If you are wondering why your maximum amount of sales is locked in abandoned carts, don’t fret. Abandoned carts are a fact in the ecommerce world, but they are not the end.
You can always recover most of them if you are willing to engage the customers with a series of emails and nudge them to complete their purchases.
It is that simple. This blog will make it even simpler by providing you with all the steps to create your own WooCommerce Abandoned Cart Recovery Email Campaign.
Before diving into crafting and sending abandoned cart emails, let’s cover our basics.
Use Retainful to recover abandoned emails and increase sales – automatically.
What is a WooCommerce Abandoned Cart Email?
Abandoned cart emails are reminders sent to – you guessed it – customers who have added products to the shopping cart but failed to complete it. The purpose of this email is to encourage customers to visit the website and click the ‘Buy’ button.
By sending WooCommerce abandoned cart email, you are making the customers one step closer to finishing their purchase.
The staples for any cart abandonment emails are a CTA to take the customer to the cart and the image of products in the cart. On top of these, you can also provide discounts like free shipping.
A pressing question may arise in your mind while reading this – “How many abandoned cart emails should I send?”.
In order to increase the chance of WooCommerce abandoned cart recovery, you have to send a series of emails.
- Email 1 – A gentle reminder (After 2 hours)
- Email 2 – An incentive: offers and discounts (After 24 hours)
- Email 3 – Creating urgency (After 48 hours)
- Email 4 – A last-chance offer (After 5-7 days)
But does it matter if you send these emails or not? It is. Keep reading to understand why.
Why should you send WooCommerce Abandoned Cart email?
Abandoned cart emails have an open rate of 45% – more than any typical marketing email. Out of that, 11% resulted in the recovery of the cart.
These numbers tell us that the success rate of your abandoned cart email campaigns is huge and highly rewarding – all the more reason to start your abandoned cart email campaign now.
How to send WooCommerce Abandoned Cart email in Retainful?
With hundreds of WooCommerce plugins at your disposal, you don’t have to start from scratch. These plugins have pre-built workflows and email templates so that your abandoned cart email campaign can execute on its own.
Here, we give you a step-by-step guide for sending WooCommerce abandoned cart email using Retainful.
Step 1 – Installing the Retainful Plugin
First, go to your WordPress dashboard → Plugins → Add new. Search for the ‘Retainful’ plugin. Click “Install Now” to install and activate it.
Step 2 – Connecting your store with Retainful API.
After installation, connect your WooCommerce store with Retainful to start sending WooCommerce abandoned cart email.
To connect your store, you have to get the API Keys from the Retainful Dashboard. Go to Settings -> General. Copy your App ID and secret key.
With the App ID and secret key in your hand, go to WordPress Dashboard → Retainful. Under the Connection tab, enter the keys in the respective field and click “Connect.” You’ll see a successful connection message once the connection is established.
Step 3 – Creating the Abandoned cart recovery Workflow.
Here, we are gonna automate our abandoned cart recovery campaign using pre-built workflows. Pre-built workflows are pre-defined sequence of actions and instructions once defined, automatically send emails to the customers. This is how we can automate sending WooCommerce abandoned cart email.
To create a workflow, go to ‘Automation’ -> Create Workflow -> Choose ‘Abandoned Cart Recovery with dynamic coupon’
Give a name to your abandoned cart recovery workflow and click ‘Continue.’
Abandoned Carts are not a lost cause. Use Retainful’s pre-built workflows and templates to recover them.
Step 4 – Configuring the Abandoned cart recovery Workflow.
After creating the workflow, you will be taken to the page where you have to set the triggers, entry rules, customer rules, time delay, and edit the email content.
Setting the triggers and entry rule
You can find the ‘Trigger’ at the top of the workflow template. The trigger lets you determine when a customer can enter the workflow. By default, the trigger is set to allow anyone who starts checkout at your store to enter into the workflow.
Next comes the ‘Entry Rule’. It lets you restrict customers from entering the automation workflows if they have already entered the workflow. This way, you can prevent the customers from entering the same workflow twice.
