Cart abandonment is one of the biggest challenges in ecommerce, but solvable with the right abandoned cart email.
Your potential customer got distracted, ran into unexpected costs, or just needed more time to decide, and they became part of the 70% of abandoned carts statistic. Luckily, your email strategy can guide them right back to checkout. You won’t suddenly convert all of them into customers and triple your sales, but you can win back thousands of dollars of revenue.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to create effective abandoned cart emails that recover lost sales. It includes proven examples from successful brands, best practices for timing and messaging, compliance requirements to keep your campaigns legal and effective, and exactly how to set up your cart abandonment email campaigns.
What is an abandoned cart email?
An abandoned cart email is an email sent to customers who have added products to their shopping cart but didn’t check out. The email is a friendly reminder to consumers who may have been distracted and stalled in the purchase process. It’s a remarkably effective customer retention tactic ecommerce stores use to increase revenue.
In fact, a report from Klaviyo reveals that businesses using cart recovery emails earn back 3.33% of lost sales (the highest of email flows), with an average revenue per recipient of $3.65.
This number alone doesn’t sound striking. But multiply that by thousands of abandoned carts over a year and it’s clear that abandoned cart emails can increase revenue. Considering 86% of internet users “second screen,” or use other devices while watching TV, distracted shoppers and abandoned carts are becoming a permanent part of the ecommerce landscape.
These trigger emails remind shoppers of what they left behind and encourage them to return and complete their purchase. Customize abandoned cart emails with coupon codes, product images, call to action (CTA) buttons, and more to get people back to the checkout page.

Industry benchmarks show that cart abandonment rates significantly vary across different retail verticals, for example:
- Luxury and jewelry: 82.84%
- Fashion and apparel: 78.53%
- Food and beverage: 63.62%
- Pet care and veterinary: 54.78%
Ecommerce websites both large and small can send cart abandonment emails to improve conversion rates and recover lost revenue. Using marketing automation software, you can even automate the process.
Best abandoned cart email examples
Now that you know what an abandoned cart email is, look at some top examples for inspiration.
Casper
Subject line: Did you forget something?
Casper sends cart abandonment emails after you leave anything behind on its website. The subject line, “Did you forget something?” piques buyer interest and invites a click. Once opened, the email uses the playful, catchy headline “COME BACK TO BED” to draw in buyers.

What works: Casper keeps its email clean and easy to read, with a clear CTA button that directs people back to the checkout process. The brand also includes testimonials in its emails to show its products are worth the investment and gives readers the opportunity to see more reviews, if that’s what they need. This combination of simplicity, social proof, and brand-consistent humor makes the email both functional and engaging.
Rudy’s
Subject line: Don’t let free shipping go to waste
Rudy’s sends a funny email follow-up as a part of its cart abandonment campaigns. The headline “Don’t put this off like a software update” is relatable. Most of its customers will know that if you don’t update your software, it can fail. The idea is that you don’t want bad things to happen if you skip buying your selected items.
Rudy’s also includes images of the products left behind and offers free shipping as a last-ditch effort to motivate customers to complete their purchase.

What works: The software update analogy resonates with tech-savvy customers and creates a gentle sense of urgency without being pushy. By highlighting the free shipping benefit in both the subject line and email body, Rudy’s removes a common barrier to purchase with a light, memorable tone.
Liquor Loot
Subject line: Your cart is sobering up
Liquor Loot’s shopping cart reminder is one of the more comical abandoned cart email examples. When a shopper leaves behind one of its subscription boxes, they receive a message with the subject line “Your cart is sobering up.” It’s witty and unusual, which can improve open rate and conversion rate, illustrating how humor can play an unexpected role in your abandoned cart email strategy.
The email opens with a question, then lists all the things you can do with the whisky inside the box. All the items are amusing, making viewers laugh and envision themselves using the items in these humorous ways. Liquor Loot wraps up with an FAQ section and CTA button that says “TREAT YOURSELF.”

