SMS examples and strategy
Abandoned cart text message examples
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Knix
Knix: You've added something popular to your cart. Come back and order before it sells out! https://knix.attn.tv/l/dYE/1jlCC
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How to Create an Effective Abandoned Cart Text Message: Examples and Tips
According to the Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate is 69.82%. That means more than half of the browsers in your store who show high interest in your products will leave without buying anything.
It also means a painful impact on your bottom line.
Luckily, there are ways to reverse cart abandonment. Some of the most popular options include sending abandoned cart emails and showing targeted ads to cart abandoners through Adwords and on social media platforms such as Facebook.
Ecommerce marketers are also increasingly using SMS marketing to entice shoppers to complete their purchases. A well-crafted abandoned cart text message can be the difference between revenue lost and revenue gained.
What is an Abandoned Cart Message?
An abandoned cart message is an SMS that is automatically sent when a shopper adds items to their cart but then leaves your store without completing their purchase. The goal of an abandoned cart SMS is to convince the shopper to buy the item(s) they’ve left in their cart.
Because of the limitations many mobile phone carriers put on the sending of abandoned cart texts, they’re often sent within 48 hours after the shopper leaves their cart.
Abandoned Cart Text Message Examples
Abandoned Cart Text Messages: Strategic Tips
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Abandoned Cart Text Message Examples
When sending abandoned cart messages, you can’t add GIFs or beautiful product images as you can when sending emails, and your text can’t be longer than 160 characters. That means your copy needs to be both concise and engaging.
To give you an idea of what that looks like, we’ve gathered five abandoned cart text message examples below.
Create a sense of urgency
This SMS by Knix is a great example of how you can add a sense of urgency to your abandoned cart message. The brand tells the shopper that the item they added to their cart is a popular one and might sell out if the shopper doesn’t go back for it soon. It’s a short yet effective message.
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Knix
Offer a discount
Bellami Hair goes a step further. They also create a sense of urgency but pair it with a discount code for five percent off. The combination of the discount and the 72-hour window to make use of the discount form a strong incentive for the shopper to go back to their cart.
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BELLAMI Hair
Offer free shipping
Offering free shipping can be even more effective for a cart recovery campaign than offering a discount, as many shoppers leave their cart because they didn’t expect the shipping fee. Even if you already offer free shipping, your abandoned cart text message is a good place to remind shoppers of that.
Aside from offering free shipping, OSEA does a good job here of personalizing the message to Donald and creating a sense of urgency by letting him know his cart is about to expire.
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OSEA
Make them an offer they can't refuse
Brooklinen wants to leave nothing to chance. The brand offers cart abandoners free shipping and and an exclusive offer, but only if they return to their cart in time.
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Brooklinen
Be there to help
Sometimes, a shopper may not complete a purchase because they have some questions about the product. QALO catches these subscribers by prompting them to text the brand and by emphasizing that it’s there to help.
While it can become more time and labor-intensive when subscribers start replying to your abandoned cart messages, it also means they’re interested enough to engage with you and they’re offering you a way to guide them through the purchasing process.
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QALO
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Abandoned Cart Text Messages: Strategic Tips
Combine SMS with email in your abandoned cart campaigns
Take both email and SMS into account when you’re creating abandoned cart campaigns for a higher chance of success. That could mean sending your emails at a different time than your abandoned cart text messages or using the same type of messaging for both mediums.
Don’t, for example, offer free shipping for your abandoned cart SMS, and then offer a five percent discount in your abandoned cart email. If you want to experiment with different incentives, test them across the board.
Experiment with send time and volume
Ideally, your cart recovery messages will reach the shopper when the product they left behind is still top of mind. That means texting them 10 minutes to two hours after they’ve abandoned their cart is more effective than texting them 20 hours later.
Still, it’s important to experiment with send times to figure out what works best for your audience. And if your mobile phone carrier allows you to send more than one abandoned cart message per cart, you can also test if it’s better to send one or two reminder messages.
Segment your list
List segmentation is not just important when you’re sending promotional SMS. It can increase the effectiveness of your abandoned cart SMS campaigns as well. You might, for example, want to use a different type of copy for loyal customers than for new customers, or change your messaging based on the age or location of the shopper.
Personalize your abandoned cart message
If you can personalize a message, personalize the message. That is just as valid for SMS as it is for email. Addressing your subscribers by name will make them feel just a bit more spoken to, and thus inclined to take action.
Offer a discount or free shipping
As we’ve seen in some of the abandoned text message examples above, offering a discount or free shipping can be a great way to convince shoppers to buy the items in their cart. Free shipping can be especially interesting if shoppers tend to drop off when they see the shipping fee during the checkout process.
Create a sense of urgency
There’s nothing like the fear of missing out to make someone take action. You can play to that fear in different ways when sending cart abandonment SMS:
- let them know their cart is about to expire.
- tell them the item in their cart is popular and might sell out.
- offer a discount or free shipping for a limited time only.
Abandoned Cart Messages: That Little Extra Push to Increase Your Revenue
Cart abandonment text messages can make a big difference to your bottom line. So, it’s important to test this copy and when to best send them. Combine your cart abandonment SMS campaign with a cart recovery email campaign for increased effect, and experiment with offering just a friendly reminder, free shipping, a discount, or simply some help to see what your audience responds to best.
The abandoned cart text message examples in this post show you what those different options look like. Want even more inspiration? Then make sure to sign up today and be one of the first to get access to our curated new database full of ecommerce SMS marketing campaigns – coming soon!
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