3-Minute Tips: Cart Abandonment—When to Send

Welcome everybody to Omnisend’s marketing tip series, where in roughly 3 minutes or less each day, I’ll give you actionable tips on ways to improve your email & SMS marketing program and help you increase sales.

Yesterday we talked about whether or not to discount in your abandoned cart messages. Today, I want to discuss the timing of your message sends, AND, if you do offer discounts, when exactly you should offer them. 

Choosing the cadence of your abandoned cart emails is another decision that has no wrong answer. And here’s why.

If you are selling a $1,000 product, the decision cycle will likely be longer than when selling a $30 short. 

That being said, there is a standard send cadence I have found to be successful with many brands. Here is what I recommend, at least to start, is to …

Send message 1 one hour after abandonment. Remember, sending a message with a sense of urgency might be all that’s needed to persuade them to complete their order.

Send message 2 24 hours after abandonment. 

By this time, the customer has had time to price shop and consider their purchase. And they may be dying to make the purchase, but just need a nudge. 

Send message 3 48 hours after abandonment.

Here is where you pull out all of the stops. If you offer an incentive, do it now.  

While it is certainly acceptable to offer a discount in earlier messages, the intent is already high and their excitement level for the purchase may be too strong for them to wait to pull the trigger on the purchase. 

Remember, with all messages, be sure to convey  a sense of urgency, showcase value-adds such as free returns, and use social proof. 

Again, this timing recommendation is just a starting. I recommend using automation splits to test timing, incentives, and the number of messages. You know your brand and customer the best. 

Once you see how everything is performing, you can optimize your messages further. 

So there it is — 1 hour, 24 hrs,and 48 hrs after abandonment, with the incentive coming in the third message. 

Be sure to join me tomorrow where I’ll discuss making your workflows even more effective by adding additional opt-in channels and why it’s important to do so.

Thanks for tuning into this episode of our marketing tips series. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions and be sure to check out Omnisend and let us prove how we can help you double your conversions. 

Until next time, happy marketing!