What works: Liquor Loot’s brand personality shines through in every line, making the email feel personal rather than automated. The FAQ section addresses potential objections, while the funny product use cases make the purchase feel less like a transaction and more like joining in on the fun.
Nomad
Subject line: Nomad Gear is Selling Out Quick
Nomad’s abandoned cart email is another great example. The subject line gives viewers a fear of missing out (FOMO) feeling to get them to click. This is one of many emotional marketing strategies. The imagery is on brand and supported by playful copy, while explaining to viewers how to recover their cart.
The email also addresses a common customer pain point. Under the section "Afraid to Make The Leap?" the copy comforts readers by explaining Nomad’s return policy and two-year warranty. This offer also adds credibility to the email, showing that the brand stands behind its products.

What works: Nomad masterfully combines urgency with reassurance. The scarcity messaging in the subject line drives instant action, while their clear satisfaction guarantee removes risk from the purchase decision. Multiple CTA buttons throughout the email make it easy to convert at any point.
Dollar Shave Club
Subject line: Where did you go?
Dollar Shave Club is known for its witty and personable marketing campaigns, and its abandoned cart email series is no different. The subject line is short and gives readers a reason to explore it further.
Once shoppers open the email, bullet-point copy makes it easy to read and lists the reasons why Dollar Shave Club razors are good. The imagery shows exactly what you’ll get in the brand’s monthly box. Dollar Shave Club also offers a 100% money-back guarantee to clear any doubts and encourage readers to take advantage.

What works: Dollar Shave Club’s casual, conversational tone makes the email feel like a message from a friend. The bulleted benefits make key selling points scannable, while the visual of the unboxed product helps customers understand exactly what they’re getting. The guarantee eliminates the final barrier to purchase.
Abandoned cart email best practices
- Consider timing
- Offer a discount code
- Include social proof
- Reserve the items in the cart
- Test abandoned cart texts
- Remind them of what they’ve abandoned
- Use great email copy
- Include a call-to-action (CTA) button
- Optimize for mobile devices
Every abandoned cart email needs compelling copy and an easy way to get back to the cart, or a display of the abandoned items. Beyond that, here are a few best practices and tips for your abandoned cart email strategy.
Consider timing
The sooner you send an abandoned cart email, the better results you’ll get. That’s why you want to use a three-part series in your abandoned cart email strategy to capture the most revenue possible:
- First email, sent one hour after abandonment
- Second email, sent one day after abandonment
- Third email, sent three days after abandonment
Use your email marketing metrics to continuously refine your timing strategy. Determine when your emails see the highest engagement and adjust accordingly. Some brands find success with shorter intervals between emails, while others extend their sequences to five or even seven days for higher-value purchases.
Setting up an abandoned cart email sequence like the above is easy in Shopify Messaging. Learn more by reading this guide to automated email campaigns.
Offer a discount code
Many customers abandon their carts because the final price is more than what they expected.
When people think about how much they’re going to pay, they’re usually adding up the prices of each item in their cart. They don’t always consider unexpected shipping costs or taxes, and if they do, they often lowball the estimates.
That’s why one of the top reasons people abandon their cart is because extra costs were too high.
But there’s a simple way to recover the customers who have been scared away by the final price: issue a discount.
Alex Mill’s abandoned cart email subject line is clear: “Get Them For 15% Off!” Once you open the email, you’ll notice the items you left behind paired with this 15% off discount. The results? Likely a sale.

