AI & Automation
Personas
Ecommerce
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
Last month, I was working on a simple website revamp for a Shopify client. The original brief was straightforward: update the abandoned checkout emails to match the new brand guidelines. New colors, new fonts, done.
But as I opened the old template—with its product grid, discount codes, and "COMPLETE YOUR ORDER NOW" buttons—something felt off. This was exactly what every other e-commerce store was sending.
Instead of just updating colors, I completely reimagined the approach. The result? Email reply rates doubled, customers started asking questions, and some completed purchases after getting personalized help.
Here's what you'll learn from this experience:
Why "best practices" often lead to generic, ignored emails
The simple psychology shift that transformed transactional emails into conversations
My exact email framework that reduced unsubscribes by 40%
How addressing real customer pain points beats discount offers
The counter-intuitive approach to email marketing that builds trust instead of pushing sales
Industry Reality
What every ecommerce guru preaches
Walk into any email marketing conference, and you'll hear the same "proven" strategies repeated like gospel:
The Standard Abandoned Cart Playbook:
Send within 1 hour of abandonment
Include product images and details
Create urgency with countdown timers
Offer progressive discounts (5%, then 10%, then 15%)
Use subject lines like "You forgot something!" or "Complete your order"
This conventional wisdom exists because it's easy to measure and template. Email platforms love promoting these "best practices" because they drive platform usage and make agencies feel like they're following a proven system.
But here's the problem: when everyone follows the same playbook, every email looks identical. Your customers are drowning in a sea of discount offers and urgent CTAs. They've learned to ignore these emails or, worse, they unsubscribe because they feel like they're being harassed by a robot.
The real issue isn't your discount percentage or your subject line—it's that you're treating your customers like transactions instead of people with real problems.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
When I started working on this Shopify client's email strategy, they were facing the classic problem: lots of abandoned carts, but their recovery emails felt like spam even to them.
Their existing setup was textbook perfect according to industry standards. Professional template design, clear product images, progressive discount offers, and mobile-optimized layouts. Yet their email engagement was terrible, and unsubscribe rates were climbing.
The real breakthrough came from a conversation with the client about customer support. They mentioned that customers were constantly struggling with payment validation, especially with double authentication requirements. Most businesses would see this as a technical problem to fix on the backend.
Instead, I saw it as an opportunity to actually help people.
This wasn't just about building a better email template—it was about shifting from "pushing sales" to "solving problems." The client was skeptical at first. "Won't this make us look unprofessional?" they asked. I explained that being helpful is the most professional thing you can do.
That's when I decided to completely abandon the traditional abandoned cart email approach and build something that actually acknowledged why people were abandoning carts in the first place.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Instead of starting with a product grid and discount offer, I built the email around the actual friction points customers were experiencing.
Step 1: Newsletter-Style Design
I ditched the traditional e-commerce template entirely. Instead, I created a design that looked like a personal newsletter. Clean typography, minimal graphics, and a conversational layout that felt like a friend writing to you, not a corporation trying to sell you something.
Step 2: First-Person Communication
The email was written in first person, as if the business owner was reaching out directly. Instead of "Complete your order," the subject line became "You had started your order..." This simple change made the email feel personal rather than automated.
Step 3: Address the Real Problems
Here's where it gets interesting. Rather than ignoring checkout friction, I addressed it head-on with a practical troubleshooting section:
"Having trouble completing your order? Here are the most common fixes:"
Payment authentication timing out? Try again with your bank app already open
Card declined? Double-check your billing ZIP code matches exactly
Still having issues? Just reply to this email—I'll help you personally
Step 4: Make It Two-Way
The most important part was the last line: "Just reply to this email." This transformed a one-way sales push into an invitation for conversation. Suddenly, the email became a customer service touchpoint, not just a sales tool.
The key insight: instead of assuming people abandoned because they needed more convincing to buy, I assumed they abandoned because they needed help completing their purchase.
Helpful Troubleshooting
Addressed real checkout problems instead of pushing harder for the sale, turning friction into an opportunity to help
Personal Communication
Wrote emails in first person from the business owner, making automated messages feel like personal outreach
Newsletter Design
Used clean, newsletter-style layout instead of typical e-commerce templates to stand out in crowded inboxes
Conversation Starter
Made emails reply-friendly, transforming one-way sales pitches into two-way customer service conversations
The results went beyond just recovered carts. Within the first month of implementing this approach:
Email Engagement: Reply rates doubled from the previous automated sequence. Customers started asking questions, sharing feedback, and some even complimented the helpful approach.
Conversion Impact: While some customers completed purchases after getting personalized help, the bigger win was the relationship building. Several customers who received personal replies became repeat buyers.
Customer Service Integration: The email became a natural customer service funnel. Issues that customers shared via email replies helped identify site-wide problems we could fix for everyone.
Unsubscribe Reduction: Most importantly, unsubscribe rates dropped significantly because customers saw value in the communication rather than feeling harassed by sales messages.
The abandoned cart email evolved from a last-ditch sales attempt into a customer experience touchpoint that actually strengthened relationships with the brand.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
This experience taught me that the best email strategies often come from breaking industry conventions:
1. Authentic Beats Professional
Customers crave authentic communication over polished corporate speak. A personal note from the founder often outperforms carefully crafted marketing copy.
2. Help Before You Sell
Leading with solutions to actual problems builds more trust than leading with discounts. Address why people abandon carts instead of just trying to overcome their objections.
3. Make Emails Reply-Worthy
Most businesses treat email as one-way communication. Making your emails reply-friendly opens up valuable customer feedback channels and relationship-building opportunities.
4. Design for Recognition, Not Perfection
Newsletter-style emails stand out in a sea of product-heavy templates. Sometimes looking different is more valuable than looking "professional."
5. Address Friction Directly
When customers face technical problems, acknowledgment and help work better than ignoring the issues and pushing harder for the sale.
6. Customer Service is Marketing
Every helpful interaction builds brand loyalty. Use automated emails as opportunities to demonstrate your commitment to customer success.
7. Test Contrarian Approaches
If everyone in your industry is doing the same thing, there's an opportunity to stand out by doing the opposite—thoughtfully and strategically.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS companies implementing this approach:
Address common onboarding friction in trial emails
Write emails from founder/CEO perspective for authenticity
Include helpful troubleshooting instead of just feature lists
Make emails reply-friendly for direct customer feedback
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce stores implementing this approach:
Address payment and shipping concerns proactively
Use newsletter-style design to stand out from typical product emails
Include personal troubleshooting help for checkout issues
Transform abandoned cart emails into customer service touchpoints