What is Abandoned Cart Recovery? The Mobile App Strategy That Saves Lost Revenue

Shopping cart abandonment is the revenue problem you can't ignore.

When a potential customer adds items to their online shopping cart but leaves without completing the purchase, it's called cart abandonment.

This issue is massive in ecommerce, with an estimated 70% of shopping carts abandoned, rising to 85% on mobile devices.

Every abandoned cart represents not just lost revenue, but a missed opportunity to convert an interested customer. For growing ecommerce and DTC brands, an effective cart recovery program can turn a major revenue leak into a growth engine.

Cart abandonment happens for many reasons. Common friction points include unexpected costs, complicated checkouts, requiring the customer to create an account, or just distraction and indecision.

The problem is bigger on mobile, partly because mobile user experiences are less sophisticated, but also because mobile users are more likely to multitask and get interrupted.

The result is billions in potential revenue left on the table. Your abandoned cart recovery strategy aims to win back those would-be customers through timely reminders and incentives.

Even a small improvement of just a few percentage points can translate to hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional revenue per year for mid-sized brands.

MobiLoud not only helps you create the perfect, high-ROI mobile app, we also make it easy to recover lost revenue with abandoned cart notifications. Want to learn how? Start with a free preview of your app now.

How Do Mobile Apps Help Recover Abandoned Carts?

Mobile apps are a powerful channel for cart recovery, with capabilities beyond websites, email, or SMS.

Our data shows mobile apps convert anywhere from 1.3x to 7x higher than mobile websites. A well-made native app provides a smoother shopping experience, and gives brands specialized tools to bring users back after abandonment.

Push Notifications: The Instant Recovery Tool

Push notifications are short, clickable alerts delivered directly to the user's smartphone. They're instant and highly visible. They don't get buried in an inbox like email, yet feel less intrusive than SMS.

The moment a cart is abandoned, the app can send a push notification to nudge the shopper while their intent is still high.

These messages can be tailored with the product name, images, or even a discount. Brands using push see faster follow-up and often higher recovery rates than email alone.

The engagement is impressive cart abandonment push notifications average a ~16% click-through rate, far higher engagement than typical ads or emails.

In-App Messaging: Contextual Recovery

If a user returns to the app or is browsing, in-app messages such as banners, pop-ups, or inbox messages can remind them of items left in the cart.

For instance, a banner might say "You still have items in your cart - complete your purchase for 10% off!" when the user opens the app.

In-app messages can also address common abandonment causes in real-time, e.g., showing a free shipping offer or countdown timer to create urgency.

Deep Linking to Cart: Removing Friction

Mobile apps let you use deep links in notifications or emails, so when the user taps a recovery message, it opens directly to the cart page in the app.

This removes friction as the customer doesn't have to navigate through the home page or log in again.

Deep linking makes it as easy as possible to complete the purchase. This native continuity is a big UX advantage over mobile web or email, where the user might have to find the item or navigate to their cart again.

Personalization & AI: The Right Message at the Right Time

Mobile apps can capture rich data on user behavior (browsing history, preferences, past purchases) and use it to personalize recovery efforts.

This might mean the content of a push notification is dynamically generated. For example, using the customer's first name and the specific product left behind: "Hey Alex, your skincare kit is still in the cart - check out before it's gone!"

Some brands also send product recommendations with the reminder to increase appeal. Advanced apps are starting to use AI-driven predictive analytics to identify customers likely to abandon in the first place and intervene proactively.

This level of personalization and timing (engaging the right user with the right message at the right moment) is much easier to do in a dedicated app environment with user-specific data.

Native UX & Payment Integration: Streamlined Checkout

One of the biggest strengths of mobile apps is the streamlined checkout experience.

Apps can enable features like one-click checkout, Face ID login, or integration with mobile wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay), that cut friction.

Reducing friction at payment is critical; and integrating Apple Pay or Google Pay has been shown to significantly cut down cart abandonment by making checkout almost instant.

The checkout experience with apps remove the usual hurdles (entering addresses, credit card numbers) that cause users to drop off. On top of that, the overall app UI can be optimized for speed and simplicity, creating a more captive, loyalty-driven shopping experience.

What's the ROI of Mobile Apps for Cart Recovery?

Mobile apps deliver real, measurable ROI for brands, in terms of cart recovery alone.

