eCommerce Popups That Work: How to Increase Sales and Recover Abandoned Carts

Are you looking to boost your online store’s revenue while minimizing cart abandonment? eCommerce popups are one of the most effective tools for engaging your site visitors and turning them into loyal customers.

At OptinMonster, we know the power of popups firsthand. We’ve helped over 1.2 million websites use popups to increase their sales. From small businesses to global enterprises, our customers have seen dramatic results by implementing our proven strategies and tools.

In this article, I’ll share 11 eCommerce popups that are proven to work. I’ll include real-life examples from successful brands, as well as templates that you can customize for your own site. Along the way, you’ll get plenty of actionable tips for growing your business with eCommerce popups.

• What Are eCommerce Popups?
• Proven eCommerce Popup Examples from Successful Brands
• eCommerce Popup Templates That You Can Use Today

What Are eCommerce Popups?

eCommerce popups are attention-grabbing messages that appear on your website to guide visitors toward a specific action, like signing up for your newsletter, claiming a discount, or completing a purchase.

eCommerce popups are tailored for online stores. They often focus on offering immediate value, such as discounts, free shipping, or exclusive offers, to nudge shoppers closer to conversion.

Common Goals for eCommerce Popups

• Grow Your Email List: Collect email addresses to nurture leads with newsletters, special offers, and product announcements.
• Reduce Cart Abandonment: Use exit-intent popups with incentives like discounts or free shipping to bring back visitors who are about to leave.
• Promote Flash Sales: Highlight time-sensitive deals with countdown timers to create urgency and boost immediate purchases.
• Upsell or Cross-Sell Products: Suggest complementary items or premium versions of products to increase average order value.
• Offer Welcome Discounts: Entice first-time visitors with a discount code to encourage their initial purchase.
• Promote Free Shipping: Encourage shoppers to complete their purchases by advertising free shipping thresholds. For example: “Spend $50 for Free Shipping!”
• Announce New Products: Drive attention to new arrivals or seasonal product launches.
• Collect Feedback or Reviews: Use popups to gather customer reviews, ratings, or feedback on their shopping experience.
• Promote Social Media Engagement: Encourage visitors to follow your brand on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest.

For example, imagine a visitor adding items to their cart but hesitating at checkout. A well-timed popup offering free shipping could be the nudge they need to complete their purchase.

Key Features of eCommerce Popups:

• Time-Sensitive Offers: Use Countdown Timers and deadlines to create urgency and drive faster decisions.
• Exit-Intent® Technology: Show exit popups when customers are about to leave your site, helping to recover abandoned carts.
• Targeted Messaging: Personalize popups using Real-Time Behavioral Automation. Target your offers based on visitor behavior, such as the pages they’ve browsed or items in their cart.
• Mobile Optimization: Ensure mobile popups look great and function smoothly.

Here’s an example of an eCommerce popup that uses both a time-sensitive offer and mobile optimization to convert website visitors:

It’s just one of OptinMonster’s 700+ premade templates, which you can customize in minutes in our easy drag-and-drop builder.

When used strategically, eCommerce popups don’t just enhance sales. They also help you grow your email list, build customer relationships, and create long-term brand loyalty.

Proven eCommerce Popup Examples from Successful Brands

Curious how eCommerce popups can transform your business? Below, you’ll find real success stories from companies that used OptinMonster to grow their email lists, recover lost sales, and boost revenue. These brands didn’t need huge marketing budgets or teams. They just needed the right tools and strategies.

Get inspired by their results and see how you can create high-converting popups for your store. Ready to start? Try OptinMonster risk-free today with our 14-day money-back guarantee!

1. AutoAnything

About the Brand:
AutoAnything is an online retailer specializing in car parts and accessories. They help vehicle enthusiasts find everything from performance upgrades to custom interior options.

eCommerce Popup Goal:
AutoAnything wanted to grow their email list and boost sales by offering a 20% discount on orders over $99. The idea was simple: give visitors a reason to subscribe and make a purchase at the same time.

Results:
AutoAnything used this and other OptinMonster campaigns to achieve incredible results:

• 2.5x more daily email signups
• 20% increase in revenue from email marketing

What You Can Learn:
This is a great example of how a straightforward discount can drive big results. Here’s what worked:

• Offer something valuable: A 20% discount feels like a real win for shoppers, especially with a reasonable order minimum.
• Keep it simple: The popup design is clean, with bold text and a clear “Get 20% Off” button that’s impossible to miss.
• Tie the discount to an email signup: This strategy not only boosts immediate sales but also helps build your email list for future campaigns.

Read the full AutoAnything case study.

2. Paint Your Life

About the brand:
Paint Your Life creates hand-painted portraits from photos, offering a unique and personalized way to cherish memories.

eCommerce popup goal:
The goal was to encourage visitors to sign up for their email list by offering a 15% discount. This helped them increase email subscribers while driving more holiday sales.

