Turning abandoned carts into sales: 5 Shopify Plus success stories

Over $1 million in revenue. A 10:1 ROI for marketing spend. An 81% increase in Black Friday revenue. These are just some of the results Shopify Plus stores are achieving using abandoned cart push notifications and SMS. The stores getting these results are unique, and as a result, their strategies for omnichannel marketing are different too. But in all cases, abandoned cart messages are playing a big part in their marketing success stories.

This article is based on qualitative research by Firepush on the different ways Shopify Plus stores are using abandoned cart recovery messages, and the results they are achieving.

Abandoned cart messages helping Shopify Plus stores grow

Here are some key statistics from Firepush’s deep analysis of Shopify Plus stores successfully using abandoned cart messages:

• Average open rate for abandoned cart push notifications: 10%
• Average conversion rate for abandoned cart push notifications: 29%
• Average open rate for abandoned cart SMS: 15.5%
• Average conversion rate for abandoned cart SMS: 26%
• Highest abandoned cart revenue generated by one store: $408,849 Pura Vida Bracelets

Now let’s take a deep dive into some of the key findings of Firepush’s research and the impressive results Shopify Plus stores have been achieving.

6 shopify store insights on why abandoned cart messages are so effective

Abandoned cart messages sent via push notification and SMS are incredibly effective. As part of our analysis, we have identified 6 key features of abandoned cart messages that make them so useful to marketers.

1. Omnichannel

Abandoned cart messages via push notification and SMS are truly omnichannel - in fact they should be a key component of your omnichannel retargeting strategy. That’s because they help to support other channels like email, and they enable you to target customers where and when they are most likely to see your alerts. For example, looking into abandoned cart statistics, levels are highest on mobile - 78% - compared to 67% on desktop. So pushes and SMS are great for visibility because they are mobile-friendly.

Tip for marketers: Push notifications are a great marketing channel for shopify startups. They are one of the most affordable channels, and are usually highly effective - you can always add higher cost channels like SMS once you're up and running. Push notifications have a couple of other big advantages. First, you get more subscribers. Because customers don't need to leave an email address or phone number, getting subscribers is easier and faster. Second, they are triggered sooner. Because subscribers typically sign up when they first land on a site, you can actually track abandoned carts earlier than with phones or email. In the case of SMS and email, customers have to proceed to the checkout page and enter their phone number or email address before an abandoned cart message can be triggered. But with pushes, abandoned cart messages are triggered when a customer adds an item to their cart then leaves the site, even if they don't go to checkout. So pushes can catch a larger number of potential sales.

2. Automated

Setting up campaigns, doing the creative and copy for a message, A/B testing to find the right message – all of this takes time. Flows of up to 3 abandoned cart messages can be set up so they’re triggered and sent automatically. Having automated messages that produce results is a huge plus for time-poor marketers at Shopify Plus stores – you can turn high traffic into sales, get steady income, or boost your revenue without having to put in a lot of time and effort.

3. Viewed at the right time

Just like any form of retail, ecommerce purchases can often be impulsive. Furthermore, there’s a specific moment when your product or service is top-of-mind for the customer, and that moment doesn’t last very long. A tool that can engage with a customer in the moments when they are most likely to complete a purchase is highly valuable. And that’s what abandoned cart messages offer.

Abandoned cart messages are typically sent in a sequence of 3. The first message tends to convert best, but messages 2 and 3 also have strong engagement. Only sending one message would mean leaving some sales on the table, as this data on the return on investment (ROI) for each SMS abandoned cart message shows.

Firepush data on abandoned cart SMS messages shows that ROI remains strong for up to 3 messages, so sending multiple messages makes sense.

But the success of abandoned cart messages is not just based on how many messages you send, but when you send them. Here’s a quick guide to the best timings to send your 3 messages if you’re using SMS or push notifications:

It is optimal to send an abandoned cart SMS after 50 minutes, then again after 8 hours and 23 hours, according to Firepush data.

In terms of the first message (which has the highest impact), you can experiment with sending messages at 25 or 30 minutes as well – these timings perform well too, as this graph illustrates.

While 50 minutes is optimal, abandoned cart messages sent after 30 minutes also perform well according to Firepush data from over 200 stores.

The key point is that abandoned cart messages are sent when shoppers are interested in receiving them, and at times when the item in question is still top-of-mind.

4. Personalised

Personalisation is the name of the game for marketers today. But it’s not always easy to send specific personalised messages to your subscribers – this requires a lot of segmentation, which takes time and effort. And even with your audience segmented, it can be difficult to know which messages will be relevant to specific individuals.

