How to Design a Killer Shopping Cart Recovery Campaign: Your Complete Guide (+ Real-World Examples)

67 of 100 potential customers will abandon an online shopping cart without purchasing, according to Baymard Institute.

In simpler words:

You’re losing tons of money due to cart abandonment every day. 

The good news is you can change that today.

How? 

Enter: a shopping cart recovery campaign. 

That is, sending one or several emails to the person who abandoned the cart as a reminder (or incentive) to continue their purchase.

VEDA, a fashion retail brand, reported thousands of dollars in additional sales after implementing recovery emails to their strategy.

That’s precisely why I decided to create this guide; to show you how to design a cart recovery email that works.

But first things first …

Why Do People Abandon Their Shopping Carts?

According to Statista, there are over 10 main reasons people abandon a cart. I highly recommend that you get through each of them, but in the meantime, I’ll show you the four more relevant ones:

• 5 out of 10 people said they abandoned a cart due to unexpected costs.
• 3 out of 10 people said they had no intention to buy; they were just browsing.
• 2 out of 10 people said they could not complete the purchase due to technical problems (website crashed, slow loading speed, etc.).
• 3 out of 10 people say they abandoned a cart because they found a lower price elsewhere.

Interesting, right?

The good news is you can use that information to design a more converting cart recovery email.

Here’s how:

1. Write a Catchy Subject Line

Did you know that 64% of people will open an email because of the subject line?

If you spend enough time on your email subject line, you can recover many lost carts.

But how can I do that, you ask?

Well, although there’s no exact science to creating converting subject lines, I’ve collected some data and examples that can give you a clue of what direction to follow:

First, I’ve found that if you keep your subject lines under 10 characters, 58% of people will open your email.

In addition, if you take the time to personalize that subject line, your email is 22.2% more likely to be opened.

The bottom line is if you combine both tactics, you can increase your open rate to 80.2% (which is a lot).

Of course, that number can vary depending on other factors, like your email provider’s delivery ratio, industry, and audience. Still, as long as you constantly test and experiment with each of the different words that convert, you’ll be ok.

Second, if you add at least two of the five C.U.R.V.E to your subject line, your open rates can improve considerably. 

C.U.R.V.E stands for:

• C = curiosity
• U = urgency
• R = relevancy
• V = value
• E = emotion

Remember, you only need to add two of the five, but make sure almost always to include either Relevancy or Value combined with one of the others.

In the example above, we can see that Lonely Planet used Relevancy and Emotion.

They started with “We miss you,” which evokes the sentiment of nostalgia and helps us see the human side of the brand. On the other side, they offered a 50% discount on their products, which added a lot of value.

They were precise about what you can find inside the email and added some emotion by using the word “special.”

Simple? Yes.

Effective? Also yes.

Related Reading; Everything you need to know about Drip Marketing.

2. Leverage Visuals

According to some studies, the brain processes visual content 60,000X faster than text. 

Moreover, recent surveys demonstrated that 4 out of 10 people would respond better to visual information than plain text. 

What does this mean for you?

If you add visual content to your email, you’ll increase your results.

There’s no “one-size-fits-all” image for recovery emails, though. So the best way to give you ideas is to see real-world examples.

Let’s retake Lonely Planet’s email:

That image says more than what a 1000 words could, and it lays it on thick with the text below: “Good to see you again!” and the promo code “WELCOMEBACK.”

Starbucks uses humor to remind you that you’ve forgotten something:

Who else relates to that image?

I know I do.

Whether it’s humor, nostalgia, or love, try to use images that evoke positive emotions and communicate a clear message. This way, your audience will better understand what you’re trying to say. 

Recommended tools; Piktochart & Canva

3. Use Concrete Copy

Here’s where you explain WHY you’re sending the email. 

First, you must be brief. Just tell them the reason why you’re emailing them and nothing more. 

Let’s see an example from Dick’s (a sporting goods store):

Pay attention to how simple that email is. They didn’t use fancy words or expensive designs.

It’s just a friendly reminder that you’ve forgotten something and –if you want– you can continue the purchase. 

Second, you need to be relevant.

How?

Simple. 

Speak your audience’s language.

Remember, the most crucial factor of copywriting is how well your message matches your audience’s worldview.

That’s why it’s so vital that you know your audience. 

Just take a look at how Adidas used that principle:

Adidas knows its audience mainly consists of athletes and sports enthusiasts, who are generally competitive and don’t like to lose.

They used the phrase: “We know you hate to lose. anything”

That simple statement makes the email much more compelling for the user because now they feel that the brand relates to them.

