We can pretty much guarantee, as an ecommerce brand, if you had to choose just one automated email sequence to run forever, the abandoned cart email campaign would be your best bet.
This isn't just speculation.
We've sent millions of different email campaigns – welcome series, win back, promotional emails, birthday emails, and more – and we've consistently seen this campaign prove itself as the biggest money maker by far. Why? Because these customers are already so deep in the buying journey and therefore won't require much nurturing before converting.
A sample of 19,000 consumers were asked why they leave e-commerce sites without paying. Here's what they said:
- Presented with unexpected costs (56%)
- Just browsing (37%)
- Found a better price elsewhere (36%)
- Overall price too expensive (32%)
- Decided against buying (26%)
Three out of these top five reasons are cost or price related. But rather than seeing this as a failed transaction, we see abandoned cart emails as a conversion rate optimization opportunity. When customers abandon your cart, that's them telling you something's not right about the product, website, or the checkout process.
To help you address this and recover lost revenue, we’ve gathered nine of the best abandoned cart email examples used by top brands that you can learn from to help you build an effective shopping cart recovery strategy.
What are Abandoned Cart Emails?
Abandoned cart emails are emails you automatically send to anyone who visits your online store, adds items to their cart, and then leaves without finishing the purchase, to remind them to complete the sale. They’re usually short and to the point and include things like the product left in the cart, a clear call to action, and an offer to entice the recipient to go back to their cart and buy the item.
9 Best Abandoned Cart Email Examples
These examples are drawn from our abandoned cart email library, where we compiled over 100 of the best abandoned cart emails after analyzing cart abandonment strategies across 1,000 top direct-to-consumer brands
Also, one thing to keep in mind is that each abandoned cart email in this list takes a distinct approach – from casual and friendly to professional and direct. Use these examples as building blocks for your own campaigns, mixing elements that match your brand voice and resonate with your customers, and test relentlessly. Over time, your data will tell you what's working.
1. Abbott Lyon
The main goal of any abandoned cart email is to give customers every reason they need to come back and make a purchase, and Abbott Lyon does a great job here.
It’s a perfect example of how to use a cart abandonment email to anticipate and address customers' potential objections while making them feel understood, valued, and confident in their purchasing decision.
- Worried about price? Here's a free item with your purchase
- Quality concerns? 2-year warranty included
- Shipping costs? Free delivery over $85
- Payment hesitation? Multiple payment options, including PayPal
- Return anxiety? 14-day return policy
They’ve also created a sense of urgency. The “Buy one, get one free side-wide” is an attractive offer hard to pass on, coupled with “Hurry, stock won't last!” both create the perfect motivator to complete the purchase, i.e., customers only get that free item if they act fast or else they'll miss out.
2. THIRTY ONE BITS
Notice how personal this email feels.
Sure, 31 bits uses a bit of playful urgency with the "your 10% expires today" without coming across as pushy, but they give the feeling that their main goal isn't just a sale; they want customers to feel connected to their cause and build a sense of community.
For this, they share their story, mission, and how their products are made – now people are more likely to return to their shopping cart not just because they like the item, but also because they resonate with how the product was made and the values behind the business.
Other things 31 bits is doing right include:
- Invite customers to reach out to them in case of any product concerns, more pictures or to suggest new product design (again they want you to be part of their cause/mission).
- Clear call to action. It’s bold, right in the middle and very hard to miss.
3. Ritual
Ritual is known for its minimalist, clean, modern aesthetic, and everything in this abandoned cart email example matches their brand identity. The copy is clear and it's doing a great job reminding customers why they visited Ritual’s store in the first place: to take care of their health.
The “Give Your Health A Second Thought” heading works wonders. It’s a way of saying to customers, “Hey, we know the reason why you added items to your shopping cart in the first place is because you’re concerned about your health, so where did you go? Are you no longer concerned about your health?” Then a bold, central, and action-oriented CTA button tied to the brand identity (rituals = daily habits for health).
