Best Abandoned Cart Emails To Inspire You: Examples With Tips

The challenges that eCommerce businesses face in this highly competitive sector are countless. One of the most prevalent challenges is the problem of cart abandonment. To better illustrate, according to statistics, around $18 billion is lost to cart abandonment every year (Zippia, 2023).

Cart abandonment is defined as the situation where potential online customers add items to their shopping cart but then leave your eCommerce store without completing the transaction and making a purchase. As you can imagine, this is a very critical problem that can negatively impact your sales, profits, and revenues. That’s why your Cart Abandonment Rate is something that you should always keep an eye on.

The reasons why customers abandon their online shopping carts are numerous. However, fortunately, there are also many ways eCommerce stores can try to avoid the problem of cart abandonment and keep their cart abandonment rate in check. One of these ways is through Abandoned Cart Emails, which is the focus of this article. 

Abandoned Cart Emails represent an effective way to reach customers who have left items in their shopping carts and remind them of the purchase they intended to make but never did. In this article, we will show you some examples of the best cart abandonment emails to inspire you and motivate you to work on your own. 

Best 10 Abandoned Cart Emails Examples To Inspire You

1. Dollar Shave Club
2. Overtone
3. Dote
4. Columbia
5. Allbirds
6. Shinesty
7. Reformation
8. Glossier
9. Brooklinen
10. Home Alive Pets

There is no better way to learn how to create and implement a successful abandoned cart email campaign for your eCommerce store than watching how others do it. For that reason, in the following examples, we bring you all the inspiration you need to start your campaign. 

1- Dollar Shave Club

Source: shopify.com

Dollar Shave Club is an American company with an eCommerce store that sells razors and other personal grooming products. It also offers a monthly subscription service where customers can subscribe to receive one of their packages each month. The brand is known for its successful marketing campaigns, and as we can see, looks like it’s succeeding in abandoned cart emails too. 

Analysis Of The Email And Tips:

• Dollar Shave Club’s abandoned cart email used an unusual yet relevant and attractive call-to-action “Try the Club.” This CTA is relevant to the brand’s name and also gives customers the feeling that they are not just buying some razors from an online shop but joining a club where everyone is using the same high-quality razors. 

(Tip: Get creative with your CTA)

• The email did not just remind the customer of the items he added to the cart and forgot about; it also highlighted why this customer should go back and make the purchase. It presented these reasons in the form of bullet points so that they would be easy to read. These points included two of the things that usually attract customers the most: Free Shipping and Fast Delivery. 

(Tip: Openly tell your customers why they should go back)

• Dollar Shave Club made sure to remind its customer of its affordable prices by saying “... for a few bucks a month. No membership fees.”

(Tip: If your prices are your competitive advantage, make sure to highlight that)

• Finally, the email perfectly addressed a valid fear that the customer may have, which is the fear of not being satisfied enough with the product. It addressed it by reassuring the customer that, in case of dissatisfaction, the store would refund their money. 

(Tip: Think about the reasons why your customers might have abandoned the cart in the first place)

2- Overtone

Source: convertcart.com

Overtone is an eCommerce brand that sells products for hair care. In the previous image, we brought you one of their most attractive abandoned cart emails. 

Analysis Of The Email And Tips:

• Overtone’s abandoned cart email used a very attractive picture that shows a woman with colored pink hair. The woman in the picture is holding her pink hair and seems to be happy, which you can tell from the look in her eyes. 

(Tip: Use pictures that attract your customers and make them want to be as happy as those in the pictures)

• The email also used a very creative email copy. The headline said, “Get us out of your bag and into your hair.” Below the headline, the email said, “It might look nice on our site, but it’ll look even better on you.” These are all phrases that allow the brand to get closer to their customers.

(Tip: Talk to your customer in the abandoned cart email as if you are talking to a friend who liked something at your place, wanted to take it, but hesitated, and you want to convince them to come and get it)

• Overtone’s email did not forget the incentive. It offered a promo code with a 15% discount, which is a great marketing tactic.
• It utilized FOMO marketing through the phrase, “But you better hurry; it expires in 48 hours.”

