Using the Abandoned Cart Saver

The Abandoned Cart Saver is a built-in tool that sends an email invitation to customers who have added an item to their cart but left before completing checkout. The emails are customizable and can be combined with coupons to entice your shoppers to complete their purchase. Learn more about how the Abandoned Cart Saver can help your business.

In order to use abandoned cart emails, your store must be on a Plus plan or higher.

You must have the following permissions enabled in your user account in order to manage different aspects of abandoned cart emails.

• To manage abandoned cart notification settings:
  • Manage Settings
  • Manage Abandoned Cart Settings
• To create, edit, and delete abandoned cart emails:
  • Manage Channels
  • Manage Abandoned Cart Notifications
• To attach coupon codes or coupon promotions to an abandoned cart email template:
  • Manage Legacy Coupons
  • Manage Promotions

In order to receive notifications when a customer abandons their cart, you must:

• enable Abandoned Cart Emails in your merchant notification settings
• toggle on Send abandoned cart emails in your abandoned cart email settings

Once the Abandoned Cart Saver is enabled in your store, it will trigger under the following circumstances:

• A customer is logged into their account, adds an item to the cart, then leaves without attempting to purchase.
• A shopper encounters an error while checking out, leading to the creation of an incomplete order.
• For stores using the Optimized One-Page Checkout, a guest adds something to their cart, and begins checkout by entering in their email address.

If the customer has consented to receive abandoned cart emails, they will be sent automatically to them, using the templates you have enabled in Marketing › Abandoned Cart Emails. By default, there are three templates that send 1 hour, 1 day, and 2 days from the time the cart was identified as abandoned.

There is no limit to the number of email templates you can create; however, a maximum of three templates per storefront can be active at any given time. When editing your email templates, you can manage the email's contents, specify when it should be sent, and include coupons for enticing your customers to complete their order.

When a customer purchases the contents of their cart, it is considered "converted" or "recovered". From your Miscellaneous settings, you can enable automatic notifications to your email address upon conversion. To view statistics on abandoned cart values, commonly abandoned products, and abandonment and conversion rates in your store, go to the Carts report in Analytics › Carts.

The Abandoned Cart merchant notification settings can be located by going to Settings › General, under the Miscellaneous tab.

• Require Consent — determines whether or not a checkbox appears on the checkout, allowing customers to opt in and receive abandoned cart emails and other marketing emails. If this is enabled, it will override the Tick Newsletter Checkbox? toggle in your store's newsletter settings. Recommended for GDPR compliance.
• Abandoned Cart Emails — determines whether or not you are sent an email when a customer abandons a cart. If enabled, the following settings appear below:
  • Email me every time X carts are abandoned — determines how often you are emailed when customers abandon their carts. Enter the number of abandoned carts to be included in each email. Alternatively, select Email me every time a cart is abandoned to receive one notification per abandoned cart.
  • Stop sending when the shopper clicks "Complete Order" link in the email — when checked, prevents customers from receiving additional Abandoned Cart Saver emails if they click the Complete Order link in a previous email
• Converted Cart Emails — determines whether or not you are sent an email any time a customer returns to complete a purchase after receiving an abandoned cart email
• Send Emails To — determines what email address abandoned cart emails are sent to

Abandoned Cart Saver email settings are located under Marketing › Abandoned Cart Emails.

This page lists your store’s default global Abandoned Cart Saver email templates, along with a label to show if they are currently enabled or disabled.

If you have more than one storefront, you can choose to have your storefront use your store’s default global templates and settings, or you can enable and customize templates individually per storefront.

Use the dropdown list at the top of the page to switch between managing global templates and individual storefront templates.

If you have more than three templates, one of them will be set to inactive automatically. To activate it, you must deactivate one of the active templates first. Click the ⋯ settings button next to a template, then select Disable from the dropdown. You can enable a disabled template by clicking the ⋯ settings button, then selecting Enable. You can duplicate and delete email templates as well.

You can also enable or disable a template while editing it by clicking the ⋯ settings button at the top of the page and selecting Enable or Disable.

Along with enabling and disabling the Abandoned Cart Saver from Store Settings, you can quickly toggle it off and on from here as well.

Click + Add template to create a new email template. To edit an existing template, click the ⋯ settings button next to a template and select Edit Template.

Use the dropdown list at the top of the page to switch between managing the global/default version of this email template or a storefront-specific version.

Click Send test email to receive a copy of this template’s resulting email to the inbox of your user account email address. You can also use the Preview tab when editing a template to see what it will look like.

