120+ Smart Abandoned Cart Subject Lines To Boost Open Rates

Abandoned carts are among the biggest pain points for eCommerce businesses. Suppose you own an online store. Someone adds a product to their cart but right before they check out, their phone rings and they get distracted. The purchase is put on hold. Possibly forever. Unless you send a great cart abandonment email. And a great cart abandonment email starts with a captivating subject line.

Crafting great abandoned cart email subject lines is the first step in recovering your lost revenue. Abandoned cart emails are not just reminders, but a strategic way to recapture attention and close the sale. These emails have incredibly high open rates, so they are an excellent tool to win back subscribers after they have shown an interest in your brand.

Below you’ll find the best abandoned cart subject lines curated from well-known brands plus our own suggestions for inspiration.

Top Abandoned Cart Subject Lines To Use

We’ve gathered the greatest abandoned cart email subject lines to get you inspired and help restore otherwise lost revenue. They are also categorized depending on the purpose behind them.

You can also copy this doc and keep a handy list of engaging subject lines.

5 Examples Of Brilliant Abandoned Cart Email Subject Lines

The best inspiration can come from examining how other eCommerce brands approach the issue of cart abandonment in their campaigns.

Let’s explore five notable abandoned cart email examples and why they work:

1. Timberland

Subject line: Can’t Stop Thinking About Me? 🤔

Timberland employs humor to make its email subject line unique. This intriguing subject line tries to make subscribers check again what exactly they can’t stop thinking about. The CTA button is clever (“treat yourself”), nudging the readers into rewarding themselves.

Inside the rest of the email, you can find more product suggestions in case your original item choice wasn’t “the one.” Finally, there is a subtle reminder about the free delivery and returns offered.

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2. Forever 21

Subject line: Yay! Good news about your order…

Forever 21 has another clever strategy to make users open the email. Their subject line is as if the reader has actually purchased something. Upon opening the email, urgency strikes. You see a big 24-hour countdown timer and a clear CTA prompting you to finalize your purchase.

The layout is simple so as not to confuse the reader. The upper part of the campaign is in a prominent yellow color to be extra eye-catching.

3. Ettitude

Subject line: You have $20 waiting for you ✨

Ettitude chooses to entice subscribers with a discount. This strategy can sway readers who make purchases based on affordability. Readers immediately see the value straight from the subject line. Offering incentives to your potential customers is a great idea for online stores to make more sales and restore revenue that would be lost otherwise.

4. Under Armour

Subject line: 📦 How Does FREE SHIPPING Sound?

Under Armour incentivizes users to complete their orders by offering free shipping. This incentive is put in the subject line to appeal to users who hesitate to act due to the shipping costs. Inside the campaign, we can see large, high-quality product images to remind readers what they were planning to buy. What’s more, the brand chooses simplicity focusing on white space.

5. Nutriseed

Subject line: Your Order Information

Nutriseed’s abandoned cart subject line attracts attention since it states that the content of the email is about your order. Even though the reader hasn’t purchased yet, it’s highly likely that they will with the brand’s free shipping code attached to the campaign.

Overall, the campaign structure is simple and elegant, leading users quickly to the CTA button that prompts them to return to their cart.

Actionable Tips To Write Better Abandoned Cart Email Subject Lines

People decide whether they will open your email or not based on the subject line they see. And since email subject lines can help create a positive first impression, you have all the more reason to optimize them.

Below you’ll find some practical tips to follow in order to craft highly effective abandoned cart subject lines for your campaigns.

• Stand out with emojis: You can make your subject lines eye-catching by using emojis. Emojis are also effective for younger audiences.
• Create urgency: You have more chances at successful conversions if you make people feel they’re going to miss a great product, deal or discount. Countdown timers can also nudge your audience to act.
• Apply personalization: Make your subject lines feel personal by using your subscribers’ names, location, or product(s) they checked out.
• A/B test: You can test different subject line variations to find which one yields better results. The winning variation is then sent to the rest of your email list automatically. Some of the best email marketing services allow you to test both subject lines and email content.
• Provide incentives: Make subscribers feel special by offering them something that matters. Free shipping, discounts, coupons and free gifts are among the top incentives you can give.
• Avoid all caps: All caps may look like a good idea to attract attention, but it’s actually harmful since it triggers email spam filters. This can cause your campaign to land in the spam folder.

Recover Lost Sales With Smart Abandoned Cart Subject Lines

What kind of messaging would you choose for your cart abandonment email campaigns? Carefully consider your audience, experiment with A/B testing, and optimize your abandoned cart subject lines based on the data you get from your email marketing service.

And yes, you guessed correctly. With email automation software, abandoned carts will run on autopilot while recovering your lost sales. To do it effectively, create a free Moosend account and use its workflow editor to set up your strategy.