Brands we've worked with regularly recover a minimum of four figures in revenue per month from abandoned cart notifications (enough to pay for their app and deliver a positive ROI on its own).

Some brands, with high purchase volume and high AOV, get a whole lot more from abandoned cart notifications; as much as $200,000 for one brand in the space of just 30 days.

In terms of ROI, abandoned cart notifications are so powerful because there's basically no incremental cost.

You're reaching out to shoppers you've already paid to acquire. Push notifications cost nothing to send (outside of the monthly cost for a push notification service, and there's basically zero effort involved, as you set up an automated campaign to run indefinitely in the background.

The ROI is essentially infinite. The more volume going through your site, the more you can benefit from recovering more abandoned carts.

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Which Metrics Should You Track for Cart Recovery?

Here are the right metrics to track to understand the impact of your cart recovery strategy:

Cart Abandonment Rate

This is the percentage of shopping carts created that are not converted into purchases.

‍The industry average is around 70%, but it varies by category, price point, and other factors. Mobile web abandonment rates can be on the higher end (often 75-85%) due to mobile-specific friction points.

Knowing your baseline abandonment rate is the first step as it quantifies the size of the problem (and opportunity).

A decrease in this rate over time shows your checkout process improvements (e.g., one-tap payments, better UX) are working.

Recovery Rate

Recovery rate is defined as the percentage of abandoned carts that are eventually recovered (completed) thanks to your follow-up efforts.

For example, if 100 carts were abandoned and 15 of those customers ultimately purchased (due to an email, push, or other reminder), your cart recovery rate is 15%.

Many brands aim for a 10-20% recovery of abandoned carts through multi-channel efforts. One study cited that businesses can recapture roughly 10% of lost sales just by sending cart reminder notifications/emails.

More effective, multi-touch campaigns (push + email + SMS) might recover 20-30% of abandons. Monitoring this metric helps you see the real impact on revenue.

Push Notification Opt-In Rate

Since push notifications require user permission, a key metric for app-based recovery is what percentage of your app users have enabled notifications.

The higher your push opt-in rate, the larger the audience you can reach with cart reminders.

Mobile apps see about 60% average opt-in, but with a split: on Android, ~91% of users allow push by default vs ~44% on iOS (where users must explicitly opt in). The industry and how/when you prompt users also affect this.

Brands should track opt-in rates and put effort into improving this area.

For example, showing a custom prompt explaining the value ("Enable notifications for price drops and back-in-stock alerts") can lift opt-ins. By doing so, you'll see a significant increase in cart recovery, just by increasing the number of users who can be reached with abandoned cart notifications.

Notification Engagement Metrics

These include the open rate (or view rate) of push notifications, the click-through rate (CTR), and the conversion rate from those clicks.

Abandoned cart push notifications perform exceptionally well, seeing 30-40% open rates and around 16% CTR (clicks) on average. Of those who click, a large share will purchase leading to a 8-12% overall conversion rate for push.

You can compare these against your email metrics to put the impact of push into perspective (e.g., if cart emails have 40% open but only 5% conversion, whereas push has 30% open but 10% conversion, push is clearly contributing strongly).

If your push notifications are underperforming (say 5% CTR), you may need to test new copy or timing. If they're outperforming (20%+ CTR), that's a sign to invest even more into your mobile app channel.

Brands Succeeding With Abandoned Cart Recovery

Many leading ecommerce and DTC brands across verticals have embraced mobile app cart recovery often with impressive results. Here are a few examples:

Sephora (Beauty)

The cosmetics retail giant has over 35 million downloads of its mobile app, making it a critical customer channel.

Sephora makes good use of push notifications, including reminders about products shoppers left in their cart or browsed but didn't purchase.

By pairing these alerts with personalized product recommendations and exclusive app-only offers, Sephora keeps customers loyal and coming back.

H&M (Fashion)

Global fashion retailer H&M uses its app to drive a personalized shopping experience. Its push notification strategy is highly personalized and AI-driven, leveraging browsing and purchase history to send tailored offers.

For example, after a customer leaves items in the cart, H&M might send a push suggesting a matching accessory or notify them of a low-stock alert for that item, creating urgency to check out.

By tapping into machine learning, H&M's app analyzes customer behavior and even optimal send times, resulting in a measurable lift in both in-app engagement and sales conversions.

