Understanding the default Email Template of Abandoned Cart Lite for WooCommerce plugin

We have discussed capturing abandoned carts and default settings of Abandoned Cart Lite for WooCommerce plugin in our earlier posts. Once the abandoned carts are captured, the recovery mechanism comes into play for which we require to use the WooCommerce abandoned cart reminder emails and send to lost customers and persuade them to complete their purchase. So in this post, we will understand the WooCommerce abandoned cart default Email Template that is available in this plugin which is used for sending reminder email notifications.

We all know that the best way to recover lost sales is to have our lost customers return to our site and complete their potential transactions. For carrying out this task, WooCommerce abandoned cart reminder emails are sent to these lost customers. But this is not it, it is imperative to have a framed email template customized with interactive content to induce customers to revisit the abandoned cart to conclude the transaction. This is a great way to attract customers to your online stores.

So let us understand the default email template that is available in the WooCommerce Abandoned Cart Pro plugin to get started with the basic recovery process and drive more customers to your online stores. To get an advanced recovery process and more features of the WooCommerce Abandoned Cart plugin, please check out our Abandoned Cart Pro for WooCommerce plugin.

Email Templates Tab in WooCommerce Abandoned Cart

There is one default email template pre-added in Abandoned Cart Lite for WooCommerce plugin named Initial.

Go to WooCommerce -> Abandoned Carts -> Email Templates tab, where you will find the default template named Initial as shown below:

Email Templates tab

By default, the abandoned cart email template will be deactivated. Admin needs to activate the template to start using it for sending abandoned cart reminder emails as shown below:

Default email template  

The above image shows different templates under the Email Templates tab. The time set after which the abandoned cart email will be sent to the customer is set to 1 Hour for the Initial template. This means a reminder email will be sent 1 hour after cart abandonment.

The above Email Templates page is displayed with the following items:

1. Name of the template: This displays the name of the template.

2. Sent After Set Time: It is the time set after which the abandoned cart reminder email will be sent to the customer after cart is abandoned.

3. Active?: This shows if the template is currently active or deactivated. Active is marked in green as shown in the above screenshot.

You can also create new email templates in the WooCommerce abandoned cart plugin by clicking on the Add New Template button in the above screenshot.

In order to make changes to the default template, for which you simply mouse hover on the name of the template. This will provide you an option to Edit or Delete the template as shown below:

Edit and Delete option

Editing the Default Email Template in WooComerce Abandoned Cart

When you click on the Edit option of the default email template, you will land on the Edit Email Template page as shown below. This page is divided into 2 parts.

1st Part:

Edit Email Template page

Let us understand the different parameters on this page.

1. Template Name: You need to give a name to this template which is written in this field. This name will be displayed on the Email templates listing page to identify the templates by their name. The default template name is Initial.

2. Subject: Here is the subject of the reminder email which is by default WordPress: Did you have checkout trouble? The word WordPress is the site title name, so the subject includes <site_title_name>: Did you have checkout trouble?

You can change this subject as required and also personalize it by adding a mergecode to the subject. For instance, you can write Hi {{customer.firstname}}!! You left {{products.cart}} in your cart to the Subject Line. This will be displayed as Hi John!! You left Protein Bread in your cart in the Subject Line.

It is vital to have a good subject line in order to make the lost customer feel like opening the email in the first place, so as to make them proceed towards completing the transaction.

3. Email Body: Here you can write the email contents which give details of the abandoned cart. It first addresses the customer with full name, then displays the date when the cart was abandoned and provides cart details as shown in the above image.

You can customize the email body depending on what you wish to highlight in the email that will induce and attract customers back to your online store to make the purchase.

There are different options displayed in the below screenshot, out of which the AC button is of great use.

Different items provided for composing the email

The AC button shown on the right end of displayed options gives you a list of mergecodes that can be used in the email body. There are 7 mergecodes available as shown below:

List of mergecodes available

The above is a list of mergecodes that can be used for specific items. For example, if you want to have the Customer Full Name to be displayed then you simply click on Customer Full Name from the list. So when this gets added in the email body, the actual Customer Full Name in the abandoned cart will be picked and displayed in place of this mergecode.

2nd Part:

2nd part of Edit Email Template page

4. Use WooCommerce Template Style: Here there are 2 options, either you can select the default WooCommerce Template Style by ticking the checkbox or choose not to by keeping it blank.

If you want the WooCommerce Template Style, then the email will appear as follows:

Default WooCommerce Template Style

If you do not want the default WooCommerce Template Style, then the email will appear as follows:

Without default WooCommerce Template Style

The template styling is taken from the WooCommerce setting and you can make changes to this design and styling from the WooCommerce -> Settings -> Emails menu.

5. Email Template Header text: This is the blue area on the template which is the Header and whatever you type in this field will appear on the header as shown in the above image.  By default, this is set to Abandoned Cart Email Template which is only applicable when the Use WooCommerce Template Style is checked.

6. Send this email: Here you can select the time in hours or days from the drop-down for this template. This means after the cart is abandoned, the reminder email will be sent to the customer after the time that is specified in this field. Hence for the default email template, the email will be sent 1 hour after the cart is abandoned.

7. Send a test email to: You can enter the email address here for receiving the test email of this template. Thus before sending the abandoned cart reminder email in WooCommerce to your customers, you can verify and confirm the contents of the email by using this setting.

Once all the changes are made on the Edit Email Template page, you need to click on the Update Changes button to save all the changes made to it.

Deleting the Default Template in the WooCommerce Abandoned Cart Plugin

You can also delete the default template by clicking on Delete available next to the Edit option of Initial template as shown below:

Deleting default email template