Results:

• Achieved a 28.57% conversion rate on the popup.
• Significantly grew their email list, resulting in more consistent sales year-round.

What you can learn:
This campaign shows how combining a seasonal theme with a compelling discount can make your popups more effective. Key takeaways include:

• Use holidays to increase urgency: The festive design tied perfectly with the holiday season, resonating with shoppers looking for meaningful gifts.
• Highlight the discount prominently: The bold 15% offer immediately catches attention, motivating users to act.
• Focus on simplicity: The popup keeps the message clear and directs users to the action they need to take.

Read the full Paint Your Life case study.

3. Cosmetic Capital

About the brand:
Cosmetic Capital is an Australian beauty retailer offering affordable makeup, skincare, and haircare products.

eCommerce popup goal:
This popup aimed to capture leads and drive sales by offering free shipping on orders over $55, combined with a countdown timer to create urgency.

Results:
With this single campaign, Cosmetic Capital:

• Boosted daily leads by 300%.
• Captured over 18,000 leads, averaging 600 new leads each week.

What you can learn:
Cosmetic Capital’s popup demonstrates how to blend urgency and value to encourage conversions. Here’s what you can take away from their success:

• Use countdown timers effectively: The timer added urgency, encouraging customers to act quickly.
• Promote free shipping: Free shipping remains one of the most enticing incentives for online shoppers.
• Try a Floating Bar format: Unlike traditional popups, the floating bar is less intrusive, making it an excellent option for users who prefer a subtle approach.

4. Fastrack

About the brand:
Fastrack is a digital marketing agency specializing in helping the hospitality and travel industry increase bookings and grow their business.

eCommerce popup goal:
Fastrack wanted to recover visitors who were abandoning their website without taking action. They used a popup offering a 20% discount on their BIG4 Loyalty Club membership to encourage signups and prevent lost opportunities.

Results:

• Recovered 53% of abandoning visitors using this popup.

What you can learn:
This example shows how a targeted exit-intent popup can significantly reduce abandonment rates. Here’s why it worked:

• Use an exclusive offer: A 20% discount gives hesitant visitors a clear incentive to stay and sign up.
• Keep the message direct: The copy is concise, with a single focus on the membership discount.
• Time the popup strategically: OptinMonster’s Exit-intent® technology ensures the popup only appears when visitors are about to leave, avoiding unnecessary interruptions.

Read the full Fastrack case study.

5. SnackNation

About the brand:
SnackNation delivers healthy snack boxes to offices and homes, helping businesses and families enjoy convenient, nutritious options.

eCommerce popup goal:
SnackNation aimed to segment their audience into two groups: office and home snack delivery. They accomplished this by asking visitors to choose their category in a simple popup.

Results:

• Added 1,200 segmented leads to their email list each week.

What you can learn:
This popup highlights the value of segmenting your audience to deliver more personalized campaigns. Key takeaways include:

• Make it interactive: Giving visitors an option (Office or Home) engages them and makes the experience feel tailored.
• Focus on clarity: The popup’s design and message are simple, making it easy for users to choose their path.
• Build segmented lists: By sorting visitors at the signup stage, SnackNation could send more relevant offers and emails, increasing engagement and conversions.

Read the full SnackNation case study.

6. Skates.co.uk

About the brand:
Skates.co.uk is a family-owned business specializing in skateboards, scooters, and accessories, delivering high-quality products to skaters worldwide.

eCommerce popup goal:
Skates.co.uk wanted to reduce shipping concerns by promoting fast, free delivery in countries where it was available. Using OptinMonster’s Geolocation Targeting, they showed popups offering free 3-day shipping in France to encourage more purchases.

Results:

Using this and other OptinMonster campaigns, the company:

• Converted 6.29% of abandoning visitors.
• Generated an additional £2000 in daily revenue during the holiday season.

What you can learn:
This campaign demonstrates the effectiveness of geolocation targeting to boost sales. Here’s why it worked:

• Customize popups by location: Skates.co.uk used geolocation to show country-specific offers, like free, fast delivery in France.
• Combine discounts with urgency: Offering a discount code and promoting fast delivery motivated customers to act quickly.
• Focus on relevance: Tailored messaging based on location makes the offer feel more personal and appealing.

Read the full Skates.co.uk case study.

7. Sportique

About the brand:
Sportique is an active lifestyle brand offering curated collections of outdoor gear, apparel, and accessories for adventurous individuals.

eCommerce popup goal:
Sportique aimed to grow their email list and encourage first-time purchases by offering a discount for newsletter signups.

Results:

• Achieved a 58% conversion rate for visitors who engaged with the popup.
• Recovered 79% of abandoning shoppers by adapting the same design for cart abandonment popups.