Discounts are easy to create. Simply decide on the amount, generate a discount code, and include it in the abandoned cart email.
However, consider implementing a tiered incentive strategy rather than leading with discounts in your first email. For example:
- Carts under $50 receive a simple reminder email with no discount
- Carts from $50 to $150 get areminder followed by a free shipping offer
- Carts over $150 receive a priority sequence with personal outreach from customer service
This approach achieves three goals: it recovers customers who were genuinely distracted and didn’t need an incentive, it preserves your profit margins, and it prevents training customers to abandon carts deliberately to receive discounts. Another option is to segment your discount strategy by cart value—offer more generous incentives for high-value carts and smaller incentives for lower-value purchases.
Now, you’ve got to decide carefully whether discounts make sense for your business. You know that a lot of customers are abandoning their carts, but no two stores face the exact same mix of reasons. You have a good chance of encouraging your customers to make their purchases after a discount or free shipping costs, but you also don’t want to lose too much in sales.
That’s a fine line to walk, and you have to decide if or how you offer your discounts. There’s no single right answer.
Learn more about creating effective promotional campaigns in our guide to email marketing best practices.
Include social proof
Social proof is one of your most influential marketing tools. It’s the best way to build trust with cart abandoners and can encourage them to complete their purchase.
Social proof makes people pause to check out what others have to say about a product. It gets them to take a chance with your brand because others are saying good things about it.
There are many types of social proof you can leverage in abandoned cart emails to build credibility and trust:
- Customer reviews and ratings. Display star ratings and brief testimonials specifically for the products in the abandoned cart. Authentic customer feedback addressing common concerns (fit, quality, durability) can overcome hesitation.
- Urgency statements. Messages like “347 people have this in their cart” or “Only three left in stock” create FOMO and motivate quick action. Just make sure these statements are accurate and updated in real time.
- Trust badges and certifications. Include security seals, money-back guarantees, or industry certifications to reassure hesitant buyers their purchase is safe and protected.
- User-generated photos. If customers have shared photos of your products on social media or in reviews, include these authentic images in your abandoned cart emails. Seeing real people using your products is more persuasive than professional product photography alone.
- Purchase statistics. Highlight how many customers have bought the same item (“Join more than 10,000 happy customers who own this bestseller”) to demonstrate popularity and satisfaction.
The key is to match the type of social proof to your brand and products. Luxury brands might emphasize expert endorsements and awards, while direct-to-consumer brands often perform better with customer reviews and user-generated content. Test different approaches to discover what resonates most with your audience.
Reserve the items in the cart
One way to take advantage of the scarcity effect is limiting the amount of time you’ll hold items in a customer’s cart.
Customers know that a small online store without super-sophisticated supply chains will frequently sell out of popular items. Knowing those items will be held for them may push them to buy.
The following email from Beardbrand informs shoppers items in their cart are reserved, but will expire soon. It uses this psychological trick to motivate people to buy before supply runs out.

Keep in mind this approach works best for products with genuine scarcity. It’s most effective for limited edition items, handmade products, or popular items that frequently sell out. If you’re using artificial scarcity for mass-produced items with abundant stock, customers may see through the tactic and lose trust in your brand.
If you do implement cart reservation, be authentic about it. Actually honor the reservation period you promise, and make sure your inventory system accurately reflects available stock. Nothing damages credibility faster than telling a customer their reserved items are held, only for those items to be sold to someone else during the reservation window.
Test abandoned cart texts
An abandoned cart text is similar to an abandoned cart email, but the message is sent to a person’s mobile device. It works because people are more likely to see an SMS push notification than an email in their inbox, which can lead to higher click-through rates and sales.
You can use data you collect about a shopper, such as name and the products they left behind, to personalize a text message. Some SMS marketing providers like ManyChat even let you include one-click links to bring customers back to a Shopify product page.
Remind them of what they’ve abandoned
It’s quite possible that after some time away, your customers might decide they do want to buy after all. It may take a few hours after abandonment and a friendly reminder email of what they saw in the items in the first place. Unlike the cold reach out of a standard business email, this is a warm lead.
Customers may leave behind abandoned carts for unexpected reasons. For example, an issue with an internet provider could have caused cart abandonment, and your customers may still want to buy. Saving their cart, or displaying the items that they planned to purchase, and sending it to them with a link is the easiest way to get those customers back.
Take a look at this example from American Giant. It’s a very simple message telling the customer what they’ve given up. Better yet, it gives a link to easily get back to their cart, skipping the registration page so they don’t have to provide their info all over again.

Here’s another recovery email that’s simple and effective from Perigold. It gets the point across quickly and even offers product recommendations further down the email to help people find other relevant products quickly and easily.

