How To (Actually) Drive Sales Through Browse Abandonment Emails

Many shoppers look around your store, search for products, but don’t add to the cart.

And this is where browse abandonment emails come in: they’re sent to bring those shoppers back, sometimes with an offer, a discount, or something else of value.

The good news is - browse abandonment emails do really well for stores with a 50.5% higher click-through rate compared to traditional emails. 

But there’s a catch - your browse abandonment emails will have to stand out from the crowd.

Let’s dive in.

1. Don't send the same content to everyone

2. Create attention-grabbing subject lines 

3. Write thought-provoking copy

4. Personalize emails based on shopping journey

5. Mix up your product recommendations

6. Keep your content scannable

7. Experiment with your CTAs 

8. Limit the number of emails you send

9. Upsell like a champ

10. Make ‘Contact us’ prominent

11. The more social proof, the better

12. Track metrics beyond open rate

11 Ways To Drive More Sales Through Browse Abandonment Emails

1. Don't send the same content to everyone

Browse abandonment happens at 4 different touch points of the funnel, namely: 

a) Homepage abandonment 

Your shoppers leave after landing on your homepage. Bring them back by educating them with a quiz. Feature your best sellers. Encourage customers to take another look with incentives such as free shipping and easy returns. 

b) Category Abandonment 

As the name says, category abandonment occurs when your shoppers browse your category pages but leave without moving to the product page. 

To convert them—send product recommendations from the relevant category. Offer deals on categories like the one below.

c) Product page abandonment 

In this occurrence, the shopper interacts with the product page but never adds to the cart. These recovery emails must contain product information and options similar to the one below.

d) Search abandonment 

Search abandonment occurs when shoppers exit your site after using your site search to find a product, model, feature, SKU, etc. 

To woo these shoppers, include product recommendations closely matching the search term. Offer first-time customer deals. A welcome addition—product comparison info demonstrating how you are different from others.

A simple search abandonment email would look like this. 

2. Create attention-grabbing subject lines 

Creating subject lines that convert like crazy isn’t as hard as you think. 

One simple trick is to use the Curiosity Gap. Reveal a part of the information in the subject line and withhold the rest. Take help from your preview text. 

This gear is worth another look — Make it yours before it sells out.

Check out these subject lines for inspiration:

• Is this your next pair?
• See anything you liked?
• Did we catch your attention? 
• Just What You Were Looking For
• Your recently viewed items are still available
• Save 20% And Take a Second Look
• Handpicked, just for you.
• Complimentary 2-3 day shipping on the Gucci items you viewed.
• Don't ghost, David
• ⌛ Hurry, take one more look and get 20% off! ⌛
• You're not the only one looking at these... 👀
• Wayne, A Category You Viewed Has Dropped In Price
• You'd DEFINITELY Look Cute In That 🥰 

3. Write thought-provoking copy

Write copy that makes shoppers take the next step. You can either say You’ve earned it! We thought you might take a second look or use: 

Questions—Questions stimulate a mental reflex called Instinctive Elaboration. Your brain can’t think of anything else but the question. 

Power of regret— Customers like happy experiences. Tell them how missing out on buying your product could make them regret it.

You also have to be mindful of the tone and phrasing. Use contractions and exclamations to make it conversational. It helps convey messages in the right tone. Make active voice your ally.  

The trick is to write as you’re talking to a friend—use second person pronouns like you, your, and yours well.  

4. Personalize emails based on shopping journey

Personalize your emails better by segmenting subscribers according to:

a) High-intent shoppers 

Shoppers who actively use the search bar, browse product categories, check out reviews, and return policy are high-intent shoppers. 

Send emails containing: 

• Customer testimonials with well-rounded insights—for example, value, quality, length, comfort, and sizing for clothing apparel
• Testimonials including age, skin type, and concern for skin care products
• Early access deals, best sellers, and first-time discounts 
• Trust badges from recognized authorities such as FDA to drive trust 

Browse abandonment emails sent to high-intent buyers can help you reclaim 10 to 15% of lost sales. 

b) First-time customers 

First-time customers may still not know what they want. You would want to send: 

• Interactive emails with product recommendation quizzes—they have a click-to-open rate of 73% 
• Emails containing product videos of starter products(increases your CTR by 300%) 
• First-time discounts to new customers to encourage them to purchase—80% of customers feel encouraged to buy from a brand for the first time 
• Emails offering BNPL payment options encourage customers to buy products they couldn’t afford(45%) 

c) Repeat shoppers 

Repeat customers have a greater LTV and are your brand advocates. Woo them with emails having: 

• Loyalty programs offering benefits such as member-only prices, exclusive access to upcoming products, experiences, etc 
• Access to limited edition drops and product launch invites 

Access your customer data from CRM, Google Analytics, etc to drive personalization.

