Send two or three cart emails: a reminder within a few hours with the products and a one-click return, a next-day email answering doubts about shipping, delivery, returns and payment, and an optional last reminder. Measure clicks and revenue per recipient; Klaviyo's 2026 averages are 6.0% and $6.77. Follow CAN-SPAM and CASL.
Why carts are abandoned
Baymard's cart abandonment research found, in a US survey, that 42% of abandoners were just browsing. Among the rest, 40% cited extra costs such as shipping, tax and fees, 20% slow delivery, 19% not trusting the site with card details, 18% being made to create an account and 17% a long or complicated checkout. Good cart emails answer these reasons; the checkout fixes belong on the site.
Cart, checkout and browse abandonment
Three related flows catch shoppers at different points: browse abandonment (viewed products, did not add), cart abandonment (added, did not check out) and checkout abandonment (started checkout, did not finish). Shopify's abandoned checkouts help counts a checkout as abandoned when it stays incomplete for more than ten minutes after the customer gives an email address, and lets you choose who receives the automatic email and how long after abandonment it sends.
Timing
A three-step sequence works for most stores; test the exact delays against your own results:
- Email 1, within a few hours: while the shopper still remembers the products.
- Email 2, the next day: answers the doubts behind abandonment.
- Email 3, two to four days later (optional): a last reminder, with an incentive only if your margins and policy allow it.
What to put in each email
Each email should carry:
- The products, with images, names, options chosen and prices.
- One clear button that returns the shopper to their cart, filled.
- Answers to doubts: shipping cost and time, returns policy, payment options, guest checkout.
- Proof: a few reviews or ratings of the products in the cart.
- Help: a way to reply or contact a person.
- The required parts: your physical address and an unsubscribe link.
Example emails
Email 1 (after a few hours). Subject: "Your cart is saved". Body: "You left these in your cart. We have kept them for you. [Products] [Return to your cart] Questions about sizing or delivery? Reply to this email and a person will answer."
Email 2 (next day). Subject: "Shipping, returns and delivery, answered". Body: "Still thinking it over? Here is what most people ask: shipping to [region] costs [cost], orders arrive in [days], and returns are free within [days]. [Products] [Finish your order]"
Email 3 (a few days later, optional). Subject: "Last reminder about your cart". Body: "Your cart will not be saved much longer. [Products] [Finish your order] [Incentive, only if your policy allows it]."
Fill the bracketed parts with your real terms; never promise shipping times or prices you cannot keep.
Subject lines
Say plainly what the email is about; CAN-SPAM forbids deceptive subject lines. Examples written for this page:
- "Your cart is saved"
- "Still deciding on [product]?"
- "Shipping, returns and delivery, answered"
- "Questions about [product]? Reply here"
- "Last reminder about your cart"
Benchmarks
Klaviyo's abandoned cart benchmarks (2 October 2026), drawn from its 2026 benchmark report across more than 110,000 customers, put the average abandoned cart email click rate at 6.0% (11.3% for the top 10%) and average revenue per recipient at $6.77 ($13.70 for the top 10%). It gives no open or order rate. Compare your flow with your own past results first, then with these.
The rules: CAN-SPAM and CASL
Cart emails are commercial email. In the US, the FTC's CAN-SPAM guide requires accurate headers, honest subject lines, a physical postal address and an opt-out honored within 10 business days. In Canada, CASL requires consent before a commercial electronic message; section 10(10) sets out when consent is implied from an existing business relationship, so check with counsel whether an unfinished checkout gives you consent or whether you need an opt-in at the email field. Google's sender guidelines also require one-click unsubscribe for bulk senders.
This guide is general information, not legal advice; the laws of the places your customers are in, and your own counsel, decide what applies to you.
Common cart email mistakes
The faults we see most often:
- A discount in the first email, which teaches shoppers to abandon carts.
- No products shown, so the reminder means nothing.
- A link to the home page instead of the filled cart.
- Emails after the order is placed, when the flow does not stop on purchase.
- No unsubscribe or address, which breaks CAN-SPAM.
Conclusion
Abandoned cart emails recover sales from the roughly 70% of carts left behind. Send two or three: a reminder within hours, a next-day email answering doubts about shipping, delivery, returns and payment, and an optional last reminder. Show the products, link to the filled cart, measure clicks and revenue per recipient against Klaviyo's 2026 averages of 6.0% and $6.77, and follow CAN-SPAM and CASL.
PromotEdge International is an international strategy, technology, marketing and design company, and our delivery team is in India. Our email team builds cart, browse and checkout recovery flows in your own platform, and our ecommerce marketing work ties them to the rest of the plan. Our guide to ecommerce email flows covers the other flows.
Facts we rely on: see our company facts for what we state about ourselves and where each fact comes from.