I came across the worst example of an abandoned cart email I’ve ever seen yesterday.
There's a subtle line to tread with abandoned cart emails.
There's no denying they can be effective, but it's so easy to cross the line into creepy/stalky vibes.
And the example I saw was definitely the wrong side of the tracks.
I was hosting a coaching call for a (very) well-known marketing brand when one of their clients asked me my thoughts on their 3-email abandoned cart sequence.
The first email read:
Subject Line: A problem with your purchase
Hi !
We're having trouble processing your recent purchase. Would clicking the link below to fix the problem?
Here's a link to continue where you left off:
<<link>>
<shudder>
I don’t know about you, but if I got halfway through buying something but gave up and then got this email, my first thought wouldn’t be to go and complete my "purchase" I hadn’t made.
Instead, I'd be on the phone to my credit card company to block any attempts to get my money.
Rather than be grateful for the reminder of the amazing product I came so close to owning, I’d instantly feel like they were trying to scam me.
And from a customer experience perspective, it’s the last thing you want your almost-customer to feel!
The second email in the sequence was no better.
That email was written on behalf of some made-up person who “works in customer service for {brand},” and they were trying to sort out the problem with my order.
Now I get some company's marketing can sail a little close to the wind at times, but making up fake employees and wording emails to suggest I’d bought something when I hadn’t comes across as scammy and sleazy.
Now I was faced with the delicate task of giving my feedback on a group coaching call...
Thankfully, my diplomacy wasn't needed on this occasion because it turned out they didn’t write the emails at all.
And it wasn't a ChatGPT job, either.
No, it was so much worse.
They were the default TEMPLATE emails that a leading eCommerce platform provided, and presumably, they were being sent en masse by a range of brands without a second thought.
Horrifying.
I get that Abandoned Cart emails are positioned as the best thing since sliced bread and can net you a load of missed cash from customers you might have lost, but there’s an art and a subtlety to it.
Tempting lost customers back to your brand isn't as easy as many people make it out to be—and certainly not with these "templates."
What do you think?
Am I being too harsh? Too much of a snowflake?
Let me know in the comments.
And for goodness sake, please don’t rely on your ESP’s default templates… especially if they’re like these!