How do Abandoned Cart Emails Work?

What are abandoned cart emails?

Abandoned cart emails are automated messages that are sent to shoppers who have added items to their online shopping cart but did not complete the purchase. These emails remind shoppers about the items they left behind, prompting them to return to the website and complete their transaction.

When a customer browses an ecommerce store, adds products to their cart, but leaves without checking out, their shopping cart is considered “abandoned.” The store’s abandoned cart recovery system recognizes this and sends automated follow-up emails reminding the customer about their cart contents at set intervals, encouraging them to come back and checkout.

These automated messages are a form of cart abandonment recovery, aiming to bring shoppers back to recover sales that were lost when the initial purchase was abandoned. Abandoned cart emails are a key ecommerce strategy for reminding customers about purchases in progress and minimizing lost sales.

Why Do Shoppers Abandon Their Carts?

Abandoned carts are a major issue in ecommerce. Research shows that the average abandoned cart rate is around 70%. This means 7 out of 10 online shoppers will add items to their cart but fail to complete the purchase.

There are many reasons customers abandon their shopping carts instead of checking out:

• Unexpected shipping costs – Customers are often surprised by how much shipping will cost. Rather than complete the purchase, they’ll simply leave the site.
• Lack of trust – If the customer isn’t familiar with the brand, they may not trust providing their payment information. This leads them to leave items in their cart.
• Complicated checkout process – Too many checkout steps or a confusing interface causes customers to give up on purchasing.
• Not ready to buy yet – Sometimes customers just want to browse and add items to their cart for consideration. They may plan to return later to complete the purchase.
• Better price elsewhere – Savvy shoppers will add an item to their cart, then continue looking around for a better deal. If they find a lower price, they’ll abandon their original cart.
• Product is out of stock – When customers go to checkout only to find their desired item is no longer in stock, they’ll usually abandon the entire cart.

Understanding why customers abandon their carts is crucial for developing effective campaigns to recover lost sales through abandoned cart emails.

How do abandoned cart emails work?

Abandoned cart emails work through automated email technology that tracks visitor behavior on your ecommerce store. When a visitor adds an item to their shopping cart but doesn’t complete the checkout process and make a purchase, the system identifies this abandoned cart.

The email marketing software then uses this behavioral data to trigger a customized abandoned cart email to the shopper. These automated emails are typically sent within a short time frame after the cart is abandoned, such as 1 hour, 24 hours, 3 days later.

Here’s how the technology works behind the scenes:

• When a visitor adds items to their cart, a cookie is dropped on their browser with their cart contents.
• If they leave without checking out, the store’s software recognizes this and flags their cart as abandoned.
• Their email, name, and cart info is pulled from the existing data in the ecommerce platform.
• Using rules and triggers set up in the email service, an automated abandoned cart email is deployed to their inbox.
• The email contains details about the abandoned cart, like product photos, titles, quantity, and pricing.
• It encourages them to come back and complete their purchase with handy links.

This technology allows ecommerce stores to capitalize on abandoned carts by sending timely and targeted email reminders. The automated nature makes it easy to scale too, versus manually sending emails.

Creating effective abandoned cart campaigns

Abandoned cart emails are only effective if you craft compelling campaigns that motivate customers to return and complete their purchase. Follow these best practices when creating your abandoned cart email campaigns:

Use personalized subject lines

Include the customer’s name or product they left behind in the subject line. This catches their attention and shows you care about their business. For example, “John, your cart is still waiting for you!”

Send quickly, but not too quickly

The ideal time to send an abandoned cart email is within 1-3 hours after they leave. Any longer and they may have already purchased elsewhere. But allow enough time so it doesn’t seem desperate.

Offer an incentive

Provide an exclusive discount code or free shipping just for completing their purchase. This gives them a reason to return. Make sure the offer is visually prominent in the email.

Remind them what they left

Display images of the products they added to their cart so they remember what caught their interest. Listing the specific items left behind makes the email more personalized.

Use an urgent call to action

Prompt them to complete their purchase now with text like “Come back to check out before this deal ends!” Convey urgency without being pushy.

Send follow-up reminders

If the first abandoned cart email goes unopened, send a follow-up 1-2 days later. Don’t barrage customers with too many emails, but gentle reminders can recover additional sales.

By carefully crafting the content, design, timing and cadence of your abandoned cart emails, you’ll maximize the likelihood of bringing customers back to complete their purchase. Test different approaches and continuously improve your campaigns.

The Benefits of Abandoned Cart Emails

Abandoned cart emails provide numerous benefits that make them a highly effective ecommerce strategy. Some of the key benefits include:

Improved Conversion Rates and Recovered Revenue

The primary benefit of abandoned cart emails is their ability to recover lost sales. Abandoned cart emails have average conversion rates of 25-40%, significantly higher than regular email campaigns. This means for every 100 abandoned cart emails sent, you can expect to generate 25-40 additional sales. The revenue recovered quickly adds up. Abandoned carts are low-hanging fruit when it comes to boosting conversions.

Higher Customer Retention

Sending an abandoned cart email reminds customers about items they wanted to purchase. This makes them more likely to return and complete the purchase later, rather than forget about it entirely. Abandoned cart emails help retain customers who otherwise may have gone to a competitor. It keeps your brand top of mind.

Better Understanding of Customer Behavior

The data from abandoned cart emails provides valuable insights. You can see which products are being abandoned most often. This helps identify potential issues, like high shipping costs, unclear product information, or complicated checkout processes. The data enables merchants to optimize the shopping experience and increase conversions.