Abandoned cart emails are a critical win-back strategy for ecommerce brands. Simply put, abandoned cart emails are triggered when a shopper navigates away from a full cart on an ecommerce site. The email will remind the shopper of the items in the cart and usually offer some incentive to complete the purchase now. Winning back high-intent shoppers like those who abandon carts can lower the cost of new customer acquisition and create better connections with shoppers, but its important to remember to scale this with automation.

Email Automation for Abandoned Cart Emails

An automated abandoned-email campaign is set up once and then automatically sent to a specific individual when that person triggers a particular action. And when someone clearly has high purchase intent, it’s critical to capitalize on that as quickly as possible with automation. Automating abandoned cart emails aligns well with a broader automation strategy. After all, email marketing is still paramount to ecommerce. Abandoned cart emails have been shown to double the open rate and quadrupled the click-through rate. Not all abandoned cart emails are the same, however. These strategies offer insight into the right level of discount and personalization top performers are using.

Leading Abandoned Cart email strategies

There’s no one-size-fits-all email strategy for wrangling the ones that got away; so here are six tips to create emails your customers won’t forget.

Add User-Generated Content to Abandoned Cart Emails

Using customer photos and videos of products in abandoned cart emails helps promote products to shoppers through an authentic lens. User-generated content (UGC) shows real people interacting with that product, and inspires those viewing it to think about how they could incorporate the product into their daily lives. It also adds peer validation to help potential clients who can't touch and feel a product make a purchase with confidence.In the example below, Knockaround offers a product that should suit the customer and also shows a few photos of how people are wearing it. This will help customers imagine how the product will look on them.

Design Stunning Email Templates

We all know that great design can improve user experience and encourage action on your brand’s site. Abandoned cart emails are no exception. A skillfully designed abandoned cart email re-engages potential clients and helps them through the checkout process.

Don’t be afraid to test it out, restructuring emails with images and graphics. Compelling visuals will make your abandoned cart email template stand out and remind them that they left some items in their ecommerce shopping cart.

This abandoned cart email by Revel Nail fantastically integrates multiple call-to-action buttons, compelling brand statistics, and UGC.Here are some ideas for designing the perfect abandonment email:

• Employ clear and simple message
• Use a funny or intriguing catchphrase
• Feature images of the product the customer left behind
• Add a back-to-cart link or button
• Include customer reviews or photos reminding the shopper why that product is worth buying
• The abandoned products should take the center place of your email

Remind Shoppers of What They Left Behind with UGC

Believe it or not, your website users might have already forgotten about the products they left in their cart soon after perusing your site. Improve your abandoned cart email template with a compelling reminder, and don’t forget to add product information with detailed images.

It will make your emails personalized and remind users of what they are missing out on. Furthermore, it’s essential to pick an effective abandoned cart subject line to increase recovery conversions for each forgotten item.

Alo Yoga uses abandoned cart emails to showcase the specific products left behind, and includes relevant UGC encouraging customers to ‘shop the Instagram’ to see how others have worn the products.

Offer Shoppers Gifts

Everybody loves discounts, gifts, loyalty programs, free shipping, and other special offers. Consider using them in your abandoned cart emails to keep potential clients interested.

As high price is a common reason for cart abandonment, consider giving your buyer incentive through a discount coupon or free shipping. Including a discount code in all cart abandonment emails is a little risky. Here are a few observations on that front:

• By offering discounts to online shoppers, you run the risk of drawing a large segment of price-sensitive shoppers.
• Giving the same discount to everyone who abandons their shopping cart can ‘teach’ your clients to leave items in their carts and wait until your email with a discount.
• Free shipping or returns as part of your abandoned cart policy can hurt your sales in the long run.
• Giving a 10% discount is usually enough to recover most of your abandoned carts. Make smart decisions about abandoned carts.

Include Product Reviews and Ratings

Online users are looking for customer reviews and feedback before making a purchase.

• Reviews give third-party insights into the experience your product offers. When buying online, you don’t have a chance to feel and touch the product, so reviews are incredibly important.
• Reviews usually offer unbiased opinions buyers can rely on. Unlike product information, reviews are a trusted source of information for customers.
• Checking reviews is far easier than learning by trial and error.

If your potential clients are still too hesitant to buy from you, then a gentle push with a review added into your abandoned cart email template will do the trick.

Start today with abandoned cart emails implementing the techniques you’ve just learned. When you do it right, you can get significantly more customers to complete your checkout process. When a customer adds a product to their cart, it is the last step in your email funnel to help your customers finish their orders.

Skirmantas Venckus is a writer by day and reader by night. He hates talking about himself in the third person. He is also the growth hacker at Sender.net – the email marketing provider that is focused on user-friendliness, affordability, and utility.