SuperJeweler (Jewelry/Lifestyle)

This online jewelry store implemented both web and mobile push notifications to tackle cart abandonment.

The results were striking: SuperJeweler achieved an 8.2% increase in revenue attributed directly to push notification campaigns (including abandoned cart pushes).

Their push notifications earned a 14-15% click-through rate and 8% conversion rate on those clicks, meaning a significant chunk of abandoning shoppers were won back.

An email marketing manager at SuperJeweler noted that while they had used email and ads for retargeting, adding push allowed them to reach customers "in time", catching abandoners with instant deals and reminders, which was "the bonus" that improved their ROAS.

Samsung (Consumer Electronics)

Even large brands in electronics have turned to push notifications for cart recovery.

Samsung integrated web and mobile push as part of its omnichannel cart recovery strategy and saw cart recovery rates increase by 24%.

This is notable in a vertical with typically longer consideration cycles. It shows that timely reminders for items like phones, TVs, or appliances can sway customers to come back and buy rather than forgetting or going to a competitor.

Pura Vida (Fashion/Lifestyle)

Pura Vida's three-message push sequence (immediate, a follow-up, and a later reminder) was particularly effective at recovering abandoned carts, generating more than $400k in new revenue for the brand.

About 62% of recovered sales came from the first push, 25% from the second, and the remainder from the third.

Pharmazone (Healthcare)

Pharmazone's online pharmacy app drives over half of all their online revenue, a large part due to abandoned cart notifications.

Their abandoned cart sequence converts at an incredible 22%, bringing in $10k+ in revenue each month.

Which Channel Works Best: Mobile App vs Email vs SMS?

Most successful brands use a mix of channels, mobile app push, email, SMS, and even retargeting ads.

Let's compare the effectiveness of each of these channels, side by side.

Mobile App Push Notifications

Strengths: Instant delivery and very visible (appears on phone screen), interactive (can have images, buttons), and zero direct cost per message. Push reaches users in real time and can deep link to the app for a seamless experience. Engagement is high, typical push open rates are ~30-40%, and conversion rates average around 10%.

Limitations: Only reaches customers who have installed the app and opted in to notifications. On iOS, opt-in rates hover ~40-50%, so you might only contact half of app users. Additionally, if overused, push notifications can annoy users (leading them to disable notifications or uninstall the app).

Use push as: A primary, timely reminder for mobile-savvy customers. It's extremely effective within its installed base.

Email

Strengths: Email has the broadest reach, since nearly all online shoppers have an email address and you likely captured it during checkout or account creation. It's a familiar channel for cart reminders and can include detailed content, product images, descriptions, recommendations, and longer copy. It's also cheap and easy to automate.

Performance: Cart recovery emails typically see 15-25% open rates and around 5-8% conversion rates, lower conversion than push, but still meaningful, especially given the wide audience.

Limitations: Emails can land in spam or promotions folders, or just be ignored as many people are inundated with emails. They're not instantaneous (users check email at their own pace), so immediate recapture is harder.

Use email as: A safety net and for richer content. It's great for follow-ups that include more detail or a persuasive narrative. It also persists in the inbox, so a customer might see it later even if they miss a push.

SMS / Text Messages

Strengths: SMS is direct and almost guaranteed to be seen. It boasts a 98% open rate (most within minutes). Texts feel urgent and are delivered instantly like push, without needing an app. It's great for short, attention-grabbing reminders.

Performance: SMS cart recovery can convert in the 15-20% range, often higher than email or push individually.

Limitations: Cost is a big factor. You pay per message, which can add up, especially for large audiences or international numbers. SMS also has very limited content (160 characters is the classic limit, though modern messaging can handle more or include short links). And there's a fine line between helpful and intrusive.

Use SMS sparingly for: High-value carts or when other channels fail. For instance, a last reminder for a cart of significant value, or as a VIP concierge style nudge. It's also useful during peak sales when immediacy is paramount.

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The bottom line: mobile app push, email, and SMS each help to recover abandoned carts. In fact, the highest recovery rates often come when they're used together.

Send a push notification first (to app users), then an email after an hour (to everyone with an email, excluding those who already purchased via the push), and an SMS the next day for those who still haven't converted and are opted into texts.

By covering all the bases, you maximize the chance to reach the customer in the format they're most responsive to.

