Real-life brand abandoned cart email examples and what you can learn from them.
Irrespective of who your buyers are, what products you sell, the discounts you offer and the industry you are operating from, abandoned carts are a universal issue, and can hamper eCommerce business growth.
First you spend hundreds of dollars getting online shoppers to your website. And then you need to recover abandoned carts by further setting up retargeting and remarketing campaigns to bring them back.
But what if we said there was another strategy you can implement to recover these lost sales?
Abandoned cart emails can immensely make a difference as more than 40% of cart abandonment emails are sure to get opened.
Promising statistic, right?
But getting a consumer to open, click through and convert on your abandoned cart recovery email is easier said than done.
In this blog, we are going to share some of the best abandoned cart emails from real-life brands that can inspire your campaigns to win back customers.
What are abandoned cart emails?
Emails sent to customers who added items to their carts but haven’t completed the checkout process are known as abandoned cart emails. The goal of these emails is to leverage the interest and intent shown by an online shopper to bring them back to the website to complete a transaction and make a purchase from your store.
Note: To set up abandoned cart emails, you will need to automate them using the best email marketing apps.
50+ best abandoned cart email recovery examples
Here are some great examples from real-life brands using abandoned cart emails to bring back shoppers to their website:
1. Ugmonk
Ugmonk uses a text-only abandoned cart recovery email and this works especially because of how personal, helpful and proactive it is. They also provide customers with a means to start conversations with the brand, which is a great engagement tactic.
2. Madewell
The headline of Madewell’s abandoned cart email reads “These Look Good In Your Bag” with the tagline reading “But they would look even better on you.” A charmingly worded email with bold CTA, and a large product picture, together make for their sleek and effective abandoned cart email.
3. Bloomingdale’s
Bloomingdale’s cart recovery email makes use of their brand identity and reaffirms this by highlighting their popular “Big Brown Bags”. By creating a strong visual effect to reinforce their brand image, and using this to create a personal tone by saying “My Brown Bag”, they succeed in creating an appealing abandoned cart email.
4. Bearsville Soap Company
Bearsville has a very specific target audience and their abandoned cart emails are clearly aiming towards this. The email contains a bold play on words and uses theme-friendly emojis and visuals to recall their customers.
5. 23 And Me
23 And Me, has a very straightforward way of structuring their abandoned cart emails. It’s on point and does away with unnecessary information. The crisp CTA saying “Order Today” along with the last line offering customers space for further questions, make for a perfectly simple abandoned cart email.
6. Thrive Market
Thrive Market uses a minimalist straightforward approach for its cart recovery mail. But the best part about it is the comparison it offers with its competitors, to drive home the point that they have the best prices, by showing outright that by buying from them the customer is saving money. They also provide a coupon code in the end as a final cherry on the top.
7. Pacsun
With its abandoned cart emails, Pacsun evokes a sense of urgency and persuades the buyer to return to the cart. Urgency is a great way to drive your customers into action. This combined with the product image also helps reinforce the customer’s decision.
8. Prose
Prose combines a good tagline with an eye-catching CTA saying “Make My Custom Formula” and uses social proof, to successfully sell its promise of a personalized customer experience in its sleek and clever abandoned cart email.
9. Peel
Peel’s abandoned cart emails are about balance. They include wording that urges customers to act quickly, such as “Don’t wait too long!” and “Order today!” However, they choose not to use it as the header striking the right tone of being casual but persuasive. The free shipping offer is also a convincing tactic to bring back customers.
10. Whiskey Loot
Whiskey Loot attempts to bring back buyers by listing out what makes their products worth it, while providing important product information and building trust. The brand voice also shines through in their CTA that says “Treat Yourself”.
11. J. Crew
J. Crew’s brand personality says classy and so do their abandoned cart emails. Their email design aligns well with the brand’s theme and offers appealing visuals of the product while using the opportunity to promote new arrivals and more product categories.
12. Away
The popular luggage brand Away urges their customers towards the purchase by cleverly weaving the brand’s theme in its description to create intrigue. They also integrate referrals, links to newly arrived products and other tactics in their abandoned cart email, creating further sales potential.
