Cart abandonment is the single biggest leak in ecommerce revenue. Industry-wide, the average cart abandonment rate sits close to 70% — meaning for every 10 shoppers who add something to their cart, roughly 7 leave without buying.
Most Shopify merchants already run an abandoned cart email flow. Fewer have added SMS to the mix — and that gap is exactly where the extra revenue is hiding. Below, we break down how the two channels actually compare, using benchmark data from Senderium merchants over the past 12 months.
The Headline Numbers
| Metric | Abandoned Cart Email | Abandoned Cart SMS |
|---|---|---|
| Average open rate | 18–22% | 95–98% |
| Average click-through rate | 2.5–3.5% | 12–20% |
| Average conversion rate (of clicks) | 8–10% | 25–35% |
| Time to first open | Hours to days | Under 3 minutes |
| Average revenue recovered per 1,000 abandoned carts | $180–$260 | $410–$640 |
Benchmarks based on aggregated, anonymized performance data from Senderium merchant accounts, trailing 12 months.
The pattern is consistent across almost every store we work with: SMS doesn’t replace email — it recovers the carts email never even gets seen by.
Why the Gap Is So Large
1. Visibility
Email has to compete with dozens of other messages in a crowded inbox, and a large share never get opened at all. A text message sits on the lock screen the moment it arrives — there’s no inbox to get lost in.
2. Urgency
SMS feels immediate by nature. A short, direct message (“Your cart’s about to expire — here’s 10% off to finish checking out”) creates a sense of urgency that a formatted email template struggles to replicate.
3. Friction
Most SMS platforms, including Senderium, let customers tap a link and land straight back in their cart with items pre-loaded. Fewer steps between message and purchase means fewer chances for the customer to change their mind.
4. Timing
Email abandoned cart flows are typically spaced out over 24–72 hours to avoid feeling repetitive. SMS works well much sooner — a first message within 30–60 minutes of abandonment consistently performs best, since intent is still highest.
A Real Example: Ridgeline Outdoor Co.
Ridgeline Outdoor Co., a mid-sized Shopify outdoor gear brand, ran both channels side by side for a full quarter:
- Email-only abandoned cart flow: recovered 11% of abandoned carts
- Email + SMS combined flow: recovered 27% of abandoned carts
- Incremental revenue attributed to adding SMS: $22,600 over the quarter
The email flow wasn’t underperforming on its own — adding SMS simply reached a segment of customers that email alone never converted.
So Should You Drop Email Entirely?
No — and the data doesn’t support that either. The two channels perform best together, not as substitutes:
- Email works well for detailed messaging: product recommendations, longer copy, richer visuals
- SMS works best for short, urgent nudges: “your cart is waiting,” “your discount expires tonight”
The highest-performing abandoned cart flows we see combine both:
- Email sent at the 1-hour mark with product images and a soft reminder
- SMS sent at the 4-hour mark with a shorter, urgency-driven message
- Email sent at 24 hours with a limited-time discount
- SMS sent at 48 hours as a final nudge before the cart is considered lost
Getting Started with SMS Cart Recovery
If you’re only running email today, adding a simple two-message SMS flow is usually the fastest, lowest-effort way to recover revenue you’re currently losing:
- Message 1 (30–60 min after abandonment): a friendly reminder with a direct link back to checkout
- Message 2 (4–24 hours later): a small incentive (5–10% off) to close the sale
Senderium’s abandoned cart automation is pre-built with TCPA and GDPR-compliant opt-in logic, so you can launch this flow in minutes rather than building it from scratch.
Curious how much revenue your store is currently missing? Start your free trial and see your first recovered carts within 24 hours.
