4 Ways To Get Your Abandoned Cart Email Right

The abandoned email cart is a crucial tool in the armory of the marketer. It is shocking to hear that more than 75% of purchases are left in the cart and will either be forgotten altogether, deleted, or converted at some later date. As the Christmas season is here the idea of leaving conversion of the purchase to chance seems reckless; hence, you need to send a follow-up message to maximise the bottom-line income to your business.

Here we offer some hints and tips on what to include in this email to have the best chance of closing the sale.

Low Stock Alert!

One of the most potent psychological triggers in sales is the fear of missing out. When we are told there are only limited stocks, we feel pressure to make the decision quicker. We also know that with limited availability comes the idea that other people have bought it, and the product is highly desired.

Sending an email to your potential buyer, reminding them that they placed the item in their cart is a gentle, positive message. Add to this email your desire to ensure the customer doesn’t miss out, and you are doing them a service. You are helping them avoid disappointment rather than aggressively pressing them to complete the sale.

Setting the right tone in your abandoned cart email is essential. You do not want to appear like the overbearing salesman on the shop floor stalking a potential customer as they browse. Equally, you do not want to miss an opportunity to remind them of the desire they had to buy the product in the first place.

Be personal

While scarcity is by far the most successful strategy, you will also gain traction if you make the message personal to the customer. It is common now to use software to use the customer’s name at the start of the message and even in the subject line.

However, you should go a step further and use your content management software to send an image of the product that has been abandoned. It makes sense to remind the customer of the photograph that inspired them to press buy in the first place. It also means they do not have to remember what they were looking at on your site. Most of your potential clients won’t spare the time it takes to recall what they had browsed on your site.

Offer an incentive

Trickier, but effective, is the use of a promo code or a voucher as an incentive to buy. Money off the purchase is an obvious strategy for increasing motivation to buy. It is tricky because you do not want to plant the seed that you will always discount if the customer leaves a product in the cart for a while. Therefore, you need to sit down and formulate a clear discount and promotions strategy that allows you to make use of this incentive without causing future problems.

You might instead want to offer some friendly advice rather than a discount. You could point out that the customer might not have found what they are looking for, but you might have something more suitable. You could then suggest other products on your site. You could also offer testimonials from other customers to help them see the value in changing their mind – or maybe even sticking with the original purchase.

Call to Action

It is no surprise that a call to action is a useful device in any form of communication with your customer. However, the CTA in your abandoned cart email needs to be subtle. It needs to use the right tone, which should be one that encourages them to believe you are trying to be helpful rather than aggressive.

Oddly, you should avoid using the word “buy” in your call to action, as it feels too “salesy”. Instead, you need to lower the sense of commitment demanded of the customer. You might like to remind them to take another look at the product or to revisit the cart.  Remember, you are trying to form a relationship with this customer. As the individual has yet to complete the purchase, they have yet to show you that they trust you. Consequently, you need to keep the tone of voice gentle and, if it is within your brand voice, humorous.

Overall

The person who abandoned that cart would have a hundred and one motivations for having clicked away. They may have been rushed and didn’t have time to go through payment and confirmation. It might be they were browsing multiple sites for the same product and need reminding that they had considered you. Ultimately, your abandoned cart email needs to be a helpful reminder and a gentle encouragement to act.