Check out 12 essential steps to avoid abandoned carts in your ecommerce and encourage your customers to return
Without a doubt, abandoned cart is one of the biggest challenges faced by those managing an ecommerce.
After all, even after attracting visitors, investing in media, optimizing pages, and capturing the intention to buy, many consumers abandon their purchase before payment.
And this behavior should not only be seen as a loss but also as a sign that something in the process still creates obstacles and doubts for potential customers.
However, the good news is that a significant portion of abandonments can be avoided. Even better, they can be recovered with communication, experience, and automation strategies.
That’s why you’ll find a practical guide below with 12 actions that help reduce the abandonment rate and win back those who left without buying. Follow along!
12 strategies to avoid and recover abandoned carts
Recovering carts is important, but preventing them from happening is even better.
So, in this article, we selected the best strategies to help eliminate barriers at the time of purchase and to turn drop-offs into sales. Let’s get started.
1. Reduce steps and simplify the checkout
To start, one of the main reasons for abandoned carts is the excessive number of steps or lengthy forms needed to complete a purchase.
Thus, when the client realizes that they will need to fill in many fields, create an account, or navigate through various pages, the likelihood of abandonment increases.
To avoid this, the ideal is for the checkout to be as straightforward as possible focusing on essential information and clear visual steps.
For example, a virtual store for fashion can allow registration in just a few clicks using Google or Apple ID.
Thus, instead of typing in name, email, and other essential data, the customer fills everything out automatically and finishes in less time.
2. Display shipping and delivery time before checkout
Unexpected costs are among the main reasons for cart abandonment.
Thus, when the shipping cost only appears at the end, the customer feels caught off guard and may decide not to proceed with the purchase.
The ideal, therefore, is to display shipping calculation right on the product page or in the cart with total transparency.
Moreover, stores offering progressive free shipping, for example above R 199 in purchases, also reduce drop-offs since they turn the cost into a benefit.
In other words, the central point is to turn shipping into strategic information not a barrier.
3. Offer multiple payment methods
The more payment options such as Pix, credit card, boleto, digital wallets, interest-free installment plans, etc., the lower the chance of having an abandoned cart.
After all, many drop-offs occur simply because the customer did not find the payment method they prefer to use.
Including tools like native store platforms like Shopify Payments or WooCommerce plugins help with diversification.
4. Display social proof to reduce insecurity
It’s worth remembering that the customer also abandons the cart when they do not have total confidence in the store or product.
Therefore, displaying social proof such as reviews, security seals, sales numbers, real customer photos, and other such information help to reduce common objections during the buying journey.
For example, you can display short testimonials, the average rating of the product, and the bestseller label in the category. This will activate the mental trigger of social validation.
5. Create a recovery email sequence
A good cart recovery strategy is not limited to a single reminder sent to the customer.
That said, to be really effective, it should be aligned with a planned sequence of email marketing capable of leading the consumer back to the purchase without seeming pushy.
In this way, you can:
- Start with a first email sent a few minutes after abandonment, reminding about the product and facilitating return to checkout
- Making a second contact can reinforce the benefits of the offer, whether with a coupon, a satisfied customer testimonial, or information about exclusive advantages
- Finally, a third email should bring a real urgency trigger, such as a limited time offer or low stock, to encourage an immediate decision
This strategy works because, most of the time, the customer didn’t give up on the purchase but was just interrupted
Thus, by receiving a clear and useful reminder at the right time, the message stops being annoying and acts as a positive push to complete the decision that was already about to be made.
6. Use dynamic remarketing
Besides emails, remarketing campaigns help the customer see on social networks or on the Google Display Network exactly the products they left behind.
And without a doubt, this type of ad has the great advantage of appearing in context, reminding the user that they were about to complete the purchase and offering a direct path to resume the order.
In fact, the remarketing becomes even more powerful when combined with offer triggers like last units available or coupon valid until today.
After all, these elements awaken a sense of urgency and help turn a simple reminder into a real incentive to complete the purchase.
7. Offer conditional incentives
As mentioned above, offering benefits like discounts, free shipping, gifts, or cashback can be an excellent way to recover abandoned carts.
But for it to really work, it’s essential to apply these actions strategically.
When incentives are used indiscriminately, the customer starts expecting discounts all the time and loses the sense of urgency.
Therefore, the ideal is to use them as a last resort in a well-planned recovery sequence and not as the first attempt to win back the sale.
Another key point is to monitor the ROI of these actions since recovering a sale at any cost is not always advantageous.
8. Include messages via WhatsApp or SMS to recover abandoned carts
Although email is an efficient channel for recovering carts, instant messaging tools like WhatsApp and SMS tend to generate even quicker results.
This happens because their open rates are almost immediate, as the customer receives the message on their phone and can view the content and act within seconds.
Including a direct link to the abandoned cart makes the purchase journey even simpler, and friction almost disappears since the user doesn’t need to navigate the site again to complete the order.
It’s also worth remembering that sending these messages can be fully automated using platforms like Zapier and Make.
