An abandoned cart email flow is one of the most effective ways to recover lost sales. When customers add items to their cart but don’t complete the purchase, sending targeted, timely emails can bring them back to finish their transaction – and finalise that sale.
In this article, we’re looking at the best practices for creating your Abandoned Cart email flow with Klaviyo, along with a few examples of how our clients have used this effective technique, too.
Before Anything Else: Comply With Email Regulations
As with all email marketing, it’s essential to remain compliant with data privacy laws like GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and others. Always ensure that:
- Customers have opted into receiving marketing messages.
- You provide a clear and easy way to unsubscribe from emails.
- You’re transparent about the data you collect and how it’s used.
Klaviyo has handy consent management tools to make it simpler to stay compliant by automatically tracking consent and preferences.
If you’re sending to more than 5000 email addresses, you meant consider checking out our article about avoiding ending up in spam inboxes, too:
1. Segment Your Audience Strategically
Not all cart abandoners are the same. Some are first-time visitors, while others are repeat customers. By segmenting your audience, you can tailor messages to suit their behaviour, increasing your chances of conversion.
For example, you might think to create segments like:
- First-Time Shoppers: These are users new to your site, and may need more convincing to purchase from your store. You might provide an incentive, or use your email to emphasise your stellar reviews and easy return policies to help them make that first-time decision.
- Returning Customers: These customers are already familiar with your brand. Instead of focusing on trust-building, you could highlight product benefits and upsell opportunities.
- High-Value Shoppers: For customers with larger cart totals, you might consider offering additional customer service support and advice, or further incentives.
Klaviyo allows you to create these segments easily with conditional logic, so you can customise each flow to match the specific needs of each audience group.
2. Time Your Emails Appropriately
Sending emails at the right time is essential to recovering lost sales. With Klaviyo, it’s simple to set time delays between emails, but getting the timing right requires testing and optimisation.
General Best Timing Practices:
- First Email: Send the first reminder 1-3 hours after the cart is abandoned. This is when the product is still top of mind and there’s a good chance of catching customers before they possibly move on to another retailer.
- Second Email: Send the second email 12-24 hours later. This follow-up can offer an incentive, remind customers of the limited availability of the product, or re-emphasise its benefits.
3. Create An Engaging Email
The content of your abandoned cart emails should be clear, compelling, and visually appealing.
Here are key elements to include:
Subject Lines
Your subject line is the first thing a customer sees, so it must grab their attention. A/B test different approaches like:
- “Forget something? Complete your order now!”
- “Your cart is waiting – grab your items before they’re gone!”
- “Don’t miss out on your [Product Name] – it’s still in stock!”
Personalisation
Include dynamic content like the customer’s name, the products left in their cart, and relevant recommendations based on browsing or previous purchase history.
Klaviyo’s dynamic blocks make it easy to automate this personalised content. See here how you can add a Back In Stock item, with dynamic image and title – and also add a product block, with dynamically populated products. These might be bestsellers, trending products, or those the user has looked at before, and can be filtered by tags and categories.
Get Your Imagery Right
It’s important to use high-quality product images to remind customers of what they were about to buy, and also draw their attention. Obviously, avoid any images which are too low res (and are blurry) or too high res (this will slow loading times).
Include a Clear Call-to-Action
A call-to-action (CTA) is an important aspect of the email, and guides the user to their next steps, whether that is “Complete Your Purchase” or “Return to Your Cart.”
These should be easy to spot and clickable on both desktop and mobile devices, so that users can continue their journey to conversion without difficulty.
4. Incorporate Discounts Strategically
Discounts can be a powerful motivator, but they shouldn’t be your first move. Offering a discount too early can train customers to abandon their cart intentionally to wait for the price drop. Instead, reserve discounts for the second or third email, or first-time buyers only.
Example Discount Strategy:
- Email 1: No discount – just a friendly reminder.
- Email 2: Offer a small discount (e.g., 5-10%) or free shipping.
Klaviyo’s A/B testing feature can help you evaluate which types of incentives work best and at what stage of the flow.
5. Include Social Proof and Urgency Triggers
Humans are naturally influenced by what others are doing, and urgency can prompt quicker decisions. Including social proof and urgency in your abandoned cart emails can give the nudge needed to push customers to buy.
Ideas to Incorporate:
- Customer Reviews: Feature product reviews or testimonials from other satisfied buyers.
- Limited Stock Alerts: “Hurry! Only 3 left in stock” can create a sense of urgency.
- FOMO Messaging: Phrases like “Don’t miss out” or “Items in your cart may sell out soon” can be very effective.
6. Test and Analyse Regularly
Abandoned cart flows are not a one-size-fits-all solution, and what works today may not work tomorrow. It’s essential to continuously test and optimise your flow for improved results.
Metrics to Track:
- Open Rate: Are customers opening your emails? If not, test different subject lines.
- Click Rate: Are customers clicking through to return to their cart? Optimise CTA placement, design, and urgency.
- Conversion Rate: Ultimately, your goal is to convert abandoned carts into sales. Monitor which emails and incentives work best to increase this metric.
Klaviyo’s reporting dashboard provides detailed insights into these key metrics, making it easy to spot trends and areas for improvement.
Conclusion
Creating a high-performing abandoned cart flow with Klaviyo requires a strategic mix of segmentation, timing, compelling content, and ongoing optimisation. By following the best practices outlined here, you can recover more lost sales and enhance your customer relationships. Test frequently, adjust based on data, and continually strive to deliver a personalised and seamless customer experience.
If you need some help with this, or want to get in touch about something else related to Klaviyo, you can get in contact with us via our website.
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