Here's the Abandoned Cart Email Sequence to Increase Your Revenue

A winning email sequence may be the key to winning back thousands of dollars

We’re constantly recommending abandoned cart emails to our clients and readers, but a proper strategy is only as good as it’s execution. Sending out an email reminding users of items in their cart can be helpful, but there is a real strategy to getting users to open your email and make the purchase. 

At efelle, we customize these emails based on every business, taking into account their average order value, their target customer, and what their current rate of abandonment is. We look at the open rates and make changes based on how your customers are responding. It's important to remember this is an ongoing process that takes time and energy, but can easily help you win back a lot of lost revenue.

Abandoned Cart Email #1

When to Send: 1-2 hours after they leave their cart

Subject: Complete Your Purchase // You forgot your item! // Did you forget something? // Oops you forgot your item!

Purpose: Remind the customer what they’ve left. Sometimes people are shopping and get busy and forget. Sometimes they want to think about it a bit more. 

Important Notes: 

• Be specific about the items left and the fact that it’s saved for your users - always link directly to their cart
• Offering a lighthearted line like “oops you forgot,” makes the assumption that they're going to make the purchase, making them feel the same. 
• Bonus if you can include a customer review or testimonial in this email to encourage your user using social proof. 

Key Considerations: 

• Are you able to show the user what they left in their cart? A visual reminder can trigger a need to purchase. 
• What is your brand voice? Is it worth it to send an email right away or wait longer? This should be based on your buyer personas and their purchasing tendencies. 

Abandoned Cart Email #2

When to Send: 2 days after abandoned cart

Subject: Just for You - 10% Off! // Get Free Shipping Today [Name] // Save x% When You Buy Today

Purpose: Offer a small incentive to get your user to move ahead with the purchase. Trust us, people love discounts, even if it’s minimal. Giving them something like 10% or free shipping can be worth it for you to eat that cost to get those abandoned carts back. 

Important Notes: 

• Experiment with different discount codes and options. 
• Provide a code for customers limited to a one time use.
• Make the code clear and easy to copy and paste.

Key Considerations: 

• If free shipping is often a big incentive, take a step back and look at your current shipping prices and see if that has possible correlation with your abandoned cart rate. 
• Make sure what you’re offering is both reasonable for your business, while also a good enough deal to incentivize your customers. 

Abandoned Cart Email #3

When to Send: 1 day after last email open 

Subject: Only [Hours] Left to Save 10% on Your Cart! // Last Chance to Save Your Cart // Our [product] is selling fast: complete your purchase!

Purpose: Create FOMO - Fear of Missing Out. Scarcity and missing out are huge motivators for people, so reminding them that they could miss out on a discount or limited items can push them to purchase. 

Important Notes: 

• Give a reasonable amount of time for your users to use the code - expiring 12 to 24 hours later. 
• Always provide a link to the cart so it’s easy for the user to hop back in. 

Key Considerations: 

• Make sure that your code and cart actually expire when you’ve noted to your clients
• Think about your end client and how to work this final email so it appeals to them. If they are a bargain hunter, then you should do a hard push for this discount. If they are higher end, then make it a soft push and tie in exclusivity.

Final Words about Abandoned Carts: 

With this basic framework, we see a lot of success with our clients. Abandoned cart emails can leave hundreds of thousands of dollars in missed revenue for your company - but it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are our final key reminders:
Stay true to your brand and don’t do something that doesn’t fit who you are. For example, if you’re a high end brand, try personalizing the email with the customers name and use vocabulary like “limited,” to maintain your exclusive nature, and avoid flashy discount emails if that’s not who you are. 

• Make sure that your discount is both worth it for your customers but also won’t cause you to lose money. Try and calculate a worthy percentage based off of your AOV. 
• Watch your abandoned cart metrics and tweak as you go. This should be an iterative process for your business and you should consider different options based on seasonality. 
• We’ll leave you with this: Around $3 trillion per year is lost to cart abandoners. That’s a huge missed opportunity for tons of businesses. At efelle, we love to help our clients win that money back. 

Ready to win revenue back with abandoned cart emails?

We’ve got a team of eCommerce strategists that can help you implement your abandoned cart emails and help you win that revenue back. Fill out the form below and let us help you grow your business.