(Tip: Adding a sense of urgency and scarcity in your abandoned cart email might increase the chances of your customer completing the purchase)

• At the end of the email, the brand mentioned some important points that differentiate it, such as its loyalty program, SMS service, blog, and free shipping policy. 

(Tip: Always highlight the things that differentiate your eCommerce brand)

3- Dote

Source: Hubspot.com

Dote is an online retailer that sells products from different clothing brands. It has a very successful mobile application, which makes it a part of the rising mobile commerce sector. However, its mobile app is not the only thing that can inspire you. They also send very creative and inspiring abandoned cart emails.

Analysis Of The Email And Tips:

• As you can see, the text of the email says, “Your shopping bag has abandonment issues. Save these items hours of therapy and give them a loving home!” This text is very unusual, which makes it a lot entertaining. It focuses on a psychological aspect by trying to make the customer feel that they are not just abandoning any random items but something that belongs to them and that they should take care of. 

(Tip: Do not forget to send an out-of-the-box abandoned cart email with an unusual email copy. It can make your email stand out.)

4- Columbia

Source: convertcart.com

The Columbia Sportswear Company is an American company that manufactures and distributes outerwear, sportswear, footwear, and other similar products. The brand works hard on its eCommerce store and even harder on decreasing its cart abandonment rate by putting effort into its abandoned cart email campaigns. 

Analysis Of The Email And Tips:

• The email included one of the best incentives that an eCommerce store can give to a customer who abandoned their cart: Price Reduction. The email started with an extremely eye-catching piece of text, “Great News! That gear you like? Its price just went down.”

(Tip: Study your customers and identify what kind of incentives would be more appealing to them)

• Notice the CTA used by the email after announcing the price reduction, “Reveal the new price.” It was a very smart move not to reveal the new price in the email and to include such a CTA that would take the customer back to the eCommerce store. Customers usually are not able to resist the curiosity of wanting to know how much the price got reduced and are very inclined to click on the CTA and go back to the website. 

(Tip: Do not reveal all your surprises and incentives in the abandoned cart email. Tell your customers just enough to make them go back to your online store to know more)

• Another thing that shows how smart the brand is is that it leveraged its abandoned cart email to implement cross-selling. As you can see, it added a section in the middle of the email titled, “You may also like.”
• Finally, the brand took advantage of this email to announce its Black Friday discounts. 

(Tip: Your abandoned cart emails can benefit you in other ways than just getting your customers to buy what they left in their carts)

5- Allbirds

Source: moosend.com

Allbirds is a New Zealand and American company with an eCommerce store that sells eco-friendly footwear and apparel. Let’s analyze one of their abandoned cart emails to see what’s special in it. 

Analysis Of The Email And Tips:

• The first thing we noticed in this email is their catchy headline “Don’t get cold feet.”
• Also, their use of the customer’s name “Hi Sophie” right before reminding her of what she left in her cart is very noticeable. 

(Tip: Do not underestimate the power of email personalization)

• We can also notice the brand’s use of scarcity marketing strategies by saying, “ Our limited edition colors and new products go quick, so don’t wait too long.”
• However, the most significant thing in this abandoned cart email is that the brand clearly explained its return and exchange policy in detail. That will give customers more courage to buy the products knowing they will still have a chance to return or exchange them with ease. Moreover, the brand ended its email with two icons labeled “Help” and “Contact Us” to show the customer that they can easily reach representatives from the brand. 

(Tip: Make your customers feel safe)

6- Shinesty

Source: drip.com

Shinesty is an American vintage clothing brand. We brought you one of their abandoned cart emails as an example because it is one of the most creative and distinct abandoned cart emails we’ve seen. Let’s see what’s special about it.

Analysis Of The Email And Tips:

• Instead of one email, Shinesty sends their customers a two-part email sequence that tells a story. Yes, you read that right: A STORY. How fun!

As you can see in the previous images, the first email had a subject line that said “You left your stuff at our place.” Notice how the email said “YOUR stuff” and not just “stuff” to make the customer feel that they left something that belonged to them. Moreover, notice how the email address “lost.n.found@shinesty.com” adds a nice relevant touch to the story. 