You'll also notice that Ritual included links like "Our Products," "Who We Are," and "Ingredients” in their email, which serve as a reminder to customers of the key reasons they were initially drawn to the brand: high-quality products, transparency about ingredients, and a focus on health and wellness.
4. Aurate
The most noticeable thing about this Aurate's abandoned cart email example is that even though they’re not using any scarcity tactics, the email still does a great job convincing customers to go back and complete their purchase by appealing emotionally to them and doing quality reassurance throughout.
Because at the end of the day what do customers want when online shopping?
- Reassure themselves the product is of the highest quality and sustainable
- Make sure they’ll look good in it
- Try the product before commiting
- In case they don’t like it, check if they can return it without any hussle
- Shop with a brand that understands them
And this example checks all these boxes.
The first thing customer see when they open the email is the item left
They use a softer, understanding tone to reassure customers “the best part we’re made with the highest quality materials and sustainable.”
Customers have the option to try out five different options, choose the one they like and return the rest – not only a strong trust builder but also shows how much confidence Aurate puts into their products.
The email ends with something that any woman shopping for jewelry will want to hear: “Fine jewelry designed to be worthy of the women who wear it.”
5. Y/&/D
This is more of a talk less and show more type of cart recovery email example, which is more common in industries like home decor, tableware, or luxury kitchenware. Rather than telling customers how their purchase would look once set up in their kitchen or dining table, Y/&/D uses visual storytelling to show them with a social proof to back their visuals up.
Why this works?
Consider the target audience here for a second. In home decor and similar industries, customers care about aesthetics and how products fit into their lifestyle. They don’t just see plates, they envision a curated home that reflects their taste, dinner parties and compliment from guests.
Visual storytelling helps them imagine the product in their own space, which is crucial for decision-making. And when they read that others admire or desire the product, it validates their choice and reduces the fear of making a “wrong” purchase.
6. Vuori
Another great abandoned cart email example.
We always advise our customers to include their toll-free number prominently within the email and write the copy using a helpful, customer service tone. And that’s exactly what Vuori is doing here.
The entire email is just “a friendly reminder” of the item the customer left behind. Then the email starts with “Make sure to get these items before they're gone.” There's a hint of urgency here without being too aggressive. It’s like saying “Hey, we know you liked this item that’s why we saved it for you, but it won’t last forever, so be sure to get it before it’s too late.”
Add to that the fact that customers can always return the product for free and there's free shipping for all orders over $75.
Vuori ends the email by inviting customers to start a conversation with them about they’re shopping experience. This is a great way of collecting qualitative customer feedback, which can quickly unearth trends around where the friction points exist in your checkout process and what issues are causing customers not to convert in the first place.
7. Rebecca Atwood Design
This is your typical abandoned cart email where you offer discounted prices as an incentive with scarcity to bring customers back to their cart.
In our research post, we found that 31% of all cart abandonment emails included an offer ranging from free shipping to discounts to free products. But what's interesting about this one is how the tone shifted from selling to a softer customer service tone, sending the message “We don’t just want to sell you, we want you to love your purchase.”
8. The Sill
Alright, a couple things The Sill is doing right in this abandoned cart email:
- Validate the customer's taste. This is important because these are home-based plants, so telling customers “You’ve good taste” is a way of reassuring them that they made the right choice and it will look good in their home.
- Invite customers to reach out in case of any issues or questions. Not everyone knows how to entertain plants, what one needs to be aware of, and so on. By inviting customers to ask any questions they have about the product, it helps build trust and credibility with customers.
- Product recommendations. A great way to upsell their products without feeling intrusive or pushy.
- Include social proof. This adds another layer of trust and credibility and reassures the cart abandoner that the team behind The Sill knows their product inside out and they’re always happy to help.
- Explain the benefits of their products to remind customers of the reasons why they wanted a plant in the first place.
9. Country Club Prep
Country Club Prep’s abandoned cart email is another great example. It’s cute, personalized and aligns with the brand's identity, which creates a sense of familiarity, as if Country Club Prep is gently reminding a friend rather than pressuring a stranger. On top of that they use a strong motivator (20% discount) coupled with a sense of urgency (as long as it’s used in the next 24 hours) to get customers to complete the sale.