Settings

Use the Send in dropdown to set when the email will be sent to the shopper. You can select anywhere from 1 hour to 10 days after the order is considered abandoned. You cannot have multiple emails sent out at the same time to the same customer.

Add a Coupon code to encourage shoppers to complete their order. Select from any coupon codes and coupon promotions you've created.

Phrases

Under the Phrases tab, you can customize the text used in the template. The Phrase name is an identifier used in the template code that outputs a string of text in the resulting email, called the Phrase value. The phrase name is not visible to the shopper.

You can change the Phrase name and Phrase value of existing phrases, or you can delete existing phrases by clicking the ⋯ settings button next to the phrase and selecting Delete phrase. You can also create new phrases in a template by clicking the + Add new button at the bottom of the Phrases tab.

For example, you can add a phrase named "contact" to direct customers to contact you at a specific email address. In the phrase value, you can enter a phrase like "Contact us at info@mystore.com". It is also possible to add HTML in the phrase value if you want to create a clickable link like "<a href="mailto:info@mystore.com">info@mystore.com</a>".

Code

Under the Code tab, the Subject line and Email Body of each template can be customized. The subject has a maximum character limit of 255. Select variables are allowed, enabling you to show personalized information. Some variables can be used on their own in a template, while other variables require additional formatting to show specific information. For example, the store name can be used on its own, but listing the products contained in a cart requires additional formatting.

Below is a table of common variables that can be used in email templates.

The body of the template is customized by editing its underlying HTML and Handlebars code. It is divided between CSS styling at the top and HTML content at the bottom. We recommend making edits by copying the template code into a text editor and pasting the edited version back into the Email body box.

Preview

Under the Preview tab, you can see a sample of the resulting email the template will produce, and then go back to the Phrases or Code tabs to make further changes if necessary.

Click Save when you’re done making changes.

If you wish to restore the phrases and code in a global template to their original values, click the ⋯ settings button and select Reset to defaults.

To restore a storefront-specific template to global values, check the Use Global box.

When is a cart considered abandoned?

A cart is not considered abandoned until it has had no activity for 1 hour. This means that if your first abandoned cart email is scheduled to send 1 hour after the cart is abandoned, then it would be 2 hours after the shopper initially added the product to their cart before they'd receive the notification.

Why are my abandoned cart emails using the older Blueprint format? I'm using the updated storefront email templates.

You may need to create new email templates to replace your store's legacy templates. Disable your current email templates, then create new templates. Make sure that they are set to be sent to customers at the same times (hour/date) as your previous email templates to ensure a consistent experience.

I'm on legacy checkout. Is anything different for me?

For stores using a legacy checkout, the Abandoned Cart Saver will only be triggered when logged-in customers add something to their cart, then leave the store. Guest customers will not receive an abandoned cart email, even if they entered an email address at checkout.

Does the Abandoned Cart Saver affect stock levels?

No, stock levels are not affected until payment is attempted. If a payment method is attempted, the cart is not considered abandoned.

How long do abandoned carts stay saved?

All cart information is stored in the user's browser cookies, not on your BigCommerce store. The cart information remains on their browser for 7 days, unless they clear their browser cache or complete checkout.

Why do some shoppers get abandoned cart emails after they completed their order?

This can sometimes occur if the shopper completes the purchase of the order very close to the timing of the first scheduled email. On some occasions, it may occur if they complete the order on another device. If this is happening frequently in your store, please contact us.

If the customer completes their order from the "Complete Order" link in the email, they will continue to receive subsequent abandoned cart emails, unless you have enabled the related setting under Abandoned Cart Emails in your store's Miscellaneous settings.

Can I use a third-party integration for abandoned cart emails?

Yes. Apps such as Mailchimp and Klaviyo allow you to send abandoned cart emails. You can find these apps and more in our App Marketplace.

Why are my emails showing raw HTML instead of the phrases or variables I added to the template?

A custom variable or phrase added to the Code section of your email template can appear as raw HTML if it is contained within two curly brackets instead of three. For example, {{ lang 'yourcustomphrase' }} will display as raw HTML, but {{{ lang 'yourcustomphrase' }}} will properly display your custom phrase.

Can I receive abandoned cart notifications without sending Abandoned Cart Saver emails to my customers?

In order to receive notifications when a customer abandons their cart, Send abandoned cart emails must be toggled on in your email settings. However, you can disable your email templates in order to prevent customers from receiving emails.