Fun fact; roughly 70% of all shopping carts filled in an online shopping store are abandoned before the customer completes the checkout process, leaving the products ideally off the shelves and the company’s pocket empty. Shopping cart abandonment is one of online retail’s biggest crutch, the simplicity of walking away from a cart full of products that do not exist in front of you is far too hard to resist for a large number of online shoppers.
These open-ended sales opportunities could make or break a company’s bottom line, so the pressure to return as many abandoned shopping carts back to the customer and through the checkout is real and deserves a closer look.
While there are some preventative measures that can be taken to try and alleviate the number of shopping carts that are left behind, the reality is there will always be a few stragglers in the online world. The solution? Cart abandonment emails! A tactic used by the world’s largest e-commerce business to get their customers back on track.
An abandoned shopping cart email is an email that is sent directly to the customer after their cart has been left idle for a specified amount of time, in an effort to remind the customer of their online shopping cart and encourage them to complete their purchase.
Shopify states that nearly half of all abandoned cart emails are opened and over a third of clicks lead to purchases back on site, a significant recovery for any online store.
So we know that it works, and we know that it’s worth it, but how do you create it?
A proper abandoned cart email should let the customer know what they forgot, and encourage them to complete their purchase without coming off as pushy or invasive. It may be helpful to consider who your company is and what type of personality you would like to convey in order to come up with unique ideas to get your customer’s attention.
A quirky subject line or an eye-catching graphic may be all it takes to separate your email from the rest, but understanding who your customers are and why they may have abandoned their cart is critical in creating a relevant and engaging email.
Check out a few examples of effective abandoned cart emails:
As you can see, these emails are unique and relevant to the brand and product, while still maintaining that personal touch that makes the customer feel spoken to. These emails are engaging and light hearted and still get the point across, making them perfect examples of what your abandoned cart email could look like!
It’s important to note that your abandoned cart email may not always work on the first try, that’s why you should prepare a second and third email to send off to the customer to increase your chances of getting their attention and saving that sale.
A good rule of thumb to follow is the 3-day window. This strategy is used by many of the top e-commerce companies to grab the attention of their customers, without being pushy or overwhelming them. Consider sending the second email 24 hours after the first is sent, and then the third email 72 hours after the first, this is the best way to stay active on your customer while still maintaining that reasonable distance.
Now that you know what abandoned cart emails are, and how to use them, you can create your own and start saving those lost sales on your e-commerce website.