After that, the brand’s sense of humor appeared when it placed the items in the customer’s cart on a milk carton and asked them if they could identify any of these items.

The story written by Shinesty mainly revolves around the idea that someone named “Mike” stole your shopping cart and was trying to escape with it, but they caught him just in time. After that, they placed your items as “missing items” on a milk carton for you to identify. 

Before ending the first email, the brand includes a real picture of the clothing item with a CTA that said “Get Your Cart Back To Safety.”

Just like the email address, the brand took care of other small details in its story, like the P.S. at the end of the first email that said “If he took anything from it, let us know and we’ll get it all back in there for you.”

The second email in the sequence had a subject line that said “Found it” and was sent by someone named “Carter E. Covery” who plays the role of a private investigator in the story. 

At the end of the second email, there is another CTA labeled “Take Me To My Cart”.

Now this is what we call an outstanding abandoned cart email!

(Tips: Again, do not be afraid to think out of the box and create unusual emails. Do whatever it takes to make your abandoned cart emails stand out and be noticeable in your customer's inbox. 

Also, FUN is extremely important. Always show your customers that you do not just care about them buying the products but also care about them having fun.

Finally, take care of the small details.)

7- Reformation

Source: klientboost.com

Reformation is an American brand with an eCommerce store that sells sustainable women's clothing. One of their abandoned cart emails caught our eye, so we decided to analyze it with you. 

Analysis Of The Email And Tips:

• The brand uses creative and fun email copywriting. It playfully accuses its customer of checking it out and flirting with its products without making a move. Accordingly, one of the CTAs included in the email said, “Make A Move.” 

(Tip: Be Bold!)

8- Glossier

Source: optinmonster.com

Glossier is one of the most popular eCommerce brands that specializes in skincare, body care, makeup, and fragrances. The brand is known for its exceptional influencer marketing campaigns and its perfect utilization of user-generated content. These are all known facts about Glossier; nonetheless, what was surprising for us is that it’s also creating attractive abandoned cart emails. 

Analysis Of The Email And Tips:

• As usual, Glossier used a perfectly appealing and eye-catching picture in the email. 
• The email copy was brief, concise, and to the point, yet entertaining at the same time. 
• Glossier acknowledges the fact that this email is automatically triggered when a customer leaves items in their cart. 

(Tip: Honesty is always appreciated. Always be honest in your abandoned cart emails)

9- Brooklinen

Source: activecampaign.com

Brooklinen is a brand that sells bed sheets, blankets, pillows, and other similar products. Of course, we brought you this example because it has something different that all the other examples discussed in this article. 

Analysis Of The Email And Tips:

• Brooklinen uses customer testimonials to provide the customer who abandoned their cart with some of the social proof that they might need to complete the purchase. 

(Tip: Choose the form of social proof that suits you but always consider adding it to your abandoned cart emails)

• The headline of the email is also great because it addresses a problem that the customer might be having. 

(Tip: Always remind your customers that your products provide a solution to a problem they’re facing)

• We can also notice the 10% discount and the free shipping being used as incentives. 

10- Home Alive Pets

Source: mailerlite.com

Home Alive Pets is a Canadian eCommerce store that sells pet supplies. The previous image shows one of their cute abandoned cart emails, and yes, we are using the word “cute” because it is the best way to describe it. 

Analysis Of The Email And Tips:

• The email played on the emotional side of pet owners by using phrases such as “Don’t worry, we won’t tell your pet!” It also added pictures of cute puppies that customers might not be able to resist. 
• The sense of urgency also appeared in the email with the phrase “Go and complete your order now before your cart expires.”

(Tip: Think of ways to trigger emotions because emotions can make customers take actions)

Bottom Line:

Abandoned cart emails are a great way for an eCommerce store to lower their cart abandonment rates; and hence, increase their sales. In this article, we’ve seen that there are so many ways a brand can differentiate its abandoned cart email campaigns. What you should do now is review all the tips that we’ve mentioned in this article and start working on implementing them in your emails. 

Want a tool that can create, personalize, and automate these emails for you? Check out the marketing automation tool offered by Converted.in to see how much it can help you with that. Do not waste any time, and book your demo now.