Abandoned Cart Email Best Practices
We’ve already written in great detail in our abandoned cart email guide about the things you need to be mindful of when crafting your abandoned cart email, so here we’re just going to mention the most important parts.
Here’s a quick summary:
- Identify guests, registered customers, and existing email subscribers
- Approach your campaign with a customer service focus
- Get the right timing for your email
- Choose the right offer and discount
- Write emails that convert
- Do not distract from clear CTA
We’ll go through them one by one.
Further reading: Abandoned Cart Email Best Practices: A Data-Driven Guide to Recovering Lost Sales
1. Identify guests, registered customers, and existing email subscribers
In general, three types of customers will visit your online store:
- Registered customers,
- Existing email subscribers or
- Guest customers.
The more cart abandoners you can identify, the higher your conversion rate.
One of the best ways to identify guest customers is to place your email capture field as high as possible in the checkout process and use a triggered pop-up or opt-in that encourages customers to provide their email address earlier in the process. You can then use Rejoiner’s pre-submit tracking to track users across your site.
For instance, instead of waiting until customers reach checkout, you could have a small pop-up appear after they've spent, say, 30 seconds on a product page that says “Get 20% off your first purchase when you join our VIP list!” As soon as they enter their email, Rejoiner starts tracking their behavior in real time – which products they view, what they add to cart, everything.
If they happen to abandon their cart, you can send them a personalized email reminding them about those specific products, maybe with a special offer to seal the deal.
Etix, a well-known online ticketing brand, did this really well. They were able to track 1.1 million abandoned transactions from customers who were only filling out a few form fields on their checkout page and never hitting submit within the first year of using pre-submit tracking. The results? They recovered $10.95 million from abandoned carts!
2. Approach your campaign with a customer service focus
The whole tone of your abandoned cart email should be “How can we help you complete this?” rather than “You abandoned your cart!” Use this as your chance to continue the conversation with a group of potential customers who’ve seen value in your product, could definitely see themselves using it but still didn’t buy.
Looking at the Vehicle Rent abandoned cart email as a real-world example, you can see how they've done exactly this – Monique is positioned as a helpful advisor (not a salesperson), they provide multiple ways to get help, and they explicitly address common concerns (like cancellation policies, need to change car, etc.).
By positioning Monique as a helpful resource rather than a pushy rental agent (complete with her photo and multiple ways to contact support), Vehicle Rent is more likely to not only complete this rental but also gain valuable insights about what makes customers pause during the booking process.
Here’s another great example from Arcade that took a slightly different approach but still does a great job maintaining the “we’re here to help you finish what you've started as long as you’re still interested” tone. They’re even inviting customers to fill out a customer survey.
3. Get the right timing for your email
In our experience, we found 30 minutes to the hour mark to be the best time to send your first cart abandonment email. Sending that first shopping cart recovery email within the 30-minute window usually brings about the best conversion rate.
That's because it hits a critical sweet spot in the decision-making process. It's long enough for customers to have naturally completed their comparison shopping or dealt with temporary distractions, but short enough that their initial purchase motivation hasn't significantly diminished.
Here's when most stores send their cart recovery emails (example from SFERRA abandoned cart email sequences):
- First email: 30-60 minutes after abandonment
- Second email: 24 hours after abandonment
- Third email: 3 days after abandonment
We always advise anyone who signs up for the Rejoiner platform to make their first cart recovery email solely about providing great customer service. When done correctly, one of two things will happen:
- If the customer had a technical issue or question, you're right there to solve it while they're still interested.
- Even if they weren't having problems, you've just shown them that you're a business that prioritizes customer support over pushing sales. That builds trust.
4. Choose the right offer and discount
In our study, we found that 35% of retailers include an offer in their abandoned cart email. Even though this is common to some degree, be aware not to train users to abandon their shopping cart on purpose just so they can receive a discount. You can avoid this by using intelligent frequency capping, which helps you catch customers abusing the system and stops emailing them.
