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📢 Live Webinar The Retail Growth Blueprint: Paid Ads, SEO, UGC, Email & SMS Marketing. ⏰ Thursday, June 26 at 2 PM EDT
Explore the best abandoned cart email templates and analysis.
We analyzed abandoned cart emails across 11 ecommerce industries. Discover where your brand stands,
and what’s stopping your cart recovery.
In this comprehensive analysis, we’ve examined 750+ abandoned cart emails from 490+ e-commerce brands spanning across 11 different industries, including Arts & Crafts, Fashion, Beauty, and more. This study examines key factors, including email send times, subject lines, preview texts, email placement, and call-to-action strategies, to assess the effectiveness of these campaigns in driving conversions. Whether you’re looking for best practices, subject line inspiration, or optimized CTAs, this report will help you refine your approach to recovering lost sales.
An abandoned cart email is a type of automated email sent to customers who add items to their shopping cart but leave the website without completing the purchase. These emails aim to remind customers of the items they left behind and encourage them to return and finalize the transaction. Abandoned cart emails are a key component of conversion rate optimization, helping e-commerce brands recover potentially lost sales.
Abandoned cart emails often include personalized product recommendations, discounts, customer reviews, or urgent calls to action to entice customers back to complete their purchase, boosting overall revenue and customer engagement.
Total Emails Analyzed
Brands Analyzed
Inbox Rate
Promotion Placement Rate
SPAM Rate
| Ecommerce Industry | Total Brands | Total Abandoned Cart Emails | Inbox Rate | Promotion Rate | Spam Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arts & Crafts Industry | 27 | 37 | 8.11% | 54.05% | 37.84% |
| Automotive Industry | 27 | 36 | 16.67% | 44.44% | 38.89% |
| Baby Products Industry | 7 | 9 | 0.00% | 55.56% | 44.44% |
| Beauty & Cosmetics Industry | 24 | 54 | 3.70% | 42.59% | 53.70% |
| Consumer Electronics Industry | 23 | 32 | 18.75% | 53.12% | 28.12% |
| Fashion & Apparel Industry | 192 | 320 | 8.75% | 57.50% | 33.75% |
| Food, Tea, Coffee, & Beverages Industry | 18 | 24 | 16.67% | 50.00% | 33.33% |
| Health & Supplement Industry | 24 | 32 | 3.12% | 43.75% | 53.12% |
| Home Décor & Furnishing Industry | 74 | 113 | 6.19% | 46.02% | 47.79% |
| Outdoor & Sports Industry | 80 | 99 | 15.15% | 62.63% | 22.22% |
| Petcare Industry | 2 | 4 | 50.00% | 0.00% | 50.00% |
Your abandoned cart emails are a direct opportunity to recover lost sales and boost revenue—but their effectiveness hinges on deliverability. Here’s the reality: only 9.74% of these emails reached the Inbox, which is far too low for optimal visibility. Meanwhile, 37.02% of emails landed in Spam, meaning a significant portion of potential revenue was lost. And 53.29% of your emails ended up in the Promotions folder, where they lack the visibility they need to drive conversions. Emails in Spam miss out on generating revenue entirely, while those in Promotions are less likely to catch your customer’s attention. It’s crucial to optimize your campaigns for better inbox placement to ensure your abandoned cart emails work as effectively as possible.
Total Emails Analyzed
Inbox Rate
Promotions Placement Rate
Spam Rate
The analysis of abandoned cart email deliverability reveals significant challenges in reaching inboxes. A majority of emails (53.29%) land in the Promotions folder, while 36.97% are marked as Spam, indicating deliverability issues for many brands. The Beauty & Cosmetics industry faces the highest Spam placement rate (53.70%), suggesting a need for improved authentication and content strategies. In contrast, the Baby Products industry enjoys the lowest Spam placement rate (44.44%), reflecting more successful inbox placement.
Brands across industries should focus on refining email strategies to improve inbox deliverability, with particular attention to authentication and content relevance.
Non-conversion Focused
Discounts Focused
Cart Reminders
Urgency Focused
An alarming rate of 69.87% of the abandoned cart email subject lines are non-conversion focused. They lack urgency or specific promotional offers, which could reduce their effectiveness in driving immediate action.
Discounts (11.71%) and Abandoned Cart Reminders (10.66%) are less common but still important strategies to encourage conversions. Urgency (7.76%) is the least used tactic, but it can significantly boost open rates. E-commerce brands should consider blending urgency, discount offers, and more direct cart reminders to increase engagement and recovery rates.