5. Mix up your product recommendations

Add your bestsellers or trending products with your product recommendations.

Here’s a cool example from Zee & Co:

6. Keep your content scannable

People read from their minds — not eyes. Make content easy to scan.

Use bullet points. Stick to 3 sentences in a paragraph. Break your content into small chunks so readers find it easier to read. 

Don’t use words exceeding four syllables— for instance, satisfyingly and knowability. They confuse your readers. Add subheadings for a natural flow, for a better reading experience on mobile devices.

Here’s a quick template for you to borrow from:

Hey [name], we caught you snooping 👀

And we are SO GLAD we did!

Our customers are the backbone of our company, and nothing makes us happier than seeing them enjoy our products!

We know you liked our [product name] and we’re sure you’d want to see these too

<Product display>

—

Catch your fancy? Shop now

So, pop on over, tell us what you loved!

<Contact details & social media credentials>

7. Experiment with your CTAs 

Tie your CTAs with a specific action other than Shop Now or Buy Now. Start with: 

a) Soft-selling 

Ask them to take a second look—a soft-selling approach. 

b) Drive scarcity 

Drive FOMO for popular products: 

c) Bring forth the power of savings 

And use “save” even in the CTA: 

8. Limit the number of emails you send

Just so you don’t end up in a spam box, follow a sequence you can stick to. It helps in improving your email delivery rate.

Here’s an ideal sequence for you: 

• Send the first email 30 minutes after the abandonment
• Second email 24 hours after the abandonment
• Third email 3 days after abandonment 

Remember, to offer different incentives for best results. 

Read more: eCommerce email marketing: The complete guide

9. Upsell like a champ

Include higher priced products to increase perceived value. You’d want to drive an emotional trigger using copy—This might go well with…. to get shoppers to act. 

Include recommendations that are better than the previous. This invokes the Salience Bias—the tendency to focus on emotionally striking while ignoring the rest. 

Use Decoy pricing to increase your AOV. List three products—place the lowest priced product, highest priced in the middle, and the second highest at the end. 

10. Make ‘Contact us’ prominent

Add your contact details just above the footer. You want your customers to spot it instantly. Use negative space and link to your help section, support email, and store locator. 

11. The more social proof, the better

Reassuring customers is tough but with the right social proof, it gets easier.

a) Be solution focused

Feature testimonials showing the before/after results. Include the pain point and how your product helped customers. For this, send a brief to your customers on what you’d like them to cover. 

Take note of this example from Vanity Planet. 

b) Use social signals 

Social signals are your overall shares, likes, and social media visibility. It shows your social proof in real-time encouraging shoppers to click. See 6, 751 people love this—that’s a social signal.  

12. Track metrics beyond open rate

Your browse abandonment emails might look good on the surface, but what’s your data telling? 

You might want to look at these metrics:

• Unsubscribe rate: The percentage of shoppers who have unsubscribed to your emails.  How to calculate: Total number of unsubscribers/ Number of emails delivered 

• Compliant rate: This is the number of shoppers who have marked your email as spam. How to calculate: Total number of complaints/Total number of emails delivered

• Conversion rate: This is the ideal stage you want to reach with your shoppers. Conversion rate is the percentage of shoppers who finally bought your product.  How to calculate: Total number of conversions/ Number of emails delivered 

• Bounce Rate: The percentage of emails sent which weren’t delivered to your recipient’s inbox. How to calculate: Total number of bounces/ Number of emails sent

• Forward rate: The percentage of shoppers who forwarded your email to friends or shared the email by clicking the link inside the email. How to calculate: Total number of forwards/ Number of emails delivered

• Campaign ROI: The return on the investment for your email campaigns. How to calculate: ($ Sales - $ Invested) / $ Invested

• List growth rate: The percentage at which your email list has grown over time. How to calculate: New Subscribers - New Unsubscribers + Email/Spam Complaints / Number of Subscribers x 100
  

Transform Email Marketing Into A Revenue Machine

Most eCommerce store owners don’t see email as a serious revenue stream.

Ask them about the importance of email marketing, and you'll hear: “we don’t really have a major strategy,” “we mostly use generic templates,” or “we just send emails to people on our list.”

BUT AT THE SAME TIME:

There are stores out there that drive 30%+ of their revenue from email marketing.

Engage can help you do the same - Book a free demo.

We’ll show you:

• workflows we can create for your store,
• proven ways to drive 30% or more $$ from email alone, and
• successful templates and strategies from your industry (and others).