Most shoppers who add something to their cart never finish buying it. Baymard Institute's long-running average puts cart abandonment at roughly 70%, which means most of the buyers you already paid to attract walk away at the last step. A good abandoned cart email is one of the simplest ways to win some of them back, because it goes to people who have already shown they want what you sell.
This guide walks you through building a short abandoned cart email sequence from scratch: when to send each message, what to say, and how to tell whether it's working. By the end you'll have three ready-to-adapt emails and a simple way to measure them.
What you'll need
- An ecommerce platform or email tool that can send automated cart or checkout reminders (Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and most email platforms support this) - Access to your store's order and checkout reports - About two to three hours for the first version
How to write an abandoned cart email sequence, step by step
### Step 1: Measure your baseline and set a goal
Before you write anything, find out how many carts or checkouts are abandoned each month and the average value of those carts. Most store dashboards show abandoned checkouts directly; if yours doesn't, compare checkouts started to orders completed for the last 30 days.
Then set a realistic target, such as "recover 5% of abandoned checkouts within 60 days." To see what that's worth in revenue, plug your traffic, conversion rate, and order value into the free [ROI Calculator](https://www.rankreactor.ai/tools#roi-calculator) and compare your current numbers with a slightly higher conversion rate. Having a dollar figure makes it much easier to decide how much time the sequence deserves.
*Time: 20–30 minutes.*
### Step 2: Know who you can actually email
There are two different situations, and it helps to keep them separate:
- **Abandoned checkout:** the shopper typed their email at checkout and left. You can usually email them. - **Abandoned cart:** the shopper added items but never reached checkout. You can only email them if they're logged in or already on your list.
Only email people who gave you their address, include a working unsubscribe link, and follow the consent rules that apply where your customers live. If your list is small, add an email field earlier in checkout (it's often the first field already) so more abandoned sessions become reachable.
*Time: 15 minutes.*
### Step 3: Plan the timing of three emails
A three-email sequence is a solid starting point for most stores:
1. **Email 1, about 1 hour after abandonment:** a simple reminder while the product is still on their mind. 2. **Email 2, about 24 hours later:** answer the objections that stop people from buying. 3. **Email 3, about 48–72 hours later:** a final nudge, with an incentive only if your margins allow it.
Stop the sequence the moment someone buys. Nothing annoys a customer faster than a "you forgot something" email after they've already paid.
*Time: 10 minutes to set the schedule in your tool.*
### Step 4: Write Email 1, the friendly reminder
The first email should feel like a helpful tap on the shoulder, not a sales pitch. Keep it short, show the exact items left behind (image, name, price), and put one clear button back to the cart.
**Abandoned cart email example (Email 1):**
> **Subject:** Still thinking it over? > > Hi Sam, you left the Linen Throw Blanket in your cart. We've saved it for you, so you can pick up right where you left off. > > [Return to my cart] > > Questions about sizing or shipping? Just reply to this email and a real person will answer.
Notice what it doesn't do: no discount, no pressure, no long paragraphs. Many shoppers simply got distracted, and a reminder is all they need.
*Time: 20 minutes.*
### Step 5: Write Email 2, the objection handler
If someone hasn't come back after a day, something is holding them back. The usual reasons are shipping costs, delivery time, returns, trust, and doubts about whether the product is right for them. Use this email to answer those questions directly.
Look at your support inbox and product reviews for the questions people ask most, then address the top two or three.
**Abandoned cart email example (Email 2):**
> **Subject:** A few answers before you decide > > Hi Sam, your cart is still waiting. Here's what most customers ask us before ordering: > > - **Shipping:** Free on orders over $50, delivered in 3–5 business days. > - **Returns:** 30 days, no questions asked. > - **Quality:** "[A short, real customer review goes here]" (verified buyer) > > [Finish my order]
Only use real policies and real reviews. Invented quotes or fake urgency damage trust far more than they help.
*Time: 30–45 minutes.*
### Step 6: Write Email 3, the last nudge
The final email tells the shopper this is the last reminder. You can add a small incentive here, such as free shipping or a modest discount, but think about it carefully first: if you offer a discount every time, some customers will learn to abandon carts on purpose to get one.
A good middle ground is to save incentives for higher-value carts or first-time customers, and to send everyone else a plain final reminder.
**Abandoned cart email example (Email 3):**
> **Subject:** Last call on your cart > > Hi Sam, we'll stop reminding you after this one. If you'd still like the Linen Throw Blanket, here's free shipping on your order for the next 48 hours. > > [Complete my purchase]
*Time: 20 minutes.*
### Step 7: Fix the page they return to, then test and measure
An email can only bring a shopper back; the cart and checkout pages still have to close the sale. Click the link in each email on your phone and make sure the cart restores correctly, loads quickly, and shows shipping costs before the final step. Running your store's homepage through the free [Site Auditor](https://www.rankreactor.ai/tools#site-auditor) is a quick way to catch speed and on-page problems that might send returning shoppers away again.
Once the sequence is live, track four numbers each week: open rate, click rate, recovered orders, and recovered revenue. After a few weeks, test one change at a time, such as a new subject line for Email 1 or sending Email 2 at 12 hours instead of 24. Keep whichever version recovers more revenue, not just more opens.
*Time: 30 minutes to test, then 10 minutes a week to review.*
Common abandoned cart email mistakes
- **Leading with a discount.** It trains customers to wait and cuts your margin on sales you might have made anyway. - **Sending too many emails.** Three is plenty for most stores. More than that tends to drive unsubscribes. - **Generic messages.** "You left something behind" with no product image or name is easy to ignore. - **Broken cart links.** Always test that the button restores the exact cart, especially on mobile. - **No reply option.** Sending from a "no-reply" address throws away a chance to answer the question that's stopping the sale. - **Never revisiting it.** Prices, shipping policies, and products change. Review the emails every few months so they stay accurate.
What to do this week
- [ ] Pull last month's abandoned checkouts and average cart value - [ ] Set a recovery goal and estimate what it's worth in revenue - [ ] Confirm which abandoned shoppers you can legally and technically email - [ ] Write and schedule your three emails (1 hour, 24 hours, 48–72 hours) - [ ] Make sure the sequence stops as soon as someone buys - [ ] Test every cart link on your phone - [ ] Put a weekly 10-minute check on your calendar to review recovered revenue
An abandoned cart email sequence takes an afternoon to set up and then works quietly in the background. Start with the three simple emails above, measure what they bring back, and improve one piece at a time.