More than 90% of the abandoned cart email subject lines lack urgency: add time-sensitive language like “Last Chance” in your subject lines to boost customer action.
With simple use of urgency in your abandoned cart email subject lines you outperform 69% of the emails using generic subject lines and get higher open rates.
By hinting discounts in your abandoned cart email subject lines you’re likely to get more engagement than 88% of abandoned cart emails that are not using it.
Send cart reminder emails mentioning it in the email subject line within hours of cart abandonment to increase the likelihood of recovery.
Combine urgency, discounts, and reminders—doing this can help you outperform the 74.8% of brands not using these strategies.
36.97% of the abandoned cart emails landed in the SPAM folder, which indicates a significant deliverability challenge. One potential reason for this could be the overuse of spam trigger words in the subject lines.
The most common triggers in SPAM emails include “last chance” (10 occurrences), “now” (6 occurrences), and “hurry” (5 occurrences). These urgency-based phrases, while effective in driving action, are frequently flagged by spam filters. When compared to emails placed in the Inbox and Promotions folders, these trigger words are still present but less frequent, suggesting that a more balanced approach in subject lines could improve deliverability. Brands should reconsider using these high-risk phrases too often and explore more subtle urgency cues to avoid landing in SPAM.
| Brand Name | Abandoned Cart Email Subject Line |
|---|---|
| accucut | Just a reminder: you have items in your cart... |
| beyondbraid | You left items at checkout |
| cooltools | Your Cool Products are Still in Your Cart |
| craftspring | Your favorites won't wait forever |
| crimsonguitars | Why not take another look? |
| dworiginal | Ready to Play? Complete Your Order! |
| edgeworkcreative | You left items at checkout |
| fineartamerica | Don't You... Forget About Me... |
| handscraft | Your cart misses you! |
| heatpressnation | Need a little more time to decide, friend |
| holzerhandcrafted | Need more time to decide? Joy is just a few clicks away... |
| holzerhandcrafted | Help, your cart is overflowing with wood, wax, and wonder! |
| inawehandmade | Enjoy a Special Discount on Your Purchase |
| inawehandmade | Your Handcrafted Gift is Still Waiting for You... |
| knitpicks | Looks like you're ready to checkout |
| mayarts | Something Caught Your Eye? |
| moderncre8ve | Did something catch your eye? |
We analyzed 479 abandoned cart emails that landed in the Inbox or Promotions folders to identify the best-performing subject lines. These subject lines excel in driving opens and conversions by using key strategies such as personalization, urgency, and reminders.
Urgency: Phrases like “won’t wait forever” or “last chance” create a sense of urgency, encouraging recipients to act quickly before they miss out on their purchase. Urgency is a proven strategy to boost open rates and prompt immediate action.
Personalization: Subject lines such as “Your Handcrafted Gift is Still Waiting for You” or “You left items at checkout” directly reference the customer’s abandoned cart, making the email feel more personal and relevant to the recipient’s interests.
Reminders: Many of these subject lines serve as a gentle reminder of the customer’s abandoned cart, reinforcing the value of the products they left behind, such as “Your favorites won’t wait forever” or “Did something catch your eye?”.
Discounts & Offers: Some subject lines include “Enjoy a Special Discount on Your Purchase”, which directly incentivizes customers to return and complete their purchase by offering a reward or benefit.
Download The Best Abandoned Cart Subject Line Inspirations from All Brands
Total Emails Analyzed
Brands Analyzed
Emails With Discounts
Emails Without Discounts
A surprising 74.9% of abandoned cart emails did not offer any discounts or coupon codes, which could significantly limit their potential to encourage users to return and complete their purchase. This highlights a major opportunity for improvement: offering incentives could be key to improving conversion rates.
On the other hand, 25.1% of emails did include some form of offer, indicating that many brands are already utilizing discounts and coupons to encourage purchases. However, this number could be much higher, especially when considering that offering free shipping is one of the most effective incentives.
49.21% of the abandoned cart emails did not include any offers, meaning they lacked both discounts and shipping offers.
25.66% of the emails featured a free shipping offer, indicating that a quarter of the abandoned cart emails used this incentive to attract customers back.
The shipping offers were often linked with specific conditions, such as “free shipping on orders over $50”, “free shipping on orders over $75”, etc.
130 emails had no specific primary offer. Other common offers included 15% off (17 occurrences), 10% off (7 occurrences), and 20% off (4 occurrences), along with various other discounts, including $4 discount, $5 off, and 10% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER.
