Abandoned cart email sequences automatically send reminder emails to customers who add items to their cart but leave without completing their purchase. By setting up a multi-tier email strategy, you can recover lost sales and increase conversion rates through timely, personalized follow-up messages.
What Are Abandoned Shopping Carts?
An abandoned shopping cart occurs when a customer adds items to their cart but leaves your store without completing the purchase. Pulse Commerce tracks abandoned carts using cookies stored on the customer's device.
When Carts Are Retained:
- Customer has cookies enabled in their web browser
- Customer is logged into their account
- Items remain in cart for the customer's next visit
How Abandoned Cart Emails Work
Abandoned cart email sequences consist of three reminder levels that automatically send at intervals you configure:
- First Reminder: Gentle reminder shortly after cart abandonment (e.g., 10 minutes to 1 hour)
- Second Reminder: Follow-up with potential incentive (e.g., 24 hours later)
- Third Reminder: Final opportunity with stronger incentive or urgency (e.g., 3-7 days later)
Viewing Abandoned Cart Reports
Monitor abandoned carts and recovery opportunities through Pulse Commerce reporting:
- Marketing Abandoned Shopping Carts: View all abandoned carts across your store
- Reports Abandoned Shopping Carts: Alternative access to the same report
- Customers View Customers [Customer Name] Shopping Cart and Browsing History: View individual customer abandoned carts
Report Information Includes:
- Date cart was created and last modified
- Customer name and email (if logged in)
- Customer IP address and HTTP referrer
- Number of items in cart and total cart value
- Specific SKUs and quantities abandoned
Step 1: Access Abandoned Cart Email Templates
1Navigate to Marketing > E-Mail Templates
2Click the Transactional E-Mail Template tab
3Locate the three abandoned cart reminder templates:
- Abandoned Cart Reminder #1 - First follow-up email
- Abandoned Cart Reminder #2 - Second follow-up email
- Abandoned Cart Reminder #3 - Final follow-up email
Step 2: Configure First Reminder Email
1Click on Abandoned Cart Reminder #1
2Set the Email Frequency to determine when this email sends after cart abandonment
3Choose the time unit from the dropdown: Minutes, Hours, or Days
4Customize the Subject line using variables (e.g., "You left items in your cart, {{Customer FirstName}}")
5Configure email settings:
- Email From Name: Your store name
- From: Your customer service email address
- CC/BCC: Optional internal notification addresses
6Edit the Custom Message content to create a gentle reminder
7Review Supported Variables to personalize the email with customer name, cart items, cart total, etc.
8Check the Active checkbox to enable this reminder
9Click Update to save
Step 3: Configure Second Reminder Email
1Click on Abandoned Cart Reminder #2
2Set a longer Email Frequency than the first reminder (recommended: 24 hours)
3Customize the Subject line with a different message (e.g., "Still thinking about your purchase? Here's 10% off!")
4Edit the Custom Message to include an incentive or answer common objections
5Check the Active checkbox to enable this reminder
6Click Update to save
Step 4: Configure Third Reminder Email (Final Follow-up)
1Click on Abandoned Cart Reminder #3
2Set an even longer Email Frequency (recommended: 3-7 days)
3Customize the Subject line to create urgency (e.g., "Last chance! Your cart expires soon")
4Edit the Custom Message with a final opportunity message
5Include customer support contact information for customers who need assistance
6Check the Active checkbox to enable this reminder
7Click Update to save
Proven Abandoned Cart Email Strategy
| Reminder Level | Timing | Message Approach | Incentive |
| First Reminder | 10 minutes to 1 hour | Gentle reminder, helpful tone | None - just remind them |
| Second Reminder | 24 hours | Value proposition, incentive offer | 5-10% discount or free shipping |
| Third Reminder | 3-7 days | Urgency, scarcity, final chance | Maximum discount, free shipping, or bonus item |
Email Copywriting Best Practices
Subject Line Tips:
- Use customer's first name when possible: "{{Customer FirstName}}, you forgot something!"
- Create curiosity: "Is everything okay with your order?"
