How to Create an Abandoned Cart SMS Message to Boost Your Online Sales
Abandoned carts got you down? Learn how abandoned cart SMS messages can motivate your customers to complete their purchases and help your business succeed.
Navigating the world of e-commerce can be challenging when you’re a business owner. On top of learning the ins and outs of starting your company, you also need to lead customers successfully through their purchase journeys. But that can be easier said than done when abandoned online carts are about as common as, well, lonesome carts in the grocery store parking lot.
You’ve done the hard work to attract potential customers – now all you have to do is nudge them to buy your product or service.
We help untangle the confusion about why people abandon their carts and uncover the benefits of why sending abandoned cart SMS messages is one of the best ways to help customers complete their orders – because an abandoned cart doesn’t have to mean money lost.
Why Do People Abandon Carts?
Digital shopping makes it easy for consumers to hop from site to site, comparing items from different online stores in just seconds. People can add items to their carts without fear, knowing that their internet tabs will still be there in a few days if they don’t make a purchase. This is all well and good for consumers, but where does it leave business owners like you? With almost 70% of consumers worldwide abandoning an online cart, retailers risk losing out on a lot of potential income.
As a business owner, it can be frustrating to see the statistics on abandoned online carts, but remember that as consumers, we all do it. The trick is figuring out why carts are abandoned and how to mitigate the problem. According to Statista, the top two reasons digital shoppers abandon carts are comparing prices and finding out that delivery costs are higher than expected. That means your abandoned cart SMS message might need to include a financial incentive to seal the deal. But more on that later.
The Benefits of Abandoned Cart SMS Messaging
An abandoned cart message is sent to someone who left their cart empty on your site. It’s a message that’s triggered when an event happens (the abandoned cart) that urges the customer to take action (purchase an item).
Email has a proven place in the consumer marketing landscape, and you should incorporate it into your marketing plan. But it may not be the most effective (or timely) way to notify customers of their abandoned carts. SMS messages have higher open and read rates than email messages, so someone might be more likely to take action today rather than in two days, when they finally open and sift through their inbox. This action time is crucial for helping them complete their purchase with a cart abandonment SMS message.
Cart Abandonment SMS Messaging Strategies
As with any marketing plan, there are strategies to keep in mind for each channel, including SMS messages. Here, we’ve put together a helpful list of some best practices. (Pro tip: You can use this list to outline for your business’s abandoned cart SMS template!)
- Personalize. Personalizing the message can help the customer feel like they’re receiving a note from a friend (in other words, they’ll be more likely to read it).
- Incentivize. One of the best ways to help customers take action is to give them an incentive–because sometimes the allure of the product itself isn’t enough. Sugarcoat the shopping experience by offering free shipping or a discount.
- Create a sense of urgency. If a customer knows that they only have 24 hours to take advantage of your offer of free shipping or the 20% discount, they are more likely to make the purchase soon. Another way to create a sense of urgency is by telling them the item is popular or selling out quickly.
- Follow your brand voice. Aligning brand voice and tone across all marketing channels is crucial to creating a cohesive and consistent experience for customers. If your brand voice is edgy or informal, include a few emojis or use laid-back humor. If your brand takes on a more elevated tone, ensure your messaging reflects that (for example, don’t use too many exclamation points or tongue-in-cheek humor).
- Include a CTA and a link. Never forget the CTA and short URL in your abandoned cart SMS message. These are essential components of any marketing message.
- Answer their questions. You can also format your messages like a concierge service with two-way texting, where you allow the customer to reply to your message with questions they may have. Yes, providing real-time interactions can be time-consuming, but it can also mean the difference between a potential and an actual customer.
- Allow them to opt-out. Finally, to follow SMS compliance guidance and text message marketing laws by state, you must provide a way for the customer to opt out of your company’s text messages.
Need more tips? Learn more about how to write an effective text marketing message.
Abandoned Cart SMS Examples
A list of strategies and things to include in your SMS messages is nice, but let’s get to the good stuff: abandoned cart text message examples. The following are examples of messages that include all the necessary elements using different layouts or tones of voice. These can give you a good starting point for crafting your abandoned cart messages.
Notice how the company uses personalization, an emoji, and exclamation points to create a friendly and approachable tone. The messaging creates a sense of urgency by letting the customer know that there aren’t many of that item in stock.
This abandoned cart text message example uses humor to get customers’ attention and incentivizes them to purchase.
This example shows a two-way interaction with the customer that invites them to learn more about your product. It also provides them with the option to go ahead and purchase the item with an incentive.
Features to Help You Craft the Perfect Abandoned Cart Message
Your text marketing platform should have a robust suite of features to make creating abandoned cart SMS messages easy. EZ Texting offers the following tools for crafting the perfect text.
Text Automation
Automated texts are key for abandoned cart messages because they can be set up to send when certain events happen, like someone leaving their online cart without checking out. With EZ Texting, you can either use a template or create your message, and you’ll even have a preview of the message in your window — so you’ll know what customers see on their end.
MMS Messaging
Want to boost engagement with your abandoned cart texts? Sending MMS messages is a straightforward way to do that. Shutterstock is integrated into the EZ Texting platform, so subscribers can choose from over 20 million free images to add to their messages. Use one of our customizable templates or design one based on your brand’s needs.
AI Compose
Save time and effort by using AI Compose, a powerful message generator that drafts personalized, creative content instantly. This generative AI feature can be used for nearly every SMS campaign, including abandoned cart SMS, and can adjust tone of voice, keywords, emojis, and more depending on the message type.
Smart Contacts
Abandoned cart SMS messages won’t produce results if sent to the wrong recipients. Utilize EZ Texting’s Smart Contact management system to ensure that messages for abandoned carts are personalized and targeted. There are even options for custom fields, where notes can be added about specific customer purchasing behaviors or how many messages it took to motivate them to fulfill their cart.
Campaign Calendar
Avoid generic abandoned cart SMS messages by incorporating language specific to holidays, seasons, events, etc. Use the campaign calendar to ensure all messages, including triggered abandoned cart texts, are sent to relevant audiences at the correct times. Visual cues like color coding or icons help your team know which messaging is related to which event to make scheduling even more effortless.
Click-to-Text Button Generator
To proactively prevent shoppers from abandoning their carts, including an option on the checkout page for them to contact you with questions, concerns, and so on may be helpful. This is where a click-to-text button can come in handy.
With EZ Texting, you can generate branded, customizable click-to-text buttons placed strategically on your mobile website’s checkout page and even across other touchpoints. When shoppers click the button, an automated, prefilled message appears in their messaging app, which they can revise before sending to ensure that their questions are included. This feature can help increase sales with SMS, where customers might need more information before purchasing.
Start Implementing Abandoned Cart SMS Messaging Today
So, now that you know all about abandoned cart SMS messaging, how do you put these tips into action? With EZ Texting, of course. Learn more about how we can boost your SMS marketing strategy with abandoned cart text messages, two-way texting, and much more.
Make sure that you’re reaching potential customers and increasing your online sales. There’s no better way to do it than with EZ Texting!
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