How to Reduce Abandoned E-Commerce Carts With Email Marketing

What is shopping cart abandonment?

E-commerce cart abandonment is when a customer visits an online store, adds items to their shopping cart and then decides to leave the website before completing the purchase. While some shopping cart abandonment is inevitable, the practice can adversely affect online sellers via revenue loss and skewed website data.

However, instead of viewing abandoned carts as lost sales, consider them opportunities. “While e-commerce cart abandonment doesn’t typically hold a positive connotation, it is overwhelmingly an opportunity for a brand to showcase its value to a customer, to make a sale and to drive long-term loyalty,” explained marketing technology expert Garin Hobbs.

How do you recover abandoned carts with email marketing?

Strategic email marketing campaigns are an excellent way to win back potential customers who’ve abandoned their shopping carts. However, these efforts require more than a simple reminder that they’ve left items in their cart. 

“Most customers expect a generic ‘Hey [first name], you left some items in your cart!’ email,” Hobbs noted. “But an agile, intuitive e-commerce brand will use this opportunity to connect with potential customers on a deeper level.”

Abandoned shopping cart emails can be a highly effective digital marketing strategy with excellent email open rates. In fact, according to Moosend’s 2025 database analysis, more than 40 percent of cart abandonment emails are opened, and their click-through rate (CTR) is 21 percent. Additionally, 50 percent of users who clicked on these emails completed their purchase. 

It’s worth your while to create savvy and timely cart abandonment emails that resonate with your audience and increase conversions. Here are tips and best practices for your abandoned shopping cart email marketing messages:

1. Show the customer what they’re missing.

In your email message, replicate the shopper’s abandoned cart and show the precise items they left behind. Visually remind them what they’re missing by abandoning their cart. It’s essential to understand customer emotions as they relate to retail purchases to help persuade them to return to your website.

Your email can also serve as an upselling or cross-selling opportunity. For example, display similar in-stock items at lower price points or complementary items with free or fast shipping. Give customers a chance to add reliable and attractive replacement options or more coveted items to their cart.

2. Offer discounts and incentives.

Coupons drive engagement, so offering discounts, promo codes and other incentives can entice shoppers to return to their carts and complete their purchases. Take time to determine the most effective offers using A/B testing to test different incentives and CTAs to see what resonates most. Use your most effective offers in future abandoned cart campaigns.

3. Close the shipping gap.

Amazon’s free one-day shipping has conditioned consumers to expect similar perks from every e-commerce site they visit. Consider offering free, discounted or expedited shipping in your abandoned cart emails to entice shoppers to return and finish their purchase.

For example, you might set a minimum order amount that qualifies for free shipping — a tactic that encourages larger purchases while showing you can compete with big-box retailers. You could also highlight lower-cost or faster alternatives like curbside pickup or in-store pickup.

4. Simplify the purchasing process.

Conveniences like one-click purchasing have streamlined e-commerce purchases. You can mimic this functionality by adding single-click purchase-completion capabilities to your abandoned shopping cart emails. This tactic will facilitate faster purchases, particularly when combined with an incentive like free shipping.

How do you create an abandoned cart email sequence?

Abandoned cart emails are generally not a one-and-done effort. For best results, you’ll want to send several emails — called an email sequence — based on customer behavior. A series of automated abandoned cart emails can bring your customers back into your sales funnel and drive revenue that would have otherwise been lost.

Every business is different, so the best abandoned cart email sequence for your online store will depend on your customers, their needs and their actions. Hobbs recommended the following five-step approach to get started:

1. Send a quick first message: Send the first message as close to real time as possible. Purchase considerations are often fleeting, and the greatest opportunity to convert is the moment when customer intent is highest.
2. Personalize your messages: Personalize your abandoned cart messages to show the precise abandoned item or categorically similar product recommendations. Personalization shows that you understand your customers’ needs, helping foster customer loyalty and building your brand reputation.
3. Offer an incentive: Offer a discount or another incentive, such as free shipping, to close the deal.
4. Stay on brand in your emails: Ensure your messages resonate with brand authenticity and demonstrate empathy for the shopper. Emphasize the value of your offerings.
5. Test your email sequences: Test your abandoned cart email sequences often to fine-tune your approach and determine what works.

How to set up cart recovery emails in your automation system

Getting the most from abandoned cart emails means setting up your email marketing platform the right way. Don’t worry — you don’t need to be a developer to follow these basics. Here’s a simple step-by-step approach:

• Step 1: Track abandoned carts in real time. Make sure your e-commerce platform is set to capture when a shopper leaves items behind. Most systems do this through built-in tracking or an API integration.
• Step 2: Decide on your timing. A good sequence often includes three emails — for example, one an hour after abandonment, another at 24 hours, and a final reminder at 72 hours.
• Step 3: Segment your audience. Not all carts are created equal. Segment by cart value, product type or customer stage to make your emails more relevant.
• Step 4: Add dynamic content. Use merge tags and product feeds so each email automatically shows the items left in the cart, plus personalized recommendations or offers.
• Step 5: Set stop rules. Always configure your system to pause the sequence once a purchase is completed or if the shopper unsubscribes. That way, you’re not sending irrelevant messages.

How do you calculate your cart abandonment rates?

Before you can improve your conversions, you need to know where you stand. Calculating your cart abandonment rate is straightforward; just follow this formula using data from the same period:

1. Divide the number of completed transactions by the number of shopping carts created.
2. Subtract that result from 1.
3. Multiply by 100 to get your percentage.

Example: If your store had 10,000 carts created in a month and 3,000 turned into purchases:

• 3,000 ÷ 10,000 = 0.3
• 1 – 0.3 = 0.7
• 0.7 × 100 = 70 percent

That means your cart abandonment rate for the month would be 70 percent.

