A lot of shoppers add things to a cart and never finish — they get distracted, they wanted to think about it, or the timing was off. Cart recovery brings a meaningful chunk of them back, partly on autopilot and partly with a personal nudge from you.
How recovery works
When a shopper enters their email at checkout but does not complete the purchase, your store remembers what they almost bought. From there, two things can happen: a friendly recovery email goes out automatically on a schedule you choose, and you can also reach out to specific carts by hand from the Abandoned carts page.
Turn on automatic recovery emails
Recovery email settings live in your Store area. This is where you decide which automated emails go out and when.
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Open Store, then Recovery
In the sidebar, click Store. Switch to the Recovery tab at the top of the page.
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Pick which emails are active
Each row is a recovery email with a delay (for example, send 1 hour after the cart is abandoned). Switch on the ones you want shoppers to receive. You can run more than one — a quick early reminder plus a longer follow-up works well.
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Save and let it run
Active emails start sending the next time a shopper abandons a cart. Your branding, store name, and logo are added automatically.
Where the email copy comes from
Recovery emails use the same email templates as the rest of your store. To rewrite the subject line or the message body, edit the matching template — see the article on customizing customer emails.
See your abandoned carts
Open Cart, then Abandoned in the sidebar. The top of the page shows your headline numbers: how many carts were abandoned, your recovery rate, lost revenue, and revenue you have already recovered. Below that, a list shows each abandoned cart with the customer, what was in the cart, a recoverability score, and how many recovery emails have already been sent.
Filter by status (new, pending recovery, email sent, recovered, unrecoverable) or by timeframe (last 7, 30, or 90 days) to focus on the carts that matter most right now.
Send a recovery email by hand
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Open Cart, then Abandoned
You will land on the list of recent abandoned carts.
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Tick the carts you want to follow up on
Use the checkboxes on the left. Recoverability score and time abandoned are good signals — focus on high scores from the last day or two first.
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Click Send recovery email
Pick which email template to use, optionally add a short personal message, and confirm. The email goes out right away to each selected cart.
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Mark carts as recovered or unrecoverable
If a shopper comes back to buy, your store marks the cart as recovered automatically. You can also mark carts manually if you have closed the sale another way, or mark a cart as unrecoverable to stop the automatic follow-ups.
See how recovery is performing
On the same Abandoned carts page, the Email performance section shows how many recovery emails went out, the open rate, and the click rate. Pair that with the recovery rate and recovered value at the top of the page to see what your follow-ups are actually bringing in.
A small discount works wonders
A 10% off code, available only inside the recovery email, gives hesitant shoppers the nudge they need. Create the code in Discounts first, then mention it in your recovery email template.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I configure the emails, and where do I take action?
Settings live in Store > Recovery (which automated emails are active). Day-to-day actions — viewing carts, sending manual follow-ups, and seeing performance — live in Cart > Abandoned. There is a Recovery settings button on the Abandoned carts page that jumps you straight back to settings.
When does an email NOT get sent?
If the shopper completes their order, the email is cancelled. We never send a recovery email to someone who has already bought.
Won't this annoy customers?
If your tone is friendly and the spacing is sensible, most shoppers appreciate the reminder. We also avoid pestering shoppers who abandon repeatedly.
What is the recoverability score?
A rough signal of how likely a cart is to be recovered, based on the shopper and how recent the cart is. Use it to prioritise — sort or scan for high scores first when you are sending follow-ups by hand.
Can I see how well recovery is doing?
Yes. The Abandoned carts page shows how many emails went out, the open and click rates, and how much revenue your recovery flow has brought back.