How to Improve your Abandoned Cart Flows
A Guide to Improving Your Abandoned Cart Email Flows
Turning potential customers into loyal ones is a constant challenge these days in the realm of e-commerce. One of the significant hurdles online retailers face is the issue of customers abandoning their carts. According to recent studies by Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate is around 70%, highlighting a substantial potential for revenue recovery. As an email marketing expert, in this in-depth guide, I explore actionable ways you can improve your abandoned cart email flows, and reclaim those lost sales.
But, What Is An Abandoned Cart Email?
Abandoned cart emails serve as automated messages directed towards potential customers or existing clients who have left a website without finalising their order (by making a purchase). This arises in e-commerce due to various factors such as limited payment alternatives, unforeseen delivery charges, the customer simply changing their mind or a convoluted checkout process.
Abandoned carts pose a significant challenge for online brands as they can lead to lost sales and in some cases, loss of customer loyalty. They can also serve as indicators that your e-commerce site may require a some changes to enhance the overall retail experience.
Why Should Retailers Send Abandoned Cart Emails?
Effectively addressing abandoned carts and improving your customer experience is really important in preventing revenue loss and ensuring customer retention. Including abandoned cart flows is key to your email marketing strategy.
To highlight the significance of email reengagement, read the following stats:
More than 40% of cart abandonment emails are opened*, showing a high level of engagement
Out of these opened emails, 21% result in clicks*, indicating genuine interest from the recipients
Half of the users who click on these emails eventually proceed to make a purchase*, emphasising the tangible impact of well-crafted cart abandonment campaigns
*Source - Bloomreach
These statistics not only show the effectiveness of abandoned cart emails, but also emphasise the potential for recovering sales and converting interested buyers into satisfied customers.
How To Send Effective Abandoned Cart Emails
Timing
It's best to send your first abandoned cart email 1-3 hours after the customer abandons their cart, with a follow up reminder 24 hours later.
You may want to increase this time scale or add further reminders, if your products are more of a considered purchase eg. high value items.
If your second abandoned cart email as healthy Open, Click and Conversion Rates, you could also consider sending a third reminder in your automated series to capture more sales.
Tool
Use an email tool such as Klaviyo, rather than the Shopify abandoned cart tool. This allows you to fully design your emails in line with the rest of your campaign and automated emails, and also make sure they aren't clashing with any other emails you send around the same time.
Personalisation
Here are actionable ways to personalise your abandoned cart emails and enhance their impact:
Use the customer's name, either in the subject line to the email, preview text or email body, creating a more engaging and personal experience
Showcase the item(s) they abandoned to entice them back to complete their order. You could also split test including complimentary products to cross or up sell.
Incentivise with a personal touch - offer personalised incentives tailored to the customer's preferences, whether it’s free shipping or exclusive discount codes. Including an expiry date on the offer also adds a sense of urgency, encouraging a prompt purchase. I recommend only including incentives on the second email (sometime people really just need the reminder alone), and only if the customer has never shopped with you before (so your customers don't learn to trigger this process to get a discount from you).
Optimising for Mobile
Ensure your abandoned cart email design is optimised for mobile devices. This means large, clickable Call To Action buttons, focussing on what appears above the scroll and easy to read icons reassuring the customer that they should shop with you.
Social Proof
Integrate social proof elements throughout your abandoned cart emails to build trust and credibility. Display customer reviews, testimonials, and user-generated content to reassure potential buyers about the quality and reliability of your products. This can serve as a powerful motivator for customers to revisit their carts and make a purchase. Also include useful links to Customer Service information such as delivery & returns, FAQs, size guides and contact pages, incase the customer had some unanswered questions.
Continuous Testing and Optimisation
What works today may not be as effective tomorrow! Regularly test and analyse the performance of your abandoned cart email strategies. A/B test different elements, such as email subject lines, discount amounts, and timing to identify the most effective combinations. Keep informed about industry trends and continuously optimise your approach to stay ahead of the curve.
Transforming Losses into Opportunities
Abandoned carts are a persistent challenge for e-commerce businesses, but with a strategic and customer-centric approach, you can turn these potential losses into revenue opportunities.
Once you've got a well performing Abandoned Cart flow in place, you can look to add Abandoned Browse and Abandoned Added to Bag flows into the mix, to turn even more website visitors into customers.
Got any questions? Get in touch! I’d love to help you optimise your abandoned cart emails and drive more e-commerce sales for your business.
