How to set up abandoned cart emails for beginners

Abandoned cart emails are the highest-ROI automation available to any ecommerce store. The maths is simple: customers who add products to their cart and leave without buying have already shown they want what you’re selling. A well-timed reminder is often all it takes to bring them back.

Industry averages suggest abandoned cart emails recover 5–15% of abandoned carts. For a store with $6,000/month (USA) or £5,000/month (UK) in abandoned cart value, that’s $300–$900 (USA) or £250–£750 (UK) in additional monthly revenue from a single automated sequence running in the background.

This guide covers exactly how to set up abandoned cart emails, step by step.

What is an abandoned cart email?

An abandoned cart email is sent automatically when a customer adds products to their cart and leaves your store without completing the purchase.

The email reminds them of what they left behind – typically showing the specific products – and invites them to return and complete their purchase.

Most successful abandoned cart sequences involve three emails:

Email 1 (1 hour after abandonment): Gentle reminder – “You left something behind.” Shows the products, no pressure.

Email 2 (24 hours after abandonment): Follow-up – “Still thinking it over?” Addresses potential objections. Customer reviews or product benefits.

Email 3 (72 hours after abandonment): Final nudge – Optional small incentive (5–10% discount, free shipping). Creates gentle urgency without permanently devaluing your products.

You don’t have to use all three – even Email 1 alone recovers a meaningful portion of abandoned carts. Start simple and add emails as you measure results.

What you’ll need

An email marketing tool with ecommerce integration:

For Shopify stores, Klaviyo is the strongest recommendation. Native Shopify integration automatically pulls in real-time cart data. Abandoned cart flows are pre-built in the template library.

For WooCommerce stores: Klaviyo (via WordPress plugin) or Omnisend (strong WooCommerce integration; often better value). Mailchimp also supports WooCommerce abandoned cart recovery with its integration.

For Shopify stores just starting out, Shopify Email has basic abandoned checkout recovery built in. Less sophisticated than Klaviyo, but free and requires no additional setup.

Setting up abandoned cart emails in Klaviyo (Shopify)

Step 1 – Connect Klaviyo to Shopify

If you haven’t already, install the Klaviyo app from the Shopify App Store. Connect your store using your Klaviyo account credentials.

Klaviyo immediately begins pulling in your store data – customer profiles, order history, and real-time events, including add-to-cart and checkout started.

Step 2 – Enable tracking

In Klaviyo → Integrations → Shopify, confirm that Active on-site tracking is enabled. This script tracks customer behaviour on your store and powers the cart abandonment trigger.

Step 3 – Create your abandoned cart flow

Go to Klaviyo → Flows → Create Flow → Browse Flow Library.

Search for “Abandoned Cart” – Klaviyo provides a pre-built abandoned cart flow template. Select it.

The template includes three emails with default timing:

• Email 1: 1 hour after abandonment
• Email 2: 22 hours after Email 1
• Email 3: 3 days after Email 2

Step 4 – Customise the emails

Click on each email in the flow to edit it.

Email 1 – the reminder:

Subject line: Something clear and specific. “You left something in your cart”, or “Still want [product name]?” or “Your [store name] cart is waiting.”

Body: Show the abandoned products using Klaviyo’s product block. Add a clear, prominent CTA button – “Return to cart” or “Complete your order.” Keep the email relatively short.

Email 2 – the follow-up:

Address potential objections. Why might someone have hesitated? Price? Uncertainty about the product? Returns policy?

Consider including:

• Customer reviews for the abandoned product
• Key product benefits
• Your returns or satisfaction guarantee
• A FAQ addressing common purchase hesitations

Email 3 – the incentive (optional):

Offering a discount or free shipping in the third email can win back customers who were on the fence about the price. Keep the incentive modest – 5–10% or free shipping is enough. Larger discounts train customers to abandon carts, expecting a discount.

If you don’t want to offer a discount, the third email can be a final, straightforward reminder without an incentive.

Step 5 – Test before activating

Add a test product to your cart using a personal Shopify account (not your admin account), leave without buying, and confirm the sequence triggers correctly.

Check that:

• The correct products show in the email
• The “Return to cart” link goes to a populated cart
• The email is sent at the right time
• The email looks correct on mobile

Step 6 – Activate the flow

Once testing is complete, set the flow status from Draft to Live. The abandoned cart sequence will now trigger automatically for all qualifying customers.

Setting up abandoned cart emails in Klaviyo (WooCommerce)

Step 1 – Install the Klaviyo plugin

Go to WordPress → Plugins → Add New. Search for “Klaviyo.” Install and activate the official Klaviyo WooCommerce plugin.

Connect using your Klaviyo Public API key (found in Klaviyo → Account → Settings → API Keys).

Step 2 – Enable add-to-cart tracking

In the Klaviyo plugin settings in WordPress, enable the Add to Cart tracking. This installs a JavaScript snippet that tracks cart activity on your store.

