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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Getting Started


When customers abandon or leave a cart before completing a purchase, the items on that a cart are not saved. Through this Abandoned Checkouts feature, these carts are temporarily stored and an associated link encouraging order completion is sent to the customer's email. This recovery feature is only available for the Online Stores sales channel, the Buy Button sales channel, and the Plus Wholesale Channel. If using Shopify POS or a third-party sales channel, recovery emails will not be sent to customers.


As an alternative to the standard Abandoned Checkouts features, Shopify is also pushing and working towards the integration of the New Abandoned Checkout Automation. This automated feature is currently only available for the Online Stores sales channel, the Buy Button sales channel, and the Plus Wholesale Channel. Customers in Shopify POS and Third-party sales channels are still incapable of receiving abandoned checkout recovery emails.


This page will be split into two sections: Recovering Abandoned Checkouts and Opting into and Managing Automated Abandoned Checkouts.


Recovering Abandoned Checkouts


When it comes to Recovering Abandoned Checkouts, this page will cover several factors:

  • Reviewing Abandoned Checkouts
  • Viewing Payment Events in Abandoned Checkouts
  • Manually Emailing Abandoned Checkout Links to Customers
  • Automatically Emailing Abandoned Checkout Links to Customers
  • Reviewing Abandoned Checkout Reports


Reviewing Abandoned Checkouts

Reviewing your store's abandoned checkouts is an efficient way to scan for patterns as to why customers may be abandoning checkouts. While it is completely possible that there is no discernible pattern surrounding abandoned checkouts, this tool may be helping in finding them if they exist. Shopify will keep these orders saved for up to three months. On Mondays, if there is a saved abandoned checkout that is older than three months, it will be deleted. 


In order to find and begin reviewing your store's abandoned checkouts, follow these steps:

  1. From your store's MyShopify home page, select Orders
  2. From the Orders page, find and select Abandoned Checkouts


Viewing Payment Events in Abandoned Checkouts

Whenever a customer attempts to pay for an order, a payment event will be created. In the event that a customer's payment fails, this event will stay logged in the abandoned checkout section. This logging of failed events is especially helpful if the customer is reaching out for support when these payment events fail; by checking of the log of events, your store can better aid and service the needs of the customer. This is not the case, however, if the payment event is successful. In the case of a successful payment event, the order's timeline will display payment. 


In order to view the payment event of an abandoned checkout, follow these steps:

  1. From your store's MyShopify home page, select Orders
  2. From the Orders page, find and select Abandoned Checkouts
  3. From here, find and select the abandoned order being reviewed
  4. From the abandoned order's information page, scroll down to the History section
  5. From the History section, select the payment event being reviewed


Your store has the ability to send emails containing links to incomplete orders to customers, if needed. In order to begin manually emailing abandoned checkout links to customers, follow these steps:

  1. From your store's MyShopify home page, select Orders
  2. From the Orders page, find and select Abandoned Checkouts
  3. From this page, select the order being viewed
  4. On this order's information page, click Send a Cart Recovery Email
    • Optional: copy and paste the link to the Send a Cart Recovery Email in order to send the customer a fully custom email
  5. Optional: There is an option to send a custom message and select the email addresses having the message sent to
  6. Click Review Email
  7. Review the email and click Send Notification or select Back to review the message again


The Recovery Status on the Abandoned Checkout page will update to be recovered if the customer uses the sent link to complete the order.


When a customer abandons a checkout, your store will have the ability to automatically send this customer an email, if these customers have input their email address into your store's website. These automatically sent emails will include a link to the customer's abandoned cart in order to encourage them to complete their order. The email template can be customized in order to fit your store's needs.


In the following circumstances, emails will not be sent:

  • If customers complete the checkout before the recovery email is scheduled to be sent
  • If the checkout failed due to a payment processing error
  • If the customer's address is not within your store's shipping range
  • If the customer has input their phone number (when allowed by your store) instead of an email
  • If the products in the abandoned cart have no stock available or are not available for purchase, for whatever reason
  • If there is no fee to be paid, whether from product or shipping


When automatic emails are enabled, the Abandoned Checkout page will notify stores as to why any emails were unable to be sent.


In order to customize and automatic emails for abandoned checkouts, follow these steps:

  1. From your store's MyShopify page, find and select Settings > Checkout and Accounts
  2. On the Checkout and Accounts tab, find the Abandoned Checkouts section
  3. In the Abandoned Checkouts section, customize as is needed
    • To enable, select the tick box titled Send Abandoned Checkout Emails Automatically
    • Under Send To, select the option that applies to the store's needs
    • Under Send After, select the interval of time that will pass before a recovery email is automatically sent
    • Find and select Customize Email to customize the email template
  4. Scroll to the bottom and click Save





The status of these automatically sent emails can be reviewed at any time. In order to review the status of these emails, follow these steps:

  1. From your store's MyShopify page, select Orders > Abandoned Checkouts
  2. Find and select the email being reviewed


Following the sending of a recovery email, the abandoned checkout will be considered recovered after the customer has completed the order.


Reviewing Abandoned Checkout Reports

Under your store's Marketing > Automations section,  the Abandoned Checkout Email Report by Shopify can be found. This will summarize the efficacy of recovery emails sent out by your store. 




Opting into and Managing Automated Abandoned Checkouts


As mentioned above, your store is able to manage the automated emails by going to your store's Settings > Checkout and Accounts page. Shopify has added an entirely automated and hands off feature in their New Abandoned Checkout Automation. While this feature is new and optional, it will eventually become the standard as it phases out the Checkouts and Accounts automation. 


