According to Baymard Institute, 70% of e-commerce users abandon their carts, which clearly means almost 70 out of 100 potential customers give up before making a purchase.

Shoppers leave their carts after showing interest in your product or what you are offering to them; they didn’t hit the finish line. That may be because they got distracted by competitors, became frustrated because of too many steps in the checkout process, or bumped into a UX glitch in the checkout process.

In this blog, you will learn about how personalization will reduce cart abandonment. We have six proven ways to reduce cart abandonment using personalization. Skip to what you are looking for, or just check from start to finish and mark your checklist.

What Is Personalization in E-commerce?

E-commerce personalization is all about creating a personal experience and interactions for your shoppers. Personalization will help brands by increasing loyalty and sales conversions, improving customer lifetime value (LTV) and operational efficiency, and gaining a competitive advantage.

Personalization can be based on customers’ purchase history, browsing behavior, geographic location, language, and other personal information.

For example, Spotify, if any user listens to a new artist for the first time, Spotify automatically triggers a notification redirecting to the artist’s biography. This nudges subscribers to follow that artist’s page and get notified when new songs and albums launch. This personalized marketing strategy not only increases the customer’s time in-app but also helps them to retain.

80% of shoppers love purchasing online with a brand that provides a personalized experience. On the other hand, 66% of shoppers feel that encountering content without personalization stops them from buying. It’s no secret that personalization creates loyal customers and boosts sales, so what can you do to reach your audience better?

6 Ways to Reduced Cart Abandonment with Personalization

1. Send Personalized Reminder

I guess you already know the story: shopper adds products to their cart, then get distracted by competitor’s offers or XYZ reasons and don’t complete the purchasing process. There will be a simple solution to this issue, “send them a gentle email, WhatsApp, or text reminder!”

Cart abandonment emails have a 39% open rate and a 23% click-through rate. This clearly means your potential shoppers will maybe finish the purchased product, so don’t think it is annoying. Send them reminders.

The email sequence you must follow (for Email, WhatsApp and Text)

1️⃣ Send a summary of the abandoned product (include images for WhatsApp and concise details for SMS)

2️⃣ Add a direct link or CTA button to the product for easy checkout

3️⃣ Include other shopper reviews (use this for email, and keep it brief for WhatsApp)

4️⃣ Personalize the messages (varied subject lines for emails, short and direct for WhatsApp and SMS)

5️⃣ Create urgency with limited-time offers or stock alerts

6️⃣ Send multiple reminders (2-4 emails, up to 2 WhatsApp or SMS reminders) to maintain engagement without overwhelming the user

Bewakoof, one of the top clothing e-commerce stores, shared an email when I added some products to my cart and left the cart without ordering that product.

If you want to go further, you can also share a reminder on WhatsApp. Yesterday, I was browsing Meesho and found a book combo; I added that to the cart, but again, I haven’t placed the order, and they sent me a WhatsApp reminder within an hour!

2. Use Dynamic Content

Providing dynamic content is the most important thing when talking about a personalized shopping experience. Dynamic content means presenting relevant information, messages, and offers based on user behavior, like browsing and purchase history.

Dynamic content includes:

1️⃣ Custom product recommendations on category and product pages

2️⃣ Special or discounted pricing and promo codes

3️⃣ social proof like product reviews, star ratings, and social media feeds showcasing products on relevant pages

4️⃣ Pop-up message box to recommend other products

Dynamic content highlights particular products and offers them relevant products chosen by the shopper or according to their tastes, which naturally influence them to place orders. Providing social proof increases trust and gives shoppers the additional context and confidence they need to complete the checkout.

The streaming industry is doing well. Let’s take Netflix as an example. It provides personalized recommendations; because I have watched a particular movie in the past, they recommend other movies related to that particular movie.

Nykaa provides other product recommendations under “Customers also bought.” It just influences shoppers to buy another related product and make it a perfect combo.

3. Optimize Checkout Process

Extremely long, complicated, limited payment options or untrustworthy checkout processes are one of the main reasons behind cart abandonment. Shortening down the checkout process and offering more payment options improve the checkout experience and reduce cart abandonment or checkout abandonment.

