Ever hopped on Amazon, added a few items to cart, got to checkout… then clicked away from the window at the last second?
You aren’t alone. Tons of people do this — including your customers.
People have a lot going on. Their purchase is not at the top of their priority list. They will forget about their “almost-purchase” entirely…
Unless you send them an Abandoned Checkout Flow. Without this flow, you’re leaving easy money on the table.
So read my full guide to the Abandoned Checkout Flow below.
Understanding the Abandoned Checkout Flow
Defining Abandoned Checkout
The Abandoned Checkout Flow triggers when a customer reaches the checkout page on your store but does not complete their purchase. It reminds the customer that they left something in their cart and nudges them to finish ordering.
It can consist of emails and SMS messages.
Goals and Role
Picture this:
A potential customer has shown enough interest in your products to add them to their cart. They’ve reviewed their cart and continued to checkout. They’re mere inches on a screen from purchasing, but something holds them back.
Maybe they:
- Got distracted (perhaps someone called or texted them)
- Had second thoughts
- Felt confused about something on the checkout page
- Encountered a technical glitch.
The Abandoned Checkout Flow reminds the customer of their order, addresses these hesitations/objections, and encourages them to finish their purchase.
Think of your business as a “ship”, and your checkout abandons as “holes” in your ships. Sales are leaking out. The Abandoned Checkout Flow is one tool to plug those leaks and get you back to smooth sailing.
How the Abandoned Checkout Helps Your Business
The Abandoned Checkout helps your business in several ways:
- Recovers lost sales: The most obvious advantage here is recovering sales that might have otherwise slipped through the cracks at the last second. Customers abandoning at checkout are closer to the sale than abandoning at the “add to cart” stage.
- Boosts ROI and ROAS: More sales per dollar spent on acquisition boosts your ROI, whether through more front-end sales per $ spent or more repeat purchases from customers.
- Engages customers: These emails re-engage customers who have already expressed interest in your products, keeping your brand top of mind.
- Gathers data insights: Abandoned Checkout Flows can offer valuable insights into customer behavior, helping you understand why some visitors abandon their carts. Large numbers of people abandoning at checkout could signal something wrong with the checkout page, such as customer confusion.
- It can boost deliverability: Abandoned Checkout Flows tend to encourage replies to help answer customer questions and close the sale. Replies help deliverability. Also, these flows tend to see strong opens and clicks, raising your overall stats.
The Key Components of the Abandoned Checkout Flow
Abandoned checkout flows are not complicated. Each email is a reminder to finish their order + a bit of benefit copy to nudge them to do so.
Let’s look at each email and some other considerations:
Quick Reminder Email
The first email reminds the customer they abandoned their cart specifically at checkout.
Subject line
A classic, tried-and-true subject line framework is something like “Drop this, [firstname]?”
Massive curiosity loaded into that framework. The customer wants to know what the heck this email is about.
Body Copy
Tell the customer they left their cart and, if possible, add a personalized block that shows their cart items.
After the block, consider adding a sentence or two of copy about the benefits to get them hyped to finish their purchase.
Let the customer know they can reply with questions.
Follow-Up Email
The second email follows up on the first in case the customer missed the first… or just weren’t enticed to buy. Usually includes some urgency.
Subject line
This one should also use curiosity and be personal. I love “checking in” (all lowercase) or “quick reminder” (all lowercase). Tweak and customize based on your brand and voice.
Body Copy
For the body copy, pay off whichever subject line framework you use. If it’s a “quick reminder”, remind the customer again that you’re holding their cart.
If it’s a “checking in”, make it known that you wanted to see if they need help completing their order.
Show their order again with a personalized cart product block. Consider another line of copy below it. Either make it benefit-driven or make it sound like you’re “helping them out” by continuing to hold their cart.
Once again, let the customer know they can reply with questions.
Final Reminder Email
Subject line
Two approaches to this:
- “everything ok?” — That’ll grab their attention real quick. Highly personal and curiosity-inducing. The all lowercase stands out, too.
- Discount expiration warning — Hint that their discount’s gone soon. You can use the preview text to flesh out the details if you can’t fit everything in the subject line.
Body Copy
I like to make the copy sound concerned for the customer. Let them know you noticed they started an order X days ago but haven’t checked out, then ask them if everything’s all good.
Throw in another benefit-driven line here.
If you offer a limited-time discount (usually on the front end), mention that too. Drive the urgency.
Other Emails
You can add more emails fleshing out the benefits and overcoming objections — but these work best only after the first three have failed. Personalize the emails to the product and target customer, if possible.
SMS’s
Abandoned Checkout Flows are excellent candidates for SMS marketing. Just complement each email with a similar SMS, and use the recipient’s first name to make it feel personal.
Keep each email separate from its respective SMS by about 20-30 minutes.
Best Practices For the Abandoned Checkout Flow
Here are some tips and best practices to keep in mind when building your Abandoned Checkout Flow:
Triggers and Filters
A customer should enter this flow when they have “Started Checkout.” That’s the main trigger.
