Email abandonment journeys

Use abandonment journeys to reach out to subscribers after they leave your website. Each journey includes email and SMS remarketing tactics to convert subscribers into buyers.

• Session abandonment journeys: Send messages to subscribers if they’ve visited your website but haven’t yet viewed a product. See Overview: session abandonment journeys for more information.
• Browse abandonment journeys: Send messages to subscribers who’ve viewed a product but haven’t added it to their cart for purchase.
• Cart abandonment journeys: Send messages to your subscribers about products in their cart they haven't purchased yet.
• Checkout abandonment journeys: Send messages to subscribers who've left the site before finishing the payment process. 

If you have browse, cart, or checkout abandonment journeys live at the same time, Attentive allows you to only reach out to the customer with the outreach targeted at the latest point of the customer’s journey. For example, subscribers don’t receive a cart abandonment email if they’ve started the checkout process.

If you need help orchestrating your Concierge texts with email, contact your Attentive Customer Success team.

Understand how subscribers are automatically opted in to email abandonment journeys

In the Attentive platform, US shoppers who visit your e-commerce site are automatically opted in if we can identify their email address and they perform one of the following actions:

• Viewed a product page on your site
• Added a product to their cart
• Started checkout

Subscribers opted-in in this way only receive marketing messages via the following journey types:

• Browse abandonment
• Cart abandonment
• Checkout started

They won’t receive campaign messages or messages from other marketing journeys unless they opt in via an Attentive sign-up unit on your website.

Subscribers can always opt out of receiving these messages. Subscribers who’ve already opted out of receiving messages from you won’t be opted back in.

Sign-up units corresponding to actions where subscribers are automatically opted in appear on your Sign-up Units page. With these sign-up units, you can see which subscribers were added after each action. The image below highlights two of these sign-up units: one that tracks subscribers opted in after viewing a product, the other that tracks subscribers opted in after adding a product to their cart.

Create a cart abandonment journey

With cart abandonment journeys, you can increase conversion rates for subscribers who leave your website with an unpurchased product in their cart. 

Reasons to create a cart abandonment journey

The goal of a cart abandonment journey is to get a subscriber to return to their shopping cart after they’ve added items but left before checking out. These journeys encourage subscribers to proceed to check out and ultimately make a purchase.

Content to add to cart abandonment journey emails

To help improve click and CVR rates, we recommend adding saved rows to your cart abandonment journeys and customizing them for your brand and products. We suggest adding the following saved rows to your emails:

• A Header Bar - Announcement row to promote risk-free purchasing (e.g., free shipping or free returns)
• A Press Highlights row to showcase positive buzz about your brand or products
• A product recommendation row (e.g., 3 best sellers) to promote other items
• An FAQ row to highlight important features
• A Value Props row in the footer to promote risk-free purchasing (e.g., free shipping or free returns)

Generally speaking, we recommend that cart abandonment emails convey a sense of urgency. We also highly recommend including a discount or incentive. Include buttons or links that take recipients back to their cart so they can check out. Other content, including product reviews and FAQs, can also help inspire confidence in your brand and products.

We also recommend mentioning discounts in any buttons or links, and if you’re an Attentive Concierge customer, you can promote Concierge to help subscribers get assistance with anything that might be preventing them from checking out and purchasing.

As you write content, keep in mind that unlike low inventory and price drop journeys, browse abandonment journeys can’t take into account any product variants.

Lastly, we recommend including 4 email touchpoints in your journeys to boost the likelihood that subscribers engage with your messages.

How to create a cart abandonment journey

1. At the top-right corner of the Journeys page, click + Create journey.
2. Filter for Multi-channel journeys and select Cart Abandonment - Text + Email. Then, click Get started.
3. Below Else on the first branch, click Send text message. When designing your first cart abandonment message, include the {{triggerEvent.product.name}} variable and a link to the cart page on your website.
   
4. Below the Send text message step, set the Wait step to 2 hours.
5. In the next branch step, click Send email below Else to set up your first email. Design the email to remind subscribers who still haven’t completed their purchase. Consider adding saved rows and following the suggestions described in the Content to add to your cart abandonment journey section above.
   
6. Set the following Wait time to 1 day.
7. In the next Else branch, click Send email. Design the email template to remind them of the products they’ve added to their cart.
8. Set the following Wait time to 1 day.
9. In the next Else branch, click Send email. Design the email template to convey urgency. For example, you can mention that the sale’s ending soon, or set a cart expiration date.
10. Set the following Wait time to 1 day.
11. Below the Else option of the last branch, click Send email. Design the email template to incentivize the customer. We recommend including an offer or other reward for purchasing.
12. When you’re satisfied with the journey, click Turn on in the top-right corner.

Create a browse abandonment journey

With browse abandonment journeys, you can increase conversion rates for subscribers who leave your website without adding a product to their cart. 

Reasons to create a browse abandonment journey

The goal of a browse abandonment journey is to get a subscriber to return to your website. These journeys encourage subscribers to add items to their cart, proceed to checkout, and ultimately make a purchase. Browse abandonment journeys can also help increase confidence in your brand or product and promote other products that might lead to a purchase.

Content to add to browse abandonment journey emails

We recommend adding saved rows to your browse abandonment journeys and customizing them for your brand and products. Some recommendations include the following:

• A Header Bar - Announcement row to promote risk-free purchasing (e.g., free shipping or free returns)
• An About us row to establish trust with your brand and direct recipients to your brand’s website
• A Press Highlights row to showcase positive buzz about your brand or products
• A product recommendation row (e.g., 3 best sellers) to promote other items
• An FAQ row to highlight important features
• A Value Props row in the footer to promote risk-free purchasing (e.g., free shipping or free returns)

Generally speaking, we recommend that copy in browse abandonment emails convey a sense of urgency. Try using emotional storytelling in an “About us” row and including reviews to inspire confidence in your brand and products. You can also add dynamic product recommendations to entice subscribers to purchase other products.

