Surreal’s banging, non-discount abandoned cart email

We're not sure if this is entry 3 or 300 in the swipe file for Surreal.

They just know what they're doing. It's like if Oatly and innocent had a baby and that baby was also really into consumer psychology.

All bangers. All the time.

We love it when brands remember that abandoned cart emails are also brand moments.

And we get it. The instinct with an abandoned cart is to get a bit more rigid, a bit more urgent, a bit more transactional. Dial the voice down. Push a bit harder. Sand off the edges. Whack a discount code in. Watch those Klaviyo stats tick up.

But Surreal do the opposite.

They dial up their voice. The abandoned cart email is Surreal at their Surreal-est.

And that's the move you might want to nick.

Think about it from the customer's perspective. They were interested enough to add something to their cart. They just needed one more reason to feel good about the decision.

And a discount is one kind of reason. But a brilliant piece of copy that reminds them exactly why they wanted it in the first place is another. And it doesn't cost you a penny to add.

(Side note: we're big believers in not discounting in the first email. Of course, we're copywriters not CRM specialists, so take that with a pinch of salt. But more often than not, we've found that an email that sounds genuinely like the brand outperforms one that sounds like an automated flow throwing out a discount code.)

So before you reach for the discount in your next abandoned cart email, ask: does this sound like us? Is this giving the customer reason to buy that isn't just "it's cheaper"? Or is it just a vehicle to get the discount code out?

You don't have to choose between discount and no discount, really. Just remember that everything works better if you don't lose your brand voice and messaging in the process.

(PS. Studies show that consistent brand presentation across all channels increases revenue by 23-33%. So don't lose that voice!)