Reduce Cart Abandonment by 21% with THIS Psychology Tactic

Summary

Brain Driven Brands – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Reduce Cart Abandonment by 21% with THIS Psychology Tactic
Host: Sarah Levinger
Date: May 27, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode of Brain Driven Brands, host Sarah Levinger dives deep into a neuromarketing insight used by massive e-commerce brands to cut down on cart abandonment by 21%. Through lively discussion, personal anecdotes, and analysis of behavioral data, Sarah unpacks why practical upsells work so powerfully in checkout flows, how guilt plays into purchase decisions, and actionable ways every e-commerce marketer can use these psychology-backed tactics to boost sales.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Science Quiz: What Reduces Cart Abandonment?

• Sarah starts with a pop quiz:

  “People are 21% less likely to abandon their cart when you have this particular recommendation on it. Can you guess what the recommendation is?” (03:37, Sarah)

• After several guesses involving guarantees and upselling more of the same or complementary products, Sarah reveals...
  • Practical, utilitarian product recommendations at checkout are the secret (“it has to be a practical item though” – 04:01, Sarah).

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2. The Data Behind Practical Upsells

• A study analyzing over 14 million e-commerce sessions uncovered a powerful behavior pattern:
  • The more “just for fun” or hedonic (“guilty pleasure”) items customers add to their carts, the higher the chance of cart abandonment (04:18–04:44).
  • Concretely:

    “People felt 39.5% more guilty when the cart had four pleasure-based items compared to none. Once you get up to four items in here that are just for funsies, 40% of these people were like too guilty. Can't do it.” (07:44, Sarah)

  • Adding a practical recommendation (container for chocolate, bottle for supplements, etc.) flips the psychology from guilt to logical utility, making the purchase feel justified.

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3. Anecdote: The $3,000 Practical “Welcome Kit” Upsell

• Co-host “A” shares a real-world story:
  • Went intending just to look at RVs, ended up buying one (05:55–06:00).
  • Was offered a $3,000 “campers welcome kit” of items making RV setup and use easier.

    “That was a no brainer to me. ... The biggest hesitation with this purchase is the amount of work…when I saw something that could make this easier, I was like, yeah, three grand is a no brainer. Impulse buy. All of a sudden because it’s going to make the main thing I wanted easier and more practical to use.” (06:52–07:33, A)

  • The psychology: Already justified the fun, emotional purchase—any practical upsell becomes a logical “insurance policy” to ensure enjoyment, not waste the big investment.

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4. The Guilt Factor and Purchase Justification

• Guilt increases the more pleasure-based items are in the cart.
• Practical upsells convert the feeling from “am I splurging too much?” to “am I being smart and getting what I need to make the main item useful?”

  “The reasons that I’ll spend thousands of dollars on practical upsells this week is not because I’m weighing the value... I am comparing the three grand for these upsells to the cost of hating my vacation.” (09:51–10:14, A)

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5. Messaging Sequence & Emotional vs. Logical Selling

• Most marketers try to “sell the emotion/ transformation” first.
• Sarah advocates sequencing:
  • Lead with emotional “hook” (the fun item).
  • Introduce logical, practical upsells at checkout—after emotional justification is already made (10:36–11:45).
  • Only later, once in-brand, deepen the emotional/identity messaging.

  “Cold traffic wants us to be a little bit more functional…Once they get into the brand, then they're like, be emotional with me. …Not first, though.” (11:36–11:45, Sarah)

• Analogy to dating: Don’t lead with deep, personal questions or lifelong plans on a first date; sequencing the message matters for trust and comfort (14:07–14:34).

