7 Abandoned Cart Emails to Recapture Customers

Imagine that you’re the owner of a thriving business. You’ve figured out inventories, you’ve had a steady stream of clients, and they’re gushing about your goods. Are you certain you’ve covered all of your bases?

Certainly not. You may still be missing out on a significant amount of sales. How? Through the abandonment of shopping carts.

Shopping cart and checkout abandonment are all-too-prevalent behaviors among online shoppers in today’s e-commerce business.

Nearly 77% of online buyers abandon their carts before finishing checkout costs merchants $18 billion in annual sales income. Although shopping cart abandonment is unavoidable, retailers can reduce the number of abandoned carts.

This blog deep dives into cart abandonment and shares with you seven email examples that help recapture customers.

What is Cart Abandonment?

Abandonment is an e-commerce phrase that refers to a visitor who leaves a web page without taking the intended action. Shopping cart abandonment, for example, refers to visitors who add things to their online shopping basket but leave before completing the purchase.

Although cart or basket abandonment is the most prevalent issue, there are other types of abandonment in various industries. As per a recent study by Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate across all industries is 69.77 percent.

That implies almost seven out of ten customers will abandon their shopping cart, a figure that many e-commerce company owners find alarming.

According to another study by Barilliance, mobile users have an even higher abandonment rate of 87.67 percent.

Why Do You Need an Abandoned Cart Email?

An abandoned cart email is a communication delivered after a user leaves a website without purchasing the items in their online shopping basket. Abandoned cart emails are sent to visitors who abandon their carts halfway through the checkout process, and they can help you recoup about 10% of your lost revenue.

An abandoned cart email is intended for the seven (out of every 10) customers who abandon their shopping carts before completing the checkout process.

Why are abandoned cart emails so beneficial? They’re automated. You can create a self-contained series that generates revenue that would otherwise be lost.

The problem with abandoned cart recovery these days is that everyone utilizes the same tried-and-true approaches and best practices that we learned about years ago. 

In many cases, you’re employing methods and tools that are similar, if not identical, to those used by your competitors. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out in your clients’ inboxes.

Getting your customer’s attention is critical to getting them to act and complete the buy. To assist you, we’ve compiled a list of seven fantastic cart abandonment emails that you can use as inspiration for your own.

The 7 Best Abandoned Cart Emails

Here are seven different abandonment cart emails employed by various brands. 

1. MAC Cosmetics addresses all possible objections

We want to continue acting in the same way we have in the past. This is referred to as consistency in psychology, and it’s a trick that many brands like MAC Cosmetics are all too familiar with.

MAC Cosmetics addresses a few reasons why customers abandon their shopping carts in the email, starting with the most common: forgetting to check out.

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Following that, if the initial item wasn’t for you and you bailed at checkout, the brand offers two “bestselling” alternatives.

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Finally, in the email’s footer, the brand informs you about its free shipping and buy now, pay later options, removing any remaining barriers to your purchase.

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This is a great way to get in your prospects’ minds and make it simple for them to make a purchase.

2. Google uses great copywriting

Yes, Google, too, uses abandoned cart emails. Any remarketing email’s bread and butter is its copy. While it’s easy to get carried away when crafting a clever message, you must make sure that your content correctly addresses the following points:

• The shopper has forgotten about an item in their shopping cart.
• The item piqued the shopper’s interest sufficiently to add it to their cart.
• Now is the time for the customer to finish their purchase.

This is the ideal abandoned cart email since it has everything: great language, a clear CTA, personalization by displaying the customer’s cart, and urgency. 

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Customers are captivated with text such as “Going, going, (nearly) gone” and “Our popular items sell out rapidly.” 

They also feel obligated to finish their purchase to avoid missing out. This email concludes with a call to action to answer questions and sign up for product updates. 

Google’s goal is to make the customer feel like they don’t want to miss out on anything.

3. Dyson keeps it simple and effective

Dyson excels in several things in this case – hope, excitement, and a sense of urgency.

They employ simple wording that is both useful and enjoyable to read. “All is not lost” and “We rescued the contents,” for example, communicate to the client that Dyson wishes to help.

