Cart abandonment emails often get much more attention than their younger cousin, the browse abandonment email. And it's understandable. If a customer has added an item to their cart, they have a much higher purchase intent than someone just browsing your online store.
But to be successful as an ecommerce brand amidst higher digital competition than ever, the entire customer experience needs to be taken into account. Ultimately, the more customers you draw down the funnel, the more conversions you'll have.
So add a browse abandonment flow alongside your cart abandonment messages to bring window shoppers back to your site and increase sales.
We'll unpack the basics of browse abandonment and tips to consider when building your browse abandonment strategy.
What are browse abandonment emails?
A browse abandonment email is an email automatically sent to customers who leave your website while they're browsing but haven't yet added any items to their cart.
This follow-up email can be a great way to encourage these potential customers to return and complete a purchase on your site.
The three types of browse abandonment emails
The most effective browse abandonment campaigns will differ depending on exactly what your customer was doing on your website.
There are three main types of browse abandonment to base your emails off of:
Product abandonment: Product abandonment occurs when a customer visits a product page on your website without adding it to their cart.
Category abandonment: Category abandonment occurs when a customer visits a product category page on your website (such as t-shirts, skincare, or pet toys) without adding any items to their cart.
Site search abandonment: Search abandonment occurs when website visitors use the search bar on your site but leave without finding what they're looking for.
Each browse abandonment type requires a different strategy and approach to meet customer expectations and encourage actions.
Why do ecommerce brands need browse abandonment emails?
There are several benefits to using browse abandonment emails for your ecommerce brand.
First and foremost, browse abandonment emails can help you increase sales. With a carefully crafted flow, you can bring customers back to your site who may have been distracted or deterred from completing their purchase.
Through this process, you can help customers make a buying decision. They may have been comparing products on your website or against your competitors' products. Or they may simply not understand your products.
Through your browse abandonment emails, you can educate customers on the benefits of your products. Then they can understand what sets you apart and how your products might fit into their lives.
7 tips for building an effective browse abandonment series
To send browse abandonment emails that are effective for your ecommerce site, consider the following tips and check out these browse abandonment email examples for inspiration.
Personalize your emails
Personalization has been a hot-button topic for years. But as digital competition increases, marketers need to add more advanced personalization strategies to their campaigns. So don't gloss over this. Sending shoppers relevant messages is key to engagement.
Start by personalizing browse abandonment flows based on what the shopper abandoned -- whether it was a product, category, or search.
Once you have your basic automations in place, add additional personalization elements to make it all the more likely for customers to purchase.
For example, you might tie in zero-party data, such as from a quiz, or first-party data, like other browsing history or previously purchased products.
Write engaging, clear subject lines
Your email subject line determines whether or not your email will get opened at all. So it should capture their attention and give them a clue about what they're receiving.
Use action-oriented language in your subject lines, such as "Don't miss out!" or "This is too good to pass up."
Here are 100 more subject line examples to inspire your emails.
Educate the customer
Help browse abandoners make an informed buying decision by answering common questions about your products.
For example, you might include information about the materials used to make your products, how they're made, or why existing customers love them.
You might also include details about any warranties or guarantees on your products to ease any concerns about buying them.
Using browse abandonment emails to educate can not only help increase conversions but also build a base of loyal customers.
Add social proof
Social proof can be a powerful tool for increasing conversions and sales.
It shows potential customers that other people have been happy with your products and can help them feel more confident in their purchase decisions.
You can include social proof in the form of customer reviews, testimonials, or photos. Or highlight awards or accolades from major publications and influencers in your niche.
Offer a deal
Including a deal or discount in browse abandonment emails can be key to getting customers back on your site and purchasing.
For example, you might offer a discount or free shipping on their next purchase.
Recommend products
Depending on your automations, you can deliver product recommendations in your browse abandonment emails as well.
You'll want to be careful with this one. If you're sending product abandonment emails, offering too many options can overwhelm the customer. They'll end up not making a choice and giving up on purchasing anything at all.
In this case, we recommend sticking to cross-selling -- recommending additional items that will complement the item the customer browsed and will make them more likely to purchase the first product.
For example, if you sell digital cameras, you might recommend accessories in the same category, like additional lenses. This could excite a shopper about what they can do with the camera.
But if you're sending a site search or category abandonment email, you can recommend customer favorites within a category or for a particular search term. Or you can take other customer data into account, like previous purchases, on-site behavior, and interests.
Make your emails easy to take action on
Along with your subject line, the call-to-action (CTA) you include in browse abandonment emails can help nudge customers toward a purchase.
Make buttons large and prominent to make it as easy as possible for customers to take action. And make sure they link to a relevant page to your email's content. You might not always want to send a customer to product pages.
For example, if you're talking about a specific product, the button could add the product to their cart and send them right to the cart page. This is ideal for products you're not giving much additional information on but offering a deal to take advantage of.
That said, if you're educating the customer about the product, it might be more suitable to guide them to the product page so they can learn more.
Split-test variations
To get the best results from browse abandonment emails, you'll want to test different variations to see what performs best with your customers.
You'll want to split-test the elements of individual emails, such as subject lines, content, images, CTAs, and offers. And you'll want to test the number of emails in your series overall.
Keep an eye on clicks, conversions, and unsubscribes to maximize new purchases while minimizing the number of people who unsubscribe from your list.
Add SMS to your browse abandonment flows for better engagement
SMS has become an essential channel for every ecommerce marketing stack, and it works well with email. Text message marketing has an open rate of 95% within three minutes of sending. So it can complement your email marketing strategy with actionable automated messages that don't need a lot of context.
Think discount reminders, personalized product recommendations, or a quick reminder that a product is selling out.
To incorporate SMS into your email flows, you'll need an SMS marketing platform designed for ecommerce. That's where Emotive comes in.
Emotive allows you to build segments for personalized messages, boost engagement and conversions with automated two-way conversations, and integrate with your email marketing platform so you can create a seamless customer experience.
Learn how Emotive can power your SMS program. Book a demo today.