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6. Implementation & Brand Applications

• Brainstorm on how to implement practical upsells:
  • Supplements: Containers, daily bottles, Tupperware with logos (18:07–18:39).
  • Hat brands: Hat organizers, racks, cleaners—small, useful items that “protect or extend” the main purchase (18:39–18:54).
• Even re-frame current upsells to sound practical (19:13):

  “I’m immediately thinking of how can we frame our current upsells as more practical options… Even if the products weren’t designed that way from the beginning.” (19:07–19:14, A)

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7. Actionable Takeaways

• “Make your upsell more practical, more logical. Make it seem like this is not a fun guilt, trippy purchase decision. This is just something like, hey, congrats, you got the main thing. This is just going to make your life a little bit, make it easier, convenient.” (19:50–20:09, A)
• Testing suggestion: Try practical upsell positioning/copy with your next campaign.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Cart Guilt:

  “People felt 39.5% more guilty when the cart had four pleasure-based items compared to none.” (07:44, Sarah)

• On Practical Upsells:

  “This is bonkers…because that's like a big purchase and the psychology behind it still stands.” (07:33, Sarah)
  “Impulse buy. All of a sudden because it’s going to make the main thing I wanted easier and more practical to use.” (07:32, A)

• On Messaging Sequencing:

  “Most marketers are going to go after that first…sell the transformation, right? Sell the emotion. …What they should do is hook you in with this one guilty pleasure product, upsell you with the logical things, and then at the back end…bring in the language that talks about the vacation.” (10:36–10:52, Sarah)

• Analogy Alert:

  “Dating and marriage is always the best example…On the first date, you do not need to get into…‘What do you want work life balance to be when we have kids?’” (14:07, A)

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Key Timestamps

• 03:37 – Quiz reveal: Practical recommendations reduce cart abandonment by 21%
• 04:18–04:44 – Guilt and the role of ‘fun’ items in abandoned carts
• 06:52–07:33 – Real-world RV upsell “no brainer” story
• 07:44 – Data: 39.5% more guilt at 4+ fun items; practical items reduce this effect
• 10:36–11:45 – Messaging sequence and why emotion-first doesn’t always work
• 18:07–18:54 – Practical upsell ideas for various product categories
• 19:50–20:09 – Main actionable tip: Frame upsells as practical/logical choices

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Final Takeaways

• Adding practical recommendations at checkout (versus only more of the same or fun items) can dramatically reduce cart abandonment.
• The effect is rooted in deeply human psychology: We justify big, emotional buys by “rational” add-ons; practical upsells relieve guilt.
• Sequence messaging accordingly: Emotional first, practical second, deeper emotion/identity last.
• Test practical upsells and adjust your checkout flow to maximize conversions and customer satisfaction.

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In Sarah’s words:

“Make your upsell more practical, more logical…This is just going to make your life a little bit, make it easier, convenient.” (19:50–20:09)

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Transcript

[A]

We have fans. I get hit up. We've talked about this. I get hit up about this podcast a lot. Like, people tell me, like, hey, we like your pod. Like, we learn a lot from your pod. But the one with Sarah is fun.

[B]

Yeah, I know.

[A]

Like, that's how I feel recording it too.

[B]

The only reason it's fun is cuz we come at it on a Friday. I seriously think if we change the day, we would be so much more professional.

[A]

Monday podcasts would suck. It'd be very boring, honestly. It'd be tactical and practical is what it would be.

[B]

You'd learn a lot.

[A]

That's why I record mine on Tuesday.

[B]

You wouldn't laugh nearly as much. Dara tells me all the time, she's like, I listen to you guys in the middle of the week and you were like a breath of fresh air for me because you guys don't take yourself seriously. And I was like, damn it, we don't. I've tried.

[A]

It's noon on Friday. We're done working. Like, for me, I've been doing this thing, sneaky hack for all you guys out there. By the way, start your weekend on Thursday nights.

[B]

Oh, yeah, I would agree with that.

[A]

I'm a big believer. Go out on Thursday nights, get dinner, have a couple drinks, see a movie. Because then like, for the four or five or six hours of work you have to do on Friday, it feels like the weekend already. And then you can just kind of like get right back to it. So. Welcome back to Brain Driven Brands. Welcome back to Brain Driven Brands.

[B]

That's what kind of Friday it is. Even messing up the intro.

[A]

What are we talking about today, Sarah?

[B]

Today we're getting into some more science quizzes because I just want to have fun. Okay, are you ready for today's science quiz?

[A]

I'm ready.

