Ever gone back to buy something when a tempting offer lands in your inbox after you’ve abandoned your basket?
With almost 70 percent of baskets abandoned online, cart abandonment emails are a great way to entice customers to complete their purchase.
If you’re on top of your marketing game, you may already have basket abandonment campaigns in place. But that’s no reason to rest on your laurels.
As with all marketing automations, cart abandonment campaigns should be continuously tweaked, to optimise their performance.
Here are our top ten ways to improve your cart abandonment emails.
1) Place the product in the subject line
Most retailers are now using cart abandonment emails. This means there’s more competition.
The once quirky ‘Oops, you forgot something…’ subject line might not make the cut these days. Multiple retailers may using the exact same tactic.
One way to make your subject line eye-catching and relevant is by incorporating the name of the item they abandoned.
Something as simple as ‘About your {insert product name}…’ could grab your customer’s attention. You know they’re interested in the product—so make them look twice by featuring it in your subject line.
We like Fab’s product-led subject lines that grab attention in the inbox.
2) Make it mobile
With over 67 percent of people browsing on their mobile, your email may well be received and read on the go.
Make it easy to read and buy from your cart abandonment email on a smartphone. Use clear text, large buttons, and bold visuals that make it fast and easy to complete the transaction.
Topshop sends a simple but eye-catching abandonment email that works a treat on mobile.
3) Test your timing
The timing of your cart abandonment emails is a question of trial and error.
Some retailers find 20 minutes after abandonment gets the best results. Others find leaving it 24 hours or sticking to evenings works better.
Regularly perform an A/B test of your campaign to make sure you’re sending your email at the optimum time.
And don’t be afraid to prompt a purchase with a little sense of urgency. Let customers know their saved items are about to disappear if they don’t click through.
Neiman Marcus is one of a few retailers experimenting with deadlines on its cart abandonment campaigns.
4) Feature inspiring visuals
The visuals you use in your cart abandonment campaign can have a bigger impact than you may think.
Always use enticing images of the products the customer has left in the cart to jog their memory and reignite their interest.
And don’t just stick to standard product images. Use aspirational, model lifestyle images to bring the products to life and make the customer realise what they’re missing out on.
Anthropologie makes good use of inspiring imagery in its cart abandonment email to tempt the customer to make them their own.
5) Introduce a second email
There’s no reason you shouldn’t send another email if the recipient didn’t purchase from your first cart abandonment email.
Remind them their product is still waiting for them, and update them on availability or offer expiration. You can also give them personalised suggestions for alternatives in case they’ve changed their minds.
Kate Spade isn’t afraid of contacting its customers once more with another gentle reminder which also includes other related product ideas.
6) Make it easy to change your mind
Sometimes people abandon their baskets because it’s just too much hard work to edit them.
Take the hard work out of changing your mind by making it easy to delete items or shop again from the cart abandonment email. This helps customers reconsider what they’re buying with minimum fuss.
Allbeauty.com gives recipients the ability to edit their shopping basket with a clear call-to-action which sits alongside the buy button.
7) Remove scary reasons not to buy
Cart shock (the realisation that you’re spend a little too much) is the reason that 60 percent of people abandon their carts, according to Baymard.
To reduce the fear factor, remove the overall total from the email and consider offering free delivery or a discount if they go on to purchase.
But beware, don’t feature discounts all the time in your cart abandonment emails. Doing so will train regular customers to expect a discount if they leave goods in their basket. This means you could be giving away sales if you don’t use this tactic selectively.
We like the way Huckberry uses a free shipping incentivise in this instance to recapture higher-value sales.
8) Offer reassurance
Some retailers put people off buying with lengthy and over-complicated checkout processes.
Make sure completing a transaction from your cart abandonment email is fast and easy. Pre-populate fields, offer a guest checkout, PayPal or one-click ordering to avoid frustration.
And always reassure people that they’re in safe hands by making a point about your hassle-free returns policy and a safe, secure website.
Moss Bross features its customer service number, fast returns policy, and easy payment options to encourage the customer to throw caution to the wind and complete their order.
9) Make it easy to speak to a person
Sometimes people just don’t want to complete the transaction online—and you shouldn’t force them to.
Always make it easy to speak to a person. Customers might have a question, technical issue, or concern that could easily be resolved by speaking to a member of your customer service team.
Never hide your contact details away. Customers hate it.
We love this quirky example by Bonobos. The brand clearly understands the power of the personal touch, putting customers in direct contact with its customer care team.
10) Introduce a browse abandonment email
You don’t have to wait for people to place items in their basket to contact them with an abandonment email.
If you’ve identified the visitor (and have both their consent and email address), you’re good to go. Simply send them an automated email reminding them about items they’ve browsed and might be interested in buying.
Further reading: The Essential Guide to Browse Abandonment Emails
J Crew does a nice job of recapturing interest using behavioural targeting. The brand captures its visitors’ browsing behaviour and retargets them with browse abandonment emails.
Takeaway
These are just ten ways to make sure your cart abandonment emails are in tip-top condition.
Remember, your campaigns should always develop in line with the ever-changing shopping habits of your customer base.
Regularly perform A/B tests on your cart abandonment campaign to test your assumptions. You might be surprised that something which previously worked well isn’t performing like it did.
Remember, just because a cart abandonment email is automated doesn’t mean you should forget about it. The marketers who do may find it’s more than a few items that get left behind!
Want to learn more about cart abandonment campaigns?
We’ve written a best practice guide full of tactics that are proven to get results.
