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Best Browse Abandonment Email Templates 2022

November 8, 2022
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We all recognize the value of cart-abandonment emails. But what about those lurkers who don’t actually drop something in the cart? They’re probably still interested, and may only need another touch or two to activate and become a customer.

A browse abandonment email can remind them of all of the amazing products on your site that they have already viewed and how they’re missing out if they don’t click through to go back.

You don’t want to miss out on this online segment of browse abandonment shoppers because it’s quite large — and can bring you some serious ROI if you properly engage them. Just consider these stats:

  • 97 percent of first-time users leave an e-commerce store without making a purchase
  • 85 percent of those users never add anything to their cart
  • 42 percent of revenue is generated from browse abandonment campaigns (that’s the most exciting one!)

Ready to bring these browsers back to your site so they can convert? We’ve got you covered. In this guide, we’ll explain:

  • What is browse abandonment?
  • The difference between browse abandonment and cart abandonment emails
  • Browse abandonment email best practices
  • Browse abandonment templates we love
  • How to start collecting browse abandonment contacts

What is browse abandonment?

..and how is it different from cart abandonment?

  • Browse abandonment is when a visitor lands on your website, views a product or category, and leaves without adding any items to their cart (and thus, not making a purchase either).
  • Cart abandonment is when a visitor adds a specific item to their cart but leaves before making a purchase.

A browse abandonment prospect enjoyed looking at your products but, for whatever reason, never added the item to their cart to make a purchase. The key here is: they may be just as interested in your product but didn’t take the time to make that one extra click to drop it in the cart.

Their behavior and views will dictate the type of campaign you send them, along with any other data you have on them (ex. past purchase history).

Browse abandonment emails vs. abandoned cart emails

Both are automated flows that you should absolutely have set up in your email/SMS marketing software like Klaviyo. But it’s critical that you take a different approach for browse abandonment than you would for cart abandonment. Because the behavior and goals are different.

Someone who abandons their cart is one step closer to making a purchase, so your cart abandonment email strategy should be focused on getting them back to their cart and the specific products they left behind.

A browse abandonment email is more about reminding them of what product or category they viewed. They may have viewed one product, multiple items within a product category, or products across many categories.

A good browse abandonment strategy is about remarketing your products and brand at a slightly higher level than a cart abandonment email. And it should always be part of your owned marketing channel strategy, preferably using first-party data.

Let’s look at some of the best practices for your browse abandonment email strategy.

Browse abandonment best practices

The goal of your browse abandonment email templates is to catch the shopper’s attention and make them want to go back to your site and purchase the items they viewed.

In addition to the normal email marketing best practices, here are a few techniques specific to browse abandonment that you’ll want to follow.

Email subject lines

The subject line is the first thing the reader is going to see, so don’t let it disappoint. It’s either going to get them to open the email or send it to their Trash. The purpose of the subject line is to tell them why you’re emailing them and encourage them to check out whatever they were viewing.

Here are some examples of browse abandonment subject lines that work:

  • Take a second look
  • We saw you checking us out
  • Recommended just for you
  • Did you see something you liked?
  • [NAME], your [PRODUCT] is waiting!
  • We noticed you noticing something pretty great
  • We saw you peeping…
  • Caught you lurking…

These can be similar to cart abandonment email subject lines, but of course, you wouldn’t say they left something in their cart or anything like that. You would use words more like “viewed,” “saw,” or “looked.”

Stick with something that’s short, sweet, and to the point. You can add in a touch of personalization or an emoji to help the email stand out, as well.

Content

Once they open your email, you want to make it worth their while. And luckily for you, browse abandonment emails don’t have to be in-depth or flashy when it comes to the content. Actually, it’s better when they aren’t.

Here are the basic elements you’ll want in the body of the email:

  • Tell them why they are getting the email (i.e. they browsed and left)
  • Prominent call to action (CTA) to get back to the product(s)
  • Photo, description, and price of the item(s)

All of these components make it easier for the user to recollect what they abandoned.

