Shoppers mostly abandon carts because of unexpected costs, a long checkout and distrust of the payment step, so fix the checkout first and set up reminder emails second. The second half of this article covers when it pays more to invest in people who already bought than in those who left.
Why carts get abandoned
- Shipping costs or taxes showed up only on the last step.
- Mandatory account creation before ordering.
- A long form with unnecessary fields.
- No familiar payment method: Bizum, PayPal, Apple Pay, card payment without redirecting to another site.
- Unclear delivery times and return terms.
- Technical errors: the form rejects the address, payment fails, the page loads slowly on a phone.
- The shopper was just comparing prices or putting it off for later.
Checkout first
Emails bring back some of the people who left, but fixing the checkout itself helps every future customer. Go through checkout on your phone as a customer would and write down every point of friction.
Quick fixes: show shipping costs in the cart, allow guest checkout, remove optional fields, add the payment methods that are popular in your country, and put delivery times and return terms next to the pay button.
Abandoned cart emails
The classic sequence is one to three emails. The first goes out after an hour or a few hours: a reminder with the items and a button back to the cart. The second goes out after a day: answers to questions about shipping and returns. The third, if needed, goes out a couple of days later: a small incentive, such as free shipping.
Don't train shoppers to expect discounts. If every cart email includes a discount, some customers will start abandoning carts on purpose.
Abandoned carts and GDPR
You can send the email only if you have the address and a lawful basis. An email typed into the checkout form before the order is submitted is already personal data. Many stores rely on legitimate interest, but for marketing reminders in Spain Article 21 of the LSSI applies, and there is no contract with the customer yet. The more reliable route is to get consent for reminders in the form and mention it in your privacy policy. Check with a lawyer which approach is accepted in your country.
Abandoned carts in WooCommerce
WooCommerce has no built-in abandoned cart emails. You add them with a plugin or with an email marketing service that connects to the store and receives cart events. Check that the plugin saves the email only after consent and deletes abandoned cart data after a reasonable period.
Abandoned carts or post-purchase: where to invest
Working on carts and working after the purchase solve different problems. Carts bring back part of the lost orders. Post-purchase raises the income from every order that has already happened.
If your checkout is already in good shape and your cart emails are set up, the next step usually pays more on the side of buyers: they already trust the store and open your emails.
| Aspect | Abandoned carts | Post-purchase |
|---|---|---|
| Audience | Left without buying | Already paid |
| Trust | Still hesitating | Already trusted you |
| Tools | Checkout fixes, reminder emails | Thank-you page, order confirmation email, upsell, partner gifts |
| Email consent | Usually needed separately | Transactional emails go out regardless |
| Result | Recovered orders | Higher order value, repeat orders, income per order |
| Risk | Training shoppers to wait for discounts | Overloading the order confirmation |
Order of work
- Remove technical errors and unexpected costs at checkout.
- Set up one or two cart emails, with consent for reminders.
- Improve the thank-you page and the order confirmation email: next steps, a coupon, one useful block.
- Add income from every order: an upsell or partner gifts.
- Compare results in money per 1,000 cart visitors and per 1,000 orders.
How to measure the effect of emails
Don't just count orders that came from a link in the email. Compare against a control group: a share of abandoned carts that get no emails. Otherwise you will credit the emails with orders from people who would have come back on their own. The main metric is the extra revenue or profit per 100 abandoned carts.
Mistakes in cart emails
- An email with no products or images: the shopper doesn't remember what they picked.
- The link goes to the homepage, not to the restored cart.
- A discount in every email.
- Emails keep coming after the shopper has already placed the order.
- No simple link to opt out of reminders.
Example sequence for a clothing store
A shopper put a dress and boots in the cart and left at the shipping step. Two hours later she gets an email with photos of the items, the sizes and a "Back to my order" button. A day later, an email about size exchanges and free returns, because for clothing that is the main fear. There is no discount in the sequence.
If the items in the cart are low in stock, you can say so honestly. But invented countdown timers and a fake "only one left" mislead shoppers and break consumer protection rules.
Where else shoppers get lost
Not all losses happen in the cart. Some shoppers leave the product page because of unclear sizes or delivery times, others leave the payment page because of a payment gateway error. Look at the funnel in your analytics step by step and start with the step where you lose the most people.
Income after payment
The last item is the easiest to launch if you don't want to bother with products to upsell. The ThanklyClub plugin shows 1–3 partner gifts on the thank-you page and in the order confirmation email, and the store receives 60% of the payout.
FAQ
How do I recover abandoned carts?
First remove the causes on the checkout side: hidden costs, mandatory registration, extra fields. Then set up one to three reminder emails for shoppers who gave consent.
When should I send an abandoned cart email?
The first after an hour or a few hours, the second after a day. More than three emails usually annoy people.
Can I send abandoned cart emails without consent?
It depends on the country and the legal basis. In Spain, Article 21 of the LSSI applies to marketing emails, so it is more reliable to get consent in the checkout form.
What pays more: abandoned carts or working with buyers?
Fix the checkout first, then work with buyers: they already trust the store. Cart emails complement that work, they do not replace it.
Do I need a plugin for abandoned carts in WooCommerce?
Yes, WooCommerce has no built-in abandoned cart emails. You add them with a plugin or an email marketing service that receives cart events from the store.
Connect your store in 5 minutes
The plugin is free. You get 60% of the partner payout for every new customer.