Step 3 – Create the abandoned cart flow

The process is identical to Shopify’s from this point onward. In Klaviyo → Flows → Create Flow → Browse Flow Library, find the Abandoned Cart template.

WooCommerce-specific note: The WooCommerce trigger is “Started Checkout” rather than the Shopify-specific cart abandonment trigger. This means the flow triggers when a customer begins checkout – slightly later in the funnel than Shopify’s trigger. Customers who add to cart but don’t reach checkout are not captured by this trigger.

To capture earlier-stage abandonment (add-to-cart without reaching checkout), additional configuration is required – contact Klaviyo’s support for guidance on this setup.

Setting up abandoned cart emails in Mailchimp (WooCommerce)

Step 1 – Connect Mailchimp to WooCommerce

Install the Mailchimp for WooCommerce plugin from WordPress → Plugins → Add New. Connect using your Mailchimp API credentials.

Step 2 – Enable abandoned cart

In the Mailchimp for WooCommerce plugin settings, confirm abandoned cart emails are enabled.

Step 3 – Configure the email in Mailchimp

In Mailchimp → Automations → Transactional → Abandoned cart email, configure the email:

• Timing: how long after abandonment to send
• Email content: subject line, body, product block
• Send additional reminders: option to add follow-up emails

Mailchimp’s abandoned cart setup is simpler than Klaviyo’s but less customisable. For a new store starting with basic abandoned cart recovery, it covers the essentials.

How to measure abandoned cart email performance

After your first 30 days with abandoned cart emails running, check these metrics:

Recovery rate – what percentage of abandoned carts result in a completed purchase after receiving the emails? 5–15% is a healthy range. Under 3% suggests the emails need refinement.

Revenue recovered – the total revenue attributed to abandoned cart emails. Compare this to your platform cost to confirm the ROI.

Open rate – abandoned cart emails typically achieve 40–60%. Under 30% suggests subject line improvement is needed.

Email 1 vs Email 2 vs Email 3 performance – which email in the sequence drives the most recoveries? Most stores find that Email 1 recovers the most, with diminishing returns on subsequent emails. If Email 3 has very low recovery, removing it reduces email fatigue without significantly impacting revenue.

Tips for improving abandoned cart email performance

Personalise the subject line. Using the customer’s first name and the specific product name significantly improves open rates. “Sarah, your [product] is waiting” “You left something behind.”

Show the actual products. A product image, name, and price in the email is more compelling than generic copy. Klaviyo and Omnisend do this automatically. Make sure it’s working.

Make the CTA impossible to miss. One clear, prominent button. “Complete your order” or “Return to my cart.” Don’t make them search for the action you want them to take.

Reduce friction. The “Return to cart” link should take customers directly to a populated cart – not your homepage. Every extra step loses people.

Test your timing. The 1-hour / 24-hour / 72-hour default is a good starting point, but testing alternative timing options for your specific audience and product type can improve recovery rates.

Frequently asked questions

How do I set up abandoned cart emails?
Connect an email marketing tool with ecommerce integration (Klaviyo for Shopify or WooCommerce, or Mailchimp for WooCommerce), enable cart tracking, then build a flow using a pre-built abandoned cart template – typically three emails sent at 1 hour, 24 hours, and 72 hours after abandonment. Test the flow with a real cart before switching it live. See the full platform-specific steps above.

Do I need a paid tool to set up abandoned cart emails?
Not necessarily. Shopify Email includes basic abandoned checkout recovery for free, and Mailchimp’s free plan supports simple WooCommerce abandoned cart automation. Klaviyo, the most capable option, has a free tier for smaller lists before paid pricing kicks in. Start with what’s free and upgrade once recovery volume justifies the cost.

How many abandoned cart emails should I send?
Three is the standard sequence: an immediate gentle reminder, a follow-up addressing objections, and a final nudge with an optional small incentive. A single email still recovers a meaningful share of abandoned carts, so start with one if you want to keep things simple, then add more once you can measure the impact of each.

Should abandoned cart emails include a discount?
Not necessarily, and not by default. A modest incentive (5–10% or free shipping) in the final email can recover price-sensitive customers, but offering a discount on every abandoned cart trains shoppers to abandon deliberately in order to get one. Many stores get strong results from the first two emails alone, with no discount involved.

What’s a good abandoned cart email recovery rate?
5–15% of abandoned carts converting after receiving the sequence is a healthy industry range. Below 3% usually points to an issue worth investigating – weak subject lines, too much friction in the “return to cart” link, or timing that doesn’t suit your audience.

Why aren’t my abandoned cart emails triggering?
The most common causes are tracking not properly enabled (confirm the on-site tracking script is active), testing from a logged-in admin account rather than a genuine customer session, or – for WooCommerce – the flow being set to trigger on “Started Checkout” rather than “Added to Cart,” which means customers who never reach checkout won’t be captured. Always test with a real customer-style cart before assuming the flow is broken.