Abandoned basket emails: what to send and when

A good abandoned basket sequence is usually two or three emails: a friendly reminder within about an hour, a second email around a day later that answers common doubts, and an optional final nudge two or three days later, perhaps with a small offer. Show the products they left with photos and a single button back to their basket. Only send to people who gave you their email and are allowed to receive it, and always include an easy unsubscribe.

Why people leave baskets

Most people who leave a basket haven’t decided against you. Common reasons:

• They were just browsing or comparing and saved items for later.
• They got interrupted: a phone call, a meeting, a child, a bad signal.
• Delivery cost or delivery time was a surprise at checkout.
• They weren’t sure about size, quality or whether the shop is trustworthy.
• Checkout asked for too much, such as making an account.
• Their preferred payment method wasn’t there.

Your emails can help with most of these. But also fix what you can in the shop itself: clear delivery costs up front, guest checkout and familiar payment options.

Who you can email

You can only send a basket reminder if you have the shopper’s email address, which usually means they started checkout or are signed in. In the UK, reminder emails are generally treated as marketing under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). In practice that means:

• Either they’ve opted in to marketing emails, or you’re relying on the “soft opt-in”: you got their details during a sale or negotiations for a sale, the email is about your own similar products, and they were given a clear chance to opt out when you collected their details.
• Every email needs a simple way to unsubscribe, and you must honour it.
• Say in your privacy policy that you may send reminders about items left in a basket.

The timing that works

1. 1Email 1: about an hour after they leave. The basket is still fresh in their mind. Much sooner can feel like you’re watching; much later and they’ve moved on.
2. 2Email 2: about 24 hours later. Catches people who were busy the first time, and gives you room to answer doubts.
3. 3Email 3 (optional): 48 to 72 hours later. A last nudge. This is where a small incentive can go, if you use one.

These are starting points, not rules. Test different timings for your own shop and see what brings back more orders.

Email 1: the friendly reminder

Keep it short and helpful. The aim is simply to make it easy to pick up where they left off.

• Subject line: “You left something in your basket” or “Still thinking about the [product]?”
• Photo, name and price of each item they left.
• One clear button: “Return to your basket”, which reopens their basket exactly as it was.
• A short line of help: “Any questions? Just reply to this email.”
• No discount yet.

Email 2: answer the doubts

If they didn’t come back after the first email, something may be holding them back. Use this email to reassure them.

• Subject line: “Questions about your basket?” or “A few things you might want to know”.
• Remind them of the item, with a photo.
• Add one or two genuine customer reviews of that product.
• Spell out delivery times, free delivery thresholds and your returns policy.
• Show your guarantee or warranty if you have one.

Email 3: the last nudge

Make it clear this is the last reminder. You can mention that stock is limited only if it really is.

• Subject line: “Your basket is about to expire” (if it actually will) or “Last chance on your basket”.
• Optionally a small, time-limited single-use code, such as free delivery or a modest discount.
• A clear end date for any offer.

Should you offer a discount?

Discounts can win back sales, but use them carefully:

• Regular shoppers may learn that leaving a basket gets them money off.
• You give away margin on orders that might have happened anyway.
• Single-use codes stop discounts being shared on voucher sites.
• Free delivery is often enough, especially if delivery cost was the reason they left.

A sensible approach is to save any offer for the final email and test whether it actually brings back more orders than a reminder without one.

Writing tips

• Write as a person, not a robot. Sign off with a real name if you can.
• Keep it short; the photo and the button do most of the work.
• Make it look like your brand, with the same colours and logo as your shop and order emails.
• Check it on a phone. Most people will read it there.
• Avoid pressure tactics like fake countdowns or fake stock warnings. They’re misleading and can break consumer law.

Setting it up

Most shop platforms either have abandoned basket reminders built in or connect to an email tool that does. On Merchella, abandoned-basket reminders are built in, and you design them in the same editor as your order and marketing emails, so they match the rest of your shop.

Measure what matters

• Recovered orders: how many orders came from each email.
• Revenue recovered, after any discounts.
• Unsubscribes and complaints, which tell you if you’re sending too much.
• Which email works best, so you can improve the weaker ones.

Change one thing at a time, such as the subject line or timing, and give each test long enough to get a fair result.

In short

Send a quick, helpful reminder within the hour, a reassuring follow-up the next day, and an optional final nudge a couple of days later. Show the products, make returning to the basket one click, answer the doubts, keep any discount for the end, and stay within the email marketing rules. Then fix the reasons people leave in the first place.