When it comes to Opting into and Managing Automated Abandoned Checkouts, this page will cover the following:

  • Switching to the New Abandoned Checkout Automation
  • Editing an Abandoned Checkout Email
  • Automatically Emailing Customers Links to Abandoned Checkouts
  • Understanding Undelivered Abandoned Checkouts
  • Manually Sending Abandoned Checkout Emails
  • Reviewing Abandoned Checkouts
  • Viewing Payment Events in Abandoned Checkouts
  • Reviewing Abandoned Checkout Email Reports


Switching to the New Abandoned Checkout Automation

In order to begin using Shopify's New Abandoned Checkout Automation, it must first be enabled. In order to do so, follow these steps:

  1. From your store's MyShopify page, select Marketing > Automations
  2. Select Create Automation > Abandoned Checkout
  3. Edit any necessary conditions, such as Workflow or Email
  4. Select Turn on Automation
  5. Review information and select Continue







Editing an Abandoned Checkout Email

Nearly all aspects of the Abandoned Checkout Email are customizable. These areas of customization are:

  • Recipient Address
  • Sending Address
  • Subject Line
  • Preview Text


These features, alongside the general email content and message are completely open for customization and personalization. For more information on creating personalized automated emails, review Customizing Your Email Messages. 


One way to encourage customers to return and complete their purchase is by offering discounts or deals in the automated email


In order to begin customizing your store's automated emails, follow these steps:

  1. From your store's MyShopify page, select Marketing > Automations
  2. Select Create Automation > Abandoned Checkout
  3. Select Edit > Edit Email
  4. Review considerations and information, then select Continue
  5. OPTIONAL: Make edits to the following
    • To: Select the customer group the email is sent to
    • Subject: Change the default email subject line to one that matches the abandoned checkout
    • Preview Text: Summarize the email with text showing after the subject line
    • From: Using Edit, customize the sender email address
  6. Use Shopify's email section editor to Customize Email Message
  7. Click Save


Before abandoned checkout emails can be sent automatically, automations have to be created. Each automation email contains a link to the customer's abandoned cart so that they can commplete the purchasing process. As a reminder, if automated emails are not preferred, manual emails can be sent instead.


When switching to the new email automation, found in the Marketing > Automations section, default settings from the previous abandoned checkout email automation will be carried over. If a new, second automation is created, the default settings will include a 10 hour wait before sending the abandoned checkout emails. These emails will also only be sent to customers who have subscribed to your store's marketing outreach.


If applicable, Shopify Flow can be used to maintain and further customize the automated email feature.


In order to begin customizing abandoned checkout email automations, follow these steps:

  1. From your store's MyShopify page, select Marketing > Automations
  2. Find and select Create Automation
  3. Select Abandoned Checkout
  4. Select Edit > Edit Workflow
    • If your store is still using the previous abandoned checkout automation, a dialogue will prompt you to switch to the new email automation. Click Continue
  5. Use Shopify Flow to edit the workflow
  6. Select Turn on Workflow to finalize changes







Understanding Undelivered Abandoned Checkouts

Under certain circumstances, an abandoned checkout email will NOT be automatically sent. These are:

  • If customers complete the checkout before the recovery email is scheduled to be sent
  • If the products in the abandoned cart have no stock available or are not available for purchase, for whatever reason
  • If there is no fee to be paid, whether from product or shipping
  • If emails are set to be sent to customers subscribed to marketing and the abandoned cart's customer is not subscribed to marketing outreach
  • If checkout is abandoned from the store's app. Automation is only applicable with Online Store checkout
  • If the customer has abandoned a separate checkout before a previous abandoned checkout email can be sent

Reviewing Automation Workflow Delivery Details

In order to review details surrounding automation, follow these steps:

  1. From your store's MyShopify page, select Marketing > Automations
  2. From the Automations page, select the specific automation being reviewed
    • OPTIONAL: Under this page, select Workflow > View Recent Activity
    • Click Email Sent or Run ID to check specifics


Manually Sending Abandoned Checkout Emails

If not interested in automatically sending abandoned checkout emails, manually sent emails are an option. Manual options might be worth considering if customers specifically ask for an abandoned checkout email or if automatic emailing isn't set up.


In order to manually send abandoned checkout emails, follow these steps:

  1. From your store's MyShopify page, select Orders > Abandoned Checkouts
  2. Select the abandoned checkout that will be recovered
  3. Select the email under the customer's information
    • This will automatically open your store's email client with the abandoned checkout email template input
  4. Customize the email and send it


The Recovery Status on the Abandoned Checkout page will update to be recovered if the customer uses the sent link to complete the order.


Reviewing Abandoned Checkouts

Reviewing abandoned checkouts may allow for insight into specific patterns for why customers aren't completing orders. Abandoned checkouts are saved in Shopify for three months. Every Monday, abandoned checkouts that are older than three months old are removed from Shopify.


In order to review abandoned checkouts, follow these steps:

  1. From your store's MyShopify page, select Orders > Abandoned Checkouts


Viewing Payment Events in Abandoned Checkouts

Each individual time that a payment is attempted in an order, it is logged in the abandoned checkout's history. These payment events can be expanded. These payment events allow for your store to better aids customers in their order payments.


If a customer has successfully paid at checkout, the order history can be found in the Order's Timeline section.


In order to view the payment events in an abandoned checkout, follow these steps:

  1. From your store's MyShopify page, select Orders > Abandoned Checkouts
  2. Select the abandoned checkout being viewed
  3. Scroll down to the History section and select the payment event being reviewed


Reviewing Abandoned Checkout Email Reports

Under your store's Marketing > Automations section,  the Abandoned Checkout Email Report by Shopify can be found. This will summarize the efficacy of recovery emails sent out by your store.