Best Abandoned Cart Email Subject Lines to Increase Sales

Abandoned Cart Email Subject Lines For eCommerce

Most e-commerce businesses lose a lot of dollars each year in abandoned carts. No matter how optimized your e-commerce site is or how good your sales funnels are, you are probably losing a lot of money due to people leaving your e-commerce store before they make a purchase. Statistics show that the average cart abandonment rate across all industries is 69.57 Percent and mobile Users Have an Even Higher Abandonment Rate of 85.65 Percent.

These statistics show that a lot of online shoppers are abandoning their carts when they are shopping and the more people abandon their carts, the more revenue you are losing as a business owner. That’s why the abandoned cart email is a way to remind those customers that abandon their cart about the product they left behind and possibly to win them back. With millions of emails being sent daily, you should be able to come up with a great subject line to have a better chance of attracting your customers.

That’s why we have put together this article to guide you and help you craft the best possible abandoned cart email subject lines to help boost your email open rates.

What Is Cart Abandonment ?

Abandoned Cart Email Subject Lines For High Open Rate
Best Abandoned Cart Email Subject Lines to Increase Sales 5

In the field of digital marketing abandonment is a term used to describe a visitor on a website or a page on a website who leaves the page or website before completing the desired action. There are different kinds of abandonment in digital marketing which include booking abonnement, form abandonment, and cart abandonment. Cart abandonment is when customers add items to their online shopping cart but exit the website without making a purchase.

Any item that enters the shopping cart but never makes it through the transaction stage is considered to be “abandoned” by the shopper. For example, Jaime is browsing through your online store and he sees a smartphone he likes, he then added the phone to his online shopping cart, but then out of nowhere he just left your website without completing the purchase. Many factors might have led to Jaime leaving your website. It might be because of the payment options, the bad experience of your website or just distraction. So how do you get Jaime to purchase the phone after he has left your website? The answer is simple. Through abandonment email. Shopping cart abandonment is an important aspect of the online shopping process to which retailers pay careful attention.

What are Abandoned Cart Emails?

let’s say Jaime visits your website after seeing a 40% off sale email in his inbox. He finds the perfect phone at a super low price and adds it to his cart. However, when they see the $20 shipping costs, he disappointingly exits the site and goes back to browsing his inbox. This means Jaime has abandoned his cart due to the shipping cost. This is where the abandoned cart email comes in. An abandon cart email is a follow-up email reminding a shopper that they didn’t complete a purchase.

For example, you remind Jaime about the phone he is interested in, and then offer him a coupon for free shipping. Then Jaime returns to your website and happily buy the phone.

Why do Customers Abandon Their Carts?

1. High shipping costs  

Customers often abandon their carts when they see the high shipping cost. High shipping costs might discourage potential buyers when they see how much they have to pay to get their products to their respective destinations. Business owners can avoid this by offering free shipping coupons and discounts.  

2. Lack of payment options  

Customers do have preferences on which method they would like to pay. Some prefer to pay with a credit card, some might prefer third party integration payment, and some might even prefer to pay after delivery. They would only complete a purchase if their preferred method is presented. That’s why you have to choose an e-commerce platform that is integrated with the most popular methods such as PayPal.

3. Technical Issue or Error

When visitors experience a technical issue with your site, this might be a turnoff to them which might be a catalyst for them to leave your website without completing a purchase. For example, when customers experience a problem completing a form due to poor design or copy or when your website speed is slow, it can severely dent shoppers’ confidence, especially when this happens on the payment screen. Make sure your website is fully optimized for mobile devices and the site speed should be very fast. Overall make sure your website is sure friendly. The best thing is to ensure that your site can handle high volumes of traffic, and the extra traffic that may come during holidays,  Black Friday or other promos. 

4. Complexity 

Most online shoppers don’t have the time to start figuring out the order process or cycle of your website. They will abandon the checkout flow if it is too complex or time-consuming. The checkout process is about making it as easy and understanding for people as possible. This means that the checkout process shouldn’t be too hard.  Ensure that you have a good clear design, and form fields that are easily understood. You can use copy to explain form fields or deal with possible customer questions. One way to avoid this is by making the checkout process simpler and more understanding, so the average person will be able to purchase without any problem. 

