WooCommerce abandoned cart emails are the only way to recover lost sales. Customers abandon their online shopping carts for a lot of reasons, such as distractions, technical problems, or simply changing their minds.
Whatever the reason, WooCommerce abandoned cart emails to remind and re-engage customers by giving them a slight nudge to complete their purchases. These personalized messages can help you recover lost sales and increase customer engagement.
This guide will teach you how to write effective abandoned cart emails and send them using the best abandoned cart plugins for your WooCommerce store. This blog will also provide you with all the steps to create your own WooCommerce Abandoned Cart Recovery Email Campaign.
Send abandoned cart emails using Retainful and recover upto 20% of the lost sales.
What is a WooCommerce abandoned cart email?
WooCommerce abandoned cart email is a term that refers to sending automated email reminders to customers who leave items in their carts without completing the purchase.
These emails typically include personalized content, enticing incentives, and a call-to-action, encouraging customers to return to the website and finalize their transactions. Using this strategy can significantly boost conversion rates and enhance overall revenue for the WooCommerce store.
Related reading: Learn about the reasons for cart abandonment and how to recover them.
Why should you send a WooCommerce Abandoned Cart email?
Sending WooCommerce abandoned cart emails is crucial for maximizing revenue and re-engaging potential customers. These automated messages remind users about items left in their carts, addressing common reasons for abandonment. Did you know that abandoned cart emails have a 41.8% open rate (Bigcommerce)?
When you send personalized WooCommerce cart abandonment emails, it fosters customer relationships, demonstrating a commitment to customer satisfaction. Ultimately, implementing abandoned cart emails is a strategic approach to recover potentially lost sales, optimize conversion rates, and enhance overall e-commerce profitability.
Related Reading: Discover 43 Brilliant Ways to Offer Discounts and Coupon Codes To Generate Sales for your eCommerce Store.
WooCommerce abandoned cart email conversion rates
A Klaviyo statistic shows that the success of WooCommerce abandoned cart emails depends on relevance and timing, with open rates at 41.18%, click rates at 9.50%, and $5.81 revenue per recipient. An ideal abandoned cart email series consists of 2-3 messages, generating the most revenue and maintaining strong open and click rates.
Subject lines play a pivotal role, with those subtly reminding customers about their abandoned items performing best, yielding a 47.67% open rate. Including coupons in cart abandonment emails enhances open rates (44.37%) and click-through rates (10.85%).
WooCommerce abandoned cart email compared to retargeting methods
WooCommerce abandoned cart email is compared to the following retargeting methods to show you how they triumph over other retargeting methods.
- Exit Intent Popup
- Remarketing Ads
- Push Notifications
- SMS Reminders
- Social Media Retargeting
- Custom Landing Pages
1. Exit intent popup
An exit intent popup shows up when a customer is about to leave the site to capture their attention. It often offers a discount, a special deal or prompts them to sign up for newsletters.
Both abandoned cart emails for WooCommerce and exit intent popups aim to re-engage customers. While popups are immediate, they are also intrusive and are not as effective as abandonment cart emails in conveying detailed product information.
2. Remarketing Ads
Remarketing ads involve displaying ads to users who have previously visited a website but left without completing a purchase. These ads can appear on various platforms and are designed to bring visitors back to the site.
These ads can keep the brand in front of the user, but they lack personalization, unlike WooCommerce abandoned cart recovery emails hence, they lack customer engagement.
3. Push Notifications
Push notifications are messages that pop up on a user’s device, often sent by mobile apps or websites. They can be used to remind users about abandoned carts and encourage them to complete the purchase.
While push notifications easily catch users’ attention, they are also intrusive and have a character limit, which wouldn’t allow much details and customization that an email sent for WooCommerce cart recovery would allow.
4. SMS Reminders
Similar to push notifications, SMS reminders involve sending text messages to users who have abandoned their carts, urging them to return and complete their purchase.
SMS messages have a high open rate, but they suffer from similar limitations as push notifications in terms of space and detailed information. Cart recovery emails in WooCommerce provide a more comprehensive platform for conveying product details and incentives.
5. Social Media Retargeting
This strategy involves showing targeted ads to users on social media platforms who have previously interacted with the brand’s website or abandoned their shopping carts.
Social media platforms are widely used, but the algorithm-driven nature of content delivery on these platforms means that not all users will see retargeting ads for abandoned carts.