Use great email copy
Think of abandoned cart emails as a bonus marketing opportunity. You take care to make all your marketing materials compelling, and you shouldn’t slack off here. In addition, because of the purpose abandoned cart emails serve, they may be more aligned to welcome emails than what you’d normally send.
What are the ingredients for a good marketing email? An attention-grabbing subject line, great copy, and good images are all important. These next few emails excel at one or more of these areas.
One with great copy comes from Food52. In addition to showing your items and a link to your shopping cart, it takes a genuinely relatable approach to its cart abandonment emails. See: “Your Cart Called” and “It’s hoping you’ll come back and see it.” These phrases personalize the shopping cart and make you feel like you should go back and check in on a friend.

Take a look at this example from Huckberry:

Huckberry makes a different sort of appeal: “Our sales and inventory are often limited, and we can’t guarantee that the products left in your cart will still be available when you decide to pull the trigger.”
There’s a sense of urgency. If you really want those items, then you shouldn’t delay. Scarcity is a powerful psychological sales trigger that smart online retailers know to take advantage of. Customers are afraid that something they want to buy might sell out. Huckberry taps into that anxiety and urges its customers to buy soon.
Every online store on our list is using great copy, in addition to other tricks, to entice customers to go back to their cart and make the purchase. Learn more about writing effective email copy in our guide to email copywriting.
Include a call-to-action (CTA) button
A CTA button is the button you use in your email to guide viewers toward their cart. It’s the part of the email a viewer needs to click to take the action you want them to take. Call-to-action buttons vary in style, depending on your brand, but they all have the same goal: get people back to their shopping carts.
You can use a standard CTA like “Return to Cart” or “Shop Now.” Or you can get more creative and use a CTA like Society6 does with “Get My 30% Off.”