[B]

Today's. Oh, this one's really interesting because I think it's going to help you because you're doing a lot of testing work on copy with your new clients. You've got a ton of cool brands on board. Please go test this because now I'm interested to see how this works. So people are 21% less likely to abandon their cart when you have this particular recommendation on it. Can you guess what the recommendation is? 21% less likely to abandon carts if you have this recommendation.

[A]

I thought I had an idea of where you were going until you called it a recommendation.

[B]

I love it. See, this is the reason why we do these, because I'm like, it's not what you think. First of All.

[A]

And I was gonna say I could immediately think of, like, headlines and phrases that you can put in there to help.

[B]

Oh, interesting. Like what you tested.

[A]

Yeah, but a recommendation.

[B]

Recommendation.

[A]

All right, let's go with first guess. I get three. Yeah.

[B]

Yep. Together.

[A]

Some kind of like, insurance or, like, guarantee or warranty or something like that.

[B]

I think we've done one that has backing behind it, like, scientific backing behind that. But it's not this one.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Not guaranteed.

[A]

Is it the opportunity to buy more of the same thing?

[B]

You're on the right track, but it's not more of the same thing.

[A]

Okay. It's the opportunity to buy complimentary products.

[B]

Oh. Oh, yes. Okay. Go down that vein. Very close to that. Oh, you're so close to it now. Yeah. In that same structure. I'm so excited because you've almost got it. I'm like, you all.

[A]

Is it things that, like, make the product better, like you can combine with the main thing?

[B]

Yes. What type of better? Oh, you're so glad.

[A]

More convenient.

[B]

Close.

[A]

All right, hit me.

[B]

Okay. Okay. Offline shoppers are more likely. More. Less likely to abandon their carts when they contain items. Recommendations at least, that are practical. I thought you would love this. You were all the right vein, though, with, like, convenience helpful to the product.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It has to be a practical item, though.

[A]

Okay. What are the examples of that?

[B]

Okay, so they did a study, a series of.

[A]

By the way, I fell for this this week.

[B]

Did you really? Oh, okay. Now I need to hear the story. Okay. Do you want me to do science first or tell the story first?

[A]

No, do science and then I'll tell my story.

[B]

Okay. So this was interesting. They did an analysis of over 14 million E commerce sessions. So this is pretty freaking definitive data. And researchers found that as you go up in, like, items that are just for, like, funsies. Online cart. Online cart abandonment increases. So if you got a bunch of stuff in here that's just for fun, people, like, feel guilty about it because it's like, the more things that I add, that. Actually, this is so sad. Increase the pleasure of my life. The guiltier I feel, the higher the chance I'm going to. That makes sense if you add something, though. So for instance, if you put, like, chocolate in your cart and. And then you add maybe a container to put the chocolate in. That's very practical. Less. Less of a chance that people will abandon cart just because it makes so

[A]

much sense to me. Because I think people know that, like, they don't use everything they buy. Like, I think we all know how like, wasteful and at times, like non committal. We are like, we get a gym membership and then like we go twice a month and we're like, what are we doing? Or like, if you get supplements, but then there's not a convenient way to make them part of your daily.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Routine. You'll do them for two months and then you'll skip a few days and then before you know it, like, you haven't taken them in a long time. My example this week was I went in to buy an rv.

[B]

Oh, that's right. Yeah, I forgot. You bought an rv.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And how was that shopping experience?

[A]

So easy? Easier than any car I've ever bought.

[B]

We've been thinking about it.

[A]

It was more expensive than every car I've ever bought.

[B]

That's amazing. Oh, my God.

[A]

And like, to be clear, like, I, I actually didn't think I was going to buy it when I went in.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

But we had talked about it and we were like leaning towards it and I told Steph before I left, I was like, hey, like, I'm probably not going to buy anything, but like, I just want to go like, see what's.

[B]

Your wife probably knows you so well. Steph's like, ah, yeah, sure.

