Abandoned cart email optimization: we tested 15 variations

Abandoned cart emails are the highest-ROI automated email for e-commerce. We spent 3 months optimizing ours.

Timing

Best timing: 1 hour after abandonment (first email), 24 hours (second), 72 hours (third). Sending the first email within 1 hour vs 4 hours improved recovery rate by 40%.

Content that converts

• Product image from the cart (obvious but often missing)
• Dynamic pricing and stock availability
• Social proof ("12 others are viewing this item")
• 10% discount in email 3 (not email 1 — train users to abandon for discounts)

Results

Our optimized 3-email sequence recovers 12% of abandoned carts, generating $45k/month in recovered revenue.