Aim to use a CTA button that’s action-packed and focused on benefits. Use verbs like “get,” “shop,” “claim,” or “complete” to motivate people to buy items in their cart. The best CTAs communicate clear value: “Complete My Order,” “Get Free Shipping,” or “Claim My Discount” are more compelling than generic “Click Here” or “Learn More” buttons.
Beyond the text, CTA design is crucial:
- Color. Your CTA button should contrast with the email background to stand out. Many brands use their brand color, but test whether a contrasting color (like orange or red for urgency) performs better. Consider those with color-blindness and other visual impairments when choosing these and other elements.
- Size. Make your CTA button large enough to tap easily on mobile devices—at least 44 by 44 pixels. Fingers are less precise than mouse cursors, so mobile-friendly button sizing is critical for conversions.
- Location. Include your primary CTA above the fold (visible without scrolling), then repeat it at the bottom of longer emails. For emails with multiple products, consider placing a CTA after each product section.
- White space. Surround your CTA with adequate white space so it stands out among other email elements.
Read: Accessible Marketing Explained: Key Design Principles + Tips
Optimize for mobile devices
Per Forbes, 41% of all emails are opened on mobile devices. A beautiful cart abandonment email on desktop that’s broken or frustrating to view on mobile will tank your chances of converting a potential customer, even with outstanding, compelling messaging.
It goes beyond responsive design. You need to ensure fast load times, thumb-friendly navigation, and how your email renders across different email clients and screen sizes.
Here’s how to do that:
- Single-column layout. Stack elements on top of each other, not side by side, to ensure there’s no horizontal scrolling.
- Compressed images. They should load fast and be either square or vertical. If they don’t load, the email must still make sense.
- Large, tappable buttons. CTA buttons need to be obvious and easy to tap. Make sure they lead directly back to the cart to remove any extra steps for the customer.
- Concise subject lines and preview text. You have around 40 characters for your subject line, and just as many for your preview text, before they’re truncated. Lead with the key message to use those characters well.
- Readable font sizes. Ensure a minimum 16 pixel size for your text so your recipients don’t have to zoom in to read.
Test your emails on actual mobile devices, both iOS and Android, and across different mobile clients like Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook, and Android apps to catch and fix any issues. Forbes also reports only 56% of marketers use mobile-friendly emails in their marketing strategy, so there’s an opportunity to provide a better experience than your competitors who don’t.
Setting up abandoned cart emails in Shopify
Shopify users can fully automate abandoned cart and product browse emails using Shopify’s marketing automations. The platform offers native tools and integrations that make it easy to set up effective cart recovery campaigns without tech expertise.
Using Shopify Messaging
Shopify Messaging is Shopify’s built-in email and SMS marketing tool that lets you create and send abandoned cart emails directly from your Shopify admin. It’s ideal for merchants who want a simple, integrated solution without managing a separate email marketing platform.
Here are key features of Shopify Messaging for abandoned carts:
- Pre-built automation templates. Get started quickly with professionally designed abandoned cart email templates that you can customize with your branding, copy, and product images.
- Automatic cart data syncing. Shopify automatically pulls abandoned cart data—including customer information, product details, images, and pricing—into your emails without manual setup.
- Segmentation capabilities. Target specific customer segments with tailored messages based on cart value, customer location, or purchase history.
- Built-in analytics. Track open rates, click-through rates, and revenue recovered directly in your Shopify dashboard alongside your other store metrics.
- Cost-effective pricing. Shopify includes 10,000 emails per month for free, making it an affordable option for smaller stores or those just starting with cart recovery.
To set up abandoned cart emails in Shopify Messaging:
- Navigate to Marketing > Automations in your Shopify admin.
- Select “Create automation” and choose the “Abandoned cart” template.
- Customize the email design, subject line, and copy.
- Set your timing (recommended: first email at 1 hour, second at 24 hours, third at 72 hours).
- Activate the automation.
Learn more about using Shopify’s native email tools in our comprehensive Shopify Messaging guide.
Shopify Messaging vs. email marketing apps
While Shopify Messaging is convenient and integrated, dedicated email marketing services like Klaviyo or Omnisend offer more advanced features for sophisticated cart recovery strategies:
When Shopify Messaging is sufficient:
- You’re just starting with email marketing
- Your store has straightforward cart recovery needs
- You send fewer than 10,000 emails per month
- You want everything managed in one platform
- Budget is a primary concern
Consider a dedicated email app when you:
- Need advanced segmentation and personalization
- Want predictive analytics and AI-powered send time optimization
- Require complex multichannel campaigns
- Need detailed attribution and revenue tracking beyond Shopify’s native analytics
- Want A/B testing capabilities for subject lines, content, and send times
- Send more than 10,000 emails per month and need more sophisticated automation
Many successful Shopify merchants start with Shopify Messaging and migrate to a dedicated platform as their email marketing needs become more complex. The good news is that most email marketing apps integrate seamlessly with Shopify, so you can switch without disrupting your cart recovery campaigns.
