🚨 Most Brands Miss the Biggest Opportunity: Cart vs. Checkout Abandonment
Let’s start with a reality check:
👉 Far more shoppers abandon their cart than abandon at checkout.
Most brands only set up an abandoned checkout flow (often just following default tools like Klaviyo). That means they’re missing the far larger segment of customers who:
- Added items to their cart,
- Browsed more, or
- Got distracted and left — without ever reaching checkout.
This is a huge missed opportunity.
- 70-85% of ecommerce carts are abandoned.
- The majority never even start the checkout process.
So by only emailing checkout abandoners, you’re leaving the vast majority of potential customers — and revenue — on the table.
💥 Why Your Abandoned Cart Flow Isn’t Working
1️⃣ Your flow is too short
The biggest flaw in most abandoned cart strategies is that the flow is simply too short.
Many brands send only 2-3 emails over 2-3 days, then stop. This may have worked in the past, but modern shoppers don’t buy like that anymore. They’re comparing multiple offers, testing carts on several sites, reading reviews, or simply waiting until payday.
A short flow means you’re letting them off the hook too easily — which is why they might end up buying from a competitor who kept following up.
A robust abandoned cart flow should include 6+ emails stretched over 10-14 days. This:
✅ Ensures the shopper didn’t just forget.
✅ Keeps your brand top-of-mind.
✅ Gives you multiple chances to answer objections, showcase reviews, and outshine your competitors.
2️⃣ Your copy isn’t effective
Today’s shoppers have short attention spans. If your emails are:
- Wordy and dense,
- Buried in generic marketing fluff, or
- Lacking a clear call-to-action (CTA),
…you’re losing them.
Your copy should be:
✅ Short, clear, and to the point.
✅ Focus on the product they left behind.
✅ Answer key FAQs: shipping times, return policies, guarantees.
✅ Layer in quick social proof (like “Over 5,000 5-star reviews!”).
Make the decision simple and obvious.
3️⃣ Your design isn’t conversion optimized
Many abandoned cart emails look like generic newsletters. But these need to be laser-focused on closing the sale.
✅ Use a strong headline that references the cart or your core value proposition.
✅ Show the exact product they left behind, prominently.
✅ Place your “Shop Now” button high up in the email so they see it immediately.
✅ Include icons or quick trust builders: “Free Shipping,” “30-Day Returns,” “Secure Checkout.”
🚀 How to Effectively Optimize Your Abandoned Cart Flow
A powerful abandoned cart flow isn’t about guesswork — it’s about smart, continuous testing. Here’s how to build (and keep improving) yours.
🧪 The most important A/B tests for abandoned cart flows
1. Time delay tests
👉 Test when the first email fires:
- Does your audience respond better if the first email goes out 30 minutes after abandoning the cart, or does waiting 4 hours capture more sales by feeling less pushy?
👉 Test the spacing between follow-ups:
- Sending reminders every 24 hours vs. every 48 hours might dramatically change your conversion rate (and unsubscribe rate).
- Some audiences convert with gentle reminders spread out over time. Others respond to quicker nudges.
2. Subject line tests
👉 Test key variations to see what grabs attention:
- Including a discount vs. not:
- “Get 10% Off Before Your Cart Expires!” vs. “You Left Something Behind…”
- Title Case vs. sentence case:
- “Complete Your Order Today” vs. “Complete your order today.”
- Urgency vs. curiosity:
- “Hurry — Your Cart Is About To Expire” vs. “Did you still want this?”
3. Graphic vs. text-based emails
👉 Some shoppers trust sleek graphics. Others respond better to a simple, personal-looking plain text email from the founder.
Test which approach generates more clicks and conversions.
4. Promoting categories vs. individual products
👉 Instead of only showing the exact abandoned product, test emails that also show:
- Best-selling categories: “Explore our top picks in Home Decor.”
- Alternatives: “Not sure about that chair? Here are other favorites.”
This helps catch shoppers who were still undecided on style or color.
5. Other smart A/B tests to run
- Long copy vs. short copy
- Different alignments (centered vs. left-aligned)
- Positioning of trust signals (icons at the top vs. bottom)
- Highlighting guarantees vs. free shipping first
- Text-heavy social proof vs. user-generated photo reviews
Small tweaks here can drive 25-30% incremental lifts in abandoned cart revenue. Over time, these gains compound massively.
🎯 The bottom line
Most abandoned cart flows fail because they’re:
- Too short, giving shoppers an easy out (and competitors the win).
- Weak in copy, failing to build urgency, trust, or excitement.
- Not strategically tested, meaning they miss huge opportunities to optimize.
By extending your flow, systematically running smart A/B tests, tightening your copy, and laser-focusing your design around the product they almost bought, you’ll recover far more of these sales — and stop leaving money on the table.