5. Lack of trust

Trust is very important in any Business. If your customers or visitors have reason to worry about your site, they simply won’t risk entering their card details. You can improve this by building a professional website. There are various CMS platforms like WordPress, Shopify, Magento, Bigcommerce and Woocommerce among others that can successfully host your e-commerce website. Another thing you need to take care of is the site performance. Slow website speed will be a turnoff to visitors. Share testimonials and reviews from customers. This will likely boost their confidence when they read and see reviews from other customers. Clear contact details and customer service links will also go a long way.

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The importance of abandoned cart email subject lines

1. It acts as a Reminder For Your Shoppers

The main purpose of an abandoned cart email is to act as a reminder to the customer or visitor about the item they left behind. Most people always send the first abandoned cart email after an hour the customer left their website. This is to gain their attention before they start browsing another e-commerce store. Plus, it also helps to capture the attention of the customer when their memory is fresh. Research showed that the website leads go cold in just 90 minutes. So if you act fast, you might just recover the revenue left on the table.  

2. They help grab customer’s attention

Abandoned cart email subject lines help grab the attention of potential customers, attracting them to click and find out what’s inside the mail. The cart abandonment subject lines are what grab your reader’s attention because this is the first thing they see when they come across your mail. Statistics show that more than 47% of email recipients open the emails based on the subject line and abandoned cart emails recorded a 40% open rate on average than the typical marketing emails that have a 12% open rate. From these statistics, we can deduce that abandoned cart emails are much more impactful than normal marketing emails. However, the high volume of emails a person receives in a day has made email marketing competitive. So a good email subject line helps you stand out.

 Best Abandoned Cart Email Subject Lines

Best Abandoned Cart Email Subject Lines
Best Abandoned Cart Email Subject Lines to Increase Sales 6

1. “The Offer” Subject Lines

Some of your customers might have abandoned their cart because of high shipping costs, distractions, better deals and overall site experience. Sending them an offer subject line is one of the best ways of winning them back. You can do this by offering them a free shipping coupon, a discount on the price or offering them an exclusive membership to your premium content.

Even if the reason behind abandoning the cart was not related to the price, including your offer in the subject line can grab the customer’s attention.

For example,

  • Take 10% Off Your Cart Before It’s Gone!
  • Enjoy free shipping on your order
  • Hey James, here’s an X% discount on your cart
  • Check out this iPhone 12 now to receive free shipping
  • Here’s 20% off if you complete your order 
  • Act Fast to Get 15% Off Your Cart!
  • A special offer has been applied to your cart
  • Enjoy free shipping for all your orders this month.

2. Forgot Something’ Subject Lines

This is another type of abandonment cart email subject line that assumes that the visitor or customer is willing to buy the product and has already made up their mind, but was interrupted or distracted while checking out. This type of email ignores other conditions that might have caused the visitor to abandon the website like high shipment or lack of payment options. The email assumes that the customer was distracted. So if you have at one time left a product in your cart without purchase, you might have undoubtedly received an email with a subject line like:

  • Hey Jaime, it looks like you forgot your phone
  • Aren’t you forgetting something, Jaime?
  • Should we keep your shoes for you, Pete?
  • Don’t worry – we’ve saved your blender for you! 
  • Don’t forget about your iPod before it’s gone
  • You left something behind.
  • Heading out without checking out? 
  • Ooops, you forgot something. 

In addition to the above, you can also add some extra tips to get your readers to take action. Note that this type of email is usually sent about 24 hours after the first email.

  • We can only hold your Samsung galaxy A 52 for another 15 hours
  • We can’t keep your iPod on hold for you much longer
  • Not to worry: your sneakers are reserved for 2 hours
  • We’re down to our last few Samsung galaxy A72 remaining! 
  • The iPhone XR is getting snapped up fast! 

3. Personalized Subject Line

Statistics show that personalized subject lines can help boost your open rate by up to 20%. This is because they are highly relevant and instil curiosity in the readers. One way to do this is by adding the name of the recipient and including the item, they left in their cart to give off the impression of a “real” conversation. Try to keep it simple and not overdo it.

Here are some examples you can try out:

  • This is just for you, James.
  • Jason, complete your order now with just a simple click!
  • Dear Samson, take 1 minute to move your application forward
  • Vanessa, are you still thinking?
  • Hey Okoye, complete your purchase in just 1 click
  • Selena, did you leave this behind?
  • Hey John, your cart is expiring soon
  • Hi Matt, Seems like you left your sneakers behind!
  • Hey Jim, you seem to have a product in your cart!