[A]

Well, it also helped. Like, I had picked one that I thought I liked.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

She had picked one that she thought she liked. So when I got there, I liked her pick better. And I was like, all right, we're both on board with this as we're going through everything and I'm gonna, I'm getting a loan to finance it. I'm not paying in cash.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

But the upsell, the more practical upsell was like this. Call it like the campers welcome kit or something was like a bunch of items that make it easier to use that make it more practical. And that was three grand in cash.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

And that was a no brainer to me.

[B]

$3,000. Holy cow.

[A]

Because it comes with a bunch of stuff that if you bought separately would have been like 4 or 500 or something.

[B]

It was good deal, good value.

[A]

But like, my biggest hesitation with this purchase is like the amount of work it's going to be. It's like, all right, we have to get to a campground. I got to hook up all the things. I got to set the. There's some like legs that go down to like stable it. Like, it's, it's a lot of work. So when I saw something that could make this easier, I was like, yeah, three grand is a no brainer. Impulse buy. All of a Sudden because it's going to make the main thing I wanted easier and more practical to use.

[B]

This is bonkers that like, because that's like a big purchase and the psychology behind it still stands. They were talking about like e commerce examples in here, but that's crazy.

[A]

Made it a no brainer practical things.

[B]

So this was interesting too because they actually have a number on it. People felt 39.5% more guilty when the cart had four like pleasure based items compared to none.

[A]

Yeah, four.

[B]

Once you get up to four items in here that are just for funsies, 40% of these people were like too guilty. Can't do it.

[A]

That's so interesting.

[B]

Bouncing. That's the end of that. I'm shocked by this honestly, because I,

[A]

I think it makes all the sense in the world because like especially were they testing it on. Well, like was the main item a fun thing?

[B]

I'm pretty sure it was. Just because it sounds like they compared it to like the first item you bought is something like chocolate. Right. It's just for fun. But adding things on top of it is what's changing the psychology behind it.

[A]

I think it makes a ton of sense because like when you're shopping for the fun thing, you've already like mentally justified and rationalized it to yourself before you buy. Like, hey, I have a reason to buy this. The upsells, you don't go through that process ahead of time because they're upsells

[B]

like that you didn't know they were going to happen.

[A]

So I think the upsells, in order to be super effective need to be like, hey, no, no, this is not, it's not fun. You're not splurging, you're not indulging. You are just making now a smart practical decision to you're a smart person, make your life easier. Because like that's, that's what went through my head here was like spent six figures on a big rv. Like it's a crazy, like that's a fun purchase. I'm like, we're gonna tour the country. Life's gonna be awesome.

[B]

Oh my God.

[A]

And then to immediately realize like, oh, like there are some smart practical things that I could, could also add. Even though it's gonna cost me way more cash up front.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Like cash that I was not planning on spending at all. But like it's a no brainer because of like, well, hey, no, I already justified the fun thing.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

So like I'm out of justification mode and now I'm just into like, oh, let's be smart and practical. It's almost like sunk costs fallacy a little bit.

[B]

Yeah. I think that plays a huge, like,

[A]

the reason that I'm gonna spend thousands of dollars on practical upsells this week is not because I'm weighing the value of these individual items versus my money I am weighing. It's like, hey, I already spent over 100 grand on this big fun thing to vacation in this year. I am comparing the three grand for these upsells to the cost of hating my vacation.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's like, well, if I have to make a 3 or 6 or $10,000 bet that I enjoy my vacation more and my vacation is more easy and more practical, then, like, no brainer. Otherwise, I just wasted 120 grand because I'm not going to get the full use of everything I bought already.

[B]

This is the reason why I think marketing sequencing and messaging sequencing is so important, because most marketers are going to go after that first.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Everybody I know is like, sell the transformation. Right? Sell the emotion. So we need to go after the fact that Nate wants to enjoy his vacation. So. So all of our messaging will be like, enjoy your vacation. Enjoy your vacation. Instead. Instead, what they should do is hook you in with this one guilty pleasure product, upsell you with the logical things, and then at the back end of the process, then bring in the language that talks about the vacation. Go. Very logical. Functional. And this I've seen across the board every CIM you and I have ever done together, with the exception, I would say, of, like, OG because their product's a little bit different. Every single one. The cold traffic audience really just wants, give me a freaking solution, tell me what's in it, and then give it to me. That's it. Once they get into the brand, then they're like, be emotional with me. Like, then give me all of, like, the good, happy feelings. And the messaging that talks about my identity. Not first, though. Yeah, it's very strange. It's almost as if cold traffic wants us to be a little bit more functional, well, emotional.