What you can learn:
Sportique’s popup shows how a simple, visually appealing design can drive conversions. Key takeaways include:

• Offer a first-time purchase incentive: A 10% discount entices visitors to subscribe and complete their purchase.
• Use bold, eye-catching designs: The colorful, branded popup stands out and aligns with Sportique’s adventurous image.
• Repurpose successful designs: By adapting their popup for cart abandonment, Sportique maximized its impact across multiple campaigns.

Read the full Sportique case study.

eCommerce Popup Templates That You Can Use Today

Next, I’m going to share just a few of OptinMonster’s 700+ templates that are perfect for eCommerce poups. When you sign up for OptinMonster, you’ll have access to the best templates, tools, and features for adding popups to your online store.

8. Flash Sale Coupon Wheel Template

eCommerce popup template goal:
This Spin-to-Win template is designed to gamify the shopping experience, enticing visitors to enter their email in exchange for spinning the wheel and unlocking exclusive discounts or offers. The goal is to make email signups fun and engaging while boosting conversions.

Tips for using this template:

• Customize the wheel prizes: Include a mix of appealing discounts like percentage-off deals, free shipping, or even a grand prize to motivate participation.
• Set smart targeting rules: Use Exit-Intent® triggers to engage visitors who are about to leave, and use Page-Level targeting to target shoppers exiting from your cart or checkout pages.
• Segment your audience: Tailor the wheel options based on your audience. For instance, offer free shipping for international users or higher discounts for first-time visitors.

You may notice that this popup looks similar to the mobile template I shared earlier in this post. In fact, OptinMonster offers multiple variations of this flash sale template, including a floating bar and traditional lightbox popup.

9. Cyber Monday Template

eCommerce popup template goal:
The Cyber Monday Sale template is built to create urgency and excitement during time-sensitive promotions. It encourages visitors to sign up for a special coupon while emphasizing a countdown timer to highlight the limited-time nature of the sale.

Tips for using this template:

• Take advantage of the countdown timer: The built-in timer works great for flash sales. Set it to end when the sale expires to drive urgency.
• Create exclusivity: Emphasize that this deal is only available for Cyber Monday shoppers to make them feel part of a special group.
• Highlight urgency: Use strong action phrases like “Hurry! Only hours left!” alongside the countdown timer to amplify the sense of urgency.

This Cyber Monday popup is just one example of OptinMonster templates designed for a holiday or special shopping day. We have templates for practically every special occasion, including Christmas, Black Friday, Mother’s Day, Holi, St. Patrick’s Day and more.

10. Yes/No Extra Discount Template

eCommerce popup template goal:
This Yes/No popup template is designed to ease visitors into the decision-making process by starting with a simple question: “Want to get an extra 5% off your order?” Once they click “Yes,” they’re prompted to provide their email address to claim the discount. This 2-step approach reduces friction and boosts engagement.

Tips for using this template:

• Test the offer amount: Experiment with offering different discounts (like 10% or free shipping) to see what resonates most with your audience. This is easy to do with OptinMonster’s built-in A/B testing.
• Trigger after browsing: Use OptinMonster’s Scroll Trigger to display this popup only after visitors have scrolled 50% of the page, ensuring they’re already engaged with your content.
• Follow up with email automation: After capturing the email, send a follow-up message with the discount code and additional offers to convert the lead into a customer.

11. Product Recommendation Template

eCommerce popup template goal:
This product recommendation popup is designed to re-engage visitors who may not have found what they were looking for. By suggesting related or alternative products, this template keeps shoppers browsing and increases the likelihood of a sale. However, with a bit of customization, there are many possible uses for this template.

Tips for using this template:

• Focus on cross-selling: You can also use this template for visitors who have already made a purchase. Or who are in the process of completing their purchase. Use this popup to suggest complementary items, like shampoo with conditioner or accessories for a main product, to boost order value.
• Trigger during key moments: Show the popup on product pages, at checkout, or post-purchase to keep shoppers engaged with relevant offers.
• Integrate with your eCommerce platform: OptinMonster integrates seamlessly with Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. These integrations let you automate product suggestion popups based on each shopper’s behavior or cart contents.

Drive More Sales With eCommerce Popups

These 11 examples and templates have hopefully given you inspiration to add eCommerce popups to your own site.

If you want to learn more about popups, check out these resources:

• 11 Types of Popups You Should Be Using (With Examples)
• 7 Best WordPress Popup Plugins: A Complete Comparison for Your Site
• Mastering Popup SEO: How to Optimize Popups Without Hurting Your Rankings
• How to Create GDPR-Compliant Popups: Tips for Privacy and Trust

Are you ready to start using eCommerce popups that will grow your email list, drive sales, and reduce cart abandonment?