It's easy to leave an onlineorder. We've all been there. In fact, 68% of online shopping carts are abandoned, according to research from the Baymard Institute. As a result, email marketers are presented with the challenge—and opportunity—of saving sales via email. Enter cart abandonment emails.Cart abandonment emails are messages sent to customers who have recently put items in a cart without completing the purchase. The email reminds them their product is waiting for them, and some even offer an incentive to complete the purchase (like free shipping). When done well, these emails aresuper effective. According to other research by BI Intelligence and Listrak, emailssent three hours after a consumer deserts a cartaverages a 40% open rate and a 20% click-through rate. These emails are critical for any online retailer. To determine when to send yours, test the response rate and conversion rate you receive with your customers at various intervals—either a few hours later, or a day or two later. Some brands send a series of emails in a cart abandonment email sequence (though be careful not to flood inboxes). Today, we'll offer our top design tips to optimize your cart abandonment emails.
Tip #1: Start with an attention-getting subject line
Write a short, on-topic subject line that conveys urgency. Here are somecart abandonment email subject line examples from our inbox:
- You Left Something in Your Shopping Cart at Walmart.com
- There's still time to finish your booking for Seattle.
- ✔ Nobody likes to miss out. Are you still interested in Ancestry?
- Did you forget to finish your order?
- Complete Your Purchase!
- Your shopping cart misses you!
- Oops, you forgot something
- Your shopping cart is so needy...
- Shopping alert! See what's in your bag...
- One less lonely bag in the world
Most are short and direct, which means they're optimized for phone screens (where most of us check email). Some ask questions (Did you forget to finish your order?) or make exclamations (Your cart misses you!). As you design and test your own subject lines, here are some considerations to make:
- Grab attention: Can you personalize or customize it?
- Check it out on a mobile screen: Should it be shorter?
- Know your audience: Is the voice and tone on-brand?
- Stand out: Try asking a question, being silly, or using an emoji.
- Create urgency: Mention timing or, like Ancestry does above, imply "FOMO" (fear of missing out).
Tip #2: Show the actual products
We all know the old adage: show, don't tell. Cart abandonment emails provide the perfect opportunity to put that oft-heard advice into practice. When you show a shopper what's still in her or his cart, it works as a visual reminder that's easy to scan and absorb. Thrive Market, the healthy grocery startup, asks readers if they're still interested in the items in their cart, then shows themwhat's there.
The "Buy Now" call-to-action buttons that bookend the messagestand out against the white background. Plus, the email adds a coupon code to amplify the discount and encourage readers to take action. The email is clear, simple, and visual. As a result, the message is optimized for readers who are on the go and reading on mobile screens.
Tip #3: Add customized, targeted content
Whenever a marketing email feels like it's from a person and not a robot, that's a win. With increasing amounts of subscriber data at their fingertips, email marketers are wisely designingemails that feel individually-tailored to readers. Cart abandonment emails provide a perfect opportunity to use the data you have to customize content and take advantage of industry best practices.Take this cart abandonment email from Starwood, the hotel company, for example. Its subject line reads:There's still time to finish your booking for Seattle. Mentioning the reader's specific destination in the subjectimmediatelyindicates the message isn't generic. Here's the full email:
The intro of the email is all about reminding the reader about the benefits of completing the order. Exclusive rates. Wi-Fi. Starpoints. But in case that isn't convincing enough, Starwood follows up with events and offers available at the specific hotel for the specific dates of interest. By putting its data to use, Starwood is able to offer relevant, customized content to encourage the sale.Similarly, Ann Taylor, the women's fashion retailer, provides "upsell" content in its cart abandonment email, below.
The key call to action to "View my bag" is still prioritized at the top, but Ann Taylor also presents customized images of additional possibilities. In other words, this email says, Keep shopping! The retailer may beplaying off the idea that the cart was abandoned because the shopperwasn't satisfied with what she'd picked out. So, why not offer something new to catch the eye?
Tip #4: De-emphasize prices
When you look at the data forwhen carts are abandoned, it helps revealthe reasons whycarts areleft behind. According to BI Intelligence, here are the reasons why consumers leave their carts:
- 46% occur at the payment stage
- 37% occur at checkout login
- 36% occur once the shoppers see shipping costs
- 21% occur when the user needs to enter their billing address
- 20% occur when the user needs to enter their shipping or delivery address
It's a lot about hassle factor. The easier checkout is, the better for shoppers.What's also interesting is that only one reason has to do with price(shipping costs). Still, retailers often strip product pricing out of cart abandonment emails. That way, brands can focus onreminding readers about the things they want while de-emphasizing the costs associated with them. While the Thrive email does list prices (and discounts), the emails below from Amazon and Snapfish are product-focused and leave pricing out:
Emails from both Thrive Market and Amazon focus on presenting readers with item images in their carts. But sending cart abandonment emails with and without pricing is an easy thing to test. Try it, and trackhow readers respond.
Tip #5: Make the CTA obvious and inviting
Just like with any email, the call-to-action should be front and center: easy to spot, easy to tap, easy to act. Ancestry.com does a great job of making its CTA button the central component of its cart abandonment email.The orange pops against the black-and-white image, and the CTA language used is much more action-orientedthan "Click here" or "Learn more."
Think abouthow easy it is to act upon the Ancestry email compared to one that omits a button altogether, like the one below from Walmart:
With three hyperlinked phrases—"shopping cart," "Free shipping," and "Help"—in all the same color, size, and style, the reader can be overwhelmed about where to click. A bulletproof button would makethe email so much more effective!
Bonus tip: Get cheeky with cart abandonment emails
Many brands also get cheerful and playful with cart abandonment emails. And there's good reason: they don't want to be annoying! It's easy for these emails to seempesky or even slightly intrusive. To combat that, email marketers often keep the messages very simple withcheeky copy. Take the message from makeup retailer Glossier, which is a play on the "If a tree falls in the woods..." joke:
Similarly, Thrive opens up one of its cart abandonment emails by personifying its products to coyly ask: Did you miss me?
If being silly is within your brand voice, try getting clever with your email copy to lighten the mood and appeal to readers.Do you need to improve your cart abandonment emails in a snap?Check out our BEE editor—it's a free-to-use drag-and-drop tool that will get your beautifully designed email up and running in no time! Plus, BEE comes with free email templates that you can customize and send in minutes. Try a template and get your abandoned cart email up and running in no time.
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