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They offer a picture of the goods and a list of the items that are still in the customer’s shopping cart.

They give the piece a sense of urgency. The statement “Your basket for this promotion has been stored; however, the deal is only valid for a limited time” gives the impression that this purchase is important.

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They have two CTA buttons. Customers on mobile can see a CTA button even as they scroll down the page. These buttons make it simple for them to finish their purchase at every touchpoint.

4. PUMA’s design grabs attention

PUMA pushes the urgency dial all the way up, and it works. The large call to action button stands out, and the asymmetric design pulls the eye to itself. 

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We enjoy thinking about what went into the design of this email, and it raises the bar on other cart abandonment emails we’ve seen while compiling this list. 

Puma is primarily a retail shopping brand; therefore, one call to action directs the buyer to a nearby store. This cart abandonment email wins the audience in terms of the simplicity and originality of the idea.

It is really on brand using a simple design using the logo and brand colors. Saying that things will be out of stock plays on the scarcity effect. Finding a store on top of the conversion funnel adds another layer to the conversion funnel.

5. MANGO uses multiple Calls to Action (CTAs)

This is one of countless abandoned cart email examples we’ve seen that make you feel compelled to act. “Complete your order before they’re gone!” says the message loud and clear.

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This is an excellent example of a well-executed cart recovery email. Mango sends the product image in the email and the shopper’s preferred size, color, quantity, and price in local currency.  

Despite appearing to be light on the eye, their high-contrast, recurring call to action buttons work to Mango’s advantage!

The design is simple and minimalistic. The product details are highlighted in the email itself, making it easy for the customer to decide. The “Continue Shopping” CTA encourages users to add more things to their cart.

6. Levi’s incentivizes the readers.

The most common reasons for cart abandonment are unexpected expenditures and shipping fees. Many customers compute a final price simply by adding the products without factoring in tax or delivery expenses. 

When the total exceeds your expectations, it’s a simple reason to leave the site and go shopping elsewhere.

Customers who have been enticed away by a final price can be drawn back by offering a discount.

Levi’s accomplishes it this way.

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Levi’s doesn’t show a photo of the abandoned items, but it offers a fantastic discount: 25% off!

Big discounts can be appealing, but you must determine whether they are appropriate for your company as a seller. 

If you decide to give a discount as a repurchasing incentive, remember that though it can help recover the prospect, it may also damage your overall sales.

7. Vans offers alternatives

People may abandon their carts because they were undecided about their purchase – perhaps the item isn’t quite what they were looking for. However, they may be sold on similar products that they overlooked the first time.

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But don’t go overboard with the first item they add to their cart. A shell game switcheroo may utterly lose your customer because they put that item in their online cart for a reason. 

Choose alternatives that bolster their excellent choice. It’s worth noting that Vans does not use the word “instead.” They claim that you might also enjoy the other options they offer.

Vans uses a pared-down aesthetic that reflects the arrangement of their online store (brand consistency).

Emails about abandoned carts are both an art and a science. Don’t send a single email and then call it a day. 

Constant optimization and experimentation with the data you have is the key to finding the correct subject line, copy, email design, suggestion technique, and incentive to provide. 

Cart abandonment is an unfortunate reality of online purchasing, but cart abandonment emails can be a valuable tool for e-commerce marketers to combat it.

We hope these email examples will help you with some great ideas for your abandoned cart email. Let us know which one you liked this best!

Key Takeaways

• Shopping cart abandonment refers to visitors who add things to their online shopping basket but leave before purchasing. As per a recent study by Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate across all industries is 69.77 percent.
• An abandoned cart email is a communication delivered after a user leaves a website without purchasing the items in their online shopping basket.
• Abandoned cart emails can address various concerns of a prospect and try to nudge them to complete their purchase.
• There are various approaches that brands can take for an abandoned cart email. Broadly, they should address the prospect’s concerns and have a powerful call to action.
• The subject line of your abandoned cart email must be very catchy – otherwise, the prospect might not even open the email.
• Offering alternatives, discounts, and social proof are three excellent ways to nudge the prospect.
• Keep the design simple and on-brand because brand recall can help the prospects remember your brand.

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