But with abandoned cart messages, you know the message you are sending is relevant and personalised to the recipient. The item you are reminding them off is one they selected and added to their cart, so you know it is something they are interested in.

5. Useful for customers

Marketing messages can have super smart copy and amazing visuals – but if they don’t give value to the customer they’re unlikely to have an impact.

But abandoned cart messages give clear value to customers, because they remind customers of the products they have been browsing. If a shopper is browsing multiple stores, for example during the Black Friday sales, they may simply lose track of which product is which. Your abandoned cart message can help them make the right purchase, and setting up abandoned cart messages before the Black Friday weekend is a very smart move (this guide to Black Friday abandoned cart messages shows you how).

6. High converting

Along with reminding customers of their unpurchased items, abandoned cart messages are also excellent for closing sales, especially when combined with an incentive. Common incentives include percentage discounts offered via a discount code or free shipping. Discounts can be combined with countdown timers to increase urgency (when choosing the right omnichannel retargeting app, look out for those that offer countdown timers). And this urgency is usually reflected in the content of the message as well. A typical 3 message flow would be:

• Message 1: A friendly reminder to the customer that they forgot to complete their purchase.
• Message 2: Presenting a discount or free shipping. This can be combined with a countdown timer or simply a clear expiry time. Usually deals are offered to 24 hours.
• Message 3: A reminder that the discount / free shipping is about to expire.

This flow is a great way to close sales that may otherwise have gotten away. As you’ll see later, stores can play around with this formula to find the best message flow for their audience. But this flow is a good starting point.

Shopify Plus stores reaping the rewards

As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding. The best way to be sure these benefits really work is to see the results actual Shopify Plus stores are achieving. So let’s take a look at 5 Shopify Plus stores – Ivory Ella, Pura Vida Bracelets, Intelligent Blends, Inkedshop, and Phaser FPV - to see how they use abandoned cart messages, and what results they are achieving.

How Ivory Ella uses abandoned cart push notifications to boost revenue and customer lifetime value

Ivory Ella is much more than just a clothing brand. Their T-shirts and hoodies are stylish and high quality, but what sets them apart is the ethical dimension to their business. Ivory Ella donates 10% of all its profits to conservation and environmental charities like Save the Elephants. So far Ivory Ella has donated a massive $1.7 million to charitable causes.

Ivory Ella’s abandoned cart strategy

Ivory Ella have been using Firepush since 2016. Their omnichannel strategy has brought impressive results:

“Having generated over $1m in sales, Firepush has made an important contribution to our growth and most importantly, to customer retention over the years.”

Ryan Duranso, Ivory Ella co-founder.

Growing revenue and increasing customer lifetime value were key priorities for Ivory Ella when it first started using abandoned cart pushes. Abandoned cart push notifications have played a major role in this. Ivory Ella sends a flow of 2 abandoned cart pushes to subscribers who leave an item in their cart.

Ivory Ella’s abandoned cart push notification results

Here are the main numbers for Ivory Ella’s abandoned cart messages:

• Total revenue generated: $262,551
• Total orders through abandoned cart pushes: 4,128
• Click through rate for abandoned cart pushes: 7%
• Conversion rate of those who click: 19%

In terms of the abandoned cart messages Ivory Ella sends, the first message is the major revenue driver. For example, over the Black Friday 2019 weekend, abandoned cart pushes brought in $5,003 in additional revenue. 89% of this revenue came from the first abandoned cart message sent, which had an 8% open rate.

Message 1 focuses on the limited stock of the item, with clear expressions of urgency.

Message 2 continues the FOMO theme, repeating the headline that the item is selling out. Interestingly, in this case their push notification offers two CTAs: “Check out” and “Continue Shopping”. This provides the customer with a feeling of choice.

Message 3 has a slightly different tone. They remind the customer that they were shopping for this item yesterday, then explain that they have “saved one just for you!”

Get the full story on Ivory Ella’s $1 million push notification strategy in this case study.

How Pura Vida Bracelets use abandoned cart pushes as a high revenue, low touch marketing tool

Pura Vida Bracelets works with artisans and small-scale producers from around the world to provide vibrant, ethically-sourced jewellery and accessories. It currently works with over 800 artisans around the world, and has donated $1.9 million to charity so far.

Pura Vida’s abandoned cart strategy

Because Pura Vida is committed to giving their producers a fair price, it needs to operate a lean marketing team. The challenge has been to continue to grow sales without expanding the team. According to Margaret Odisho, Ecommerce Manager at Pura Vida Bracelets, Firepush push notifications have provided the combination of high impact and low touch that Pura Vida were looking for:

“We are consistently making $30K in revenue per month using Firepush. And the amazing thing about that is that, out of all of our channels, it takes the least amount of time and effort.”