Our data also shows that 59% of offers use static codes. However, because dynamic discount codes are customizable, can only be used once, and they’re impossible to abuse, we found them to be better than static codes. And how much you decide to give, will depend on your business and profit margin.
If the numbers don’t support giving discounts, that's fine. A well-crafted abandoned cart email can still get customers back to complete their purchase just like we saw with the Aurate’s abandoned cart email example.
Just remember - there's no universal playbook here. Your offer strategy needs to align with your margins and business model. Some verticals, like pet retailers, don't offer discounts at all in their abandonment emails. Others, like travel accessories retailers, include offers in 67% of their recovery emails. It's all about finding what works for your specific scenario and testing relentlessly.
5. Write emails that convert
Great email starts with crafting click-worthy subject lines. Your subject line needs to accomplish three core objectives:
- Capture attention
- Preview the content
- Drive opens
The highest performing subject line after analyzing more than 7 million emails sent was "Your [BRAND NAME] Basket," achieving a 32.73% conversion rate. This straightforward approach works because it immediately reminds customers of their interaction with your brand while setting clear expectations for the email content.
Now keep in mind that your brand's voice and target audience's characteristics, preferences, and shopping behaviors directly influence what constitutes an effective abandoned cart email.
For instance, STITCH’S approach to abandoned cart email is straightforward and to the point. They use minimalist design with a clear purpose to help the recipient complete their purchase.
In contrast, Threadless uses more vibrant colors and scarcity with a huge 25% off discount that will expire in the next 48 hours to motivate customers to finish their order. And this aligns perfectly with their brand identity, which is all about art, creativity and uniqueness.
Additional things that will also help win back the sale are:
- Mentioning the offer in the subject line
- Showing the product customers left in the cart
- Creating a sense of urgency
- Adding social proof
- Making sure they can easily reach out to address any potential issues they might have
6. Do not distract from a clear CTA
The most effective abandoned cart email CTAs are the ones that are most specific about the end goal you want the recipient to achieve. That’s why the most commonly used CTAs are either “Complete your purchase” or include the word “complete” simply because the end goal here is clear: encourage customers to go back and complete the sale.
Take a look at this standout example from Tecovas.
.jpg)
You have a bold green "COMPLETE YOUR ORDER" button that commands attention, a helpful "click here to finish purchasing your items" woven into the copy, and a casual "link to your cart again" in the P.S.
Notice how each CTA maintains the same goal – completing the purchase – but varies in its approach. Rather than simply saying "return to cart," each CTA clearly communicates the desired end result: finishing the purchase.
This is exactly how you want to structure your abandoned cart CTAs – clear in intention, varied in presentation, and strategically placed throughout the email.
Further reading: How to Create High Converting Abandoned Cart Flow Inside Rejoiner
Start Winning Back Sales Today
Keep in mind that your shopping cart recovery email should do one of these two things or both:
- Help you win back the sale
- Learn why customers abandoned their cart in the first place
After sending millions of cart recovery emails, we see brands make the same mistakes over and over again when setting up their cart abandonment email campaigns:
- No segmentation. Everyone receive the same email with the same offer regardless of their cart value and customer status (old vs new).
- No A/B testing for things like subject lines, call to action, offer, etc.
- Aggressive timing, such as sending three emails within 24h.
- Generic subject lines and email copy that fail to stand out in the recipient’s inbox.
Learn from the above examples and don't be afraid to test new subject lines, email format, offers (e.g., free shipping, dynamic discount code) or product recommendations to see what resonates best with your target audience. Explore more examples used by 100+ top brands for inspiration in our abandoned cart email library.
We built Rejoiner for brands looking:
- For expert support running abandoned cart email campaigns without paying agency fees or hiring additional stuff
- To identify more cart abandoners, guest users or subscribed/existing customers
- To win back sales 20% of the time.
Schedule your 1:1 free strategy session today.
