Stop Leaking Sales: How to Win Back Abandoned Carts with Privy

Cart abandonment is the silent killer of ecommerce revenue. You work hard to drive traffic to your store, only to watch nearly 70% of carts get abandoned before checkout. That means for every 10 potential customers, 7 walk away empty-handed. Ouch.

But here’s the good news: abandoned carts aren't a lost cause. With the right tools and strategy, you can recover those sales and turn abandoned carts into paying customers. In this post, we’ll show you exactly how to do it using Privy’s cart abandonment solutions—no coding or tech headaches required.

Why Shoppers Abandon Carts

Understanding why customers leave without buying is the first step to winning them back. Here are some of the most common reasons:

• Unexpected shipping costs or taxes
• Complicated or lengthy checkout process
• Just browsing or comparison shopping
• Payment security concerns
• Technical glitches or distractions

The truth? Most shoppers aren’t intentionally ghosting you. They get distracted, busy, or need a final nudge to complete their purchase. That’s where Privy comes in.

How Privy Helps You Recover Abandoned Carts

Privy makes it easy to win back shoppers who leave your site without completing their purchase. Here’s how:

1. Abandoned Cart Emails

Privy automatically detects when someone leaves items in their cart and follows up with personalized abandoned cart emails. These emails remind customers what they left behind and encourage them to come back and complete the purchase.

Key features:

• Pre-built templates that are easy to customize
• Automated triggers based on cart behavior
• A/B testing for subject lines and content
• Timed send delays to hit the sweet spot (usually 1-3 hours after abandonment)

2. Exit-Intent Popups

Catch abandoning visitors before they leave. Privy’s exit-intent popups appear when a customer moves their cursor toward the browser bar, offering an incentive like a discount or free shipping to finish their order.

Pro tip: Combine popups with email capture to grow your list and follow up later.

3. SMS Reminders

SMS is one of the highest-converting channels for abandoned cart recovery. With Privy Text, you can send short, personalized reminders directly to a customer’s phone.

Bonus: SMS messages are often seen and clicked within minutes—perfect for time-sensitive offers.

4. On-Site Displays

Use banners or flyouts on your site to remind returning shoppers about their abandoned cart. Sometimes all it takes is a friendly nudge: "Hey, don’t forget your cart!"

Best Practices for Cart Recovery Campaigns

Want to maximize your abandoned cart recovery? Follow these best practices:

Timing is Everything

• Send your first email within 1 hour of abandonment
• Follow up again 24 hours later with a stronger incentive

Keep it Personal

• Use the shopper’s first name and show the exact items they left
• Create a sense of urgency ("Only 2 left in stock")

Test Your Offers

• Try free shipping vs. 10% off
• Run A/B tests on your subject lines and CTAs

Keep It Simple

• Don’t overcomplicate the design or copy
• Make it incredibly easy to click back into their cart and check out

Real Results: What Privy Customers Are Seeing

Thousands of brands use Privy every day to recover lost sales. Here’s what some of them have achieved:

• Three Bird Nest added $105,000+ in recovered revenue in just 30 days with Privy cart emails.
• Urban Southern saw a 19% conversion rate from abandoned cart emails.
• Sleek Treat increased their list size by 30% using exit-intent popups combined with email follow-up.

Read more customer success stories here.

How to Set Up Abandoned Cart Emails in Privy (Step-by-Step)

1. Log into your Privy account and navigate to Email > Automations
2. Choose "Abandoned Cart" from the list of automation types
3. Customize your email: Add your logo, brand colors, and product feed
4. Set your timing: We recommend starting with 1 hour and 24-hour follow-ups
5. Go live and watch the recovered revenue roll in

Want a walkthrough? Check out our full guide on abandoned cart setup.

Stop Leaking Sales Today

Every visitor you drive to your store costs time and money. Don’t let 70% of them slip away without a fight. With Privy, you can:

• Recover lost revenue automatically
• Build relationships with shoppers
• Grow your email and SMS list
• Improve ROI on every traffic dollar you spend

Ready to plug the leak? Start your free trial of Privy and start recovering abandoned carts today.

Want to learn more? Check out these helpful resources:

• What is Cart Abandonment?
• Top 10 Abandoned Cart Email Examples
• The Ultimate Ecommerce Email Marketing Guide