Related reading: Growth Hacking strategies for e-commerce.

4. Remind Them What They Abandoned

24% of people say they abandoned a cart due to a technical problem, which means they may have never wanted to leave the site in the first place. 

So the easiest (and quickest) way to get those customers back is by saving their carts and sending them a friendly reminder of what they left behind.

Just take a look at this email from BestBuy.com:

As you can see, it’s a simple email that shows you that you left a Nikon Camera in your cart. In addition, they added a link so you can easily continue your purchase.

5. Use Social Proof to Encourage Purchases

Before buying something, people generally want to look at what other people are saying about that product.

Studies discovered that 70 out of a hundred people look at product reviews or testimonials before making a purchase.

The bottom line?

Unless you’re a leader in the market and people already trust you, you’ll struggle with credibility. Adding reviews and/or testimonials of other shoppers will reduce the anxiety, concerns, doubts, or negative emotions people may have.

6. Make an Offer They Can’t Refuse

When people visit an online store and start adding products to their carts, they usually don’t consider taxes or shipping costs, so when they see the final price, it’s higher than expected.

So they abandon the cart.

What better way to incentive shoppers to continue their purchases than by reducing the actual price?

That’s what ProFlowers is doing:

They offer a 10% discount plus a complimentary glass if you decide to purchase the flowers you left on the cart. And although 10% might not be a considerable discount, it’s probably enough to cover either shipping costs or taxes.

But ProFlowers isn’t alone.

Levi’s also offers a 25% discount to cart abandoners:

As you can see, this is a great tactic to entice more shoppers to continue their purchases, and although you won’t make as much money as you usually do with each sale, you’ll definitely make more money in the long run.

Whether it’s a coupon code, a discount, free shipping, or even an extra product, make sure to include a special incentive. This way, you’ll alleviate any concerns your shoppers can have. 

7. Include a Benefit-Driven Call to Action

Last but not least, you need to add a call to action, something that clearly shows shoppers the next step.

First, CTAs that offer value increase conversions by almost 15%.

What do I mean by “value”? You ask.

Well, I’ve seen many CTAs that tell you what to do but don’t tell you what you’ll receive if you decide to take action. You’ll increase conversions by stating clear benefits in your CTA’s copy.

Let’s see an example:

They could have created a CTA that says only: “Buy Now,” Instead, they added more value by stating what you’ll get after clicking the button.

Second, you need to make your CTA more relevant.

Classic research have demonstrated that changing a single word can increase your conversions by up to 213.16%.

Test different versions of your CTAs. Try new words, different colors, and alternative placements. Doing so will help you find what works and what doesn’t.

Cart Abandonment Technology That Works

Seven years ago, launching a successful cart recovery campaign was really complicated — there wasn’t much information, and people had to create their software to do it.

Fortunately, now is much different. You can use plenty of tools to automate almost all the processes (at least the most complex and tedious parts).

Let’s look at some of the most popular tools available:

1. Klaviyo

Klaviyo is an email marketing solution that mainly focuses on providing in-depth customer data to its users to create more personalized and effective emails. 

The software processes enormous amounts of data in real time and uses that information to create more accurate campaigns.

Klaviyo can definitely change the way you approach email marketing.

2. CartStack

If you’re looking for software that exclusively specializes in recovering lost carts, then CartStack may be the best choice for you.

The software will help you understand why your prospective customers are leaving your site without completing the purchase. Then it will help you use that information to engage with them and turn them into customers.

CartStack is a simple tool that can drive massive results, and you can integrate it with the world’s leading cart platforms.

Keptify

Keptify is a three-in-one email marketing solution specializing in eCommerce sites. When you join CartRescuer you get:

1. Shopping cart abandonment solution
2. Smart surveys
3. Intelligent Pop-up offers 

That’s really helpful because instead of spending hundreds of dollars on different plugins and/or apps, you can get all you need in one place.

ReJoiner

What differentiates ReJoiner from other tools in the market is its capacity to intercept users at the right time in the email lifecycle, so you can retain your existing customers and turn abandoned carts into loyal buyers.

In addition, a dedicated team of eCommerce veterans will help you with any concerns you may have.

It has to be said:

ReJoiner isn’t the cheapest option, but it has one of the fanciest and most advanced lifecycle email software.

Your Turn!

As you can see, creating abandon cart emails is very straightforward and literally can double your revenue. Hopefully, this guide has given you all the information needed to launch your first campaign.

All you need to do is take action. 

What other elements do you consider essential to create an excellent abandon cart email?