To set up these parameters, click on the ‘Trigger’. You will see the settings on the right side.
To set the ‘Entry Rule,’ click on Entry Rule -> Add Rules.
Under the ‘Entry Rules’, select ‘Skip if the customer entered the workflow’ -> In the last. Enter the days and click on ‘Add’. This setting will prevent a customer from entering the workflow if he had already entered the workflow in the last 3 days.
You can change the values based on your requirements.
Click the ‘Save Rule’ button to add the Entry Rule to the workflow.
Setting the time delay for sending the email
Next comes the ‘Wait block’. You wouldn’t want to send the first abandoned cart recovery email the next minute it happens. The ideal time interval is 2 hours.
So, it’s necessary to have a ‘Wait’ block before the first email block. To ensure that the email will be sent after a specific time.
You can set the time delay as 2 Hours in the wait block. If the customer hasn’t completed the purchase within 2 hours, they will receive an abandoned cart email.
Editing the email content
Next in the row is the ‘Email block’. Click on the Email block to customize the abandoned cart email subject line, preview text, and email content.
Click on the “Edit Email Contents” button to edit the contents of the email. This will bring up the visual of the drag-and-drop email editor. It has various elements to customize the structure and content of the emails.
On top of that, it also has a special section for ‘Store Elements’. It has the option to include elements like Cart Summary blocks, cart items, and cart recovery URLs. These elements make the email relevant and compelling.
If you would like to change the email template, you can click on the ‘Change template’ button on the top left and select a template of your liking.
To change the Logo, click on the placeholder logo. On the right side of the panel, you will see the option to change the logo.
Just “double-click” on any content section to edit the default text on the email.
Testing the email
After the customization, return to the top of the email editor and click the ‘Send Test Email’ button to ensure all the content displays as expected in your inbox.
After the first email block, we have a ‘Wait’ block for ‘1’ day. It’s ideal to send the second email a day after the first email.
Adding dynamic coupons
Retainful plugin also has a coupon block that will generate a dynamic coupon. Send this dynamic coupon along with the WooCommerce abandoned cart email, motivating the customers to complete the purchase.
To configure the coupon, click the ‘Coupon’ block and select the type. Enter the coupon value, set the expiry date, and save it. Your coupons are good to go.
And before moving forward to the 3rd email block, we have the ‘Wait’ block set for 2 days.
Creating a series of emails
Sometimes, it takes more than one email to convince the customers to finish the purchase. We have to follow up with a series of emails, each having a different tone.
The ideal number of emails: It has been found that an effective abandoned carts recovery workflow should have 3 to 5 email reminders that can help recover at least 10 to 20% of lost sales. Each email should be well-timed and have sufficient time interval between them.
The ideal order of emails: Each WooCommerce abandoned cart email should focus on different aspects and tones. The first email should be a simple nudge or a reminder. The second email with a coupon to motivate. The third email should be a reminder of the coupon and social proof of your brand value or can create a sense of urgency.
You will have a second email block followed by the coupon block. In the email template, click on the coupon block; there will be coupon settings on the right side. Click the 1st option that says, ‘Use the coupon code generated by the coupon step.’
And you know the drill – edit your email content as per your preference and send it.
Don’t forget the ‘Wait’ block before moving forward to the 3rd email block. The ideal time to send the 3rd email is after 2 days of cart abandonment.
In the third email block, change the content, include a reminder of the coupon, and send it.
Here is how your workflow would look like.
At any stage, if the customer makes the purchase, they will immediately exit the workflow.
Step 5 – Going Live
Now, it is time to launch your WooCommerce abandoned cart email campaign. Click on the ‘Start Workflow’ on the top right to set live the workflow.
You made it. You have successfully created a workflow and are all set to send WooCommerce abandoned cart email. This is the power of the WooCommerce abandoned cart plugin – making the steps easier and simpler.
Top 3 Plugins to Send WooCommerce Abandoned Cart Email
There are countless plugins to make your job easier, and we have hand-picked the top 3 of them you can use to recover your abandoned carts.