Abandoned cart emails need to be highly conversion-focused focused and the type of CTA plays a huge role in recovering your abandoned carts.
On average, there are 2.56 CTAs per abandoned cart email, indicating a well-rounded approach in driving customer actions. It means nearly all emails have more than 2 call-to-actions.
“Shop Now” appears 336 times (approximately 44.21% of emails), making it the most common CTA, urging customers to complete their purchase immediately.
“Visit our store” occurs 89 times (about 11.71% of emails), inviting customers to explore more products.
“Continue checkout” is used 44 times (around 5.79% of emails), encouraging customers to finalize their purchase.
“RETURN TO CART” appears 38 times (around 5.00% of emails), prompting customers to return to their abandoned cart.
“View cart” occurs 37 times (approximately 4.87% of emails), offering another reminder to revisit the cart.
6. Return to your cart
7. COMPLETE YOUR ORDER
8. CONTINUE SHOPPING
9. Redeem discount
10. Complete your order
Use multiple CTAs in your emails (at least 2) to guide customers through the purchase process.
Make “Shop Now” a key CTA to prompt immediate action, as it’s the most effective for recovering abandoned carts.
Don’t limit your CTAs—consider “View Cart”, “Return to Cart”, and “Continue Checkout” that are relevant to your abandoned cart email template to maximize conversion opportunities.
Also, pair coupon codes with your CTAs to make them most effective for conversions.
By strategically placing and diversifying your CTAs, you can improve engagement and significantly increase your cart recovery rate.
The analysis of coupon codes, promotional offers, free shipping, and CTAs, the overall conversion optimization of the abandoned cart emails reveals a trend.
Coupon Codes: About 25% of emails offer some form of discount, like 15% off or $4 off, to tempt customers back. Discounts are a strong tool for recovering abandoned carts, but there’s room for even more aggressive discount strategies to boost conversions further.
Free Shipping: 25.66% of emails included free shipping offers, but that’s not nearly as common as it could be. Free shipping is a massive motivator for customers to complete their purchase, so increasing the frequency of this offer could really improve conversion rates.
CTAs (Calls to Action): The “Shop Now” CTA is the most popular, appearing in 44.21% of emails. This is great because it’s a clear and direct prompt for customers to complete their purchase. Other CTAs like “Continue checkout” (5.79%) and “RETURN TO CART” (5%) are also important because they gently nudge customers back to the cart.
While the emails are doing well with CTAs and discount offers, there’s a missed opportunity with free shipping offers. Brands could boost conversions by adding more free shipping incentives alongside discounts and ensuring clear, action-oriented CTAs are in place.
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After analyzing 1500 emails from 30 top brands from the Beauty and Cosmetics Industry, here are the common patterns we found.
⏰ Most emails are sent during typical daytime hours.
📅 Saturday, Wednesday, and Tuesday are the most popular days to send emails.
🔁 More than 96% of brands send 3+ emails per week, reflecting an aggressive email cadence designed to stay top of mind.
🚫 5.35% of emails land in the spam folder, showing that most brands maintain decent email deliverability.
⏳ 24.55% of emails include urgency language like “last chance” or “ends today” to prompt immediate action.
🛍️ The most common CTA is “shop now”, almost becoming the industry standard.
Based on our analysis of the beauty industry’s email marketing, we’ve identified several key strategies aimed at results across brands of all sizes.
Turning these insights into actionable strategies requires a systematic approach. Here’s how to implement these findings in your beauty brand’s email marketing program:
Begin by analyzing your current email metrics against the benchmarks in this report. Identify gaps in your strategy and prioritize areas for improvement based on potential impact.
Create a structured testing plan to experiment with different send times, subject line formulas, and CTA strategies. Document results and iterate based on performance data.
Implement more granular audience segmentation based on purchase behavior, engagement level, and product preferences to deliver more relevant content to each subscriber.
With over 60% of beauty emails opened on mobile devices, ensure your templates are fully responsive and CTAs are easily tappable on smaller screens.
With email deliverability insights in one place.
Getting a cart recovery email opened and clicked takes more than just a reminder email. You need to time it right, say the right thing in the right format, and make the next step simple and obvious. We’ll break down 10 essential best practices: from when to send and what to say, to how to use personalization, urgency, and incentives effectively. These are patterns observed across hundreds of abandoned cart emails sent by popular brands to their actual customers. Let’s get into what works and why.