Here are some more in depth content tips to ensure the best possible engagement:

Create urgency

Just like you want to send the browse abandonment email shortly after they leave your site, you also want them to head back to your website ASAP. You can do that by creating a sense of urgency and fear of missing out (FOMO).

For example:

  • Tell them there are only a few left — giving them a specific number of items left. Or, give them a coupon for the product category that expires in a few days. That way, they can use it on another item if the one they initially browsed wasn’t exactly what they were looking for.

Reminders

You want the shopper to know you’re emailing them because they browsed your site. If you don’t tell them why you’re emailing them, you’re simply sending a promotional email. Or, they could think it’s spam if it doesn’t specifically apply to them.

Remind them by keeping the focus on the product they viewed, and give them a clear CTA that will take them back to it.

Get Personal (not creepy)

Consumers are becoming more comfortable with email retargeting, to a certain extent. And as more brands are focusing on browse abandonment, shoppers will come to expect this type of message.
To help yours stand out from the pack, add personal touches, like putting their names in the subject line or email. That will show them:

  • They aren’t just a number to your company
  • That you care about them as a customer
  • The email is for them
  • That you know what they’re interested in

While this email marketing practice isn’t new, you still want to be careful with how personal you get. People know their online behaviors are being tracked, but there’s a fine line between personalized and stalker.

For example:
You can thank them for checking out your products and include a link if they want to view it again. But, you wouldn’t want to say something like, “We see you visited our site on Monday at 1:33 p.m. and viewed these 10 pages.”

You get the point.

Recommended Products

Showing the shopper recommended products is another good tactic for luring them back to your site. The customer browsed your site but didn’t want the specific item they viewed. Maybe they just didn’t find the right one?

Offer products that are similar or related to the browsed item in case they would prefer a different look, style, feature, or price point. It still provides value, even though it isn’t the exact item they originally looked at.

To pull off this method, you’ll need to make sure all of your products are correctly categorized and tagged so your automated emails are able to pull from the correct batch of items when addressing customers. Yes, this does take more work on the back end, but it can be really successful when done right.

The “recommended” approach only works if the items are actually something they would be interested in and closely related to the original item. You wouldn’t send them information on a men’s jacket if they originally viewed dog treats. (Unless it’s some really large dog that’s into wearing human clothes or something. We won’t judge.)

Email Design

Simplicity is the name of the game when it comes to browse-abandonment templates. If your design is too cluttered, your audience will probably hit delete and move on to one of the dozens of other messages in their inbox. You have a limited amount of time (and space) to make an impression, so make it a good one.

A good technique is to make the product they viewed the main attraction, placing the image, description, and CTA to get back to it near the top of the email below your logo or related header image. If there’s more than one product they viewed, use the one they spent the most time on — or pick one as the main image and include the others at the bottom.

The idea behind showcasing the product is that if they were once interested in it, they are more likely to return to see it again, compared to a random promotional product.

Check Before Sending

Did the online shopper spend a minute on the product page, or did they view it for two seconds? The answer will determine whether or not you email them.

Sometimes visitors accidentally click a link when they intended to view another product. So, if they only spend a second or two on the page, there’s no reason to email them about it. Chances are, they won’t even recognize the product anyway.

Don’t Over-Send

If they received a browse abandonment email last week for a different product, it’s probably too soon to send them another one for the latest item they viewed.

Sending too often can make your email marketing campaigns look like sales materials (not a good thing), and they could start ignoring your messages. Or worse, they could send them to the dreaded spam folder.

Browse abandonment email templates

Now comes what you’ve been waiting for: the list of browse abandoned email templates. These emails are ones brands have sent out, but they give you an idea of what works.

Of course, you’ll want to create a template that fits your branding and voice, but these five browse abandonment email templates can give you ideas to get you started.

J.Crew

Minimal text and images do the trick in this J.Crew browse abandonment email template. The header text, “Like it? (We had a hunch.),” is to the point and engaging — the definition of short and sweet.

