Components of successful abandoned cart emails
The perfect abandoned cart email can make a massive difference to your revenue. You must design a well-thought-out email that works for your brand and reflects your persona. Create highly successful abandoned cart email templates while keeping the following elements in mind:
Remind them of what they abandoned
You need to create a recall with the abandoned cart email by showing them what they have left in their shopping carts. Add pictures of the product to remind them, because it’s likely they no longer remember what they had added to the cart. The visitor could have left because the website crashed, or they had technical difficulties, and they bounced off. By creating an accessible email with the product descriptions and CTA’s to go back to the checkout, customers who didn’t intend to drop the transaction are likely to return and complete it.
Check out this simple and clear email from Moment - a photography marketplace. It provides its customers with a visual of the product, a description, and the total amount to be paid. The customers were encouraged to email back if they also faced any difficulties, apart from the ‘Return to cart’ CTA button. Words like ‘case-upgrade guarantee’ and ‘12-month warranty’ create a sense of trust, nudging customers to read more or complete the transaction.
Write subject lines that add value
Keeping your email subject line simple and straightforward is the best way to increase your open rate. Ensure your email is understandable to the customer and doesn’t leave them confused about what you’re trying to say. Be clear, concise, and conversational. The email subject line should be directly related to the email so that the receiver doesn’t close the email. The more opens you get, the higher your email delivery rate becomes. Some Information you can add in your subject line:
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Mention your company’s name, so in a sea of email, they know whom this particular email is coming from.
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Email personalization like subject lines with the customer’s name can increase opens.
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Be direct and tell them why you’re in their inbox.
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You could also create a sense of urgency by telling them more people are looking at the product or that your stocks are low. This could trigger fear of missing out (FOMO) and push them to convert quickly.
Add a clear CTA
Every email has a purpose - an action you want the receiver to take. It might be to sign up, or upgrade, or read more, etc. Call to action (CTA) buttons, or links are crucial in abandoned cart emails since it gives your customers easy access to their cart directly from the email. Some CTA’s you could explore for your emails are:
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View cart
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Return to items
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Return to your cart
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Shop now
Here’s an email from the lifestyle brand - Jack Wills, that entices the customer with a CTA in every section. Throughout the email, it gives the receiver a link to the particular items they’ve added and a CTA to the checkout cart. They’ve also added a section of product recommendations and distinctly called out the 50% sale to create intrigue.
Offer special discounts
Sometimes customers drop out of the transaction because they weren’t satisfied with the final bill or delivery charges. They might have done their research and found the same product at a lower cost elsewhere. You can delight your customers with an exclusive discount in your cart recovery emails.
Discounts can be a little tricky because you can’t give your customers the impression that they could get a deal every time they abandoned a cart, and sometimes they might not be interested in the discount, to begin with. Only issue discounts to customers if you think it makes sense for them and your brand.
Look at this email from Alex Mill, which straight-up tells the receivers that the items are still in their cart, and they are also getting a 15% off. It also gives the recipients the option to just view/edit the cart, with pictures of products to create recall.
Combine compelling copy with email design
As with any good marketing content, copywriting can make or break your deals with customers. Your copy needs to be clear in its purpose without being too pushy, and design so compelling that it attracts customers. Ensuring your copy and design align with your brand image can make a massive difference to your conversion rates.
Here’s a fantastic example from the leading toy manufacturer, Lego. They’ve used informal tone and words like ‘in a snap’ that speaks to their buyer persona. It follows the lego brand styling to resonate with the buyers.
Give recommendations
Without overwhelming their original choice, provide customers with alternatives to what they originally intended to buy. Most times, customers are in two minds about their purchase leading to their cart abandonment. You could give them some options on products that you think would go great with their original selection in these situations. Maybe you could show them the same products in different colors and variations. Similar products in the same price range, or even better, you could let them know if the price of the product they were looking at has dropped.
Here’s an example of Columbia letting its customer know that the product they were eyeing has a new reduced price. It’s interesting to note that they don’t mention the price in the email, and instead, their CTA is ‘Reveal new price,’ which would make them curious enough to click. They give customers a fair idea of just how much the price could have been reduced by listing products they might be interested in and the slashed price.
Answer doubts that might be there
Having a FAQ (Frequently asked questions) page which answers most queries is one way to engage with your customers. You can reassure your customers about their purchase and answer their questions is by addressing their most FAQs in the cart recovery email. By addressing critical concerns that customers could potentially have, you make them more confident in buying from you.
Check out this well-designed email from Whisky Loot that answers relevant information about the product. Moreover, this email also guides the users into the next steps that should be taken and encourages product use.
Include social proof and reviews
Case studies on social media and online reviews of your products are a great way to encourage customers to purchase. Customers are inclined to buy a product by the reviews it has received. Social validation works like a charm because customers seek reassurance that they’re picking the right product.
Let’s look at Adidas’ example that wins in every aspect of an abandoned cart email template. They’ve clearly shown the product, with a witty copy, followed-up with small testimonials paired with pictures.
Timing your emails well
When you’re trying to convert lost customers, timing is everything. There’re proven timings that ensure your cart recovery emails yield positive results. A well-timed email or series of emails is the most effective way to convert customers. You don’t want to be too early for the party, nor too late. Here are some timings you could follow for your abandoned cart email sequence.
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Send your customers the first email reminder about 1-2 hours after they left the cart.
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Your second email could be 24 hours after they abandoned the cart. Since you know they were free yesterday around the same time, you’re reaching out to them at the same time, hopeful that they’d be free.
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A third email can be sent 48 hours after cart abandonment. Use this email to send them proof of what makes your product so good. You could also use this opportunity to answer questions regarding your product.
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Ideally, you want to stick to sending 3-4 emails, to make sure you’re not annoying your customer. If you choose to send a fourth email, send it four days after the customer left the transaction incomplete. You could use this email to convey your brand story and establish a relationship with them, to nudge them one final time to make a purchase.
Now that you know everything there is to know how to create a stunning abandoned cart email template, let’s understand how you can create a cart abandonment email sequence that works for you.
