Abandoned shopping carts are a major pain point for ecommerce businesses. Studies show that over 80% of online shoppers abandon their carts without completing a purchase. With U.S. ecommerce sales reaching nearly $1 trillion in 2022, this customer behavior represents billions in lost revenue every year.
Implementing automated abandoned cart email workflows can help recover a significant portion of these lost sales. Industry research indicates that properly timed and personalized abandoned cart reminder emails have been found to recover up to 25% of abandoned carts. This automation complements other email marketing efforts to re-engage customers and drive higher conversion rates.
Why Cart Abandonment Happens
There are a variety of reasons that lead shoppers to abandon their online carts instead of completing the checkout process:
- Distractions - Customers often add items to their cart with the intent to purchase later, but life gets in the way and they forget to return.
- Still Shopping - Customers are still in research mode and want to compare options before deciding. Abandoned carts allow them to "bookmark" items for consideration.
- Checkout Issues - Technical problems, extra fees revealed at checkout, or a complicated/lengthy checkout process drives abandonment.
- Payment Concerns - Customers may have worries about the security of payment methods, or don't have their payment info handy.
- Shipping Costs - Many customers are sensitive to shipping fees. High or unclear shipping options often lead to abandoned carts.
For example, home goods site Wayfair found that free shipping thresholds over $49 led to a major increase in abandonment. After introducing free shipping on all orders, their recovery rate improved dramatically.
Identifying the primary abandonment triggers for your customers is key to addressing the problem.
Signals of At-Risk Customers
Luckily, analytics and customer data can uncover signals that indicate a customer is at high risk of abandonment:
- Increased time browsing without adding to cart
- High page views without purchases
- Adding items to cart then visiting other pages
- Getting through checkout but not completing purchase
- Checking shipping rates then leaving the site
Segmenting out customers demonstrating these high-risk behaviors allows brands to target them with timely and relevant automated campaigns.
Designing Effective Abandoned Cart Emails
To maximize the impact of automated abandoned cart emails:
- Send the first email within 1-3 hours after cart abandonment
- Follow up with additional emails every 1-3 days
- Offer exclusive discounts or free shipping to incentivize purchase
- Personalize the content and product recommendations
- Continually test and optimize to improve performance
Marketers should follow best practices with email copy, design, timing, and segmentation. For example, subject lines like "Your cart is still waiting!" tend to perform well according to OptinMonster testing.
Getting Started with Automation
Here are some tips to launch abandoned cart automations:
- Connect your email platform to your ecommerce site and CRM to access needed data.
- Start simple with a basic 1-3 email reminder sequence.
- Test variations in content, offers, timing, and segments to increase conversions.
- Focus on value by crafting emails that are helpful to customers.
Email service providers like Sensorpro make creating automated workflows easy with powerful built-in triggers, templates, and analytics. Their platform integrations and segmentation streamline abandoned cart automation.
The Power of Automation
Automating abandoned cart emails provides major advantages:
- Saves time by removing the need for manual reminders
- Increases revenue by recovering up to 25% more lost sales
- Improves deliverability with properly spaced, relevant emails
- Enhances customer experience with timely, personalized reminders
- Provides insights into what motivates customers to convert
With the right email marketing platform, automation allows brands to cost-effectively scale and streamline their abandoned cart recovery process.
Real Results
On average, automated abandoned cart emails help recover 15-25% of lost sales. Beyond revenue recovered, benefits include:
- Increased customer retention and loyalty
- Lower acquisition costs for existing customers
- Opportunities to integrate with loyalty programs
- More efficient marketing through segmentation
For example, outdoor retailer Backcountry found that their abandoned cart emails recovered $1 million annually. Automation allows brands to capture more revenue while also providing better experiences.
Start Recovering Lost Revenue
Abandoned carts lead to staggering amounts of lost sales that businesses must address. Implementing automated abandoned cart email workflows is proven to recover up to 25% of this missed revenue.
Solutions like Sensorpro make it easy to set up effective automations with powerful built-in triggers, templates, and analytics. Their platform integrations allow brands to connect customer and cart data for highly targeted campaigns.
Every ecommerce business should leverage abandoned cart automation. Don't leave money on the table unnecessarily - start capturing more sales today with timely and relevant reminder emails. Learn more about streamlining abandoned cart automation at Sensorpro.
