We wanted to bring you a few examples of what the ideal abandoned cart email looks like, so that you can learn how to make the most of this critical tool in your own revenue recovery efforts. For the unfamiliar, let’s start from the basics – what is an abandoned cart, and what do emails have to do with it?
When you visit a website, fill up a cart with goods, and do not go through the checkout – that’s an abandonment, thus an “Abandoned Cart”. It’s not just an abandonment though, its lost revenue on the part of the merchant!
- The average cart abandonment rate is 69.23%. To put that in perspective, imagine ordering a large pizza for dinner (8 slices) and finding just 2 ½ slices in the box upon delivery. You wouldn’t be pissed – you would go ballistic, and likely declare war on the pizza place.
“What are you talking about, it’s just code – it’s digital. How could it possibly be lost revenue?”
- 32% of shoppers abandon because they needed to create an account to complete their purchase. Could you imagine being required to do the same when you get to the checkout aisle of a physical store you are in for the first time? You would walk right out the door!
Consider this example, if you walk into a physical store, take an item (let’s say an HDTV) off the shelf, put it in your cart, and then promptly leave the store – that’s an abandonment. Why? Because you did not make a purchase you were keen on completing. The cost of operating a store exists for your service, so when you walk in and abandon, that is ultimately lost revenue.
Are you following along?
Now let’s say as you are heading to the parking lot, an employee from the store rushes towards you with a shiny pamphlet in their hand.
“Hey, dude! (gasping for breath) I noticed you were really (gasp) interested (ahh) in that HDTV. Take this pamphlet with more information. Look our number is written on it so you can call us at your earliest convenience.”
The above example has probably never happened to you. Nonetheless, it’s an example of what a cart abandonment email would look like in real life.
Of course, in the digital realm, no one find themselves out of breath because they were running after an abandoner.
So, with that out of the way, let’s check out some abandoned cart emails and see what we can learn from them!
1) Headline it:
Remind shoppers where they were when they abandoned their cart. This should be the first thing that catches their eye. People don’t keep a log of every website they visit. After all, who wants to waste time browsing their search history for a specific URL?
2) Imagery:
Include images of the abandoned products. This serves to A) Remind shoppers what they were interested in and B) Fire up their interest in the products they abandoned. They came to YOUR website for a reason after all.
3) Motivate Them to Move:
The FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) Effect is a real thing, and using it your advantage can help drive sales – especially when it comes to in-demand items that are flying off the shelves. Fear is a strong motivator – but don’t overdo it.
4) Product Recommendations:
People like product recommendations, but they don’t always have the heart to ask for them. When you go into a new restaurant, and have no idea what you want to order, you may find yourself hesitant to ask the waiter “What’s good in this joint?” But when the waiter says “I highly recommend the 2nd Lieutenants fried chicken, with a glass of Bear-Mountain Dew” you find yourself salivating.
5) Lowering the Price / Discounts:
Who doesn’t love saving a few dollars whenever they have the chance? Well offering a small discount on the purchase price helps coax shoppers back to your site to complete their purchase. Alternatively, free shipping is welcome any day of the week.
6) Alternative Financing:
Consumer-loan financing is the future – but are you ready? Seriously, if you aren’t offering shoppers an alternative-financing solution, that’s a problem. Shoppers are easily scared off by sticker shock. Offering consumer loan financing from firms such as SplitIt, Bread, or Affirm, in your abandoned cart emails can help boosts recoveries.
- 8% of shoppers abandon when there aren’t enough payment methods.
7) Direct Their Attention:
Make it as easy as possible for shoppers to come back to your site to complete their purchase by offering a nice big button like the one featured below. This way they can click on it and find themselves at checkout within seconds.
Getting Started:
The path to enlightenment in an eCommerce merchants efforts to recover revenue and combat cart-abandonment does not require deep meditation (although it probably helps). We compiled a few easy tips below to help you get started. Seriesly this does not take more than a few hours to do, and the process is stress free!
Automate The Heavy Work:
In some industries, artificial intelligence (AI) is a “Dirty Word”, but in the world of eCommerce, it’s a godsend! Because AI actually helps complete work quicker, easier, and doesn’t replace human workers! SAAS that incorporates AI to send triggered emails in response to cart-abandonment is incredibly useful, and really easy to get up and running. That being said, what is the best way to put triggered emails to use when it comes to cart-abandonment?
Timing and Frequency:
Good timing is a key to success – but it has to be paired with the right frequency. Therefore, we recommend setting up a 3 email funnel which works as follows:
- 30 minutes after an abandonment.
- 1 day after an abandondonment.
- 7 days after an abandonment.
It should be noted that, if a shopper completes their purchase after getting the first email,they won’t get the other two. But what should be written in these emails? What should we tell our shoppers?
The Basics:
Nowadays, people are checking their email from their smartphone more than ever – and that’s a good thing! But what’s not a good thing, is that people’s attentions span has been decreasing. So to get your message across, use as few words as possible while still being descriptive. Don’t make people “Read” your email so much as you want them to “Absorb” your email. You can accomplish this through good email formatting.
Be Kind:
This is a no-brainer, always address the shopper by their name. Instead of writing “Hey Shopper” write “Hey Sam”. Of course, there are some exceptions, such as if you don’t have the persons name on file (in which case you should really fix that ASAP). The other major exception is with regards to non-logged in “Guest Shoppers” whose name you never got. In that case, “Hey there” is fine.
In Conclusion:
By now you should be well versed in how to create an abandoned cart email. You know what to include, and how to include it. These methods will take you far in your efforts to combat cart-abandonment and boost revenue. The Datacrushers Revenue Discovery platform helps eCommerce merchants identify 80% – 90% of their guest shoppers. In turn, they learn their shopper’s names and can address them as such in order to bring them back to their business and boost revenue.