Integrating Klaviyo for advanced abandoned cart flows
Klaviyo is one of the most popular email marketing platforms for Shopify merchants, offering sophisticated abandoned cart recovery features that go beyond basic reminders.
Advanced Klaviyo features for abandoned cart emails include:
- Dynamic product blocks. Automatically populate your emails with products from each customer’s specific cart, including real-time pricing, inventory status, and product variants (size, color, etc.).
- Predictive analytics. Klaviyo’s AI can predict which customers are most likely to convert and adjust send times or incentive offers accordingly.
- Multichannel recovery. Coordinate abandoned cart emails with SMS messages, push notifications, and Facebook retargeting for a comprehensive recovery strategy.
- Advanced segmentation. Create highly targeted cart recovery campaigns based on dozens of data points: cart value, customer lifetime value, previous purchase behavior, browsing history, location, and more.
- Smart sending. Klaviyo automatically pauses emails to customers who’ve already completed their purchase, preventing awkward situations where someone receives a cart reminder after they’ve already purchased.
- Revenue attribution. See exactly how much revenue each abandoned cart email generates, allowing you to calculate ROI and optimize your sequence.
To integrate Klaviyo with Shopify:
- Install the Klaviyo app from the Shopify App Store.
- Connect your Shopify store to sync customer and product data
- Set up your abandoned cart flow using Klaviyo’s templates.
- Customize triggers, timing, and content for each email in your sequence.
- Add conditional splits to send different messages based on cart value or customer segments.
This level of sophistication requires more setup time but can significantly improve recovery rates and preserve profit margins.
Whether you use Shopify Messaging or a dedicated platform like Klaviyo, the most important factor is consistency. Set up your automation once, monitor performance regularly, and continuously optimize based on your results.
Compliance requirements for abandoned cart emails
Abandoned cart emails are highly effective, but just like all your emails, they must comply with email marketing regulations to avoid legal issues and email deliverability problems. Skipping this step might lead you to fines, email domain blacklisting, and damage to your brand reputation.
Regulations vary based on the location of your recipients. Here are crucial ones:
- European Union: GDPR and ePrivacy Directive. GDPR requires informed, specific, and unambiguous consent for processing personal data, which simply adding products to cart isn’t. Ask for explicit consent with a checkbox that isn’t pre-selected.
- United States: CAN-SPAM Act. You don’t need to get explicit consent for US recipients, but your emails need accurate “From” lines, physical addresses, non-deceptive subject lines, and prominent unsubscribe links.
- Canada: CASL. This is another strict regulation, requiring either explicit opt-in or implied consent through recent purchase or inquiry.
Here’s an easy checklist you can follow to stay compliant across these jurisdictions:
- Add clear opt-in email marketing checkboxes during checkout. Don’t use pre-checked boxes; let customers actively choose this option.
- Separate marketing from transactional emails. Transactional emails like order confirmations and shipping updates have different rules than promotional cart abandonment emails, so keep them separate.
- Include required information in every email. Clear unsubscribe link, physical address, and business identification are a must in every abandoned cart email footer.
- Honor unsubscribes. When someone unsubscribes from all marketing emails, make sure you remove them from cart recovery sequences.
- Keep track of consent. Maintain records of when and how customers consented to emails in case you need to prove compliance.
- Use double opt-in for strict jurisdictions. For EU and Canada, consider asking for email confirmation after initial signup to guarantee genuine consent.
- Review your privacy policy. Make sure it clearly explains your email marketing practices and ways to opt out.
- Work with compliant email service providers. Use platforms that understand and support compliance requirements with built-in tools for managing consent and unsubscribes.
Build compliance into your cart abandonment email strategy from the beginning—it’s way easier to start compliant than to fix compliance issues once you’re flagged or fined.
Focus on consent, transparency, and opt-out options. Grab your privacy policy with Shopify’s free privacy policy generator for an easy start.
Abandoned cart email templates
If you want a little more help on the creative side, check out the following free abandoned cart email templates:
- Free abandoned cart email templates by Omnisend
- 30+ best abandoned cart email templates by TargetBay
- Abandoned cart email templates by Stripo
Tips to keep in mind when adapting templates for your brand
Customize beyond just colors and logos
While it’s tempting to simply swap in your brand colors and logo, the most effective abandoned cart emails reflect your unique brand voice and value proposition. Rewrite the copy to match how your brand communicates, and adjust the imagery to showcase your products in a way that aligns with your brand positioning.
Match the template to your product type
A template designed for fashion marketing might not work well for electronics or home goods. Choose templates with layouts that complement your product photography and the number of items typically in abandoned carts.
Test on multiple email clients and devices
This is critical and often overlooked. A template that looks perfect in your email builder might render poorly in Gmail mobile app, Outlook, or Apple Mail. Before launching your abandoned cart campaign:
- Send test emails to yourself on multiple devices (smartphone, tablet, desktop)