Margaret Odisho, Ecommerce Manager at Pura Vida Bracelets.

Pura Vida’s push notification strategy has achieved spectacular results, including over $1 million in revenue, and abandoned cart pushes have made a major contribution to this impressive figure

Pura Vida’s abandoned cart push notifications results

Abandoned cart pushes account for 40% of the total revenue Pura Vida has got from Firepush push notifications. And in terms of conversions, they are the best performing message type. Here are the headline figures for Pura Vida’s use of abandoned cart pushes:

• Total revenue generated: $408,849
• Total orders through abandoned cart pushes: 9,247
• Average click through rate for abandoned cart pushes: 7%
• Average conversion rate of those who clicked: 22%

Let’s take a closer look at how each of the 3 messages in the flow are performing.

Pura Vida’s results show how important it is to send follow up messages. Pura Vida has generated over $150,000 in revenue from messages 2 and 3. And while engagement drops off the more messages you send, the fact that message 3 still has a conversion rate of 17.7% shows these messages are delivering value to customers.

As is always the case, message 1 has the best conversion rates and is generating the most income. This demonstrates how important an early re-engagement of your audience is after they have abandoned a shopping cart. Because push notifications are more visible than channels like email, catching customers while they are still in the mood to make a purchase is possible.

Content and copy for Pura Vida’s abandoned cart pushes

Along with being a handy reminder to customers, Pura Vida also add value with a 20% discount offer added to abandoned cart pushes.

The first message is phrased as a friendly reminder to the customer, using the headline “Oops … you left something behind.”

But messages 2 and 3 focus on urgency, reminding the customer that their discount is only available for a limited time: “Your cart is about to expire!” is followed by “Last chance to get 20% off!”

This tactic makes sense - the first message in the flow accounts for more than half of all the sales, so there’s no need to be too pushy when many customers will click anyway. But with messages 2 and 3, Pura Vida are doing more to persuade the customer and encourage a purchase right now.

Check out the full story of Pura Vida’s $1 million push notification success in this case study.

How Intelligent Blends achieve high conversion rates using abandoned cart messages

Intelligent Blends is a premium gourmet coffee pod retailer, offering high quality roasts and blends direct to customers through its Shopify Plus store, shopblends.com.

Intelligent Blends’ abandoned cart strategy:

Intelligent Blends’ successful omnichannel marketing strategy includes using push notifications, email and SMS to keep their returning customers engaged and informed on the latest deals and new products.

Its number one priority is a strong conversion rate as it looks to increase its margins and profitability. “Our company is starting to become less conservative as we succeed more, but margin is a big deal and conversion rate helps with that,” says Jarrid Raney, Marketing Manager at Intelligent Blends.

Intelligent Blends’ abandoned cart push notification results:

Intelligent Blends has generated over $93,000 in revenue from just 116,000 abandoned cart pushes sent. To put it another way, they are making over $0.80 for every abandoned cart push notification they send. Of those who click, more than 1 in 4 customers goes on to place an order.

Here are the raw numbers for Intelligent Blends abandoned cart pushes:

• Total number of push subscribers: 47,581
• Total number of abandoned cart pushes sent: 116,467
• Total revenue from abandoned cart push notifications: $93,557
• Total number of orders generate through abandoned cart push notifications: 2,499
• Average revenue generated per push notification sent: $0.80
• Click through rate on abandoned cart pushes: 7%
• Conversion rate from those who clicked on abandoned cart pushes: 28%

And here is the flow that Intelligent Blends sends to their customers:

Intelligent Blends chooses not to include a discount with its abandoned cart pushes. Instead, the attractive visual and focus on limited stock is enough to drive orders - Intelligent Blends achieves a 28% conversion rate with these pushes.

Read the full push notification strategy that nets Intelligent Blends $12.7 per subscriber in this case study.

How Inkedshop achieved 10:1 ROI ratio using abandoned cart SMS

Inkedshop was developed as the ecommerce arm of the popular US publication Inked Magazine, a lifestyle magazine oriented towards tattoo artists and enthusiasts.

Inkedshop’s abandoned cart strategy

Inkedshop’s omnichannel retargeting strategy focuses heavily on using push notifications to keep its audience engaged and to highlight the daily promotions that it runs. But beyond this, Inkedshop is using both SMS and push notifications by Firepush for abandoned cart messaging, which helps a lot with their marketing ROI.

“If revenue generated is at least four times spend in return then we are happy. And with Firepush it’s much higher. Our monthly spend is about $1,000 a month, and we’re at over $10,000 in sales in the last thirty days. So it’s like 10 times spend, which is big. With Google Ads and Facebook Ads we usually only get 3x to 4x spend.”