6. Custom Landing Pages
Creating dedicated landing pages specifically designed for users who have abandoned their carts. These pages may include personalized offers or content to encourage users to complete their purchases.
Custom eCommerce landing pages can offer a unique and tailored experience, but they lack the direct reach that emails provide. Users might not revisit the website without a specific prompt, which emails can deliver.
Best Strategies to adopt when sending WooCommerce abandoned cart emails
The following are the best practices (with examples) to adopt when sending a WooCommerce abandoned cart email.
- Personalize the Email
- Catchy Subject Line
- Call to Action
- Create a sense of urgency
- Offer Incentives
- Use Social Proof
- Provide Assistance
- Remind them of the benefits
- Keep it Simple
- A/B testing WooCommerce abandoned cart emails
- WooCommerce abandoned cart email series
- Best time for sending WooCommerce Abandoned Cart emails
Personalize the email
Sending WooCommerce emails to recover abandoned carts with a touch of personalization is a great way to catch the attention of potential customers who have left items in their carts. Utilize their name in the email subject line and body to make the communication more tailored and engaging.
Something Navy has given a used personalization with just a simple copy and product recommendation based on the purchase history. The words “just for you” and “specially curated style” are bound to make the customer feel special. This builds brand loyalty and a sense of feeling included and this easily helps bring back the customers to finish the purchase.
Related Reading: Check out 7 Successful Abandoned Cart Email Examples to Bring Back Customers
Catchy Subject Line
When crafting Woocommerce emails for abandoned carts, keep in mind that the subject line is the first thing your customers will see. Therefore, it’s essential to make it catchy and attention-grabbing. Here are some examples:
- Oops, you forgot something! Complete your purchase now
- Don’t let this deal slip away! Finish your purchase
- We saved your cart for you – come back and complete your order
Call to Action
Your email’s main goal is to get customers to complete their purchase, so your call-to-action should be clear and direct. Here are some examples:
- Click here to complete your purchase now
- Finish your order and get [Offer] by clicking here
- Complete your purchase within the next 24 hours and get [Offer]
TOMS here has a short and straightforward email copy with a time constraint on the abandoned cart. When you give an ultimatum to your customers, it intrigues them to click on the CTA. Just place a bold CTA followed by a limited-time offer to get your customers to finish their purchase.
Create a sense of urgency
Implementing Woocommerce cart abandonment emails with a sense of urgency can help push potential customers to complete their purchases. Use phrases like “limited time offer” or “while supplies last” to make the customer feel like they might miss out if they don’t act quickly. Here are some examples:
- “Don’t miss out! Your items are in high demand and could sell out soon.”
- “Last chance to save! Our sale ends tonight at midnight.”
- “Hurry! Your cart is expiring in 24 hours. Complete your purchase now.”
Take a look at the above example. It has played a sense of urgency really well by using time-sensitive words like hurry, snag, going, and gone. The featured image is showing an image of a guy in a rush, all enthused to leave with the CotoPaxi bag. This is enough to grab the attention and instill urgency.
Related Reading: Discover the 10 Proven Ways to Convert Your Abandoned Cart Website Visitors Into Loyal Customers
Offer incentives
Offering incentives in your cart abandoned recovery emails in WooCommerce can be a great way to encourage customers to complete their purchases. You could offer a discount code or free shipping to entice them to come back and complete their purchase. Here are some examples:
- “We noticed you left something in your cart. Use the code CART10 at checkout to receive 10% off your order.”
- “Ready to complete your purchase? We’ll sweeten the deal with free shipping on all orders over $50.”
- “Don’t let your cart go to waste. Use code COMEBACK20 for 20% off your entire order.”
What did you see besides the cozy bedtime vibe in this email? Yes, the 10% off in the very first line. If your strategy is to grab attention by sweetening the deal with discounts, then don’t waste time writing a huge email copy. Just place the offer in the first line of the email.
Send multiple abandoned cart emails at well-timed intervals with Retainful’s pre-built workflows.
Use social proof
Incorporating social proof into your Woocommerce cart abandonment recovery emails can be a powerful way to encourage potential customers to complete their purchases. Showcase reviews from other customers who have purchased the same item or include ratings and reviews on the product page. Here are some examples:
- “See what our customers are saying: ‘This is the best product I’ve ever purchased!’ Don’t miss out on your chance to try it for yourself.”
- “Join the thousands of satisfied customers who have already completed their purchase. Complete your order now.”
- “Our products have been featured in top publications like Vogue and Forbes. Don’t miss out on the hottest trend of the season.”