The timing of your abandoned cart emails is critical to driving conversions. Our analysis shows that the average time between the first and second abandoned cart email is 17.1 hours, suggesting that waiting a day before sending a follow-up email is effective. The first email should ideally be sent within an hour of abandonment to catch the customer while their intent is still fresh. Sending emails too soon may feel too aggressive, while waiting too long risks losing the customer’s interest. A 12-24 hour gap between the first and second emails is optimal, allowing the customer time to reconsider without feeling rushed. Test different time intervals to determine what works best for your audience.
Personalization is one of the most effective ways to connect with customers. In fact, 75.3% of abandoned cart emails in our analysis included personalized elements, such as addressing the customer by name or referencing the items in their cart. Personalization creates a tailored experience that resonates more with the shopper, making them feel valued and more likely to return and complete their purchase.
A strong, clear call-to-action (CTA) is essential for guiding the customer back to their cart. Whether it’s “Complete Your Purchase” or “Shop Now,” the CTA should be easy to find and unambiguous. Emails with CTA-focused language prompt immediate action. Our data shows that emails with compelling CTAs are significantly more effective in bringing back abandoned carts. Ensure the CTA stands out and leads directly to the cart or checkout page.
Incentives, such as a discount or free shipping, are powerful motivators. Our analysis shows that 33.2% of abandoned cart emails offered a discount or free shipping as an incentive to nudge the shopper. These offers give the customer an added reason to finalize their purchase and create a sense of urgency. Including such an offer can substantially improve conversion rates and reduce cart abandonment.
Social proof, such as customer reviews or testimonials, can significantly impact a customer’s decision to complete a purchase. By showcasing positive feedback from other buyers, you build trust and credibility. Including social proof in your abandoned cart emails helps reassure customers that others have had positive experiences with the product, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is a powerful psychological trigger. By notifying customers that their cart items are reserved or that stock is running low, you create urgency. Mentioning limited availability or an expiring offer in your email makes the shopper more likely to return and complete the purchase before it’s too late.
Always mention the exact products left behind in the cart. Including clear images and descriptions makes it easy for the customer to recognize the items and re-engage. Our analysis shows that emails that directly reference specific products, rather than generic reminders, are far more effective in bringing customers back to complete their purchase.
The subject line is the first thing customers see, and it needs to grab their attention. 31% of abandoned cart emails in our data used urgency-driven subject lines such as “Hurry, your cart is waiting” or “Last chance to buy.” These subject lines create a sense of urgency that prompts customers to open the email and act quickly. Always test different subject lines to see which one drives the best response.
With over half of all email opens occurring on mobile devices, it’s crucial to ensure your abandoned cart emails are mobile-friendly. A responsive design that loads quickly and displays properly on smaller screens can make a significant difference in conversion rates. Ensure your emails look good on both desktop and mobile to reach customers wherever they are.
Sending multiple abandoned cart emails can significantly increase your chances of recovering a sale. On average, brands in our dataset send 1.5 abandoned cart emails per customer. However, some brands go further, with a maximum of 7 recovery emails sent by Feel Supreme. A well-executed sequence, spaced out over several days, can build urgency and offer incentives to shoppers at different stages of their decision-making process. Testing different frequencies and timings for your abandoned cart emails can help find the optimal strategy for your audience.
To wrap it up, abandoned cart emails are a goldmine for boosting your conversions, but there’s room to optimize. With 49.21% of emails offering no discounts or free shipping, you’re missing out on powerful incentives that could reel customers back in. Plus, “Shop Now” is the most effective CTA, used in 44.21% of emails—so making your CTAs clearer and more action-driven will definitely help. But here’s the kicker: 36.97% of emails are landing in SPAM, and that’s a problem for reaching your audience.
TargetBay makes abandoned cart recovery faster and more effective, optimizing your strategy for higher conversions. Book a call with our experts today to see how we can help you recover lost sales effortlessly!
An abandoned cart email is a reminder sent to customers who added items to their cart but didn’t complete the purchase. It encourages them to return and finish their transaction, often offering incentives like discounts or free shipping to increase conversion rates.
Yes, sending abandoned cart emails is legal, but it must comply with data protection laws like GDPR or CCPA. You need consent to collect and use customer data, and emails should include an option to opt-out of future messages.
An abandoned cart email should remind customers of the items left behind, provide a direct link to their cart, and include a clear call-to-action. It should also offer incentives like discounts, highlight product benefits, and create urgency to encourage a return visit.
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