Every marketer knows the feeling: Someone fills up their cart, gets all the way to checkout, and then disappears. The good news is that an abandoned cart doesn’t have to mean a lost sale.
With the right follow-up strategy, it’s possible to reconnect with shoppers and guide them back before the purchase slips away for good. And you don’t need a massive Marketing team or a complex tech setup to do it.
If you’re already using Mailchimp, you actually have a built-in recovery squad sitting right at your fingertips. Here’s everything you need to get it set up and start winning those sales back.
The basics of abandoned cart recovery
Abandoned cart recovery is the process of reconnecting with shoppers who added products to their online cart but left at the checkout page. Instead of letting those sales vanish, you use automatic emails or texts to invite customers back.
In many cases, shoppers were already pretty close to buying your product. Usually, something just got in the way. Maybe they got a phone call, had some doubts, or got hit with an unexpected shipping charge at the last second.
A well-timed nudge is often all it takes to bring them back, and you don’t have to manually follow up with every shopper yourself. With Mailchimp, you set up an automatic flow, and it handles the rescue mission in the background while you focus on running your business.
Benefits of winning back abandoned carts
You’re already putting time and money into getting people to your store. Abandoned cart recovery campaigns ensure that effort doesn’t go to waste. Here’s why they’re worth setting up.
Boost revenue without extra ad spend
You’ve already done the hard work (and spent the money) to get people to your site. They know who you are, and they like your stuff enough to add it to their cart. Chasing them down costs next to nothing compared to paying for new ads to find brand-new shoppers. It’s how many brands increase conversion rates while getting more value from their existing traffic.
Personalize the shopping experience
Mailchimp lets you personalize messages automatically using product names, images, and even a direct link back to each customer’s specific cart. So, instead of a generic “You left something behind,” your email or text meets each shopper exactly where they left off, making it almost effortless to come back and buy.
Automate sales while you sleep
You probably can’t manually follow up with every shopper who walks away. But Mailchimp can. Just set up your recovery messages, and every abandoned cart gets a timely follow-up, whether you’re in a meeting, on holiday, or fast asleep. Email remains the most widely used channel for abandoned cart recovery, and sending emails in these workflows often earns open rates around 39% to 45%—well above standard marketing messages. SMS can drive even higher open rates—often near 98%—but it only works for contacts who have opted in. You’re essentially putting your sales engine on autopilot, reducing cart abandonment around the clock without adding a single item to your to-do list.
Do you need an abandoned cart recovery strategy?
Short answer: yes. But let’s look at your actual numbers to see how much cash might be slipping through the cracks.
Calculate your cart abandonment rate
Before you can fix the leak, you need to know how big it is. To find your specific cart abandonment rate, use this formula:
(Abandoned carts ÷ Total carts created) x 100 = Abandoned cart rate
For example:
- Total carts created = 100
- Abandoned carts = 70
- (70 ÷ 100) x 100 = 70% abandonment rate
Don’t worry too much about the industry average cart abandonment rate. What matters more is your own number, and whether it’s moving in the right direction over time.
Look at the reasons customers abandon carts
Once you know your abandonment rate, it’s time to look at why your customers abandon orders. This helps you decide whether you need an automated email and SMS recovery strategy, a smoother customer experience, or a little of both. The most common drivers are high extra costs like shipping, fees, and taxes (48%), account creation requirements (26%), and credit card security concerns (25%).
If shoppers leave because your website makes buying too difficult, an email or text likely won’t save the sale. You need to smooth out the roadblocks on your site if people are leaving due to:
- Lost carts across devices: Shoppers often switch between phones, tablets, and desktops before buying. If carts disappear during that process, many customers won’t bother trying to add items again, making recovered carts harder to achieve.
- Forced account creation: Not everyone wants to create an account just to make a purchase. Allowing a guest user checkout option can remove friction and help more shoppers complete checkout the first time around.
- Too many steps in checkout: Every extra step in your checkout flow gives shoppers more chances to leave before purchasing. Offer a one-click checkout experience or at least simplify the form fields on your checkout page and add a progress bar. Keeping checkout to roughly 7-8 form fields can improve completion rates by nearly 30%.
- Limited payment options: Customers expect flexible payment choices. Offering multiple payment options like credit cards, PayPal, and Apple Pay can help reduce checkout abandonment. Buy Now, Pay Later options can also help more shoppers complete higher-value orders, increasing completions by up to 20%.
- Coupon code failure: Nothing halts momentum faster than a coupon code that doesn’t work. Shoppers may leave to search for another discount and never come back, especially if the checkout experience already feels frustrating.
Top cart recovery opportunities for email and SMS
On the flip side, some abandoned checkouts are practically begging for a follow-up message. While a few of these still need a quick fix on your back end to fully optimize your results, they are the absolute best opportunities for Mailchimp email and SMS to swoop in and save the day.
Life got in the way
A lot of abandoned carts happen because real life interrupts the shopping process. People get distracted or interrupted, close the window, and often forget to come back.
To fix this, wait an hour, then send a personalized SMS with a direct cart link. Keep it short and friendly. If they still haven’t finished checkout by the next day, send a follow-up email. This time, bring a little backup—show them what’s still in their cart and let your customer reviews do the talking.