- Check rendering in different email clients (Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, Yahoo)
- Test on both iOS and Android devices
- Verify that all links work and lead to the correct cart or product pages
- Confirm images load properly and aren’t blocked by default settings
- Check that the unsubscribe link is visible and functional
Most email marketing platforms offer testing tools or preview modes that simulate different email clients. Use these tools extensively, but also do manual testing by sending real emails to actual devices you use.
Optimize load times
Templates with too many images or large file sizes will load slowly, especially on mobile connections. If your template takes more than two to three seconds to fully load, recipients may abandon the email before even seeing your message.
Make sure it’s accessible
Use alt text for all images, maintain sufficient color contrast, and structure your HTML properly so screen readers can parse the content. Accessible emails don’t just help customers with disabilities—they also display better when images are blocked.
For more inspiration and best practices, explore this collection of email marketing examples across different industries and campaign types.
Recover more sales in your online store
Whether you’re an online marketer or ecommerce store owner, abandoned cart emails are crucial to increase sales. They are easy to set up and really should be something everyone does, given the high average shopping cart abandonment rate.
However, it’s important to understand that cart abandonment has multiple causes, and email recovery is just one piece of the puzzle. While a strong abandoned cart email sequence can recover 3% to 5% of lost sales, the remaining 95% to 97% of abandoned carts signal deeper issues with your checkout experience.
Common causes of cart abandonment include unexpected costs, complicated checkout process, security concerns, limited payment options, technical issues, and comparison shopping.
To truly reduce cart abandonment, combine strong email recovery campaigns with checkout improvements:
- Optimize your checkout experience. Simplify your checkout flow, offer guest checkout, display all costs upfront, and make sure your checkout pages load quickly on all devices.
- Build trust. Display security badges, highlight your return policy, showcase customer reviews, and offer multiple customer support channels.
- Expand payment options. Accept major credit cards, digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay), and buy now, pay later services (Shop Pay, Klarna, Afterpay) to accommodate different payment preferences.
- Be transparent about costs. Show estimated shipping costs on product pages when possible, and display all fees before customers start entering payment information.
- Test and optimize continuously. Use analytics to identify where customers drop off in your checkout flow, then test solutions to remove those friction points.
Read: Mobile Wallets: A Merchants Guide
Abandoned cart emails will recover some lost sales, but fixing the root causes of abandonment will prevent those sales from being lost in the first place. The most successful ecommerce businesses take a holistic approach: they send compelling cart recovery emails while simultaneously improving their checkout experience to minimize abandonment rates.
Learn from the pros above, implement both recovery emails and checkout optimizations, and get started recovering sales today. For more strategies on retaining customers and driving repeat purchases, check out Shopify’s guides to email newsletters and post-purchase emails.
Read more
- How To Source Products To Sell Online
- The Ultimate Guide To Dropshipping (2024)
- How To Write a Return Policy (+ Free Template) (2024)
- How to Create Your Shipping Policy (With a Template and Examples)
- The 13 Best Dropshipping Suppliers in 2024
- 30+ Shopping Cart Abandonment Statistics and Strategies for Recouping Lost Sales
- How To Create a Successful Affiliate Program
- The Ultimate Guide to International Ecommerce
- How to to Improve Ecommerce Customer Loyalty
- How to Segment Your Email List for Better ROI
Abandoned cart email FAQ
Do abandoned cart emails work?
Yes, abandoned cart emails work to recover lost sales. According to a benchmark by email service provider Klaviyo, businesses that use abandoned cart emails regain 3.33% of lost sales, with an average revenue per recipient of $3.65.
What should be written in an abandoned cart email?
Every abandoned cart email should include a reminder of the items left behind, actionable copy, and a call to action that motivates people to buy.
How many emails are in an abandoned cart sequence?
The standard abandoned cart email campaign has three emails: one that sends after the first hour, another after the first day, and a final email on the third day. But you can create any length of abandoned cart series you prefer.
Are abandoned cart emails legal?
Abandoned cart emails are legal when they comply with email marketing regulations like GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and CASL. The key requirements include obtaining proper consent before sending (especially for EU and Canadian customers), including an unsubscribe link in every email, providing your physical business address, and honoring opt-out requests promptly.
Working with compliant email service providers and consulting with legal professionals familiar with digital marketing regulations will help make sure your campaigns meet all requirements.
When should abandoned cart emails be sent?
Research proves the first abandoned cart email performs best when sent one hour after a customer abandons their cart. Sending too soon (in under 30 minutes) can feel pushy, and waiting too long means you’ll lose momentum.
Follow-up emails are typically sent at 24 hours and 72 hours after cart abandonment. Optimal timing varies by industry and product type, so be sure to test different timing intervals.


