Guide · Email for home goods
Abandoned cart emails for furniture and home decor stores
What to send when someone leaves a sofa, a rug or a set of sheets in the cart.
An abandoned cart email for a home goods store should answer the question that stopped the purchase: what shipping costs, when it arrives, whether it fits, and what happens if it doesn't. Send a short sequence of two or three emails in the first days after the cart is left, each one answering a different doubt.
About 7 in 10 online carts end without a purchase, according to the Baymard Institute's average of 50 studies. Many of those people were only browsing. The ones who reached checkout and left gave several reasons in Baymard's surveys, and a cart email can answer three of them: extra costs like shipping were too high (40%), delivery was too slow (20%), and the returns policy wasn't good enough (13%). In our view, those doubts weigh more for a sofa or a rug than for a T-shirt.
What should each email say?
A common setup is three emails, and each one answers a different doubt.
| When | What it answers | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The reminder | Within the first hours | The item, photographed in a room, with the delivery time and the shipping cost in plain numbers |
| 2. The doubts | The next day | Size and fit, materials, care, returns, and reviews from people who bought the same item |
| 3. The last call | Two or three days later | The cart is still saved, and a person to write to with questions |
Should the last email carry a discount? Only if your margin allows it and you are fine with buyers learning to wait for it. In our view, free shipping or a free fabric swatch can answer the real doubt for less.
Why are home goods different?
In our view, people buying for their home take longer and measure first. Someone who leaves a sectional cover in the cart may be checking the dimensions of their couch, or waiting to ask someone at home. An email that answers "will it fit?" with the measuring guide does more than one that repeats "you forgot something".
Show the product where it will live. A cart email with the cover on a real sofa, in a real living room, reminds people why they wanted it. A product shot on white doesn't.
Which flows besides the cart?
- Browse abandonment: someone looked at a product several times and didn't add it to the cart.
- Checkout abandonment: someone entered their email at checkout and stopped at payment.
- Post-purchase: care instructions, then a matching product weeks later, so the first order becomes a second one.
How do I know it's working?
Look at what the flow sold in Klaviyo or Shopify Email, and compare it with your total store sales month by month. Also check unsubscribes and spam complaints: a sequence that sells but annoys people costs you the list.
If you sell to Canada, the anti-spam law there has its own consent rules for these emails. We explain them in does CASL apply to abandoned cart emails?
Questions about cart emails
How many abandoned cart emails should I send?
Two or three is a common setup: a reminder within hours, a second email the next day that answers doubts about size, materials and returns, and a last one a few days later. Each email should answer a different doubt.
What is the average cart abandonment rate?
70.22%, the average of 50 studies compiled by the Baymard Institute (list updated September 2025). Part of that is people who were only browsing.
Should I offer a discount in abandoned cart emails?
In our view, not in the first email. If you use one, keep it for the last email and check your margin first, because buyers can learn to wait for it. Free shipping or a fabric swatch can answer the real doubt for less.
Why do people abandon carts in home goods stores?
Baymard's surveys list several reasons. Three that a cart email can answer are extra costs like shipping (40%), slow delivery (20%) and an unsatisfactory returns policy (13%). In our view, big items add a doubt about size and fit.
Want this set up in your store? Abandoned-cart and repeat-order emails are part of our plan with email, quoted in writing. See pricing.
Keep reading: Meta ads or Google Shopping for furniture? · What is a good ROAS for home goods? · All guides
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