Retainful
If you need a one-size-fits-all solution to your abandoned cart recovery, Retainful would be the best bet. The last part of the section stands as proof of how easy it is to start an abandoned cart recovery email campaign.
This WooCommerce abandoned cart recovery plugin is filled with a lot of valuable features like pre-built workflows, ready-to-use templates, and built-in analytics so you can automate every step of your campaign’s journey.
- A free version is available
- Starter at $19/month
- Growth plan at $49/month
- Professional plan at $199/month
Try this WooCommerce abandoned cart plugin and start experiencing its power in recovering carts.
WooCommerce Abandoned Cart Pro
Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce has useful features that help you send abandoned cart reminders via text, email, and messenger. You can also include discount codes that will encourage your customers to complete the purchase.
It also has pre-designed templates and popups. If you are looking for a decent WooCommerce abandoned cart recovery plugin, this one will make a good choice.
Pricing
- Starter: $59/yearly
- Business: $199/yearly
- Enterprise: $249/yearly
ShopMagic Abandoned Carts
This free add-on for WooCommerce can effectively track and recover your abandoned carts. You can use the WooCommerce abandoned cart email templates for WooCommerce with email marketing campaigns, newsletters, and cart recovery automation for free.
Additionally, ShopMagic Abandoned Carts tracks not only carts of registered but also guest users.
If you want additional features, opt for,
- Personal: $69 (supports 1 site)
- Professional: $99 (supports 25 sites)
If you are looking for a free WooCommerce abandoned cart plugin, this will be a good pick.
There you have it. The top 3 plugins to send your WooCommerce abandoned cart email and boost your sales.
Not all emails work. We have looked into some of the best-performing emails to identify what they do right. Here are some.
Best practices for sending WooCommerce Abandoned Cart email
Take these 5 nuggets of wisdom from us and craft your own compelling WooCommerce abandoned cart email.
- Be prompt. Send the first email within 2 hours to maximize the chance of recovery. Also, be mindful of the time intervals between the emails and their order, as discussed earlier.
- Personalize the email. An email copy with personalized elements is 26% more likely to be opened. Address the customer by their name, craft unique abandoned cart email subject lines based on the items in the cart, and include strong CTAs.
- Use quality product images. High-quality images capture the customer’s attention and vividly remind them of the items left in the cart. You can also highlight the products’ features.
- Provide an incentive. If you can’t win them with a reminder, offer them an incentive. For instance, shipping cost is one of the reasons for cart abandonment. So, you could offer a free shipping discount.
- Offer customer support. If any customer abandons the cart for genuine reasons, you wouldn’t want to miss that. Offer them customer support to sort their queries. Good customer support can increase customer loyalty too.
Ready to craft your abandoned cart emails? – Automate your WooCommerce abandoned cart email campaign using Retainful.
Wrapping Up!
Sending WooCommerce abandoned cart email is as easy as it gets. Treat this blog as a cheat sheet and start sending your abandoned cart emails. Don’t forget to follow the best practices to craft a compelling and well-performing email.
If you want to know more about WooCommerce abandoned cart email, give it a read to these blogs.
- How to Set the Perfect Abandoned Cart Email Template
- 7 Excellent Abandoned Cart Email Hacks For Your Ecommerce Store
- Best Abandoned Cart Email Subject Lines
To recover abandoned carts in WooCommerce, you can utilize automated email campaigns and plugins like Retainful, ShopMagic, and Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce. These plugins are filled with features for abandoned cart recovery. They send timely reminders and incentives, encouraging the customers to complete their purchases.
Abandoned cart emails are automatically triggered when a customer adds items to the cart but leaves the checkout without buying.
Apart from sending abandoned cart emails, you can do the following.
1. Provide multiple payment gateways
2. Simplify the checkout process
3. Display transparent pricing on product pages
4. Offer an easy return policy
5. Optimize the loading times of your store
6. Sett up exit-intent pop-ups.
Although WooCommerce doesn’t provide any feature to view abandoned carts, you can install a plugin to track and recover them. Many of the plugins come with in-built analytics that show a number of abandoned carts and recovered carts.
