Emails, SMS and payment links: strategies to recover abandoned carts in your ecommerce

Did you know that a large part of your customers abandon their cart before paying? Every lost cart is a sale that slips away, but also an opportunity waiting to be recovered. This phenomenon affects businesses of all sizes and represents a significant loss of revenue for ecommerce stores.

Below, we explain the main reasons users abandon their carts and how you can use practical tools such as personalized emails, SMS and payment links to increase your sales.

Why do customers abandon carts in your online store?

Main reasons for cart abandonment in ecommerce

It is common for some customers to stop during the checkout process for multiple reasons. Here are the most common and how to address them:

Unexpected costs

No one likes unpleasant surprises at checkout. If shipping costs or additional taxes are not clear from the start, customers are likely to abandon the cart. Solve this by being transparent with costs from the beginning.

Limited payment methods

Offering very few payment methods can prevent users from completing the purchase. To fix this, it is essential to expand the options and offer the payment methods preferred by your customers. According to our 2025 survey “Payment Methods: The Ultimate Decision,” 37.6% of Spanish users had to cancel or abandon a purchase because they could not find their usual payment method.

Complicated checkout process

Going through a complicated or unintuitive payment process can discourage customers and lead them to abandon the cart. To remedy this, reduce the number of steps required to complete the purchase and ensure your virtual POS is fast, intuitive and mobile-optimized.

Restrictive return policy

When the return policy is perceived as restrictive, complicated or expensive, customers may hesitate to make the purchase. Solve this by establishing a clear and flexible return policy and covering return costs whenever possible.

Postponed decisions

It is common for customers to leave a purchase pending to “think it over” or wait for a price drop. To help them decide, offer incentives such as a limited-time discount or a wishlist feature.

Payment security concerns

If your website does not inspire trust, users may prefer not to take risks. A secure and adaptable virtual POS like PaynoPain’s helps build confidence for both buyers and sellers.

Impact of abandoned carts on sales

In Spain, three out of four online shopping carts are abandoned, above the global average of 70%, according to the Baymard Institute.

Abandoned carts not only impact direct sales, but most businesses also invest in marketing and campaigns to attract website traffic. If those visits do not convert into customers, the business loses money and ROI decreases.

Over time, abandoned carts also reduce average order value and conversion rates, ultimately decreasing profitability. Prolonged abandonment can generate negative perceptions affecting your brand, reducing future sales opportunities. Reducing cart abandonment is essential to increase profitability and maximise revenue per site visit.

Strategies to recover abandoned carts

Send personalized emails with product reminders

One of the most used and effective strategies to recover abandoned carts is sending email reminders with the products customers left in the cart. This reminder, combined with a persuasive message or even a discount, can help increase sales.

To make an email effective and recover abandoned carts, include:

• A compelling subject line to grab attention
• Visually attractive design aligned with your brand
• Cart products highlighted with images and brief descriptions
• A clear call-to-action (CTA) like “Complete your purchase now”
• Mobile optimization

Use SMS for direct and fast messages

A short and clear message can be all your customers need to return and complete their purchase. Include a reminder with a direct link to the cart for added convenience, or offer a discount code.

Avoid long SMS with unnecessary information. Focus on clear, direct language and a sense of urgency, e.g., “Two items in your cart are about to sell out.”

Simplify the process with direct payment links

Make the checkout easier by sending a payment link that allows the transaction to be completed without navigating the entire website or finding the product again. This is especially helpful for mobile purchases.

Payment links should be intuitive and secure. Ensure customers can choose from multiple payment methods and that the experience is seamless across devices.

Key tools to automate abandoned cart recovery

Virtual POS for ecommerce

An efficient virtual POS can be a key tool to make a difference in your business. A virtual POS must ensure user-friendly payment experiences, provide customers’ preferred payment methods, comply with security regulations and adapt to devices. These aspects help prevent abandoned carts.

With PaynoPain’s virtual POS, you can also generate fully custom payment links for customers who abandoned their cart, making recovery simple.

Automated email and SMS solutions

Email marketing tools are a great way to manage campaigns with personalized emails. You can also automate SMS reminders or create campaigns to retain customers and recover abandoned carts.

Benefits of recovering abandoned carts in your ecommerce

Increase online sales

Recovering abandoned carts turns lost opportunities into real sales, increasing revenue with each recovered cart. Email, SMS and payment link campaigns reduce customer loss and maximise marketing ROI.

Improve customer experience and loyalty

An easy and convenient checkout improves customer experience. Helping customers complete their purchases increases confidence and encourages return visits.

Optimise the purchase process

Analyzing why users abandon carts allows you to detect critical points in the checkout process—limited payment methods, mobile friction, etc. Identifying and fixing these issues boosts conversion rates.

Enhance brand image

Stores offering convenient, secure payments convey professionalism, generating more trust, positive reviews, and a strong reputation to attract more customers.

Recover abandoned carts and increase your store’s sales

Improve ecommerce conversion

Recovering abandoned carts is not only possible—it can be simple with the right tools and strategies. With personalized emails, SMS and payment links, you can improve the customer experience and see real growth in your store’s performance.

Contact us and start recovering abandoned carts with PaynoPain’s online platform payments.