By Tyllah1 comment

5 Signs Your Abandoned Cart Emails Are Trashing Your Sales (And How to Fix Them Fast)

You set up abandoned cart emails. So why aren’t they working?

You did the work. You plugged in those emails, hit “go,” and expected a flood of sales to roll in. But your revenue? It’s stuck. Crickets. Maybe a few drops, but nowhere near what you hoped.

Abandoned cart emails are supposed to be your secret weapon; an easy win to recover lost sales without spending a dime on ads. So what’s going wrong?

Here are 5 telltale signs your abandoned cart emails are trashing your sales, and how you can turn them around today.

“Reminder: Your cart is waiting” — yawwwn.

If your subject line reads like a snooze-fest, your audience will swipe left faster than you can say “checkout.”

How to Fix It:

Make your subject lines pop. Be bold, urgent, or playful. Tap into emotions or curiosity. 

Examples:

  • “Oops! Did you forget something?”
  • “Your dream product is about to disappear…”
  • “Last chance to grab what you actually want 👀”

Subject lines are your first impression. Don’t send boring, robotic reminders; send irresistible invites that demand a click.

Your abandoned cart emails work best in a marketing ecosystem. So, if your ecosystem isn’t optimized and running like a well oiled machine; it’ll never generate the results you want.

Part of building and managing this system is understanding that it requires constant communication. So, if you aren’t doing this, nothing can fix it.

Are you sending one email a month to save the day? That’s cute, but also lazy.

Only sending one email about your sale? Only sending one email about a new product or service? That’ll NEVER drive the results you want.

Newsflash: Your customers are busy. They get distracted, they hesitate, they forget. One sad little email isn’t enough to pull them back.

How to Fix It:

Batch create emails for broadcast + Build a sequence. 

Here’s a few ideas for your next set of broadcast campaigns (some are already written for you, click them to download):

Here are the E-mail funnels you need to setup (some are already written for you, click them to download):

Sequences work because they meet your customer where they are; maybe your first email was missed, but the second or third might just close the sale. Sending more broadcasts helps to maintain your relationship, keep the content fresh and engagement high. You must do both to drive the sales you’d like to see from e-mail.

No discount. No urgency. No real incentive.

Why would someone go back to their cart if there’s zero motivation?

You must curate offers for your abandoned cart sequence and test them to see what converts best. Without a strong offer and urgency, your funnel will not perform.

How to Fix It:

Give them fresh offers in your abandoned cart funnel.

They are already interested, the right offer can really help push the sale forward. A strategy that works well is to start with a small discount and then in the last email give a new and more generous offer that expires in 24 hours. 

Here’s a few examples of offers that can sweeten the deal:

  • A time-limited discount (e.g., 10% off if purchased in 24 hours).

  • Free shipping or a bonus gift.

  • A “stock is running low” warning to spark FOMO.

  • Bonus gift or freebie — “Get a free skincare sample with your order — only for the next 48 hours!”

  • Exclusive access or early bird perks — “Finish your order now and get early access to our next launch.”

  • Bundle or upsell offer — “Complete your purchase now and save 15% on a matching product.”

  • Limited-time financing or payment plans — “Split your payments into 3 interest-free installments if you buy today.”

  • Free return or satisfaction guarantee — “Try it risk-free with our 30-day money-back guarantee.”

  • Loyalty points or reward credits — “Earn double points if you finish your purchase within 48 hours.”

  • Special VIP treatment or customer-only perks — “Complete your order now and get invited to our exclusive customer community.”

Without incentives or urgency, your emails just blend into the noise.

Flat. Generic. Soul-less.
 If your abandoned cart emails read like they were typed by a bored intern or spit out by ChatGPT with no flavor — they’re getting skipped.

Because guess what?

Nobody wants to be sold to by a soulless corporate ghost.
They want to feel seen, heard, and understood.

And if your copy sounds like this:

“Reminder: You left items in your cart. Complete your purchase today.”

…you’ve already lost the sale.

How to Fix It:

Write like a real person.

A real person with personality, purpose, and a little bit of attitude.

👉🏽 Talk to your customer — not at them.
 👉🏽 Make it conversational, not clinical.
 👉🏽 Inject warmth, wit, and empathy.

Use contractions. Break the “rules.” Ask questions. Sound like you actually enjoy talking to them, they can tell the difference.

Here’s a few tone-up transformations that build connection instead of killing vibe:

❌ “Reminder: Your cart is expiring.”
 ✅ “Did life distract you? No worries — your cart’s still safe (for now 😉).”

❌ “Complete your order now.”
 ✅ “Almost there! Wanna finish checking out or need a hand?”

❌ “Don't miss this opportunity.”
 ✅ “Listen… we know how fire [product] is. You still thinking about it?”

When your emails sound human, your brand builds trust.

And trust = conversions.

A wall of plain text? Yikes.

We’ve all seen ‘em — those emails that look like they were typed in Notepad and sent out without a second thought.

No images.
No color.
 No branding.
 No layout.

Just…vibes. And not the good kind.

If your email looks like a 2003 eBay receipt, you’re making people work too hard to care. And when people have to work to shop? They bounce.

How to Fix It:

Design matters. Period.

Even a plain text email needs branding (logo, signature, social handles etc.)

Your email should look as good as it sounds.

Here’s what you need to bring the visual drama (the good kind):

✔️ A clean, mobile-friendly layout — guide their eyes to exactly what to click
 ✔️ Product photos — jog their memory and their desire
 ✔️ On-brand colors + logo — build recognition and credibility
 ✔️ Clickable, juicy CTAs — “Buy Now” should never feel boring
 ✔️ Whitespace — yes, give the content room to breathe

 ✔️ Signature — Let them know who it’s from and brand it

 ✔️ Social handles — help them stay connected to your brand on every platform.

But don’t stop at pretty — your visuals should be strategic.

Every section should lead your reader closer to that “Complete Purchase” button. Every image, header, and link should serve a purpose.

Your emails shouldn’t just look good — they should sell.

The Fix? Use a Tested, Done-for-You System

Look, I get it; writing, designing, and testing abandoned cart emails (really e-mails of any kind) can feel overwhelming. That’s why I created ready-to-go abandoned cart email templates specifically for small business owners who want results fast without the guesswork.

These templates cover every “sign” above: 

  • Killer subject lines

  • Multi-email sequences

  • Enticing offers

  • Authentic voice

Plug ‘em in, tweak a little, and watch your sales bounce back.

Tags: abandoned cart emails

1 comment

Andra

Wow! Every time I start a newsletter, it falls flat. Probably because I do websites. I love this post because I’m not an email expert so these tips really help for those “No, duh!” moments that I just can’t figure out on my own. Will be bookmarking this as my roadmap from now on.

Andra

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