First-time customers will feel hesitant to buy products. So they browse your website in curiosity and then abandon their carts. Just send them an email with a humble brag about how much your customers love your products. Just add the ratings you have received at the very top of the email, like Native here, to instill trust.
Related Reading: Learn How to Set the Perfect Abandoned Cart Email Template
Provide assistance
If a customer leaves items in their cart because of confusion or uncertainty, offering assistance can help them complete their purchase. For example:
Related Reading: Learn the 10 Best Ways to Reduce Abandoned Carts
Remind them of the benefits
At times, customers abandon their carts because they’re distracted or forgetful. Utilizing Woocommerce cart abandonment emails to remind them of the benefits of the products they left behind can motivate them to complete their purchase. For example:
Related Reading: Learn How to Check Abandoned Carts in WooCommerce.
Keep it simple
Finally, when crafting abandoned cart emails for WooCommerce, it’s essential to keep the email simple and easy to understand. Too much information or too many offers can overwhelm the customer and discourage them from completing their purchase. For example:
Related Reading: Learn How to Use Humor in Abandoned Cart Recovery Emails
A/B testing WooCommerce abandoned cart emails
In A/B testing WooCommerce cart abandonment emails, you’re comparing two versions to see which brings more success. Try different subject lines, images, or discounts. Send one version to some customers and the other to others. Analyze which email gets more people back to complete their purchase. Use the winning version to improve your email strategy and recover more abandoned carts. A/B testing helps find what works best for your customers and boosts sales.
WooCommerce abandoned cart email series
The number of WooCommerce abandoned cart emails to send depends on various factors, including your specific business, industry, and customer behavior. The common approach is to send 3 emails.
- Send the first email shortly after cart abandonment, serving as a reminder with item details and potential incentives.
- If unresponsive, follow up with a second email addressing concerns or offering a different incentive.
- A final reminder email, days later, can feature a significant discount or limited-time offer. Limit emails to avoid being intrusive; three emails are commonly effective.
For a more detailed read on How Many Abandoned Cart Emails You Should Send, click here.
Best time for sending WooCommerce Abandoned Cart emails
- Immediate Response: Send the first WooCommerce abandoned cart recovery email promptly, ideally within the first few hours after cart abandonment.
- Consider Time Zones: Schedule emails to align with peak activity hours in different time zones where your audience is located.
- A/B Testing: Experiment with different times of the day and days of the week to identify optimal sending times for your audience.
- Avoid Unsubscribe Peaks: Be mindful of when people are more likely to unsubscribe; avoid sending emails during late hours or busy commuting times.
- Weekday Preference: Choose weekdays, especially Tuesday through Thursday, which are generally considered effective for email engagement.
- Analyze Customer Behavior: Utilize embedded analytics to understand peak user activity, sending emails when customers are most active and likely to make purchasing decisions.
Related Reading: Learn How to Customize Email Content in WooCommerce?
WooCommerce abandoned cart email templates
Below are examples of abandoned cart email templates that you can incorporate into your email campaigns.
- Last chance email
- Offering assistance email
- Product recommendation email
- Showcasing reviews email
Last chance email
Offering assistance email
Product recommendation
Showcasing reviews
5 WooCommerce abandoned cart email examples
Check out the 5 WooCommerce abandoned cart email examples to get inspired to create your own.
- A simple reminder
- Social proof
- Strategic CTAs
- A classic incentive email
- Create FOMO
A simple reminder email
What catches your attention in Design Milk’s example of a WooCommerce abandoned cart recovery email? The clean and uncluttered template, right? Simple yet effective to keep the shopper from any distraction. Starts with a a neat banner image, followed by a friendly copy, a featured image, and a clear CTA. The flow of the email is so clear that it just shows how much the brand has understood about its shoppers.
This WooCommerce abandoned cart email template ends by assuring the customers about the free shipping, extended Holiday return and price-match guarantee. Just enough information to remove any online shopping anxiety.
Related Reading: Discover The 7 Best WooCommerce Email Marketing Plugins to Increase Engagement and Sales
Social proof
If your abandoned shopper is new to the store and is unsure, this WooCommerce cart recovery email here is the best example to build trust. The template only carries the social proof and a simple image of the abandoned item. It’s easy to read, and the bright CTA is hard to miss. Did you notice that the email doesn’t have a big email copy about the raving 5-star reviews they get? That’s a smart move. Be smart enough to brag but don’t overdo it.
