How To Build Your Abandoned Cart Flow In Ecommerce
The Best Structure for a 5 Step Abandoned Cart flow To Recover Lost Sales
Your abandoned cart flow should be one of your top performing automated flows for your ecommerce brand.
Here’s how to structure it.
SMS 1 - quick Reminder
Time Delay: 15-30 minutes
Start with a gentle nudge to remind the customer about their abandoned cart. SMS is perfect for this due to its high open rate and immediacy.
Time Delay: 15 minutes
Email 1 - Simple Reminder
Time Delay: 45 minutes - 1 hour
This email should be straightforward and to the point. Remember, not everyone will be signed up for SMS. So again, keep this simple and to the point, with a large banner text (such as “Forgetting Something?” “You Forgot To Checkout” “Finish Your Order Here”, followed by a dynamic block based on what the person was looking at. No other distractions, just focus on ordering.
Subject Line Examples:
- “Did you forget something {{ first_name }}?”
- “Your cart is waiting for you!”
Email 2 - Reminder plus testimonials/ build FOMO
Time Delay: 24 Hours
This email is about building FOMO for your products. If you can filter this email to be product specific then great, otherwise, feature plenty of social proof to build trust in your brand, followed by a CTA to place their order.
Subject Lines Examples:
- “See what others are saying about [Product]!”
- “Don’t miss out on these rave reviews!”
- “Hurry! These items are popular.”
abandoned cart flow Email 3 - Checkout Expiring
Time Delay: 48 hours
Focus on increasing the urgency to buy by letting the customer know their cart will expire soon. Add a countdown timer for maximum effect. Send this to existing customers of your brand. Alternative angles can be focused on “limited stock” and to order before you run out.
Subject Lines Examples:
- “Your cart is about to expire!”
- “Last chance to complete your order!”
- “Don’t let these items slip away!”
Email 3b - Discount For People Who’ve Never Ordered
This email is for people who have never purchased from your brand. The discount is designed to push them over the line to buy. You can play around with where you put this email in your sequence, but we find that email 3 is a good sweet spot by leading with value first, instead of throwing discounts around immediately.
High Ticket Store? Highlight Financing Options in your abandoned cart flow
This is a good email angle for both campaigns and flows. Sometimes people don’t have the cash to pay right away, but they’re willing to pay with no interest payment options like Klarna.