13. Dyson
Dyson is another example where well-worded titles and sleek design combine for the perfect abandoned cart email. “All is not lost.” is a catchy title, and grabs interest right from the start. The sense of urgency is also properly utilised for maximum effect in this abandoned cart email example.
14. Quip
Quip plays it by their theme, and does this beautifully. With first order incentives and link to customer reviews, the strategy here is to earn trust and convince customers to buy using tempting rewards.
15. Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic uses three CTA buttons to encourage customers with their abandoned cart emails. They use engaging personalized text and provide important information relating to the purchase, allowing for hassle-free decision making for the customer.
16. Drop
Drop also utilises the “sense of urgency” tactics but without appearing too forceful. With the inclusion of product images, extended catalogue and effective copywriting, Drop’s abandoned cart emails are a good example of how it should be done.
17. Google
This example has everything in the right amount. Google’s abandoned cart email has good writing, personalized approach, perfect dose of urgency, space for further queries and a clean closing CTA.
18. NOMAD
NOMAD goes the extra mile to personalise the deals that they offer. Their email title reads: “What Happened?”, which combines personalization to their approach to show that they care.
19. Casper
Casper’s email has most of the effective aspects that we have seen so far, and additionally has a second CTA inviting customers to “Read more reviews.” This is especially a good tactic to convince customers who might be having second thoughts.
20. SugarBearHair
In this example, we see how brand colours and design can be used to reinforce brand identity in the abandoned cart email. The visual of a literal “cart” also is an intriguing element in the email that will work positively.
21. The North Face
The North Face combines loud creative visuals with minimal but unifying texts to create a simple yet persuasive abandoned cart email. The visual of a man rock climbing along with the title saying “You’re Almost There” is not just minimalist and clever, but also acts as an intriguing visual cue.
22. Overtone
Overtone’s email shows that nothing beats a well-written abandoned cart email. And the complimentary image also is striking enough to drive customers towards purchase.
23. Barkshop
Barkshop’s sole target is the dog-lovers community. Hence their abandoned cart email appeals to the emotions of its audience in order to win back lost sales. Don’t you just instantly want to click through this abandoned cart email example!
24. Puma
On-brand design and the prominent presence of brand colours, makes Puma’s abandoned cart email a well-crafted one. The “Find a store” option on top also adds to the engagement.
25. Doggyloot
Doggyloot sticks to the theme in the best possible way. The writing compliments the brand image without overdoing the whole “sticking to the theme” idea. Doggyloot’s abandoned cart email also focuses on customer retention, by providing links to deals and subscriptions.
26. Target
Here the strategy is to tempt with exciting prices and offers. Target’s email is also crafted in a way that it resembles its website, with large catalogues and navigation menus. This is both a different and innovative way of designing abandoned cart emails.
27. Dote
What strikes the most about this cart recovery email is its sense of humour. By fusing humour into the rest of the elements of the email, Dote entertains, which is a strategy that is bound to succeed. Love a good copy is why this is one of the best abandoned cart email examples!
28. Haoma
This popular Luxury brand tries to reassure their buyers about their choice, by offering answers to any queries they have instead of asking them directly to finish the purchase. This reflects positively on the brand and increases the chance of gaining the sales with their abandoned cart emails.
29. Moschino
This is another example where elegant and edgy images do the job. Moschino’s abandoned cart recovery email features a monochrome image that is more of a statement than mere graphics. Shows how even luxury brands use abandoned cart email examples!
30. Jessops
What is a camera retailer’s email without a beautiful snap? The brand sells its photography theme well in their abandoned cart email design. The free delivery option acts as a reliable sidekick, while the image and title saying “Snap Up Your Basket” holds most of the allure.
31. Mango
Mango knows that loud and on-the-face is not a strategy you need all the time. Here the design is minimalist and with a tinge of urgency, it becomes a subtle and effective cart recovery email. We really like a to-the-point abandoned cart email example!
32. Luno
This is one of the most effective abandoned cart email instances we’ve seen so far because of Luno’s thoughtful and focused design and copywriting. It builds a sense of excitement by effectively using sentences like “Going camping soon?” to communicate to its audience of outdoorsmen.
33. Le Puzz
Le Puzz has a very energetic, inviting and persuasive way of wording their cart recovery emails. Its playful tone blends well with the brand colours used here, and hence captures the essence of what the brand represents.
