It is a confirmed fact that cart abandonment is a major problem in the world of eCommerce. In fact, current estimates show the total value of all cart and site-wide revenue abandonment to be shockingly high at $5 trillion dollars.
Here on the Datacrushers blog, we have made it our mission help eCommerce retailers reduce cart abandonment. We do this by highlighting the absolute best tactics and methods to reduce cart abandonment and recover revenue, which all eCommerce retailers can rely on.
Now, one of the most tried and true methods, which has proven its mettle, is that of the famed “cart abandonment email.”
“Wait, what is a cart abandonment email?” You might be asking yourself.
A cart abandonment email is typically a “triggered” email sent in response to – you guessed it – a cart abandonment. However, cart abandonment emails only work when three specific conditions are met:
- Who: You need to know who abandoned a cart in the first place. Most eCommerce platforms and plugins cannot give you that information. The Datacrushers Revenue Discovery Platform takes care of this issue from the get-go.
- What: What did the shopper abandon in their cart? Again, most eCommerce platforms cannot tell you exactly what was abandoned.
- When: When a cart abandonment email is sent, and at what frequency, makes all the difference in the world when it comes to recovering revenue.
Now, the Datacrushers Revenue Discovery Platform can take care of all of this and more, but that’s aside from the point. You came here to learn about the 6 critical components of an abandoned cart email. So, let’s check some out and understand what it is that we can learn from them.
1) A Friendly Greeting:
When it comes to the greeting used in a cart abandonment email, it’s always better if you have the recipient’s name. Typically, it’s not an issue if the cart was abandoned by a registered shopper. However, when it comes to non-logged in “guest shoppers” (which make up the largest percent of site traffic) it becomes much harder to personalize a cart abandonment email greeting.
Therefore, it’s best to contact abandoners with a warm, courteous greeting that makes them feel welcome. Something that invites them to come back.
2) An Inspiring Image:
This is especially important if your site doesn’t sell a physical product, but rather a service of some sort. It’s important to include visual cues that the person opening the email will be receptive to.
What’s especially great about the image here, is that it embodies the spirit of vacation in such a simple, and easy way. Flip Flops – check. Sunglasses – Check. Sand, starfish, seashells – check!
3) Relevant Product Images:
On the other hand, when you sell a physical product, you must present shoppers with images of what was in their cart when they abandoned it. Really, just include images of those specific products in your cart abandonment emails.
The main reason you want to do this is that it serves as a direct reminder of what the shopper was looking at when they abandoned. As if to say “Hey, remember these things you were interested in? We still have them.”
4) The Call to Action:
The Call to Action (CTA) is an absolutely critical part of any cart abandonment email (but really, any email in general). Why?
A well thought out CTA should accomplish a few important tasks. First, it needs to grab the viewers’ attention through colors that contrast well with the body of the email. Second, it must contain copy that is quick, concise, and rolls of the tongue. Third, it should direct shoppers back to their cart (or the site) either through visual cues (such as directional arrows) or through the copy used.
Using terms like “Go to checkout” or “Act now” etc. are a lot easier and more inviting to a shoppers psyche than “Hey dude if you want to save a lot of money please click here this link it’s totes legit and also we now offer that product you don’t care about in an amazing new color – Electric Mango.”
5) Make them “An Offer They Can’t Refuse”:
This component can be used as part of a single cart abandonment email, or in a series of emails following an abandonment. It can be integrated as part of a CTA, or as its own message within a cart abandonment email.
Some shoppers require a slight push to draw them in, that’s when offers such as free shipping, discounts, and consumer loan financing come in handy to help incentivize the viewer to come back to the site and complete their purchase.
- Free Shipping: Takes the edge off the total purchase price. It’s kind of like when shoppers see “$99.99” vs “$100.00” on a price tag. Logically, we know it’s not a big deal, but on a practical level, we feel like it’s a good deal. Especially for shoppers who feel entitled to get every cent possible out of their purchase. Nothing wrong with those shoppers, they are entitled to spend their money as they wish.
- A Discount: Like the above, it takes the edge off the total cart value. 5% off of $250 is only $12.5 but guess what – that’s someone’s coffee budget for an entire week! When it comes to coffee versus goods and services, coffee will always win out for the under-rested and overworked. Priorities.
- Consumer Loan Financing: Sometimes it isn’t even about saving money so much as it about how to allocate the funds to make a purchase. Look, we all have bills to pay, and saving up for that big purchase is not that easy or practical. But that’s where consumer loan financing comes in. Shoppers can use this service to break down the purchase price into small, easier to handle monthly installments that work within their budget – while not maxing out their credit.
With consumer loan financing from Bread, SplitIt, Affirm or ChargeAfter, your business can make that sale, and shoppers can pay for it in installments that work for them.
“Wait, you mentioned something about timing. What’s the deal with that?”
6) Timing Is: Make It Or Break It
Well, when it comes to cart abandonment emails, timing IS a really BIG DEAL.
“But why? Why does it matter if an email get’s sent out 1 or 10 hours after a cart abandondonment?”
Because good timing is crucial to relevance in a shopper’s mind. If they get a cart abandonment email a week after they visited your site, odds are it might go straight to spam.
On the other hand, try emailing them 30 minutes to 1 hour after an abandonment. If that doesn’t work, try again 1 – 3 days later. Finally, email them 7 days after their initial cart abandonment.
The key here is in the order of the emails, and the included offer. So, the first cart abandonment email should include images of what they abandoned. The second should include everything from the first, plus some sort of a time-sensitive incentive.
Lastly, the third, if you need it – should include a different incentive. Again, different strokes for different folks.
In Summary:
Now, If you really wanted to, you could offer everything in just one cart abandonment email – hey, the sky is the limit, and we are not your parents! At Datacrushers, the “Data” in our name isn’t for nothing. We know what works, and what doesn’t work. That’s why we focus on keeping you informed as to exactly what works. Want to learn more about what works? Click the image below to start your free 14-day pilot – while supplies last!
Datacrushers
Founded in 2015, Datacrushers uses Machine Learning and A.I. along with NLP to identify and recover revenue loss, cart abandonment and discover new revenue sources across any site. The revenue discovery platform completes the deep ongoing analysis of eCommerce websites by monitoring the three main focal points of any site: The User, Site, and Product.
Unlike traditional “cart abandonment platforms,” Datacrushers does not require shoppers and customers to be logged-in to conduct both on and offsite campaigns. We use a wide range of data-driven and analytics based conversion tools to target the shopper at the right time with the most accurate and effective campaign to drive the sale.
Datacrushers is platform, language, and currency agnostic and requires only a few lines of code to get started therefore delivering an ultra-fast go-to-market with minimal set-up time and tech intervention.
Based out of Jerusalem, Israel, Datacrushers has clients worldwide including, The US, China, Russia, UK, Germany, and more.
