Your loyal customers are more likely to complete their purchase without the price reduction.

If you send a series of cart abandonment emails, try and save your discounts until the last email. This is your last resort for getting the shopper to convert.

Build trust with social proof

As a business, how do you get potential customers to buy something from you without them having tried and tested it first?

The answer is social proof.

Social proof, also known as ‘user-generated content (UGC)’ is now one of the most powerful influences of our everyday behaviour.

When shopping online, we look to see what everyone else is buying. Have you ever chosen to stay in a hotel because it had loads of great reviews on TripAdvisor? Or watched a series on Netflix because your friend said that they really enjoyed it?

That’s social proof in action.

Ratings and reviews are probably the most effective way to include social proof into your cart abandonment emails. According to a 2019 survey by Bright Local, positive reviews make 91% of consumers more likely to use a business, while 82% will be put off by negative reviews.

Link to positive review sites, include positive quotes from customers, or share customer success stories. Even include real pictures of happy customers if you can.

If your prospects can see proof that people have bought your products and are happy with their purchase, then chances are that they’ll want to purchase something, too.

Optimise your emails for mobile

According to data from Litmus, more emails are opened on mobiles than any other device.

To make sure your cart abandonment emails are effective as possible, you need to make sure they’re optimised for mobile devices.

To ensure your emails are easy-to-read on all devices, use email templates that are mobile responsive. (Not an email designer? Fear not! All prebuilt email templates in Wired Plus are fully mobile responsive.)

Mobile responsive emails are easier to read because the text, images, and CTA buttons automatically adjust to fit the smaller screen size. 

Ready to create your own abandoned cart emails?

Start turning your missed opportunities into converted sales with the Wired Plus marketing automation platform.

In Wired Plus, you can:

  • Integrate with Magento or Shopify
  • Build your own cart abandonment emails in our drag-and-drop email editor
  • Build cart abandonment workflows to increase conversions
  • Set up your emails to automatically send soon after a cart is abandoned
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