7 abandoned cart email ideas to win back customers
Emily Greenfield No matter how captivating your eCommerce website may be, cart abandonment remains a common challenge that every online retailer faces. Shockingly, an estimated 88% of online shoppers leave their baskets stranded at the checkout page, leaving your eCommerce business with only a fraction of potential customers following through with their purchases. But what if we told you that these abandoned carts represent a goldmine of untapped potential?
Abandoned cart emails are an effective way to recover customers who have gone astray. Targeting them soon after they leave their cart deserted is a great way of increasing sales. In this guide, we’ll take you through 7 abandoned cart email ideas to win back your customers.
What is an abandoned cart email?
An abandoned cart email is essentially an email that is sent to customers who have added products on a website to their virtual basket, but then not gone through with the purchase. These emails try and encourage the customer to go back to their cart and complete their purchase. An email is usually triggered whenever a customer leaves the final checkout page or abandons their cart, and can be set up on any Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
Abandoned cart emails are a great way to re-engage with customers and convince them to follow through with their decisions. With this being the most effective way to convert hesitant customers, abandoned cart emails have unfortunately become quite similar in tone and style, meaning their intended impact is not always delivered effectively.
So, how can you make your abandoned cart email stand out from your competitors and increase your customer retention? Here are 7 ideas that we think work a treat:
- Catchy subject lines
- Using FOMO
- To-the-point CTAs
- Bullet Points
- Professional email templates
- Great copy
- Cheeky deals
7 abandoned cart email tactics
1. Catchy subject lines
You can’t go wrong with memorable and snappy subject lines. Subject lines that are relatable to your product and audience are likely to pique interest and make your customers click through to open the email.
For example, we love Casper’s abandoned cart email with the “Did you forget something?” subject line. Not only does it engage the customer enough to open the email, but the perky and clear message inside “come back to bed” is engaging enough to get both their brand message across and encourage them to go back to their eCommerce site.
2. Using FOMO
The Fear Of Missing Out is Real. Everyone has experienced FOMO at some point, and a great way to play on this feeling is by sending an abandoned cart email. Sounds insensitive but it works!
Get this right in your email copy and you’ll get customers to move quickly and convert. A great way of incorporating this into an abandoned cart email is by using the colour yellow. This is because it’s associated with warning signs that drive emotion and a feeling of urgency for the customer to take action.
3. To-the-point CTAs
You’ve got your subject line covered and you’ve instilled a sense of missing out in your email. Now it’s time to think about your Call To Action (CTA) and what exactly you want your customers to do. You’ve got them this far, so you want to make sure your CTA is not only clear, and simple but nudges them to continue shopping. You can also include more than one CTA in your email – you don’t have to stick to one!
4. Bullet Points
A short and sweet email does the trick. You don’t want your abandoned cart email to be too detailed, you want to hold your customers attention long enough to click the CTA and go back to where they left off. The secret to getting this right is by bullet pointing so it’s easy for customers to scan through and take what they need.
5. Professional email templates
High-quality email templates play a crucial role in converting customers. They not only capture the recipient’s attention but also instill trust and professionalism in your brand. A well-designed email can help reinforce the perceived value of their abandoned items, reminding customers why they initially showed interest. Clear, concise, and aesthetically pleasing content enhances the shopping experience. Moreover, a responsive design ensures compatibility across various devices, making it convenient for customers to re-engage and complete their purchases, ultimately boosting conversion rates and revenue.
A great way to get this right is by speaking to an email template developer – they will have the skills and knowledge to make your abandoned cart email attractive and strengthen your UX (user experience)!
6. Great copy
Great copy addresses customer queries as they think of them. It’s all about the flow and the structure – elements such as a CTA, discounts, and finance options are just some of the things to include in the body of your email.
Good copy will speak directly to the customer and entice them to engage with your brand – this is where a professional copywriter comes in and can help. If you’re looking for engaging writing that’s straight to the point and representative of your brand, then hiring a freelancer on PeoplePerHour is a great place to start.
7. Cheeky deals
Customers love a discount and if that’s not incentive enough, we don’t know what is! Making sure the discount you’ve included is unmissable is key to ensuring it’s not forgotten about.
The best abandon cart email strategy
You’ve created your abandoned cart email and set it up on your CRM system, so what’s next and how many emails should you send?
There’s a reason why 3 is the magic number and what is recommended to send in your abandoned cart email strategy.
No one likes an inbox full of emails from the same sender, so to avoid your emails being marked as spam, make sure the frequency you’re sending them isn’t overbearing. This could vary from 10 minutes to 3 days – it’s entirely up to you and it’s best practice to experiment first to see what works best for your brand!
And there you have it, an abandoned cart email strategy to get you started!
