Abandoned cart: tips and examples for writing effective follow-up emails

Turn abandoned carts into sales! In this article, we share with you our best practices for writing effective follow-up emails. You'll also find examples of abandoned cart emails.

The figure is huge: according to Fevad (Federation of e-commerce and distance selling), more than 70% of baskets filled online are abandoned before payment of the order.

At Growth Room, almost all of our customers have had this problem: high cart abandonment rates, conversion rates that are not taking off.

What are the causes of cart abandonment?

Several reasons can explain these cart abandonments: too high delivery costs, too long delivery times, too long delivery times, hidden additional costs, the obligation to create an account in advance or simply a payment page that is not clear enough or too suspicious (a form asking for too much personal information for example).

Afterwards, cart abandonment is not always linked to a “technical” problem. The cause may also simply be unavoidable. “I finally can't afford this little dress”, “I changed my mind, I really don't need this cream”, etc. Many personal reasons can also be taken into account.

Recall abandoned cart: tips and examples to boost your conversions

Whatever the cause of a cart abandonment, remember, however, that people went to your checkout page. And that is already a very good point! Remember that you need an average of 5 contact points before converting a lead into a customer. So all is not lost.

One of the solutions to transform it? The reminder by email.

In this article, we are going to share with you all our best practices for Write effective follow-up emails and boost your conversion rate. Of course, before sending an email, you will first have to correct the technical obstacles (form or creating an account that is too complex).

We will also give you some examples of reminder emails to do and especially not to do.

Why follow our advice?

Our Results Speak for Themselves : an opening rate of +23% of our emails. Generated 20% more sales per month on average.

Recall Abandoned Cart: Our Best Practices for Writing Emails That Convert

Sending a reminder email is good. “Hey hello, you forgot your item in your basket.”

But it still has to be well done!

All you have to do is tell your prospect that they have not validated their basket. In 99% of cases, he knows it. Moreover, a single email is not enough. As mentioned above, you have to reach a prospect several times in order for them to become a customer.

How many follow-up emails should I send after a cart abandonment?

At Growth Room, we recommend (in general) A sequence of 3 emails :

• A first email sent 30 minutes/1 hour after the cart was abandoned
• A second one at H+24
• A third at H+48. Note that the delay of this email must be “agile” according to the average duration between a visit and the purchase (example: if a user comes to buy 5 days after having purchased on average)

The idea is not to be too aggressive or too intrusive, but without falling into oblivion. As the other would say: out of sight, out of mind.

Writing “branded” emails

Emails should not look like simple emails. You have to integrate your graphic universe. The prospect must find your brand's DNA, as if they hadn't left your online store.

Take Care of Your Object

The object is the lifeblood. You must stand out and above all make the container want to click.

He must:

• Be identifiable. You need to know who you are at a glance. Be sure to identify your brand in the sender name and/or in the subject of your email
• Nice shorts. What do you do when you see an email subject that is too long? You delete it.
• Be specific. Avoid objects that are too mysterious. Get right to the point. Example: “You forgot your socks.”
• Be personalized. To increase your opening rates, feel free to personalize your object. Example: “Marine, you left your socks.”

Write a personalized email

Just like the subject, the content of your email should also be as personal as possible. “Hello Marine, I noticed that you were seduced by our socks...” Be careful, however, not to get too personal. It is not necessary to arouse fear and suspicion in consumers.

“Friendly” and targeted writing

Relaunching an abandoned cart is an opportunity to communicate directly to your prospects. Don't write a boating email. Show that you are there for them, that they matter to you.

Your writing should reflect your brand image. If you want to convey a dynamic and fun image, you will not be “flat out” in the content of your email. “Hi, you forgot your item in your basket. Here is your article (picture). If you change your mind, click here. See you soon.”

It must also reach your target. If you're targeting 20-somethings, you're not going to talk to them too formally. Use the tone of voice, a light, sometimes even quirky tone. If You Have Properly Identified and Dug your personas, You know exactly how to talk to them 😉

Relaunch abandoned cart: Propose an offer

As we saw earlier, the causes of cart abandonment are multiple. In your emails, you will therefore have to try to answer them.

Very often, it is a question of money linked to the delivery or the product itself. To Pass This Barrier, You Can Give Something. This practice is quite widespread in e-commerce and has proven its worth.

A few ideas:

• Offer delivery costs
• Offer a 10% discount on the product in question
• Give a small gift when ordering Example: a scrunchie or a small fabric pouch slipped into the package.
• Free express delivery

Obviously, the offer will be based on your business possibilities. Above all, you need to remain profitable.