Sticker shock
Sometimes, shoppers reach the cart page, see the total costs, and hesitate. Shipping fees, taxes, or extra charges can create enough friction to lose the sale at the very last second. Fortunately, there are 2 things you can do.
First, try to show total costs earlier so checkout doesn’t feel like a surprise bill. Then, use a recovery text with a free shipping offer or discount code to sweeten the deal. If cutting the price isn’t realistic, a recovery email highlighting the value of what they’re getting can work just as well.
Unanswered questions or objections
Doubt can creep in at any stage of the shopping journey, but it hits hardest right before checkout. One unanswered question is often all it takes to turn a sale into an abandoned cart. Your job is to remove as much uncertainty as possible.
Start by building trust directly on your product and checkout pages using customer reviews, trust badges, and clear return policies. Then, if customers leave anyway, use email and SMS to bring the proof to them. Keep these personalized messages short and reassuring, with plenty of trust signals and a clear, easy path back to their cart.
They were just browsing
Many shoppers just aren’t ready to buy that second. Maybe they are casual window shoppers using your cart page as a temporary wish list. Or perhaps they’re business-to-business (B2B) buyers who need to wait for a manager’s approval. Either way, they love to look now and buy later.
You can keep things moving by allowing customers to easily save their carts or email the list to themselves or a boss. Then, fire off a friendly follow-up email 1-2 days later with their cart items, a limited-time offer, and a direct link to complete the order.
Everything you need to recover abandoned carts
The right tools make all the difference when getting ready to recover lost sales. Here’s what you’ll need before you can send automated emails and text messages through Mailchimp.
Mailchimp up and running
Before anything else, you need an active Mailchimp account with your audience set up and contacts syncing correctly. Once that’s in place, you’ll have access to pre-built abandoned cart automation workflows and a library of email templates you can customize for your brand.
Ecommerce integration
To recover abandoned carts, Mailchimp needs to be able to see them. That means connecting your online store to your account, so the system can track shopper behavior, identify abandoned carts, and trigger your recovery messages automatically.
Compliant SMS program
If you want to add SMS to your recovery workflow, there are a few quick requirements to sort out first. New users need to flag their interest in sending these texts in their application, while existing users just have to contact Support. Either way, make sure your double opt-in is switched on, and that your terms, conditions, and privacy policy are updated to include abandoned cart messaging.
Setting up your abandoned cart recovery workflow
Ready to set up your cart abandonment solution? Follow these 5 steps to get your recovery flow up and running in no time.
Step #1: Choose your cart recovery trigger
First, decide what should trigger your automated message flow. Most brands use a basic abandoned cart trigger, but you can also get more specific by controlling which products qualify for follow-up messages.
You’ll also want to decide how long to wait before someone officially enters the recovery flow. For most stores, giving shoppers at least an hour before sending the first reminder works well. Then, spread your second and third reminders out over the following 24-48 hours.
Step #2: Define who can enter the flow
By default, any contact who abandons a cart can enter your flow and receive recovery messages. If you want to target a particular segment of your audience, you can add filter conditions to your flow.
For example, you may only want to include new customers or shoppers with higher-value carts. Mailchimp lets you use up to 10 segment conditions to precisely target different customer groups.
Step #3: Build your recovery email sequence
If you want to convert abandoned carts, a multi-step email series can increase revenue by 153–231% compared with sending a single follow-up email, helping you avoid leaving money on the table. For the best results, you’ll want to use a short sequence of different recovery emails spread across a couple of days. Many stores recover about 10% of lost cart revenue with a 3-email series, while top performers can recover 15–25% or more.
To create these messages inside Mailchimp, use the Send email steps inside your automation flow. From there, you can select an abandoned cart email template—or email and SMS template if you want to cover both channels—then customize it for each message in your sequence.
Make your first email all about convenience. Show shoppers the cart items they left behind and add a direct link back to checkout. About 24 hours later, send a second email to share social proof, trust badges, or applicable policies.
Step #4: Add SMS to your recovery flow
Next, layer in a text message for extra reach. Keep in mind that SMS recovery is limited to 1 text per abandoned cart, and it must be sent within 48 hours of the start of the flow.
Schedule your SMS to go out after your second email, just before the 48-hour mark. Keep the message short and try to create urgency, letting them know their cart is expiring soon. If you can offer a small discount or a free shipping offer, this is the place to use it.
Step #5: Launch and test your workflow
Before you let your automation run wild, you’ll need to see it in action. You don’t want to discover a broken link or wonky design after hundreds of people have already gotten the message.
Immediately after launching, abandon a test cart yourself and carefully check every step in the sequence. Make sure your test emails and texts arrive on time, fully personalized, and with working images and links.
Turn abandoned carts into recovered revenue
Most abandoned carts are not lost forever. Shoppers get distracted, compare options, or simply need a reminder to come back. With the right mix of email and SMS messages, you can turn a surprising number of abandoned checkouts into completed sales. The best part? You can let Mailchimp handle the follow-ups automatically. Just set up your automated flows, and the system will do the rest.