The Ultimate Guide to Abandoned Cart Email Subject Lines

Crafting appealing, impactful and intriguing abandoned cart subject lines is definitely not an easy task, but a little effort, lots of brainstorming, and knowing what gets your customers clicking will help your email subject lines stand out and encourage the reader to go ahead and open that email.

Inform — Don’t Push

Let’s take an example here, you open your inbox and there are two new emails waiting for your attention. One screams out loud at you and says, ‘BUY NOW! SALE, SALE, SALE!’. Wow! That sounds a bit too desperate right?

Now, the second email campaign just perks up and says, ‘T-Shirts As Cool As You For 50% Off’. Now, that’s flattering and irresistible.

Which of these two email marketing campaigns are you most likely to open?

I am assuming you would pick the latter. Or at least that’s what most people would do. Why? Firstly, you know exactly what’s being offered and secondly, who does not like cool merchandise at a whopping discount?

So, what’s the problem with the loud and brash subject line above? Well, it’s a little too desperate, we don’t know what we are buying, and it just sounds too salesy!

When it comes to the subject line of your cart abandonment email campaign, it’s all about letting your customers know what they are missing out on. Your customers did show interest in your products and because of some reason did not complete the order.

No problem. You can easily invite them right back and this time make sure their hands are full and carts empty.

You want your customers to be reminded of the abandoned cart, politely and directly, and definitely not desperately.

Get started and create an automated abandoned cart reminder email for Shopify customers

Why Compelling Abandoned Cart Email Subject Lines Work

As reported by SaleCycle, almost half of all abandoned cart emails are opened and more than a third of these lead to purchases and order completion.

Constant Contact’s Shopify App has made sending personalized and customized abandon cart emails easier than ever for online retailers. All that’s left for you to do is make sure your subject lines get the customer’s attention to their abandoned carts.

Still not Integrated the Shopify App for your Constant Contact Account? Head to the Marketplace now.

When crafting your abandoned cart email subject lines, you have one major advantage. You know for a fact that your customers did show interest and were at least thinking of making a purchase.

All you need to do now is give the potential customer a gentle reminder that makes them complete the purchase.

Here, it thus becomes extremely important to use personalization in email subject lines for better open rates.

Crafting Your Abandoned Cart Subject Lines

Are you looking for super subject line ideas that will compel online shoppers to get back to their abandoned cart and complete the order?

Subject lines can follow you around and push you to buy stuff, or,they can politely make an offer you can’t resist. So, what kind of abandoned cart subject lines really work?

There are three characteristics that form the foundation for a solid abandoned cart subject line:

Clear
Direct
Compelling

Keeping these three in mind, you can make the subject line of your follow-up emails an offer, a reminder, a question or even a statement about how you feel being ‘abandoned’.

When it comes to email marketing for retail, personalization, relevance, and a clear call-to-action are extremely necessary. This becomes even more important when planning, designing, and executing on your abandoned cart email strategy.

Here are some examples of abandoned cart email subject lines to get you started:

You left some items in your shopping cart

Sometimes, the subject line of your reminder email is as direct as that. If you don’t want to be funny or interesting, just take the direct approach. A direct reminder email of an unfulfilled action is not too pushy and very clear. This could include variations like:

You have items remaining in your cart
Psst… your shopping cart is full
You have saved items in your cart
Reminder: There are items in your cart
Did you forget something?

A question as a subject line sparks curiosity and makes the reader want to reach the answers. A question also gives the perception that you are asking rather than directing them to take an action. This approach of asking questions as your cart abandonment subject lines can be posed in different ways, like:

Are you still thinking it over?
Still not sure if you want to buy it?
Can we help you make a decision?
Do you remember the items you added to your cart?
Did you forget about these items in your cart?

In most cases your customers may really like your brand’s products, but the prices may be one of the primary reasons that is holding them back. Today when it’s so easy to find alternatives, an additional offer or a discount is a great way to lure back people who have abandoned carts. You could offer them a discount or even add benefits like free shipping on completion of the order. This approach could read something like these abandoned cart subject lines:

Complete order now and receive 15% off
Free shipping on completing your order
10% Off on items in your cart
An item in your cart is on sale. Come back and shop
Your cart is about to expire. Shop now

This is called creating FOMO—Fear Of Missing Out. When you tell online shoppers that this is their last chance to shop for the items, the last chance to use a discount, or even the last chance to be able to buy a product, it creates a sense of urgency and usually results in them taking the desired action. Give them a sense of urgency to come back quickly and complete the order. Here are some examples of copy that ignites a sense of urgency:

The items in your cart are selling fast
Last chance to get 10% off on items in your cart
Complete your order today to enjoy free shipping
Complete order now or regret later
The shoes you chose are going out of stock

Subject lines are tricky. If you are still not very sure if you would rather make it sound like a reminder or just ask them a question, try A/B testing your abandoned cart subject lines to see what works best with your customer base.

When thinking of creative subject lines for your email campaigns, you need to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What would make you open an email and generate instant curiosity? Why would you abandon items in your cart? What kind of offers do you find irresistible? Send out different combinations and see what clicks with your brand and your audience in terms of spurring sales.

Abandoned cart email campaigns are highly effective in bringing back customers and pointing them in the direction of the items they have already initiated interest in. Our inboxes have become daily reminders of things and tasks that need our attention, including carts we are filling and abandoning.

It’s okay that your customers walked away mid-purchase, we all get how busy life is and how easy it is to get distracted. What’s not okay is that you let it go. Don’t be shy to approach your customers and remind them about abandoned carts through a solid abandoned cart campaign.

Just make sure your abandoned cart subject lines are powerful enough to make your customers jump right back in.