Another way to improve the checkout experience is by prioritizing expedited shipping with same-day or next-day delivery offered to shoppers like Amazon.

According to statistics, 30.4% of the total e-commerce shoppers expect ‘next day’ delivery, and if they don’t get it, the chances of cart abandonment will increase. And 50.6% of shoppers expect free shipping, or they just left the website without completing the checkout process. These tactics come under the personalized checkout process.

Moreover, allows shoppers various payment options, including credit cards, debit cards, digital wallets, COD, etc.

Flipkart allows UPI payment, digital wallets, credit/debit cards, net banking, COD, and even EMIs to shoppers, and hence, they enjoy a lower checkout abandonment rate than others.

4. Try Cross-selling and Up-selling

Imagine a shopper adds a product to their cart. You have got their attention, but how do you make the most of it? This is where cross-selling and up-selling come into play.

Cross-selling suggests related products, while up-selling offers a more premium version of what they are already interested in. These strategies can nudge customers towards adding more to their purchase, boosting your average order value without being overly pushy.

For example, suggest a lens or a memory card if someone buys a camera. Or, if they are looking at a mid-range phone, introduce the idea of upgrading to a model with better features. It’s about enhancing their experience, not just increasing sales.

Apple is doing the same; when you add an iPhone to a cart, you will see more shopping options like chargers and cases that perfectly complement the chosen product. It feels natural, and more often than not, adding those extras is tempting.

But it’s not just about the offer; timing and presentation matter, too. You don’t need to overwhelm your customers by offering too many products. Instead, strategically place these offers in the checkout process or even follow up with an email to suggest related items after the purchase. That’s why they just gave me three options to buy.

5. Offer Live Chat Support

Have you ever strumbled between not having an answer to your question before buying a particular product online? In this case, to solve the shopper’s doubts or questions, live chat will come into the picture, which will kick up the checkout process.

Implementing a live chat option on your website is a powerful way to engage with customers in real time. It lets you quickly address problems, provide personalized product recommendations, and build trust. Whether it's about product details, payment methods, or shipping queries, live chat assistance helps clear doubts and smoothens the shopping experience.

Not just answering questions, live chat tools, including chatbots, can send personalized popup messages during browsing sessions. These can feature promo codes, special offers, or product suggestions tailored to the user's previous purchases and search history, further enhancing the shopping experience.

For example, Target’s live chat feature is available to help customers with their orders, returns, and store locations 24*7.

6. Use Push Notifications

Push notifications are the best tactic for re-engaging customers and driving them back to your site or app. They are direct, immediate, and can be incredibly effective when used thoughtfully.

Whether it’s alerting users to a limited-time offer, reminding them of abandoned carts, or sending personalized recommendations, push notifications can prompt quick action and boost conversions.

I personally love Zomato’s push notification strategy. They send timely, relevant alerts that resonate with their users—like a reminder to order lunch right around noon or a notification about discounts during dinner time.

Zomato doesn’t just send generic messages; they use dynamic content for their notifications. For example, it was time for lunch, and they shared like plan your lunch and let us know!

I mean, it tempted me completely as I was working on this blog, and I received this notification and felt, “Yes, let’s order something and take a break, then I will ask for your review on this blog!”

FAQs

(1) How can an e-commerce business reduce the number of abandoned carts on its website?

E-commerce businesses can reduce abandoned carts by understanding your shoppers, offering clear and upfront shipping costs, providing multiple payment options, streamlining the checkout process, and sending timely cart abandonment reminders via email, WhatsApp, or SMS. Offering discounts or free shipping can also encourage customers to complete their purchases.

(2) What factors influence cart abandonment in the online shopping process?

Key factors include unexpected shipping costs, complicated checkout processes, forced account creation, slow website speed, limited payment options, and concerns about security or privacy. Poor mobile optimization and insufficient product information can also lead to cart abandonment.

(3) What is the difference between cart abandonment and checkout abandonment?

Cart abandonment occurs when a customer adds items to their cart but leaves before starting the checkout process. Checkout abandonment happens when a customer initiates the checkout but does not complete the purchase. Both can be addressed with reminders and optimization strategies.