Instead of featuring one product, they include a CTA to the product category, “Knits & Tees,” along with a related photo. In case they aren’t that interested in the original category, J.Crew also includes links to three other categories: pants, shirts & tops, jewelry.

Debenhams

The U.K. brand Debenhams leads with header text that will make you want to sing: “Is it me you’re looking for?” They follow that with text that tells the reader exactly why they are receiving this email: “We noticed you’ve been looking at these items recently and don’t want you to miss out. Here they are again so you can add them to your shopping bag.”

We like how they include the product photo, description, and “View now” CTA that will take them straight back to that product. There are links to the brand’s different departments at the top of the message, as well, in case they would rather check out one of those.

This email also addresses common questions or pain points that could have kept them from completing a purchase initially:

  • “We now deliver 7 days a week”
  • “Free next day click & collect”
  • “Plus fuss-free returns”

If shipping or returns were a concern, now this shopper knows the brand’s policies and can move forward with a purchase.

ASOS

Another U.K.-based company, ASOS does a great job with this browse abandonment email template. The header text, “Oh hello again,” gives the shopper a glimpse into why they’re receiving this email, and the body text fills in the gaps: “Sure, first impressions count, but second impressions are what really matter. Take another look at the styles you were checking out earlier.”

They then include the product photos, descriptions, and prices below so they can click whichever one they’re most interested in. And if all of those options aren’t enough, they can also click the CTA, “See what’s trending,” to see what else the brand has to offer. At the bottom of the email, they also include that they offer free delivery.

Hotel Chocolat

Not only does Hot Chocolat mention that the shopper viewed products on their page in this email — “We noticed you recently viewed our website” — but they also phrase the wording like they are doing them a favor by letting them know — “Here is a reminder of what you liked.” We love that approach because it’s not too pushy, and it provides value for the shopper.

Though the main header image isn’t the product they viewed, it does a good job of representing the brand. Then, the browsed product is just below with a photo, description, and price, which we always like to see used in browse abandonment templates.

This email example is longer than the other ones we’ve featured so far, showcasing holiday products, things they might like, and social media photos.

Although, we feel like they could have played off of their products a little more with something like, “Did you smell something sweet?” We do love a good pun.

VetRXDirect

Who could say no to this adorable pup on VetRXDirect’s browse abandonment email? Definite cute points for this one. They follow that image with, “At your bark and call,” which is a perfect complement to the dog photo. Then, they get to the point, “We heard you dropped by but didn’t stay.”

The brand also puts a way for the shopper to contact their team if they have any questions, which can be a great way to win them back if the reason they didn’t purchase was because of an issue or question.

From there, they include the products they viewed, and they use a clever CTA:

  • “Add to cart”

That makes the shopper’s job easier and gets them even closer to converting. We also like how they tell their shipping policy and include a customer review on the company. And of course, we love the furry friends at the bottom, too.

To build customer trust with the brand, they show their verification information at the bottom of the email, as well. This email is a great example of staying true to your brand and voice, while also getting to the point that the shopper left the site before making a purchase.

How do you identify site browsers?

You’ve designed the perfect browse abandonment template, so now you need to know who to send it to. Using cookies to identify and track your current subscribers is a great option. But, what about the anonymous traffic that visits your site but never converts? That’s where Retention.com can help.

You place our snippet script on the pages you want to collect contacts, and we can identify up to 35 percent of your anonymous traffic you would otherwise lose out on. And yes, Retention.com is compliant with the U.S.’s CAN-SPAM Act.

Want to learn more?

Building a browse abandonment email template

Depending on the ESP you use for email marketing, there may be templates already designed that are meant for browse abandonment emails (or you can tweak a cart abandonment email). You can also build an email with your ESP’s design tools.

However you create the email, make sure the message:

  • Tells the shopper why you’re emailing them (because they browsed and left)
  • Lets them know what products they viewed so they can go back and check them out again (and hopefully make the purchase this time).

If you make that the focus of your browse abandonment template, you’ll have a solid foundation for re-engaging the shopper.


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