This way, your team gains agility, and the consumer receives a more direct and convenient experience.
9. Activate exit popups to avoid abandoned carts
Exit popups are resources created to act precisely at the moment the customer is about to leave the site.
That is, they detect the mouse movement toward the tab closing button or prolonged inactivity and automatically display a retention message that may contain a special offer, cart reminder, or even an invitation to ask questions via chat.
This approach works because it intercepts the user before they leave for good and offers a last reason to stay.
However, it is important to use this resource in moderation, as excessive or poorly positioned popups can have the opposite effect and drive the customer away.
The key is in testing different messages, formats, and display timings, always assessing the impact on conversion metrics.
10. Make repeat purchases and recurring payments easier
When the customer needs to repeat several steps every time they want to buy again, the process becomes tedious and opens space for distractions or drop-offs.
Therefore, offering resources that simplify this journey such as secure payment data saving, creating wishlists, or the buy again function can make all the difference in the experience.
Furthermore, ecommerces dealing with replenishment products like coffee, cosmetics, or pet food can greatly benefit from the recurring payment model.
In this mode, the customer authorizes automatic billing at defined intervals and receives the product regularly without needing to remake the order.
In this way, it is possible not only to ensure convenience for the consumer but also to achieve revenue predictability and significantly reduce the risk of abandonment in repeated purchases.
11. Work with real urgency and scarcity
As mentioned earlier, working with real urgency and scarcity is one of the most effective strategies to encourage the customer to complete a purchase that was left in the cart.
After all, these triggers activate a sense of opportunity and no one wants to miss out on a good deal, right?
However, for them to really work they need to be genuine and well-measured.
That’s because when the consumer notices manipulation or excessive pressure, trust is compromised, and the effect can be the opposite of what is desired.
Thus, the ideal is to reserve these communications for strategic moments like seasonal campaigns or high-value cart recovery actions.
When well-applied, urgency and scarcity become powerful allies in decision-making, turning intention into actual conversion.
12. Use data to identify bottlenecks
Finally, no abandoned cart recovery strategy is truly effective without a detailed data analysis.
It is through them that you discover where, how, and why the customer abandons the purchase.
But merely observing the abandonment rate is not enough. It’s essential to understand the exact funnel point where it occurs, whether the problem is the shipping cost, site loading time, lack of payment options, or some technical error during checkout.
With this information in hand, actions become more precise.
For example, you can adjust checkout steps, review shipping costs, optimize page loading, or test new offers.
This way, the store can evolve from real data and not assumptions.
Rely on Reportei for your ecommerce analyses
In fact, Reportei can become a strategic partner for those who wish to perform more precise ecommerce analyses.
That’s because the platform acts as an intelligence hub and brings together in one place the main sales, marketing, and consumer behavior data.
This way, you not only identify bottlenecks but also understand the context behind each abandonment.
With just a few clicks, it is possible to connect your virtual store, whether created in WooCommerce, Shopify, or Nuvemshop and cross-reference sales funnel information with paid media campaigns, social media, and automation emails.
From this, it’s possible to assess where the most qualified traffic is coming from, which funnel stages experience more abandonment, and how remarketing or recovery actions are performing.
In other words, the platform provides a complete view of your ecommerce performance by connecting previously scattered data.
With this level of clarity, it’s much easier to act with precision, reduce the abandoned cart rate, and turn insights into concrete results.
FAQ frequently asked questions about abandoned cart
Below, check out the most frequently asked questions and answers about the topic
Cart abandonment occurs when the customer adds products to the cart but does not complete the purchase in the ecommerce
The reasons vary, but the most common involve high shipping costs, lengthy checkout steps, lack of payment options, and uncompetitive delivery times. In many cases, the customer also abandons the cart because they were just price shopping or comparing products
Simply divide the number of carts that were not completed by the total number of carts created in a given period and multiply the result by 100. This metric shows the percentage of drop-offs and helps track if your optimization actions are having an effect
Yes, and it remains one of the most effective strategies. When well-structured, the recovery email can remind the customer of the product they wanted, offer an incentive, and direct them back to the cart in just a few clicks
It depends on the audience profile and product type. WhatsApp tends to have higher open rates and nearly immediate response, but it’s important to maintain friendly and non-invasive communication. Meanwhile, email offers space for more detailed messaging and can be ideal for nurturing strategies
It’s not mandatory, but it’s highly recommended. After all, these campaigns allow you to display personalized ads to those who have already shown interest in your store’s products
Not necessarily. A discount can work well in strategic cases, but it shouldn’t be the first resort. Often, a personalized reminder is enough to reverse the drop-off
By analyzing behavioral data, time spent, and clicks at each stage. If many clients abandon before payment, checkout might be the issue. If dropout occurs right after seeing the shipping cost, maybe the value is high
Yes, platforms like Reportei centralize sales, marketing, and user behavior information, allowing you to cross data and find bottlenecks that lead to abandonment. Based on this information, you can make quicker and more precise decisions to improve your results
