Email Marketing 101 for eCommerce: Abandoned Cart Emails

Hello, email marketing community! In this article, I will share one of the most effective abandoned cart flows I know. Believe it when I say I’ve tried many, and I know this one converts the best for my eCommerce clients. So, if you are looking for a B2B email marketing approach, stay tuned for upcoming articles! 

Let’s understand the concept of Abandoned Cart Emails. The best way to put it is that it includes whoever comes to your store and starts the purchase funnel, but abandons it midway. 

What is a purchase funnel? Quick Review.

It starts when the user visits your website, visits a specific product page, adds a product to cart, then starts checkout, (there are many variations on what can happen between starting checkout and purchase, as each checkout process is different for each company). Finally comes the purchase.

In the image below you can see how an eCommerce purchase funnel differs from a traditional marketing funnel.  

I’m glad we covered this because the abandoned cart email’s job is to bring people back to the funnel at their specific stage in the checkout process. 

Automation Tools

I use automation tools to trigger the abandoned cart flow. Some of those tools include Klaviyo, HubSpot, and Mailchimp, just to mention a few. 

Abandoned Cart Flow

First Email

The main things the abandoned cart email must have are the message, the links that reroute the user back to the purchase funnel, and a very clear call-to-action.

Second Email

While the first email is a simple invitation to return to their cart, the second email gives the incentive of a discount or gift. 

Third Email

On the third email we create a sense of urgency for the incentive we gave on the second email. Create the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) effect. 

Fourth Email – *Optional

This email is not mandatory, it really depends on whether your product is worth sending out a fourth email for. 

The sense of urgency in this email must have an ultimatum. The FOMO effect must be cranked to 500%. Consider adding an emotional response. 

Once the flow is over, it’s still not over. 

Fifth Email – *Optional but highly recommended. 

Some people don’t check their purchase funnel on a weekly or daily basis. In order to have a finger on the pulse of your purchase funnel (aka your revenue flow), you must do this!

There are issues that can happen in your funnel, for example, problems with payments or glitches in the system. 

This email essentially asks the client: We tried to get you to convert into a purchase but we couldn’t, let’s be friends and understand if you had any issue making your purchase. 

It’s the last push before you give up your sale.  

Whoever thinks that this strategy is too aggressive might reconsider if they give it a week to run. 

That being said, before you launch any email marketing automation you must make sure your sender domain is verified as well as your email address. You can read more about white-labeling your sender domain here. 

I hope you enjoyed this short glimpse into Abandoned Cart Email Marketing for eCommerce. If you want to read more about other flows that can accompany your email marketing strategy for eCommerce, have a look at Browse Abandonment Flows, Welcome Flows, and Birthday Flows, among other email marketing automations for eCommerce.

Any other topics you’d like to know more about? Leave a comment and let us know.