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When to send abandoned cart text messages?

Text messages offer a significant advantage over any other marketing or remarketing channel out there. Most text messages get read in under 3 minutes after receiving them. Thus you get in direct contact with your customers who have just abandoned their cart in just minutes after you send them a text message.

Getting in contact with your customers as fast as possible after they have abandoned their cart is one of the most important aspects of increasing your chances of converting them from visitors who were interested in your products to customers. The more time goes on the more they forget about your website, your product, and the reason why they wanted to buy the product in the first place.

Most shoppers, especially impulsive ones, do not even know on what site they were checking the product that they were interested in. This is not so much the case for well-established brands, but it still does have an important impact on the rate of conversions. When buyers are interested in the product due to an ad they saw online, which made them think of buying the product, it is important to get in touch with them as soon as possible. This way you increase the chances of converting them.

If you want to read more about the statistics of text messages in Ecommerce, check out our article Interesting text message statistics for Ecommerce.

How many abandoned cart text messages should be sent?

Although it greatly depends on the type of online shop you own and what kind of products are being sold on the site, the overall best number of abandoned cart text messages to be sent is between 1 and 3. More than that is usually not effective.

The main reason for that is that when offering special offers to your visitors who have abandoned their cart, if one or two offers do not make them convert, nothing will. The recipients of the messages have surely seen them so there is no point in sending them more offers if nothing helps with the sale.

Keep in mind that it is best to first only send a gentle reminder, that they forgot something in their cart and only after that start to offer them special offers. You will be surprised at the results of just the first message!

This of course also varies from store to store, mostly due to the price range of the products and the additional costs like shipping on the checkout page. We always recommend doing as much testing to find the best results for your specific sites.

Time delay for the first abandoned cart text message

The first text message for recovering abandoned carts should be sent as soon as possible. The time frame we at CartBoss found was the best performing, was between 5 and 15 minutes after the cart has been abandoned. These messages have a CTR of around 37% and a ROI of more than 2700% (with some online shops this number is even double or triple).

Some online shops offer post-purchase offers on the site, which can affect the recognition of a visitor being an abandoned one. This is because their online status in the shop is not yet changed into processing or completed but is in a custom state. If that functionality is active on a store, we do recommend delaying the sending of the first message for a few minutes, sending it around 15 minutes after the cart has been abandoned.

Time delay for the second abandoned cart text message

Most online visitors and customers quickly forget on what site they were viewing the product they saw an ad for. This is also the reason for the second text message for recovering the abandoned cart not being sent days later. If the visitors are interested in the product and the price of it or the additional costs associated with ordering it are too high they will most likely have the idea of buying it in the back of their heads for a few more hours.

The second abandoned cart text message should be sent a few hours after they have abandoned their cart. They are usually sent after 3 to 6 hours. These messages have the same CTR as the first message – around 37%. But their ROI is lower due to the offer included in the message, making the average order value smaller.

Time delay for the third abandoned cart text message

As time goes by your visitors will forget about the reasons why they wanted to buy the product on your site. These messages must include a well-prepared offer in order to convert them into customers. Usually, it includes a 20% discount or even a gift for completing the purchase. This gives them the incentive to rethink the purchase and in the best case, recover their cart and complete the order.

These messages are usually sent a day after the cart has been abandoned. Just like with the second text message, the ROI is a bit lower as these messages include a special offer, usually a discount. With the third abandoned cart text message, the CTR also drops by a few percent as some recipients are already familiar with your offer and are not interested anymore.

As mentioned, the time delays that are optimal for any site can vary, and testing out different time delays is important. Also, it is wise to take into account that sending too many text messages for recovering abandoned carts can be annoying to recipients if they are sent in a short time span. That being said, most recipients (more than 70%) enjoy receiving them and never decide to unsubscribe from them. So don’t worry about sending too many of them, just keep them well scheduled in a one-day span.

Want to get an even better insight into abandoned cart text message statistics? Check our article Abandoned cart text message statistics.

The best time to send abandoned cart text messages

Sending the first message to recover an abandoned cart is 5-15 minutes after the cart has been abandoned. The second one should be sent after 3-6 hours and the third one after a day. But this does not mean that it is the best solution for your online shop. So testing out different time delays and various special offers is the best way to find the perfect settings for your sites.

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