Reassure

For hesitant people, integrate reinsurance elements:

• Testimonials from your customers
• Your rating on Trustpilot
• A contact if the person needs more information (show that you are available for them)
• Your social networks

Incentive

It's a fact: human beings want to do what everyone else does (well almost). In your email, also feel free to indicate how many other people have purchased your product in recent years.

You can also play on scarcity to encourage Internet users to buy. The rarer something is, the more you want it. FOMO for Fear of Missing Out (the fear of missing out in French) is particularly effective. If true, indicate that you will soon be out of stock and that they need to act quickly.

A clear call to action

Obviously, we must not forget the call to action, the famous CTA (Call to Action). It should be displayed clearly, as a CSS button rather than as a hyperlink.

Do not hesitate to test several of them: one sequence with CTA A and another with CTA B. It is then up to you to choose the most efficient one.

It's hard to get an idea of the perfect emails, even after listing a few best practices. To enlighten you, here is an example of an email that does not work and a sequence of emails that obtained very good results.

Reminder abandoned cart: example of an email to be improved

Here is a brand of period panties that we will not mention.

This email is direct but a bit too light. He is not really pushing to finalize his order. On the other hand, the CTA is clear and we have a reminder of the item in the basket.

This email needs to be improved.

Reminder abandoned cart: example of a successful email sequence

Here is a nice example with The Peluchery, a French e-commerce for handmade stuffed animals.

The brand has set up a sequence of 3 emails. This results in very high conversion rates, as you can see below:

Here is the sequence sent for each cart abandonment:

First email reminder:

The good points: personalization and humor. You can only smile when you read this email. The tone used reflects the brand.

Second email reminder:

The tone is always light, the message is clear and at the point, and the actionable element is free delivery.

Third and last email:

In the last email, we have a reminder of the offer (free delivery costs) and the reinsurance elements.

Remake Abandoned Cart: Example of an Email Sequence

After these examples, we are going to move on to create a sequence for a completely fictional brand, called Jolie Skin.

This company markets complete programs for acne-prone skin. It offers nutritional support combined with food supplements. Her belief: it all starts from within. Food hygiene is the key to healthy skin.

On the market for 2 years, it is facing a high cart abandonment rate: 71.8%.

To lower this rate, we will therefore write a sequence of reminder emails (3 in total).

Here is our idea that you can replicate according to your business.

Note that we didn't do the graphics 😉

Email number 1 (30 minutes after cart abandonment)

Purpose: {first name}, we offer you a nutritional assessment

Hello {first name},

We noticed that you did not complete your order.

You may have doubts about the effectiveness of our programs and/or you still have questions.

For this, we would like to offer you a free nutritional assessment over the phone with one of our nutritionists.

This assessment will allow you to know how the Jolie Skin program can help you fight your acne. At Jolie Skin, we believe it all starts from within. Happy Gut, Happy Skin!

All you need to do is click on the button below:

[Make an appointment]

Marine

Co-founder of Jolie Skin

👉 Here, we decided to offer a free nutritional assessment in order to remove doubts about the relevance of the programs.

Email 2 (24 hours later)

Purpose: {first name}, last days to take advantage of the free nutritional assessment!

Hello (first name),

You only have 48 hours left to do your free nutritional assessment with one of our nutritionists.

During this assessment, our nutritionist will take stock of your diet and tell you what habits to put in place to fight your small pimples and regain your ideal skin.

[Make an appointment]

Marine

Co-founder at Jolie Skin

👉 We have integrated an emergency in order to encourage the recipient to take the plunge.

Email 3 (48 hours later)

Purpose: {first name}, We Really Help You at Jolie Skin

Because it can be a bit complicated to make a decision, we wanted to present our commitments to you in more detail.

[I start my program]

• You are no longer alone with Jolie Skin. We truly support you and guide you in your new eating habits through our monthly consultations.
• Our application allows you to have personalized menus for each week, recipes that provide you with all the benefits for your skin.
• Our food supplements, developed by dermatologists, are made in France.

If you are still not convinced, we share with you the opinions of 3 Jolie Skin customers:

[2 customer reviews]

[I start my program]

Marine

Co-founder of Jolie Skin

👉 In this third reminder email, we provide elements of reassurance to reassure the person and encourage them to take action, namely to take their anti-acne program.

With our tips and examples, you have all the keys in hand to write superb follow-up emails.

Now it's up to you to turn your abandoned carts into sales!

If necessary, our copywriting experts are there to help you write optimized emails and boost your conversion rate. To find out more, go to our page Growth Content.

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