An abandoned cart flow is THE number one automation for eCommerce stores. Fight me. Or at least, give me a chance to convince you.
I'm going to cover a few things here:
There's a good reason I wrote the stuff before the examples (and no, not just for SEO). You'll learn something - give it a read.
Let's do this.
Why do people abandon carts?
For this deep, philosophical question, we've enlisted the help of CRO specialist Will Laurenson from Customers Who Click. Listen up, here are some truth bombs:
5 Reasons why people are abandoning their carts:
Unexpected Costs - By far the biggest cause for abandonment is the total price being higher than expected. This could be due to shipping fees, taxes that weren't included in the item price, any other additional charges, or even discovering that a discount code doesn't work as expected. It's important to clear everything up as early as possible and try to lift customers' baskets over the free shipping threshold.
Complicated Checkout Processes - Lengthy or complicated checkout processes with extra steps, excessive form fields, or mandatory account creation can all frustrate customers and cause them to drop off.
Lack of Payment Options - Some people just really prefer using specific payment methods. PayPal, for example, always comes up because they offer a lot of buyer protection, while some people prefer Apple/Google Pay as it's quick & easy for them.
Comparison Shopping - Customers will often explore several websites at the same time, comparing products between them. They may add to cart on all pages and see where they get the better deal, better product, or even just the easiest checkout process.
They Weren't Sold On It - Quite simply, they were never fully convinced by your offering and so when it comes to committing to the purchase, they back out. It could be that they didn't fully understand your product, or didn't feel like it really was game-changing for them.
These are all pretty easy to fix. Be transparent & upfront with all your costs, make your checkout slick and quick to use, provide a mix (but not an excessive number) of payment options, and make sure your product is the most compelling on the market.
Thanks Will. So,
Why are abandoned cart flows important?
The most important reason should be obvious: it's a really easy way to recover lost revenue.
Email automation is all about the easy wins and a great abandoned cart flow is number 1. It gives you an excellent opportunity to push your buyers over the line with a timely reminder.
Here are some stats:
The average cart abandonment rate is 70.19% 🤯
The top 10% of eCommerce companies recover 10-15% of abandons 💰
Cart abandonment emails have a 39.07% open rate and a 23.33% click-through rate 😍
So, let's look at some of the ways we can nail our abandoned cart flow.
Abandoned cart best practices
We heard what Will had to say about why people abandon carts. It makes sense that our abandoned cart flows should aim to tear down those obstacles. Here are 6 things you should consider when throwing together your abandoned cart flow:
Timing is crucial
Imagine a bloke visiting a market stall. He picks up an item and looks at it longingly. He turns it over in his hand and considers the item before checking the price tag. He seems to consider a little longer before putting the item down and moving on. When would be the best time for the stall owner to approach this bloke? (Tip: It's not when the bloke has walked off, got in his car and forgotten about the item completely because he's only thinking about what's for dinner). You need to reach your potential buyers on time.
Get your first email out in an hour or two
Send a second email 24 hours later
Make it a series
Let me share some abandoned cart stats from Klaviyo:
What does this tell us? We definitely need at least 2 emails in our abandoned cart flow, probably 3 and there is an argument to be made for 4. How does that compare with your current automation?
But you've got to be clever with it. There's no point in sending 4 emails that all say "Forgotten something?!". You can't take your lessons on persuasion from Mrs. Doyle...
You could try something like this:
A simple nudge with a copy of their abandoned cart
Persuade the customer to purchase, highlight pain points
Offer free shipping, free returns or a discount
Offer alternatives
Test these out and play around with the order. Find out what works with your audience.
Be inventive and engaging
"Forgotten something?"
I hate it. It's low-effort and isn't written with any conviction. How likely is it that someone forgot their basket?
Did it appear in Will's top 5? Nope.
Try something brand specific (some good examples below) or something more damn creative.
"We put your *item* on ice"
"You're busy, we get it. But don't miss this"
"Did you mean to leave this behind?"
"*item* is selling quickly, don't miss out"
Also, don't dive straight in with a discount. There are other levers you can pull first:
Scarcity
Urgency
Guarantees
FOMO
Testing, testing...
Finally, don't just set-and-forget. As with every aspect of email marketing, you should test your abandoned cart flow to find out what is working. Just remember:
Have a clear objective in mind
Don't test too much at once
Listen to what the results tell you
Continually optimise
5 great abandoned cart flows
Now, let's get to the part you clicked here for. Here are 5 great abandoned cart flows for eCommerce that we love.
1. Peak Design
What's good?
👌 Creative subject line and header
👌 Encourages prospects to reply. It's unlikely there will be a big take-up but in an age where contacting human beings (and not AI chatbots) is a rarity, it's a nice touch
👌Discount/free shipping/moneyback offer pushed to second email
👌Reminder of key selling points that remove friction (fast shipping, lifetime guarantee and easy returns)
👌Includes social proof
How it could be improved
🤔 As we saw above, adding a third email is worth thinking about
🤔 The copy and CTA on the second email could be clearer
🤔 A third email could explore the benefits and value and/or recommend other products
2. Savage X Fenty
What's good?
👌 Creative, on-brand copy
👌 Highlights scarcity
👌 They address potential problems with payment method
👌 Uses the VIP promotion to offer discount
👌 Includes product recommendations
How it could be improved
🤔 As with the previous example, adding a third email is worth thinking about
🤔 Unexpected costs are a top reason for carts being abandoned. Summing up costs in the emails is a good idea
🤔 Free returns or another form of guarantee could help
🤔 Whilst they mention the items are "selling fast", it feels disingenuous. Mentioning just how fast each item is selling would be more powerful
3. Jinx
What's good?
👌 Creative, on-brand copy
👌 Includes a moneyback guarantee
👌 They included testimonials for social proof
👌 A clear reminder of product benefits
👌 The emails are short and sweet
How it could be improved
🤔 Again, adding a third email is worth thinking about
🤔 It would be good to see a more detailed summary of the cart (including cost)
🤔 They could mention something on payment options in case that's a barrier
🤔 Product recommendations could work well
🤔 A third email could include a discount, free shipping or a bonus
4. black-lines
What's good?
👌 I love the header and subject. The body copy is also good
👌 Addresses delivery issues as a barrier
👌 Encourages readers to reply
👌 Simple and clear CTA
👌 The emails are short and sweet
How it could be improved
🤔 Again... why not include a third email?
🤔 There are no details on the abandoned cart (product, price, quantity etc.)
🤔 They could mention something on payment options in case that's a barrier
🤔 Product recommendations could work well
🤔 The third email could include a discount, free shipping or a bonus
🤔 The copy is good, but it is repeated word for word on the second email
5. Javy
What's good?
👌 I love the inclusion of the video in email #2
👌 Uses urgency in email 3 with a 12-hour countdown
👌 FINALLY, a three email series
👌 Simple and clear CTA
👌 The emails are short and sweet
How it could be improved
🤔 There are limited details on the abandoned cart
🤔 They could mention something on payment options in case that's a barrier
🤔 The third email could include a discount, free shipping or a bonus
🤔 It's missing testimonials and product recommendations
You made it to the bottom, well done. Got any questions or thoughts? Drop me a line: jamie@theinbox.club
All the best,
Jamie
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