Recover Abandoned Carts Using Text Marketing: A How-To Guide

This is a guest-blogging article from the expert at TxtCartApp

On average, only 2.86% of store visitors convert and successfully complete a purchase. For merchants, this pain point is only amplified with a large number of abandoned carts, with shoppers abandoning their cart, only to never return to complete checkout. However, with the right tactics in place, recovering these abandoned carts is possible. And in this article, we’re sharing all about the one tactic that industry-leading brands use to bring back customers - text marketing. 

Text marketing, also known as SMS marketing, is commonly used by top eCommerce stores to recapture a lost customer’s interest. Especially those who have displayed a high purchase intent, but abandoned their carts.

But let’s start with how big the problem of abandoned carts is. 

I. The Problem of Abandoned Cart

Cart abandonment is a common problem for every Shopify store. The average cart abandonment rate is a whopping 77.13%, meaning that for every sale you receive, you are losing out on 2 times that revenue in your cart if you’re not paying close attention. 

But to reduce abandoned carts on your Shopify store, you need to be able to understand why shoppers abandon their cart in the first place. 

One of the most common reasons for abandonment is that consumers forget to checkout. Shoppers have a low attention span and with a vast amount of information popping up on device screens at any moment, it’s easy for online consumers to get sidetracked and never finish the task they started.

Other reasons for cart abandonment include high shipping or additional costs, lack of payment options, security concerns, etc.

By setting up smart strategies using SMS marketing for Shopify and enabling abandoned cart text marketing, you can recover these lost sales and reduce your cart abandonment rate in no time. Let us tell you how. 

II. Using SMS to Recover Abandoned Carts

Text marketing is a direct, highly visible, and personal marketing channel. 75% of consumers are comfortable receiving SMS messages from brands as long as they have opted in to receive messages.

In fact, compared to other marketing channels, SMS marketing is better received, with quicker open rates and faster reading times. SMS open rates are as high as 98%, taking only 90 seconds for someone to read and respond to a text. In comparison, only the open rates for email is 20%, taking 90 minutes for a response.

This is why you need to recover abandoned carts using text marketing. Your abandoned cart messages will be instantly read by shoppers who abandoned their cart and with the right copy and offer, they can be nudged back to your Shopify store to successfully complete their purchase. 

If you’re looking for a Shopify SMS marketing app, TxtCart is the leading SMS marketing solution for Shopify stores. What makes the app better than other alternatives for SMS marketing app Shopify is that TxtCart sends your SMS campaigns in real-time by real humans. With this tactic, the Shopify SMS marketing app ensures that your text marketing campaigns to recover carts are not just automated, but also have a personal touch to them that makes the consumer want to come back to your store. 

With TxtCart, you can make the process of recovering abandoned carts, more conversational. You can interact with the consumer to remind them of the abandoned cart, asking them for reasons and tailoring the offer to make the purchase more lucrative for them. 

For instance, some might be looking for an additional discount. While others could be seeking free shipping. The only way to know what will make them complete the purchase is to ask them! 

Related article:

• Shopify Abandoned Carts: Reasons & Tips
• Abandoned Cart Recovery Email Strategies and Templates For You Shopify Store.

III. Best Practices for Abandoned Cart SMS Marketing Messages

When setting up your text marketing messages to recover abandoned carts, there are some best practices you can follow to increase conversions and nudge your customers to come back to complete their purchase.

1. Optimize your copy to reflect your brand

Your abandoned cart message should reflect your brand’s personality. When setting up your copy for your abandoned cart SMS message, ensure that the text is optimized to reflect who you are, whether you are witty, joyful, straightforward, or excited.

By showing your brand personality even within these short text messages, you can build a relationship with your customers and allow them to perceive your brand more authentically.

How to show your brand personality (Source)

2. Personalize your message

Personalized messages have proven to deliver higher revenue. When setting up your abandoned cart text marketing messages, add personalization to your message. Making your text marketing more personal doesn’t require too much effort.

You can add a personal touch by just adding your customer’s first name using a first name parameter within the message.

But with SMS marketing apps like TxtCart, you can personalize on a higher level. The app works with expert eCommerce agents that can use the right mix of automation and one on one conversation to re-engage the cart abandoner, bringing them back with offers that are exclusive to their interests! 

3. Use urgency in your message

Promotions conveying a sense of urgency have 59% higher transaction-to-click rates and 2x transaction rates than average promotions. Adding urgency within your text message can help you increase the engagement and increase your chances of bringing your shoppers back to their cart.

Use phrases like ‘Expiring soon’, ‘Limited offer’, or ‘Selling Fast’ to build urgency within your abandoned cart text marketing messages and increase conversions.

Related article: How To Use Urgency in Marketing Practices To Boost Your Online Sales

4. Add an enticing offer

75% of consumers want to receive texts with special offers. Make your abandoned cart messages sweeter with a discount or offer within the message. 

You can update these abandoned cart messages by adding a currently running discount from your Shopify store, offering free shipping to shoppers who abandoned their cart or creating a special discount for shoppers.

Merchants who have set up a loyalty program also promise rewards to shoppers for checking out their cart.

5. Get them to act faster with CTA copy

You can add pressure on your shoppers to return to their cart by adding CTAs at the end of your text marketing message for cart abandonment. A CTA or a ‘Call-to-Action’ lets you nudge shoppers to take a specific action. 

Copies like ‘Shop before it runs out’ or ‘Own your cart’ are great ways to build up the need within your shopper to checkout.

IV. Recover abandoned carts using TxtCart text marketing

We hope this guide helped you understand the importance of text marketing and how you can successfully use SMS marketing for Shopify abandoned carts. Using the right Shopify SMS marketing app is important to send high-converting SMS campaigns. TxtCart is an SMS marketing Shopify app built to help merchants recover carts and leverage SMS to generate revenue, using human-powered text marketing. 

With TxtCart, your SMS campaigns are sent by real humans in real-time, ensuring better visibility and increasing the performance of your SMS marketing 

Install TxtCart to send high-performing abandoned cart text marketing campaigns.

Author bio

Vanhishikha Bhargava is the Head of Content and Partnerships at TxtCart, an SMS marketing app for Shopify stores. The app enables online merchants to boost customer engagement and recover abandoned carts using text marketing that leverages the power of smart automation and real human connections.