However, you’ll want some filters. Make sure the customer:
- Has not started checkout since starting this flow — That way, the flow triggers when they start checkout but doesn’t trigger every time they go to checkout)…
AND
- Has not placed an order since starting the flow — We don’t want to send this to customers who finished their order. The time delay allows enough time to complete the order before the customer accidentally receives this flow…
AND
- Has not been in the flow within X days — We don’t want to constantly hit customers with this. They’ll get annoyed and feel like you see them only as $$$. For example, filter out anyone who was in this flow in the last 30 days.
Time Delay
Trigger the first email to send at least 30 minutes after abandoning. Every subsequent email should send 24 hours apart (you can always test time delays later).
If you use SMS, pair each email with an SMS. Each SMS should send around 20-30 minutes after its respective email (or before, that’s your preference).
Consider filtering out people who text back on SMS’s from receiving the following SMS message to prevent SMS overwhelm on the customer’s side.
Copy
Copy should be concise, reminding the customer of their order. That said, each email can include one to two lines of benefit copy to get customers off the fence.
Put some personality in there, too. Make the customer laugh, or, at least, like a human being is trying to help them.
Use urgency if there’s a limited-time discount. Consider language implying the customer “almost” has the product or can “almost” enjoy the benefits of it.
Err on the side of over-explaining. Remember that some customers abandon because they’re confused over one simple thing, like their final price or shipping. The clearer you are, the more likely the sale happens.
If you go beyond the three standard emails, focus each email on a buying objection or common question. Layer on the social proof.
Lastly, encourage replies and questions. It’ll boost deliverability and help you find objections and friction points.
Design
Visuals sell when used strategically. Add a personalized block of the customer’s cart so they see what products they almost have. Link the block back to their cart, too.
Throw a logo at the top and a signature block at the bottom (if you’re comfortable with people seeing your last name/face).
Measuring Success for the Abandoned Checkout Flow
Here are some key metrics to track for the Abandoned Checkout Flow and how to improve them:
Number of Recipients
Abandoned Checkout Flows are great for scooping up lost sales, but here’s something better:
Customers not abandoning in the first place.
If the customer buys before this flow, you have them. If they enter this flow, there’s always a chance they never finish their purchase.
Analyze how many customers are going through this flow relative to the total number of customers. Segment this by new and repeat customers for more apples-to-apples comparisons.
How to improve: A/B test checkout page elements to drive more urgency. Make pricing, their order, etc. as clear as possible. “Improvement” here means reducing the number of people entering this flow by increasing the number that buy in the same session that they start buying.
Conversion Rate
Opens will be quite high if you follow what I laid out above, so prioritize your conversion rate on each email and SMS.
How to improve: A/B test CTAs in early emails. A/B test longer flows that overcome objections in later emails. A/B test different offers, such as limited-time discounts.
Questions/Replies
Plenty of people abandon at checkout because of questions or last-minute objections.
How to improve: A/B test “reply encouragement” copy. Focus on specific questions, such as the most common ones customers tend to have. Change the checkout page or other parts of your purchase process if needed to remove friction points.
Abandoned Checkout Pitfalls to Avoid
Watch out for these mistakes when crafting your Abandoned Checkout Flow:
Poor Timing
Sending Abandoned Checkout Flows too early may distract customers from their purchase or even make them consider not buying. Give them enough time to decide on buying or abandoning before sending the first message.
Similarly, don’t send too many messages in a day. One email and one SMS are the most you should send per day in this flow.
Complex Checkout
An Abandoned Checkout Flow can overcome a complex checkout for some, but a complex checkout is still a big friction point. You won’t make as many sales regardless if it’s hard or confusing to buy.
The proximate goal is to recover lost sales… the ultimate goal (or larger sales/marketing goal) in this area is to reduce abandons entirely.
- Identify common mistakes or challenges marketers may encounter when implementing the Abandoned Checkout.
- Offer guidance on how to recognize and overcome these obstacles.
- Provide actionable solutions to prevent or address potential pitfalls.
Neglecting Mobile Optimization
Most brands run their business from laptops or desktops, so they “default” to looking at the email UI from a desktop/laptop POV.
Yet more people shop on smartphones than on desktops/laptops. So ignoring the mobile UI for your emails can neuter your Abandoned Checkout Flow’s impact.
Same thing goes for your mobile shopping experience, by the way.
The Bottom Line on Abandoned Checkout Flows
The Abandoned Checkout Flow nudges potential buyers back to complete their purchases while offering valuable behavioral insights. You get a better return on acquisition, more repeat purchases, and information regarding common objections/hesitations.
These aren’t too hard, either. Just remind the customer of their cart, reinforce the main benefit/outcome, and sprinkle some personality on top. Three emails and a few SMS messages is a good start — move on to other things after that. But come back later to add some more emails.
This is one of the “3 Core Flows”, so I urge you to take what you’ve learned here and get to work!
What to Do Next
- Implement this flow into your business if you don’t have it/Optimize your flow with insights from this post if you DO have it.
- Get on my email list using the signup form below.
- Share this post with someone who would find it helpful or insightful.
- Work with me if you want to earn more revenue, widen your margins, and improve retention with email and SMS… so you can quit worrying about acquisition.
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