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Anatomy of a Winning Cart Abandonment Email Template

September 1, 2016

You may have sent your customers newsletters or marketing emails in the past, but cart reminder emails are a breed of their own. How should you go about designing a cart reminder email that will entice customers back to your site to complete their purchase? Let’s take a look at the elements that make up a winning cart reminder email.

Must Haves

A. Logo

When your customers open your email, they should know who’s contacting them right away. Make your brand instantly recognizable by placing your company logo in plain sight at the top of the email.

B. Contact Information
Sometimes shoppers abandon their cart because they need your assistance. They might have product questions, or perhaps their credit card wasn’t accepted. Be sure to include contact info for your support team in your email so shoppers can easily reach out for help. This will reduce frustration and increase the likelihood of a completed purchase.

C. Cohesive Theme
When you’re designing your emails, consider the look and feel of your brand and marketing materials as a whole. Use fonts and colors from your website and logo to tie your site and cart reminder emails together for a seamless vibe.

D. Plain Text
Did you know deliverability goes down significantly for emails without at least some plain text? It’s great to have beautiful images in your emails, but you also need to include some text to ensure your emails make it to your customers’ inboxes.

E. Call to Action
Your cart reminder emails need one very clear call to action. Your number one goal is to get customers back on your site to complete their purchase, so it’s a great idea to include at least two “check out now” buttons.

F. Unsubscribe Button
CartStack emails have a very low unsubscribe rate, but to be CAN-SPAM compliant, your message must include a clear and conspicuous way to opt out of getting email from you in the future. The good news is, if a shopper unsubscribes from the emails you send with CartStack, they’ll still remain subscribed to any other email lists you’ve compiled.

Optional Features

A. Banner Image
While a banner image is optional, it’s a great way to catch the eye of your email recipients. Emails that include a banner image are known to be more engaging than plain text emails. You can also use a banner image to draw attention to an important part of your message, such as a coupon code.

B. Disclaimer
There’s always a small chance shoppers won’t notice their cart reminder email until after they’ve returned to your site to check out, and you don’t want to cause any confusion. Include a brief message that lets customers know they can ignore that reminder email if they’ve already completed their purchase.

C. Dynamic Information
If your developer wants to get fancy, you can use our JavaScript API to display dynamic info in your emails. Many people display the customer’s name or the products they left behind. The cart items section of the email usually includes a thumbnail image and the product name, price, and description.

D. Social Media Buttons
If your customers aren’t quite ready to complete their purchase, you can at least get them engaging with your brand again. Perhaps by the time they’re done perusing your Instagram feed, they’ll be ready to buy.

Get Started
Are you ready to have your own winning email templates? Custom email designs are included with your free trial. Visit the templates page of your CartStack account and click the orange “Request Design” button. It takes just a few days for our design team to send you personalized, dynamic email templates. You’ll be winning customers back to your site in no time!