[A]

It. I think it also depends, like, on the intent of the traffic. Because, like, I don't think I was in anyone's top of funnel for an rv. Like, this is something like me and Steph decided we wanted to do. So the fact that I'm walking into a dealer is like, yeah, that's technically cold traffic, but, like, high intent, motivated traffic. I would not have driven 15 miles to the RV dealership near me, taking time out of my day to go look at this if I wasn't serious. So, yeah, like, I was not sold on any, like, any reasons to buy the rv. The fact that I was there meant I wanted to.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Made that part easy.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Shout out to Chris, the salesman at Camping World. By the way, he made the. The part of buying an RV easy. He showed me the few that I wanted to look at, explain the features, benefits, all that. And I was like, great, Cool. And then once we got into all the upsells, is he was like, well, how much time do you want to spend setting it up once you get to the campground? And that is worth. Yeah. The 10 grand I'm going to spend on upsells to shorten my workload from an hour to half an hour is like, yep, I'll do that.

[B]

This is why I. Now I have to sit here and really think about, like, how should we actually be messaging correctly? Because if technically. And I talked to somebody about this the other day. Your landing page is technically your sales guy, right?

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Marketing brings them in. Ads, organic, whatever. But the landing page is the sales guy. Which is why I kind of love that you're doing kind of a bottoms up thing recently. Shout out to Nate and all of the stuff that he's creating currently. I am starting to kind of believe that maybe we do too much emotional work at the front of the funnel and not enough once we get into the actual buying process.

[A]

That's kind of a bombshell from you.

[B]

Yeah, tell me about it. Like, maybe don't quote me on that. People, this is literally just something I'm formulating. I think maybe we go too hard trying to make an emotional connection.

[A]

I think the. The point here is what you touched on earlier of, like, messaging sequence matters so much. Like, I think about this. I think, like, dating and marriage is, like, always the best example of, like, on the first date. You do not need to get into, like, hey, what's.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

What do you want work life balance to be when we have kids?

[B]

Yep.

[A]

If. Or like, I have the example of, like, an ex of mine, the first date, she told me that, like, she didn't want to take my last name if we ever got married on the first date. And it's like, hey, that's a terrible thing to tell someone on the first date. That's wrong for so many reasons. And I was dumb. I dated her for, like, four months after that. But that's amazing.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

But, like, that was the totally wrong sequence. First date is for, like, do we, like, hanging out? Are we laughing? Or is There, you know, some things we can connect on. And then year two is like, all right, we got to figure out some, like, more in depth. Yeah, life things. So, yeah, I'm a big fan of like test messaging sequence and yeah, that's what I'm doing with all my clients now. Like, we're trying to figure out like, what's the best thing to say in an ad? What's the best thing to say on an lp? What's the best thing to say on a pdp? Because they're different for all of them. It's like, it's like the, the setup and a punchline to the joke. Yeah, you can't lead with a punchline. That's not going to work. You need to bring them into a world that is familiar to them, but then also is going to make your punchline hit them the way you want. So, yeah, messaging, sequencing, I think is super important. I think that's why these practical upsells work is because they're coming after the fact. If I walked into the dealership and he's like, do you want to spend three grand on some things that make your RV a little bit easier to use? I'd be like, I haven't even looked at them yet. What are we talking about?

