How to Create Efficient Cart Abandonment Flows with Email
Shopping cart abandonment is one of the biggest issues that eCommerce businesses face. This happens when an item is added to cart, but the customer fails to complete the transaction and ultimately leaves the website.
Today, the average cart abandonment rate across all industries is a whopping 69.57%, and the rate is even higher among mobile users at 86.65%. In total, eCommerce businesses lose over $18 billion in revenue annually because of this issue.
These and other stats show why it’s so important to combat this particular problem. One of the most effective means of doing so is to develop cart abandonment email flows.
A cart abandonment flow entails attempting to recover abandoned carts through emails. The flow begins when users initially abandon their cart and ends when customers actually complete their purchases.
To help you create the most efficient cart abandonment flow, the following is a guide to creating the perfect email campaign.
Develop a Series of Emails
The very first step you should take is to create an email series to send to potential customers after abandoning their cart. Your sequence should look something like this:
Customers receive an email reminder that they have items sitting in their cart, encouraging them to complete their order. In the process, you should show them the product and remind people of specifically what they were about to purchase.
Get customers to finish their purchase with a sense of urgency. For example, you might want to set a certain amount of time before items in people’s carts return to stock, in which case you can let people know they only have a short amount of time left to make their purchase. You may also have a limited number of a product available, which you can also indicate in your emails to encourage people to commit to a purchase.
Give customers an incentive to finish their orders. A couple of examples could include promo codes that provide a nice discount or free shipping.
Incorporate Dynamic Content
Dynamic email content is a great way to connect customers with their items. Your dynamic content should include images, pricing, product descriptions, and other details that are tailored to the customer. Using the right system, you’ll be able to track customers’ shopping carts to customize email content based on the items they abandoned.
In addition, make sure your email includes an enticing call-to-action (CTA) that takes users directly to their shopping cart to complete their purchase.
Time Your Emails Right
Once you start the cart abandonment flow, there should be a specific time delay in place. Otherwise, the first email might wind up in customers’ inboxes before they even have a chance to complete their order after adding items to their carts. Also, keep in mind that some may return to their cart within the same day or week, making it important to time your emails just right.
Generally, it’s often best to send an email reminder around two to four hours after someone initiates the checkout process, followed by another email the next day or a couple of days later. However, there is no universal time delay that works for every business. Instead, you may want to test different times to see which ones generate the best response.
Craft the Perfect Subject Lines
Your emails’ subject lines are the keys to their success. If you don’t grab people with your subject line, people won’t bother to open your emails.
In cart abandonment flows, your subject lines should be concise and get to the point quickly. Your subject line could include a message that imbues a sense of urgency, such as “Time is running out” or “These items are selling fast.” Others could include the benefit that customers experience when completing their order, such as a certain percentage off of their order or free shipping.
You can also use different types of subject lines for each email in your series. For instance, you could start with a simple reminder that asks customers if they’re ready to complete their order. Follow-up emails could then include messages that generate FOMO (fear of missing out) and include details about incentives.
Go Beyond Email Reminders
Email remains a highly effective means of communication, but it’s best to use multiple channels to connect with your customers. In addition to cart abandonment flows in email campaigns, you can send additional reminders in the form of SMS text messages, push notifications, or in-app or on-site messages. These methods will be particularly helpful in getting mobile customers back into your store to finish ordering.
While using several channels is ideal, you should also optimize the timing of these messages. Don’t launch an email and an SMS text message at once—spread them out and time them appropriately. For example, you could send an email initially, followed by a text or push notification a day or so later. You can then send another email reminder the following day. Again, there isn’t a specific time that works for every business, so try experimenting.
Conduct A/B Tests
To get the most from your cart abandonment flows, you must test them. Specifically, run A/B split tests that consist of a set of two different pieces of content with a single element changed. An example of this would be the type of content you include in your emails, with one email containing a particular CTA and the other using a different CTA. You can then run both and see which email performs best, which will let you know which variation to go with and which to drop from your campaigns.
The more you test your campaigns, the more you’ll be able to optimize and perfect them to yield the best achievable results.
Drive More Sales with Efficient Cart Abandonment Flows
With the help of these strategies, you’ll be able to get the most from your cart abandonment flows and encourage more sales. You’ll see a significant decrease in cart abandonment rates and more consistently maintain profitability as customers complete their purchases and actually commit to orders.
For more help with growing a successful eCommerce business, turn to Gray Growth Logistics. We can give your business the assistance it needs to flourish with email campaigns and other strategies. Contact us today to learn more about what we can do for you.