If you’re still working on your Black Friday emails, this week's email is for you.

A while ago, Val Geisler and I joined the Ecommerce Marketing School podcast by Privy to talk about how brands can optimize their abandoned cart experience for Black Friday.

(Because if there's one flow most brands ignore, it's their abandoned cart one. And you should absolutely have Black Friday versions of your cart abandonment flows.)

We covered sixteen ideas in eighteen minutes — everything from what to say in your first reminder email to how to gamify your abandoned cart offers to increase those Black Friday sales.

🎧 Listen here → Abandoned Cart Email Ideas for Black Friday / Cyber Monday with Val Geisler & Samar Owais​

We covered SIXTEEN ideas in 18 minutes.

This episode is a must-listen if you want to make more sales during Black Friday this year.

If you’re short on time (or are more of a reader than a listener), here’s a quick rundown of what we covered 👇

1. Make the most of what you already have → Go through the past 6 months and figure out what’s been working well and just repurpose that instead of reinventing the wheel.
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2. TEST your offers → No ecommerce or email law says you can only ever make one offer in your abandoned cart emails. Make multiple offers. Keep testing until you find a winner.
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3. Don’t offer a discount in the first email → The first email should always be a “non-creepy” reminder. Don’t say you “saw them looking 👀”
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4. Ask them if they want a discount → Give them the option to cut the line and get what they want faster. It’ll increase engagement (via clicks) and get you the sale faster.
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5. Try something other than a discount → Like free shipping. (When in doubt, offer free shipping — not a discount.)
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6. Update your Abandoned Cart flow's email copy for Black Friday → An email is a continuation of a conversation that started on a brand’s website. If they’re shopping from your Black Friday sale, make sure your AC emails reference that.
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7. Don’t offer a discount in your Abandoned Cart emails during Black Friday → You’re already doing that through your Black Friday sale. There’s already built-in scarcity.
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8. Gamify your abandoned cart offer → But if you are making an offer in your abandoned cart emails... let your customers choose their offer. $$$ off, % off, or free shipping.
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   It'll get you more email engagement + one additional benefit — it'll show you which offer customers value more.
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9. Make sure you suppress people who bought from your Black Friday offer → especially if you’re offering a bigger discount for Cyber Monday. PUHLEEEEZ don't forget to do this!​
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10. Send your Cyber Monday offer to everyone who opened and clicked your Black Friday emails, abandoned a cart, or abandoned checkout. → They’re your most invested audience right now. They're probably waiting to see if you have a better Cyber Monday offer.
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11. Update your Abandoned Cart emails to include messaging from your Welcome flow. → Remind them why you’re awesome and why it’s a good idea to buy your products.
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12. Use your Abandoned Cart emails to add value → It’s an opportunity to connect. Use customer reviews to create case-study-style emails. Make your product the hero and put the focus on the customer story.
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13. Use conversational subject lines → Like:
    
    - “You’ve got great taste.”
    - “1500+ people love this product.”
    - “This is going to look amazing on you.”
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    Validate their choice. Make them feel great.
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14. Send MOARRRR Abandoned Cart emails → Anywhere between 5-9, BUT not everyone gets every email. See 4 and 8.
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15. Elevate the email experience by giving them an out → Add a P.S.
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    "Were you just browsing? We do that too! Let us know so we don’t annoy you with any more reminders."
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    It's a great way to increase email engagement while providing an excellent email + customer experience.
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16. After BFCM, send out a text email asking why they didn’t buy → Gives you insights into what to improve for next year.

I had a blast recording this episode.

Val and I threw around so many ideas so fast, it's a wonder we didn't sound like chipmunks 😂
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🎧 Listen to me have a great time geeking out over emails → Abandoned Cart Email Ideas for Black Friday / Cyber Monday​

— Samar

P.S. This week, I've been busy launching my flagship course, the eCommerce Email Bootcamp.

If you haven't seen the emails, it's because you either opted out of the launch emails or were not tagged as someone interested in learning about ecommerce email strategy.

Letting you know, just in case you are!

​Check out the Bootcamp details here.​