We also recommend mentioning discounts in any buttons or links back to your website, and if you’re an Attentive Concierge customer, you can promote Concierge to help subscribers get assistance with anything that might be preventing them from checking out and purchasing.

Lastly, we recommend including 4 email touchpoints in your journeys to boost the likelihood that subscribers engage with your messages.

How to create a browse abandonment journey

1. At the top-right corner of the Journeys page, click + Create journey.
2. Filter for Multi-channel journeys and select Browse Abandonment - Email + SMS. Then, click Get started.
3. On the second branch below Channel type of Text Only or Both Text + Email, click Send text message. When designing the message, invite them to return to your site to keep shopping.
   • We recommend incorporating the {{triggerEvent.product.name}} variable to direct the subscriber to the item they’ve viewed.
     
4. Set the Wait time to 6 hours.
5. Below Else in the next branch step, click Send email. Design the email template to remind subscribers who still haven’t purchased a product.
   • We recommend incorporating product reviews and testimonials. Also consider adding saved rows and following the suggestions described in the Content to add to your browse abandonment journey section above.
     
6. Set the next Wait time to 1 day.
7. Below Else on the third branch, click Send email. Design the email template as a follow-up reminder.
   • We recommend advertising the specific product viewed and including a CTA that encourages customers to add the product to their cart.
8. Set the next Wait time to 1 day.
9. In the next Else branch, click Send email. This time, Design the email to incentivize subscribers with an offer.
10. Set the next Wait time to 1 day.
11. In the final Else branch, click Send email. This email should remind them of the offer.
12. After you’ve finished editing the journey, click Turn on in the top-right corner.

Create a checkout abandonment journey

With checkout abandonment journeys, you can increase conversion rates for subscribers who’ve abandoned their cart during checkout. This journey helps your brand capture high-intent shoppers with personalized outreach.

Reasons to create a checkout abandonment journey

The goal of a checkout abandonment journey is to get a subscriber to return to checkout on your website and ultimately make a purchase. Checkout abandonment journeys can also help increase confidence in your brand or products with a quick, seamless checkout experience.

Content to add to checkout abandonment journey emails

We recommend adding saved rows to your checkout abandonment journeys and customizing them for your brand and products. Some recommendations include the following:

• A Header Bar - Announcement row to promote risk-free purchasing (e.g., free shipping or free returns)
• A Reviews - Testimonials row to inspire confidence and trust in your brand and products
• Rows that highlight interest-free payment apps (Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, etc.)
• A Value Props row in the footer to promote risk-free purchasing (e.g., free shipping or free returns)

Generally speaking, we recommend that copy in checkout abandonment emails convey a sense of urgency. We also highly recommend including a discount or incentive. Include buttons or links to check out, as well as links to interest-free payment options, if available. You can also include product reviews and FAQs to help inspire confidence in your brand and products.

We also recommend mentioning discounts in any buttons or links back to your website, and if you’re an Attentive Concierge customer, you can promote Concierge to help subscribers get assistance with anything that might be preventing them from checking out and purchasing.

How to create a checkout abandonment journey

1. At the top-right corner of the Journeys page, click + Create journey.
2. Filter for Multi-channel journeys and select Checkout Abandonment - Email + SMS. Then, click Get started.
3. After the journey initiation, add a Wait time of 20 minutes.
4. On the second branch below Channel type of Text Only or Both Text + Email, click Send text message. When designing the message, remind them of the product that they almost purchased.
   
5. Set the Wait time below to 2 hours.
6. On the next Else branch, click Send email. Design the email to remind the subscriber of the product(s) they’ve left behind. Consider adding saved rows and following the suggestions described in the Content to add to your checkout abandonment journey section above.
   
7. Set the next Wait time to 1 day.
8. Below the next Else branch, click Send email. Once again, remind the subscriber of the product(s) they’ve left behind, and use language that drives a sense of urgency.
9. Set the next Wait time to 1 day.
10. Below the next Else branch, click Send email. Design the email to incentivize subscribers with an offer.
11. Set the next Wait time to 1 day.
12. Below Else on the next branch, click Send email. This email should remind them of the offer.
13. Add an End journey step. When you’re satisfied, click Turn on in the top-right corner.

Benchmarks

We've seen the following metrics for abandonment journeys that contain triggered emails. Keep in mind that your results will vary depending on the size of your subscriber list and their level of engagement.

Benchmarks last updated 3/1/2024

Session abandonment

• Average open rate: 49.3% (unique opens ÷ total sends)
• Average CTR: 7.1% (unique clicks ÷ unique opens)
• Average CVR:  1.3% (total conversions ÷ total clicks)
• Revenue / Send: $0.32 (total revenue ÷ total sends)

Browse abandonment

• Average open rate: 51.1% (unique opens ÷ total sends)
• Average CTR: 2.69% (unique clicks ÷ unique opens)
• Average CVR: 5.99% (total conversions ÷ total clicks)
• Revenue / Send: $0.46 (total revenue ÷ total sends)

Cart abandonment

• Average open rate: 50.0% (unique opens ÷ total sends)
• Average CTR: 3.1% (unique clicks ÷ unique opens)
• Average CVR: 19.2% (total conversions ÷ total clicks)
• Revenue / Send: $2.37 (total revenue ÷ total sends)

Checkout abandonment

• Average open rate: 51.1% (unique opens ÷ total sends)
• Average CTR: 3.4% (unique clicks ÷ unique opens)
• Average CVR: 23.3% (total conversions ÷ total clicks)
• Revenue / Send: $2.14 (total revenue ÷ total sends)