4. Gentle Push Subject Line

You will agree that some shoppers just need a little push to go through the checkout page and finish their purchase. They just need a little nudge and convincing to go through with it. This email assumes that the buyer has already made up their mind and done the necessary research. All you need to do is give them a little push.

Here are a few examples to get you started: 

  • You’re this close! 
  • Finish it off with just a simple click
  • But… you’re already there! 
  • Keep Going!
  • Your item is just about to be shipped

5. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) Subject Lines

This subject line email is meant to persuade customers to take an action. It’s a psychological trick to get your customers to purchase by giving them a reason to feel like they are missing out. This not only induces a sense of urgency but also a fear of missing something big. So, marketers use these tactics to tell shoppers what they are missing if they don’t buy the abandoned product.

This also generates a sense of scarcity which also plays a very important role in boosting the email open rates of an abandoned cart email.

You can do this by creating urgency centred on the cart, on specific products and creating urgency on incentives.

Examples

  • 10 days left to get your Samsung galaxy A 72
  • 2 hours left to get the Product
  • Your cart is about to expire
  • Act Fast to Get 15% Off Your Cart!
  • Your raincoat is going: Complete your checkout now
  • Samsung A32 is almost sold out!
  • Only (Number) (Product) left in stock
  • Last Chance to get (Product)
  • (Product) in your cart: only [Number] left in stock
  • Your cart is expiring

Other abandoned cart subject line email

  • X% off (PRODUCT). Expires in 24 hours! 
  • Today only: X% off (PRODUCT)
  • Our final offer: Free shipping + X% off (PRODUCT)
  • At X% Off, (PRODUCT) Won’t Last Long
  • X% off exclusively for you, (NAME)
  • Hey (NAME), here’s an X% discount on your cart
  • An item in your cart is now X% off! 
  • Here’s X% off if you complete your order 
  • Here’s an X% coupon for (PRODUCT)
  • Get (PRODUCT) for X% off now!
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Abandon Cart Email subject line Best Practices

1. Limit the characters on your subject line

The length, or the word and character count, of your subject lines, will likely affect your open rates.  It’s important to convey your offer to shoppers with the right character count. While you don’t want your subject line to be too long, something too short might not give enough information about your email. Keep your subject lines short and sweet. You need to also consider optimizing your email subject line for mobile devices. Statistics show that 68% of people read emails on their smartphones. If your subject line is too long, it will get cut off on a mobile screen.

Keep your subject lines around six to 10 words and less than 43 characters to maximize your reach with shoppers, no matter how they’re consuming your brand’s email content.

2. Personalize your subject lines

The use of personalization in your email is one of the best ways to engage your audience. By personalizing your subject line, you will be able to stand out. As an e-commerce owner, you can personalize your subject line through profile properties and email segmentation. 

With profile properties, you can personalize based on the customer’s first name or the product they added to their cart, directly into your subject line. 

For example, you could ensure that all of your abandoned cart emails start with the shopper’s first name. You can say something like “James, you left your sneakers behind”.

Personalizing through email segmentation allows you to split your abandoned cart emails based on the lists your subscribers belong to. This type of personalization allows you to send completely different emails to people based on the conditions they qualify for. 

For example, you can segment and personalize based on location, age, gender, income and other preferences. Personalizing your subject lines can help you grab a shopper’s attention.

3. A/B test every abandoned cart email

One way to understand how your audience responds to your email is to A/B test your subject lines. By testing different elements like language and offer in your subject line and seeing which version your recipients respond to more, you can use those learnings to continuously iterate and improve your subject line strategy. For example, one brand’s customer demographic might skew younger and respond to emojis and acronyms, while another brand might target an older audience where the same strategy might not resonate as well. You need to test which works well for your audience.

4. Add An Offer in your abandoned cart email subject lines. 

Including an offer in your subject line is a great way of attracting customers and shoppers. Offering discounts or free shipping will get more people to open your email. After all, who doesn’t like an offer? Let subscribers know about the deal right away in your abandoned cart email subject lines. In terms of open rates:

Conclusion

When it comes to email marketing, subject lines are a fundamental part of its success. That is why it’s one of the strategies used by online marketers to target and retarget their customers. Email marketing is very effective when it comes to e-commerce, so it is very important to pay close attention to it. Your customers decide to open or delete your emails based on the subject line. By careful timing and keeping things simple and consistent, you can increase your open rates and revenue. I hope you find this article helpful and create eye-catching abandoned cart subject lines for your brand.

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