34. ThredUP
ThredUp keeps the product from the cart as its central focus, and uses the formula of humour to bring back customers. The offer code on top is also a tried and tested bait that increases the effectiveness of this email.
35. Bonobos
Bonobos not only uses minimalism in the overall design but also the central graphics in their abandoned cart email. This is another example of “subtlety meets style”.
36. Asos
In this example one of the obvious positives is its design. The mail is broken into clear uncluttered sections and the image is at the locus of it. The email also gives customers a reminder that the delivery is free and returns are simple, making the deal even more irresistible. We love this abandoned cart email example!
37. Nordstorm
The stylized fonts and experimental colours used in this example needs a good taste to be pulled off, and Nordstorm manages to do so. Here too the highlighted benefits acts as a good last nudge to convince customers.
38. Dollar Shave Club
In Dollar Shave Club’s abandoned cart email the casual tone of the text is the major highlight. This mixed with the unique intro to the customer testimonials, forms a perfect magnetic effect. This is an abandoned cart email example that speaks considerably of Dollar Shave Club’s excellent marketing.
39. Heyneedle
Heyneedle plays on the “Offer a discount” tactics to the fullest; literally. Nothing can be more tempting than a loud and proud discount offer placed at the centre of a cart recovery mail, in all of its glory.
40. Columbia
This sportswear brand’s cart recovery email attempts to recall customers with price drop alerts written in big bold letters. This is a strategy that has been proven effective time and again and here too it easily increases the chance of recovering sales abandoned carts.
41. Society 6
FOMO can be induced in many ways and here it comes with a sense of reciprocatory obligation. By reserving the cart for 48 hours, Society 6 conveys a sense of helping out the customer while creating urgency.
42. Chewy
Convenient shopping experience is a good enough motivator for many customers. By offering the first auto-shipping with a 20% discount, Chewy invites customers to an incentivized, smoother and hassle-free purchase experience and that’s why it’s on our list of abandoned cart email examples!
43. Adidas
Adidas, the global sports brand, keeps its customers at the centre by offering them product customization options in their cart recovery emails. The store finder option is also a clever inclusion for solidifying brand perception.
44. Food52
The best part about this one is that every aspect here is thought through and placed with precision to minimise clutter. Instead of overloading the email with information, Food52 opts for sleek and stylish design, which always communicates better in marketing.
45. Jack Wills
Jack Wills has a thorough abandoned cart email that includes all the relevant details, such as the item name, size, colour, sales price, a promotion for free delivery, and a link to the cart page. The product info displayed here is crucial as it lets customers finalise on their purchase decision.
46. Rudy’s Barbershop
Rudy’s Barbershop’s email features the perfect formula for blending FOMO, customer psychology and incentivization with witty copywriting. A BINGO when it comes to abandoned cart emails.
47. Brooklinen
A good abandoned cart email has to pick all the right strings with the abandoner. Brooklinen does this with the playful and personal tone of its writing. And good copywriting never goes wrong.
48. Micheals Stores
Micheal’s recognises how complicated pricing can lead to losing sales. They solve this by providing alternative and easy financing options, and reel in customers who have abandoned their shopping carts.
49. Alex Mill
So far we have seen minimalism in design, but here the abandoned cart email employs minimalism in the text as well. Each sentence is measured and placed, stripping away anything that’s unnecessary, making this a unique example.
50. ASICS
This is another example of using minimal texts. ASICS’ email lets the images do most of the convincing while garnishing the mail with simple CTAs.
51. Huckberry
The title of Huckleberry’s email is simply two words: “Heads Up!”. This grabs attention and then makes way for a simple template with an accessible CTA and product image with pricing. Another simple yet persuasive email.
Time to get inspired by these abandoned cart email examples!
In most cases, customers abandon carts without actually meaning to do it. And for a good business, one shouldn’t be missing out on these sales. Abandoned cart emails can win them back with a simple reminder. Creating abandoned cart emails is undoubtedly a crucial part of your email marketing strategy.
Now that you have had enough inspiration, start levelling up your email marketing tactics by crafting your own creative and effective abandoned cart emails.
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