Email Marketing: Sending Abandonment Messages

Online shopping carts are abandoned for a number of reasons. Maybe a customer has second thoughts, maybe a website times out, or—and let’s be real here—maybe the customer just got distracted by a cute animal video. Whatever the case might be, once you’ve connected your email marketing strategies to our CRM, there are plenty of integrations that make it easy to follow up and encourage your customers (If you have a list) to complete their purchase.

Send a follow-up email: After a would-be patron has navigated away from your store, a follow-up email helps keep your products fresh in their minds. Make it easy to jump back into the buying process so they can pick up where they left off. But, also make sure you’re sensitive to the timing. If you send immediately, there’s a chance you might annoy them or come across as desperate. If you wait too long, there’s a chance they’ll lose interest, forget why they wanted the item, or buy it from someone else. Many industry experts recommend sending this email within the first 24 hours after abandonment, but testing will help you identify what resonates with your customers.

Remind shoppers what they’ve abandoned: This may seem like a no-brainer, but when you send cart abandonment emails, don’t forget to clearly state the intention of the message and mention the actual items your customer left in their cart. Include a picture of each item, its price, and maybe even a brief description or a satisfaction guarantee. Your customer added the item to their cart for a reason, so give them a little nudge—without being pushy!—and remind them why they’ve got to have it.

Give customers another reason to come back: Sometimes, a reminder might not be enough. If a standard follow-up email (or 2) doesn’t do the trick, consider suggesting other similar items from the same category that might also interest the customers. Or, send them a coupon or other special offer that can be used for the purchase or redeemed after the purchase.

Your email send time can also have a big impact on your recipients’ decision to abandon their cart. By examining the time of day and day of week that are most successful for your email marketing campaigns, as well as the timing of unsubscribes, you can gain a more holistic view of your customer’s behavioral patterns.