- Highlight cart value: "Don't lose your $127.50 cart"
- Use urgency for final email: "Last chance - Cart expires in 24 hours"
Email Body Content:
- Show abandoned cart items with images (use available variables)
- Include direct "Complete Your Purchase" button linking to their cart
- Address common objections (shipping costs, return policy, product questions)
- Add customer reviews or testimonials for abandoned products
- Make it easy to contact support if they have questions
When to Offer Incentives
Consider offering discounts when:
- Cart value is above your average order value
- Customer has abandoned carts multiple times
- Products have healthy profit margins
- Seasonal sales periods or competitive pressure
Avoid discounts when:
- Customer is a frequent buyer (they may abandon intentionally to get discounts)
- Products are already on sale or low margin
- First reminder (many customers just need a reminder, not a discount)
Accessing Abandoned Cart Reports
1Navigate to Marketing > Abandoned Shopping Carts
Alternative path: Reports > Abandoned Shopping Carts
2Review the abandoned cart list showing:
- Date cart was created and last modified
- Customer name and email (if logged in)
- Customer IP address
- HTTP referrer (how they found your site)
- Number of items in cart
- Total cart value
3Click on the Items number to view the specific products in the abandoned cart
Filtering and Exporting Abandoned Carts
Use filters to narrow your search:
- Customer Email: Find specific customer's abandoned cart
- SKU: See which customers abandoned a specific product
- Date Range: View carts from specific time periods
- Cart Value: Focus on high-value abandoned carts
1Apply filters using the filter options at the top of the report
2Click Export to download abandoned cart data for analysis
3Delete invalid or test carts using the Delete option
Manually Recovering Abandoned Carts
If a customer contacts you about completing their abandoned order, you have three options:
Option 1: Place Order from Abandoned Cart Report
1Navigate to Marketing > Abandoned Shopping Carts
2Locate the customer's abandoned cart
3Click on the Items link to view cart contents
4Click Place New Order to create an order directly from the abandoned cart items
Option 2: Place MOTO or ePOS Order from Customer Record
1Navigate to Customers > View Customers
2Search for and open the customer's record
3Click the Shopping Cart and Browsing History tab
4Select the items from their cart you wish to include
5Select MOTO or ePOS from the dropdown
6Click Go to process the order
Option 3: Log In As Customer (Front-End Order)
1Navigate to Customers > View Customers
2Open the customer's record
3Click the Shopping Cart and Browsing History tab
4Click Log In As Customer
5You are now logged in as the customer on the front end and can complete their checkout normally
Analyzing Abandoned Cart Data
Use abandoned cart reports to identify patterns and improve conversion:
- Which SKUs are abandoned most frequently? May indicate pricing issues, shipping costs, or unclear product information
- At what cart value do customers abandon? May indicate free shipping threshold is too high
- What referrer sources have highest abandonment? May indicate traffic quality issues
- What time of day/week do abandonments peak? Optimize email send times accordingly
How to Test Abandoned Cart Emails
1Navigate to Marketing > E-Mail Templates > Transactional E-Mail Template
2Locate the abandoned cart reminder you want to test
3Click the Preview/Test link next to the template name
4Click Preview to see how the email renders with sample data
5Click Test to send a test email to yourself
6Enter a test email address to receive the email
7Review the test email to verify:
- Subject line displays correctly
- Variables populate with data
- Images load properly (remember to use fixed path URLs)
- Cart items display correctly
- "Complete Your Purchase" button links to cart
- Email renders well on mobile and desktop
Testing the Complete Sequence
To test the actual abandoned cart trigger:
1Create a test customer account (or use your own account)
2Log in as that customer on your storefront
3Add items to cart
4Leave the site without completing checkout
5Wait for the configured frequency interval
6Check the test customer's email inbox for the abandoned cart reminder
Timing and Frequency
- Don't send the first email too soon (under 10 minutes) - customers may still be shopping
- Space reminders strategically: quick follow-up, then 24 hours, then 3-7 days
- Stop sending after the third reminder to avoid annoying customers
- Consider time zones when setting send frequencies
- Test different timing intervals and measure recovery rates
Email Content and Design
- Always include cart contents with product images and names
- Make the "Complete Your Purchase" button prominent and easy to click
- Use personalization variables (customer name, cart value, product names)
- Keep email design consistent with your brand
- Ensure emails are mobile-responsive (most emails are read on mobile)
- Include customer support contact information
- Test all images use fixed path URLs to ensure they load in email clients
Incentive Strategy
- Use escalating incentives: no discount → small discount → larger incentive
- Consider free shipping as an alternative to percentage discounts
- Make incentive codes time-limited to create urgency (24-48 hours)
- Track which incentives drive the most conversions
- Don't train customers to expect discounts by always offering them in first email
- Segment high-value customers and offer better incentives for larger cart values
Monitoring and Optimization
- Regularly review Marketing Abandoned Shopping Carts report
- Track email open rates and click-through rates for each reminder level
- Measure recovery rate: orders completed / abandoned cart emails sent
- Identify SKUs with high abandonment and investigate why
- Use abandoned cart data to improve checkout process and reduce friction
- A/B test different email subject lines, timing, and incentives
- Export data regularly to track trends over time
Customer Experience
- Make it easy to complete purchase with direct cart link
- Address common objections in email copy (returns, shipping, quality)
- Provide customer support contact for questions
- Don't be pushy - keep tone helpful and friendly
- Respect customer choice - three emails is enough
- Ensure cookies are working so carts persist across sessions
Technical Considerations
- Only logged-in customers receive abandoned cart emails
- Promote account creation at checkout to enable abandoned cart recovery
- Ensure all three reminder levels are set to Active
- Use fixed path URLs for all images in email templates
- Test emails across multiple email clients (Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail)
- Keep CSS simple and inline for better email client compatibility
Watch this comprehensive video tutorial that demonstrates how to use the Abandoned Shopping Carts report to monitor, filter, and recover abandoned carts.
Need Help?
If you encounter issues not covered in this guide, contact support with:
- Screenshots of your abandoned cart email configuration
- Examples of test emails that didn't send or render correctly
- Specific questions about incentive strategy or timing
- Abandoned cart report data if you need help with analysis