[B]

Yes, I have. Okay, so I have two follow ups to this. First one is really interesting because adding on that utilitarian product on top of like the hedonic one is fascinating because you're basically doing what the brain already loves to do. I make an emotional decision and then I justify it with all these logical reasons. So you're already in the brain path by just by offering a logical product. But also, do you think if you

[A]

layer more, where does the price break on it? Because for me, like, I know I'm going to pick up the RV after we record podcast today and I already know, like, I don't have the kit to tow my truck behind the rv, but I want it. I assume that's going to be a few thousand more dollars. And again, like, that one I'm not even thinking of because, like, well, I. We have to have a car once we get there. Like, yep.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Be able to drive around town and leave the RV at the, the campgrounds. Like, of course I'll pay a few grand now to tow the F150 out there.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then I know, like, they have a huge whole store there. I. I bet Steph is going to spend an extra bucks there too. Like, but again, all these, these purchases are not going to be Filtered the way we usually filter purchases on. Like, I could very realistically see us spending ten grand on like these practical accessories to make our fun thing better. Where like, if we were debating on a 10 grand purchase for something else, we'd be. We'd think about it for months. Like, we don't spend money like that. Like where.

[B]

Yeah, like you're already in purchasing mode. So yeah, makes more sense.

[A]

And again, it's because, like, the stuff we're buying now isn't the fun thing that we kind of feel guilty about. It's like, no. Well, this is going to make it a little bit better. We did this at. OG sold a watch display box that held three or five watches. I remember upsell.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

And it was like a 40 or 50 dol upsell on like a $300 watch. It's like not a crazy jumping price, but like, pretty good. And yeah, I was like, all right, cool. You bought the fun thing. You bought the thing for you, the watch. But now it's like, hey, are you just going to throw it on your nightstand? It's going to get hit and pushed off and dented.

[B]

Place for it.

[A]

Got to have a spot for it. Oh my God, I love this. Okay, what other brands could do this? What could I do for shooting doubles?

[B]

Well, that's, that's what I'm trying to decide. So for things like supplements, for things like any sort of ingestible, it makes sense. You could just literally give them a container to put it in a bottle. You could do like a daily bottle. Yeah. Or, you know, like Tupperware or something. It doesn't even matter. The nice part is it's an upsell with your logo on it, which is fantastic if you really want to do that. Or you could give them anything at all that would help them keep it organized or keep it fresh, whatever. Right. For your particular brand. Shoot. Doubles is interesting because you got hats. What's the practicality of a hat? Hat organizers maybe.

[A]

Yeah, I could do like hat racks made out of whiskey barrel stays or something. Could be cool.

[B]

Something really, really nice. You could also do like hat cleaner, like hat spray.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

That'd be a really practical upgrade. That's super cheap and very lightweight to ship.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So real easy, like eight dollar upgrade. That just so I think it'd be fascinating to do some tests this week and see if everybody adds just like something practical to the cart.

[A]

And like, I'm immediately thinking of, like, how can we frame our current upsells as more practical options.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Even if the products like weren't designed that way from the beginning. Like we had some success with that at some supplement brands I've seen where like the upsell product enhances the effectiveness of the main one you bought of like, hey, this is the core supplement and ingredients we brought you in on this other ingredient helps with better absorption of that or it also helps amplify whatever the the benefit is. And I think if we use better language to describe it as like a more practical option, I think we could have a lot of success with it.

[B]

Yep, yep, yep. Oh, 100. Okay.

[A]

This is good people. Make your upsell more practical, more logical. Make seem like this is not a fun guilt, trippy purchase decision. This is just something like, hey, congrats, you got the main thing. This is just going to make your life a little bit, make it easier, convenient.

[B]

I love it. Short and sweet, simple and easy.

[A]

Guys, thanks so much for listening to brain driven brands. If you guys want to work with Sarah, hit her up on Twitter. You can go to tetherinsights IO and if you want to work with me, my first time plugging myself, I think on this, I don't have a website or a funnel or anything set up. Hit me up on Twitter if you want some great copywriting and creative strategy work that makes you more money.

[B]

Love it. Thank you so much for joining us on the show today. Appreciate you guys listening. If you want to follow me, I'm Sarah Levenger. Anywhere you can see content. He is Ait Lagos. If you like this show and if you like this episode, go ahead and like subscribe. Subscribe. Share with a friend. Drop us a review when you have a minute. We would appreciate it. Otherwise, have a great week. We'll see you next time.