Related Reading: Discover Why Product Images Should be Highlighted in your Abandoned Cart Recovery Emails?
Strategic CTAs
Loft here has shown an example of how to add a bit of mystery to the WooCommerce cart recovery email. Though it is one of the best practices to add the abandoned product image, you could also try once in a while by sending WooCommerce abandoned cart emails without images. Instead, just add a CTA to take them directly to their cart and checkout. This would stir their curiosity and make them want to see what’s in their cart.
A classic incentive email
S’well is a classic example of a WooCommerce abandoned cart email offering incentives to entice the shopper back to the store. The subject line “Your order status…” is intriguing enough to get the customer to open the email.
This abandoned cart email template for WooCommerce starts out all creative by blending the banner font with the product showcase, followed by the offer and the prominent CTA. The banner emphasizes the brand’s commitment to producing sustainable products. This would easily appeal to the environmentally conscious shoppers.
Create FOMO
You know, sometimes abandoned shoppers need a little ultimatum. Throw in a time constraint on your offer to create FOMO. This example from Shutterfly has created FOMO using a last date for a discount code followed by a CTA. This is bound to make the bargain-hunting abandoned shoppers use the discount code before the last date.
Related Reading: Discover The Ultimate Abandoned Cart Email Strategy for 2024 (Recover Lost Sales)
How to send WooCommerce Abandoned Cart email in Retainful?
Sending WooCommerce abandoned cart emails using Retainful involves 3 easy steps.
Follow the steps below to configure the abandoned cart email campaign workflow for WooCommerce.
1. Login to your Retainful dashboard.
2. Go to ‘Automation’ -> Create Workflow -> Choose ‘Abandoned Cart Recovery with dynamic coupon.’
3. Give a name to the workflow and click continue.
4. The abandoned cart email is triggered when a customer adds an item to the cart and goes to the checkout but doesn’t finish the purchase. These customers now become a part of the abandoned cart workflow. The trigger condition can be set based on a number of attributes such as product category, product ID, product name etc.,
5. The next step in the workflow is the wait condition. The default wait condition is 1 hour. You can customize it as per your needs.
You can see how many customers have entered the workflow on the left and how many have left the workflow by finishing their purchase. After an hour, the first abandoned cart of the series will be sent.
6. The next block on the abandoned cart email workflow is the “receives an email” block. Click on the block to edit the email content.
Use the drag-and-drop email editor to customize the email template. A unique recovery link is added to the CTA to take the customer directly to the cart.
7. The second email block comes next in the workflow. The default wait condition here is 1 day, which you can customize based on your needs.
This block lets you send coupons in the email. You can set the coupon to be percentage-based, amount-based, or free shipping. You can also set an expiry date for the coupons.
8. The third email block is the last of the blocks in the workflow. But if you want to add more emails to the series, Retainful lets you customize the workflow for that.
The third email is the last chance email that reminds the customer to complete the purchase before the expiry date of the coupon.
Check out the step-by-step video tutorial to learn how to create and set live an abandoned cart recovery workflow.
Get started with Retainful’s email automation and launch your WooCommerce abandoned cart email campaigns in minutes.
Conclusion
Now that we have seen the best practices, how to send using the best plugin, the best time to send, examples and templates, and how it is that WooCommerce abandoned cart emails outperform other retargeting methods, It’s not going to be an overnight win. You need to keep implementing the best practices and A/B test your strategies to refine them for the best results. Just strive for consistency, and you’ll see your WooCommerce abandoned cart turn into revenue.
If you want to know more about WooCommerce cart abandonment emails, give these blogs a read.
Abandoned cart emails can be highly effective in recovering lost sales, often prompting customers to complete their purchases.
Yes, you can send abandoned cart emails by using plugins like Retainful. The default abandoned cart email in eCommerce platforms has limited customization options. Retainful lets you customize every aspect of your abandoned cart email.
Trigger abandoned cart emails by installing Retainful and setting up automated rules to send emails every time a cart is abandoned.
A good abandoned cart email includes a personalized message, a reminder of the abandoned items, and, if possible, an incentive to encourage completion.
To recover abandoned carts in WooCommerce, set up abandoned cart emails and offer incentives using Retainful, and optimize your website for a smoother shopping experience.
To solve abandoned carts, implement automated email reminders with discounts and streamline the checkout process. Additionally, leverage retargeting strategies on various platforms to re-engage potential customers.
