Abandoned cart, checkout and browse
Shopify distinguishes between several types of abandonment. An abandoned checkout is a customer who started paying and entered their email or phone but did not complete the order. An abandoned cart is an identified customer who added products to the cart and did not reach checkout. An abandoned browse is an identified customer who viewed products without adding anything.
The difference matters because you can only write to people you know. Abandoned checkout is the clearest case, because the customer has left their contact details. For carts and browsing, Shopify needs to recognize the customer, for example because they are logged in or arrived from one of your store emails.
Where to see abandoned checkouts
In Orders > Abandoned checkouts you have the list of incomplete checkouts, with the customer, the products and the amount. From each one you can copy the recovery link, which takes the customer back to their checkout with the products already loaded, and send it manually.
Reviewing this list from time to time also gives you clues: if many abandonments happen at the shipping step, maybe shipping costs appear too late or are higher than expected. If they cluster around one product, review its page, its price or its availability.
Before writing to anyone, reduce the abandonment caused by the store itself: shipping costs visible on the product page or cart, payment methods your customers use, a checkout without unnecessary steps and the option to buy without an account. A reminder recovers some of the sales; fixing the cause keeps them from being lost.
Marketing automations with Shopify Messaging
In the Shopify Messaging app, under Apps > Messaging > Automations, Shopify offers ready-made templates to recover abandoned checkouts, carts and browsing sessions. Each template is a workflow with a trigger, a wait and a message showing the customer's products and a button to return to the purchase. These three templates can be sent by email, SMS or WhatsApp.
Turn on the abandoned checkout one first, since it recovers the most orders, and customize the email with your branding, copy and tone. Sends include a free monthly allowance and a cost beyond that; check the current terms in your admin.
- Recover abandoned checkout
- Recover abandoned cart
- Recover abandoned browse
- Customize the sender, subject line and email design
- Review the results of each automation
Timing and number of reminders
The first reminder works best early, while the purchase is still on the customer's mind: a few hours after abandonment is a reasonable benchmark. A second email the next day can win back people who did not open the first. More than two or three messages tends to wear people out and increases unsubscribes.
Test variations patiently, changing one thing at a time: the timing of the first send, the subject line or the content. Measure recovered orders, not just opens, because an eye-catching subject line can get lots of opens and few sales.
What to include in the email
The email should remind the customer what they left behind and make it easy to come back: product image and name, price and a clear button to checkout. Add whatever answers the usual questions in your store, such as delivery times, free returns, payment methods or a contact for questions.
Discounts are a business decision. Offering a coupon on every abandonment teaches customers to abandon on purpose. If you use one, save it for the second or third reminder, or only for carts above a certain amount, and use single-use codes.
Pay attention to the sender and subject line too. A sender with the store name and a subject that mentions the product are easier to recognize than a generic message. Set up and verify your own sender domain in Shopify so emails land in the inbox and not in spam.
More advanced workflows with Shopify Flow
If you need a custom automation or one that involves a third-party app, Shopify recommends building the workflow in the Shopify Flow app. There you can add conditions: exclude customers who bought afterward, treat customers with a wholesale tag differently, branch by cart value or tag the customer for later segmentation.
You can also use Flow for internal tasks, such as alerting the customer service team when a high-value checkout is abandoned so they can reach out personally. At Weblineo we set up these automations as part of our CRO projects and train you to adjust them without depending on anyone.
Consent, SMS and WhatsApp
Abandoned checkout reminders are generally treated as communications tied to a purchase already started, but cart and browse reminders are marketing and require the customer to have opted in. Shopify applies marketing consent in its automations; check with your legal advisor how your specific case fits Spanish and EU regulations.
If you collect phone numbers, SMS or WhatsApp reminders need their own consent, and WhatsApp templates must be approved by Meta before they can be sent. Consider whether your customers expect them before adding another channel.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an app to recover abandoned carts?
Not to get started. Shopify includes abandoned checkout, cart and browse automations through the Shopify Messaging app. Apps make sense if you already use another email marketing platform or need features Messaging does not cover.
Why are some customers not getting abandoned cart emails?
Because they are only sent to identified customers. If the visitor has not logged in or left their email, Shopify has no way of knowing who to write to.
Should I offer a discount in the email?
Not necessarily. Many customers come back with a simple reminder. If you use discounts, save them for a later reminder and use single-use codes.