Common Mistakes to Avoid with Cart Recovery

Here are some common cart recovery mistakes to watch out for and tips to avoid them:

Sending Too Many Notifications

There's a fine line between a helpful reminder and spam. Bombarding users with constant push notifications can annoy users to the point of disabling notifications or uninstalling the app.

Solution: Stick to a reasonable cadence. Usually no more than 2-3 push messages per abandoned cart event is recommended. After that, if they haven't converted, move on. Also, ensure you stop sending once the cart is recovered or if the user manually emptied the cart.

Poor Timing of Messages

Timing can make or break conversion. A mistake is sending the push either too immediately (which can feel pushy) or too late (after the user's interest has faded or they've purchased from a competitor).

Solution: Follow data and best practices. Many brands find an immediate reminder ~5-15 minutes after abandonment is effective while the desire is fresh. If that first push is ignored, send a second a few hours later and possibly a third the next day.

Use your analytics: if you notice higher conversions when sending in the evening vs morning, adjust accordingly. Also, respect time zones. Don't ping someone at 3AM.

Generic, Unpersonalized Messaging

"Dear customer, you left items in your cart, please complete your purchase." Bland messages miss the opportunity to grab attention and show relevance.

Solution: Personalize at least the basics: use the customer's first name if you have it ("Hey John, don't forget..."), and mention the product name or category ("Your Nikon camera is waiting in the cart").

Even better, include a thumbnail image of the product in the push, seeing the item often triggers the desire to own it. You can also personalize based on user behavior (e.g., "Still thinking it over? 2 out of 5 of your items are almost sold out!") if stock is low.

No Deep Linking or Poor UX on Return

A critical mistake is sending a great notification, getting the user to tap it… and then dumping them on the generic home page of the app. If the shopper has to hunt for their cart or the item again, you've reintroduced friction and many will give up (again).

Solution: Always deep link directly to the cart or the exact product page with the item pre-loaded. Test this thoroughly, ensure that if the user is logged out, your app handles it gracefully. Remove any extra steps in the recovery journey. Also, make sure the cart is persistent (the items are still there when they return).

Offering Discounts Too Soon (or Too Late)

There's debate on incentives for cart recovery. A common mistake is either extreme: offering a discount in the very first reminder unnecessarily (which can train customers to expect a coupon every time), or not offering one at all even when the customer hesitates for days.

Solution: Use a tiered incentive approach. Perhaps the first push is a gentle reminder with no discount, the second or third follow-up could sweeten the deal if they still haven't converted ("Here's 10% off, our treat"). This way you only give away margin if needed.

Consider other incentives: free shipping, a free sample or gift, loyalty points. Sometimes these are as motivating as a raw discount and don't cheapen the product's perceived value.

Ignoring Other Channels / Siloed Approach

Each customer has a certain channel where they're more or less likely to engage. App notifications are great, but don't ignore email & SMS.

Solution: Align your messaging schedule and content across channels. Use a customer journey flow that perhaps triggers push first, then email if not converted, etc. If you do multi-channel concurrently, differentiate the content slightly. For example, push could be the short nudge and email provides more detail or additional product recommendations.

Want to start sending powerful, high-ROI abandoned cart notifications? MobiLoud can help you, by converting your website into a beautiful, high-converting native app. Get a free preview now to see what's possible.

Conclusion: Turning Abandoned Carts into Growth Opportunities

With 70–85% of carts left behind, abandoned cart recovery is a core growth lever. Done right, it turns missed opportunities into money in the bank.

Mobile apps are your secret weapon here. Why? Because they tap into what email and web can’t:

• Push notifications with 30–40% open rates
• Real-time re-engagement
• Deep links that send users straight to checkout

The results? Brands are seeing 10:1+ ROI on app-based recovery campaigns. And unlike ads or SMS, re-engaging through an app costs you nothing per send. It’s pure margin.

Even better - turning an abandoner into a buyer often leads to a repeat customer, lifting long-term value.

To optimize cart recovery:

• Use a multi-channel mix (app push + email + SMS)
• Personalize the message and timing
• Enable one-tap checkout (Apple/Google Pay)
• Offer tiered incentives where it makes sense

Watch for what’s next: AI-driven nudges, predictive timing, and wallet integrations are reshaping recovery flows.

Bottom line? If you’re not using mobile to recover carts, you’re leaving one of the highest-ROI opportunities in ecommerce on the table.