Average cart abandonment rates

Cart abandonment rates vary by industry, but the overall numbers are striking. The Baymard Institute’s analysis of 49 studies found that the average abandonment rate across all industries was just over 70 percent.

Some sectors see even higher drop-off. According to Statista’s 2025 data, luxury and jewelry websites average over 80 percent abandonment, while pet care and grocery hover lower at around 50-55 percent.

Device matters, too. Another Statista report shows that mobile shoppers abandon carts at around 84 percent, compared with about 72 percent on desktop. Even so, overall e-commerce conversion rates have improved in recent years as retailers invest in better checkout design and optimization.

Industry-specific abandonment patterns

We touched on how luxury and grocery sites sit at opposite ends of the abandonment spectrum, but the full picture is more nuanced. Different industries face unique challenges based on customer behavior and purchase considerations. Consider the following: 

• High-abandonment industries (75-85 percent):
  
  • Luxury and jewelry: 81.39 percent
  • Beauty and personal care: 80.92 percent
  • Fashion and apparel: 78.53 percent
  • Travel and hospitality: 82 percent
    
    
• Moderate-abandonment industries (60-75 percent):
  
  • Retail: 71.24 percent
  • Food and beverage: 63.62 percent
• Lower-abandonment industries (50-60 percent):
  
  • Grocery and consumer goods: 50-55 percent
  • Pet care and veterinary services: 52.84 percent

These differences reflect how shoppers approach purchases. For example, luxury or travel items often involve more research and hesitation, while groceries and pet care purchases are typically urgent and routine.

Why do customers abandon their online shopping carts?

While online businesses should make every effort to recover abandoned shopping carts, it’s also crucial to determine why customers abandon their carts in the first place. Many reasons are easy fixes for online merchants.

According to 2025 Statista data on the reasons for shopping cart abandonment, about 40 percent of shoppers abandon their carts because shipping, taxes and fees are deemed too high. Another 21 percent cite slow delivery times, while 19 percent balked at being forced to create an account. 

Other typical reasons customers abandon their carts include the following:

• The merchant doesn’t offer discounts
• Express shipping isn’t offered
• Customers must re-enter their credit card information
• Not enough payment methods are available
• Consumers have concerns about online payment security
• Shoppers can’t see the total cost of the order upfront
• The checkout process is too long and complicated
• The vendor’s return or refund policy is unclear or unacceptable
• The merchant provides poor customer support
• The merchant’s website or mobile app performs poorly (e.g., it loads slowly, crashes or has errors)
• Only a limited product quantity is available
• The shopper was just browsing, researching or comparison shopping for a future purchase

Small business owners should be aware of consumers’ intentions because modern shoppers are smart and discerning. Hobbs says customers approach the e-commerce environment with intent and scrutiny; some even understand that companies traditionally send cart abandonment emails with discount offers.

“Marketers can recognize this level of intentional cart abandonment as gamification,” Hobbs advised. “It’s difficult to combat, but with the right martech [marketing and technology] stack in place, tracking these intentional abandoners is the solution. In any case, this is a classic commandment moment: Know thy customer. Then you can determine how to act.”

How can you keep customers from abandoning their carts?

Online sellers can take several steps to reduce friction on their e-commerce site and minimize cart abandonment.

• Optimize your website’s programming and user experience: From a technical standpoint, your online shop should be intuitive, fast-loading, easy to navigate and optimized for mobile devices.
• Use visuals on your e-commerce site: Use product images to keep customers engaged in the purchasing process.
• Keep customers informed during checkout: Many customers get frustrated by a lengthy checkout process. Consider adding a progress bar so they can see how close they are to finalizing their purchase.
• Gain customer trust: Place trust signals, like security logos and money-back guarantees, close to your transaction forms. These assurances show customers that you’re a reputable merchant they can feel good about buying from.
• Offer multiple checkout and payment options: Allowing guest checkout and multiple online payment apps simplifies the checkout process for many consumers.

Abandoned cart email examples

Real-world abandoned cart emails often follow a few common playbooks, offering incentives, addressing customer concerns, or showing off brand personality. To help you picture how these tactics work in practice, here are three sample email mock-ups that illustrate different approaches you can adapt to your own business.

Example 1: Free shipping plus urgency

Subject line: “Your cart qualifies for free shipping — don’t miss out”

Body copy:
Hi [First Name],

Good news — the items in your cart are eligible for free shipping. We’re holding them for you, but only for a limited time.

Cart snapshot:

• Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones
• Price: $149

CTA button: “Claim Free Shipping & Checkout Now”

This example combines a perk (free shipping) with gentle urgency to encourage quick action.

Example 2: Helpful and trust-building

Subject line: “Need help finishing your order?”

Body copy:

Hey [First Name],

 We noticed you left a few things behind. If something’s holding you back, we can help:

• Easy returns within 30 days
• Multiple payment options, including PayPal and Apple Pay
• Secure checkout with SSL encryption

Still want your cart? Click below to complete your order — your items are waiting.

Cart snapshot:

• Organic Cotton T-Shirt (Blue, Medium)
• Price: $29

CTA button: “Finish My Order”

This version builds trust and answers common concerns (returns, payment, security).

Example 3: Playful and personality-driven

Subject line: “Psst… your cart is feeling a little lonely”

Body copy:

Hi [First Name],

Looks like you left a few items behind. Don’t worry — we’ve kept them safe for you.

Want to come back and grab them before someone else does?

Cart snapshot:

• Artisan Coffee Sampler Pack
• Price: $39

CTA button: “Take Me Back to My Cart”

This one uses humor and lighthearted copy to match a brand with a fun personality.

Jennifer Dublino contributed to this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.