Jami Pearlman, CFO at Inkedshop.

Inkedshop’s abandoned cart results

Inkedshop have abandoned cart messages set up for both SMS and push notifications, and both have high conversion rates.

In the case of their abandoned cart SMSs, Inkedshop are currently generating $1.27 for every SMS they send, which is exceptionally strong. “The highest revenue generator for text message (SMS) is definitely abandoned cart,” explains Jami Pearlman, CFO at Inkedshop.

Let’s take a look at a breakdown of their abandoned cart SMS results.

• Total number of abandoned cart SMS sent: 70,510
• Total revenue generated from abandoned cart SMS:$90,058
• Click through rate: 17%
• Conversion rate of those who clicked: 14%

And here is the 3 message flow Inkedshop uses for its abandoned cart SMSs.

Each message is informal and personalised, adopting a conversational tone with the customer. The focus of the messages shifts as the flow progresses.

• Message 1 is a friendly reminder to complete the purchase.
• In message 2, a discount is offered with a coupon applied at checkout.
• The 3rd SMS focuses on urgency, explaining that it’s his “last chance to buy.”

The tone and content of these messages is clearly effective, with 17% of recipients clicking through on average.

Inkedshop follows a similar strategy with its push notification flow, though the tone is less conversational and there is a greater focus on urgency.

Message 1 in the flow explains that the item is selling out fast, while message 2 introduces a time-limited 20% discount.

Check out all the details of Inkedshop’s highly cost effective push and SMS strategy in this case study

How Phaser FPV uses abandoned cart pushes and SMS to boost Black Friday revenue

Phaser FPV is a niche consumer electronics store that specialises in parts and accessories for FPV drones.

Phaser FPV’s abandoned cart strategy

Phaser FPV caters to a small but loyal customer base, with 80% of sales coming from return customers. A single customer can be responsible for a large sales volume – one Phaser FPV customer has placed over 200 orders so far.

Phaser FPV has put together a strategy for engaging return customers that finds the right balance between keeping them informed and not spamming them. It sends email newsletters regularly, and supplements these with push notifications to inform customers of important new product arrivals.

For Black Friday weekend and other sales periods, Phaser FPV sets up abandoned cart messages via SMS.

“If we were a one product store where customer lifetime value was low, abandoned checkout SMSs would work really well. For us, we have customers browsing the site every week, so there’s no need to overdo it. But for Black Friday we figured we would use it.”

Rhys Evans, Founder of Phaser FPV.

Phaser FPV’s Black Friday abandoned cart results

Over Black Friday 2019, abandoned cart SMSs generated almost $5 in revenue per message sent, while abandoned cart pushes brought in a staggering $10 in revenue for every message sent.

Let’s take a detailed look at how his abandoned cart messages performed:

SMS results

• Open rates on abandoned checkout SMSs were 14%.
• The conversion rate of those who clicked was 38%.
• Phaser FPV generated $4.7 USD for every abandoned checkout SMS sent.

Push notification results

• Abandoned cart push notifications achieved a 12% open rate.
• The conversion rate of those who clicked was an incredible 89%.
• Phaser FPV generated a massive $10.2 USD in revenue for every abandoned cart push notification sent.

These results have helped Phaser FPV to increase its Black Friday revenue by 81% since it started using Firepush.

Get a full breakdown of Phaser FPV’s strategy for niche stores in this case study.

Key takeaways from Firepush’s abandoned cart research

The stores featured in Firepush’s analysis of abandoned cart success are all different. And abandoned cart messaging plays a different role in their marketing mix.

• In the case of fashion giants like Pura Vida Bracelets and Ivory Ella, abandoned cart messages play a critical role in generating millions in revenue.
• For Shopify Plus stores with a dedicated audience, such as Intelligent Blends and Inkedshop, abandoned cart messages support their promotional campaigns and provide helpful reminders to customers.
• And in the case of Phaser FPV, abandoned cart messages are a useful tool to switch on during seasonal sales.

This demonstrates that abandoned cart messages are a highly versatile tool that can be adapted to suit different stores and to fit into different marketing strategies, especially when an omnichannel approach is adopted. And best of all, because they are automated, they require very little time to set up and run.

Adding omnichannel abandoned cart messages to your Shopify or Shopify Plus store is easy and fast. Simply download the Firepush omnichannel retargeting app for Shopify to get started today.

Michael Pennock

Michael is a professional copywriter and trainer. He has written extensively on consumer electronics, e-commerce, fintech and many other subjects. When he is not writing copy, Michael writes music and also enjoys playing football and reading history books.