Abandoned cart emails. On average, 69.99% of trolleys are abandoned without making a purchase (Source: Baymard Statistics 2022).

A fact that may seem worrying, but it is possible to improve it by acting on the causes with a correct marketing strategy.

In this article, we're going to analyze how you can set up a sequence to recover abandoned carts and increase sales.

We'll dive into some practical examples of how you can create an email sequence to recover abandoned carts. Shall we start?

To create a cart recovery email sequence, it is important to conduct an initial strategic analysis before proceeding with the writing of the emails.

‍The research phase is essential to propose content that can have an impact on the final conversion and help the user in the decision, during the purchase process.

In particular, the process that we usually use is the following:

1. Strategy for identifying the reasons and causes that could hinder you from buying (this step is essential)
2. Defining and writing an email sequence (we'll see several examples of emails)
3. Measurement of fundamental KPIs and subsequent optimization process

Step 1: Identify the reasons and causes that could hold you back from buying

It is important to start with a strategic analysis to identify the causes that could have resulted in the abandonment of the cart.

In particular, the most common reasons are usually:

1. Unexpected costs, especially shipping costs.

This phenomenon often happens during the checkout phase where the user sees any shipping costs.

In this regard, you could communicate the shipping costs:

• on the product page
• In the sticky bar at the top of the site
• in the cart, perhaps by adding a message that highlights that with “X euros more than the purchase” they could benefit from free shipping
• in the cart recovery email sequence, specifying above which purchase threshold it is possible to obtain free shipping.

In this way, the user is much less likely to discover shipping costs only in the final checkout phase and abandon the purchase for this reason.

2. Low trust in payment security or the product.

For this reason, it could be very interesting to communicate reassurances and details on payment methods in the cart recovery email sequence.

3. Concerns about the product and possible return.

Many times, before buying a product online, indecision reigns supreme because you could not see the product “live” and/or try it.

For example, when buying a pair of shoes, there is often doubt about the actual fit, size of the product and quality of the material.

In this case, the guarantee and/or return can be a fundamental element to increase the conversion rate of your store.

For example, the Velasca brand uses this form of guarantee for total customer satisfaction.

It is also useful to add this detail to the cart recovery email sequence to help the potential customer make a decision.

4. Lack of urgency when buying

One of the most frequent causes of 'rethinking' is the famous 'so much I can buy it tomorrow today'.

A product that can be purchased at a later date is not a priority. In this case, the trolley recovery sequence will be essential to get the user to complete his order.

5. General Concerns and FAQs

How many times do we have doubts about the product and abandon the purchase to avoid ordering the wrong product?

The customer care team can be very helpful in identifying all doubts and frequently asked questions.

6. Lack of social proof

Testimonials and elements of social proof are very important in the buying process both to inspire the potential customer but also to show that several other people have been satisfied with the purchase.

Phase 2: Design of the cart recovery email sequence (5+2 Template)

After identifying the causes that could hinder the purchase, it is important to proceed to insert these elements in the cart recovery email sequence.

In the next few lines, we will see examples of emails that you could adapt and use in your e-commerce.

1) Are you still thinking about it?

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Velasca was born with the idea of making a quality product such as handmade shoes made in Italy accessible to everyone.

He used this very simple and direct email to remember the product left in the cart and allows with a simple “click” to return to the shopping cart on the site and complete the order.

A concise and short email, like this one, to be sent “X hours” after the abandonment of the cart is a very useful and effective choice to return to the purchase

2) Do you have any doubts about the size?

Fillies and Boots is the only Italian brand to make custom-made calf boots.

We included this email in the cart recovery sequence because one of the most frequent doubts concerned precisely the choice of sizes.

In a customized product, or any product with measurements, one of the main brakes could be precisely the fear of making the wrong size.

Helping your potential customer choose sizes can be a very important element in increasing the store's conversion rate.

3) “The snacks you have chosen may run out soon”

Scarcity is a widely used and effective concept in marketing, as does American Uncle, the international candy, candy, beverage and snack store.

As you can see from the text of the email, it is specified that the products placed in the cart may run out of stock and therefore no longer be available.

This scarcity is a strong buying lever, which exploits the fear of losing the opportunity to enjoy these goodies.

4) Not sure which one to choose?

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If you have a store with more similar products, you are certainly in this scenario.

If you are in this situation, you could enter an email that explains the differences of the various products and guides you to the purchase.

Many times, one of the main causes of abandonment to purchase is precisely the indecision about multiple similar products.

Simplify the selection process to reduce indecision, the results will be very attractive!

5) Don't miss the chance of free shipping

As we have seen before, free shipping is one of the factors that can affect the abandonment of the purchase.

Rudy's sent a discount code to get free shipping in his email.

The use of the discount code, in addition to increasing the conversion rate, also allows you to track how many people are “sensitive” to shipping costs.

You could then, with a data driven approach, think about the trade off of the minimum order to obtain free shipping costs.

I conclude this roundup of examples with two other very interesting elements:

6) Testimonials and social proof

In the cart recovery email sequence, you could include an email with a series of images and video testimonials.

In addition to stimulating the desire to buy, they are an element of social proof that transmits trust and reduces the fear of making a wrong purchase.

7) Survey “why did you abandon this cart?”

Finally, it is interesting to include an email with a survey in the cart recovery sequence.

In the survey, you could investigate the reasons that led to the non-purchase by asking your potential customers directly.

Through this qualitative analysis, the feedback can be varied and you could obtain very valuable insights also regarding navigation on the site.

Phase 3. Monitor and Optimize

After launching the trolley recovery sequence, it is important to monitor performance.

The most important KPIs are:

• Open rate of individual emails
• The Click Rate: the percentage of people have clicked on the link or button inserted in the email
• Placed Order Rate: the percentage of orders placed
• Revenue generated

To optimize the sequence, some A/B tests can be implemented:

• on the sending time to increase the open rate
• on the text of the object to increase the open rate
• the design of the email to increase the Click Rate on the site

And many other tests regarding the order of the sequence and the text inserted in the email.

I wanted to conclude this article with 2+1 final bonus tips.

2 + 1 Bonus Tips

• Don't offer too many discounts.
  
  Discounts are a very powerful tool to stimulate purchases and create urgency, but they must be dosed.
  
  If your potential customer knows that there is an additional discount if they abandon the cart, they will likely interrupt their purchase specifically to take advantage of it.

• Build and prepare a bundle that helps the user choose, perhaps with a limited promo to create urgency. It can be very interesting both to convince the undecided, but also to increase the average order.

• If you're using Shopify, try the Klaviyo tool for your email marketing business. It integrates very effectively and has advanced features for marketing automation. It is an absolutely recommended tool!