Shopify Abandoned Cart Email: Setup, Timing and 10 Examples

A Shopify abandoned cart email goes to a shopper who reached checkout, entered their email and left without paying. Shopify can send one for you, by default a single email after a 10-hour wait. A sequence of three emails over about two days, each showing the shopper's own products, gives you three chances to answer whatever stopped them instead of one.

This guide covers what Shopify's built-in email does, when to send each email in a sequence, what to write, and ten subject lines you can adapt. The setup steps use Audienceful, the email platform we make for Shopify stores, where the whole sequence comes ready-made. It's part of our guide to Shopify email flows.

Why abandoned cart emails matter

Most carts never become orders. Baymard Institute's average across 50 studies puts the documented cart abandonment rate at about 70%. Some of those shoppers were only looking. Many were interrupted, unsure about shipping costs, or comparing options in another tab.

The ones who reach checkout and type in their email are the warmest people your store will ever email. They chose products, started paying and gave you a way to reach them. That's why abandoned checkout is usually the flow that earns the most.

What Shopify's built-in abandoned checkout email does

Shopify has its own abandoned checkout email, now part of Shopify Messaging (formerly Shopify Email). According to Shopify's help center:

• It's an automation you switch on. In newer stores it's built from the Recover abandoned checkout template under Messaging's automations. Older stores may still have the legacy setting under Settings > Checkout, which Shopify is retiring.
• It waits 10 hours by default before sending. You change the wait by editing the workflow in Shopify Flow.
• It sends to marketing subscribers by default, and you can change who receives it in the automation.
• It doesn't use up your sends. Shopify Messaging's first 10,000 emails a month are free, then $1 per 1,000, and abandoned checkout emails don't count toward that.

It's a sensible starting point. Its limits are the ones any single email has: one moment, one message, and whatever angle that message takes has to work for everyone.

Why an abandoned cart email sequence does more

Shoppers abandon for different reasons. Baymard's checkout research finds extra costs (shipping, taxes, fees) at the top of the list, alongside slow delivery, having to create an account, and not trusting the site with card details. One email can't answer all of those. A sequence can:

• Email one reminds. Some shoppers simply got distracted. A quick, friendly note with a button back to their cart is all they need.
• Email two gives a reason. For shoppers weighing cost, a small code or free shipping changes the sum.
• Email three sets a deadline. For the undecided, a clear "last chance" makes waiting a choice.

Show the products every time. In Audienceful, a Product List block set to Dynamic reads the line items from the abandoned checkout itself, so each shopper sees the exact items they left, with image, title, price and a link. "You left something behind" lands harder with a picture of the thing.

And stop the moment they buy. A goal of "completed the purchase" ends the sequence, so nobody gets a discount after paying full price.

Abandoned cart or abandoned checkout?

Shoppers and marketers say "abandoned cart" for both. Strictly, this flow is an abandoned checkout: the shopper reached checkout and entered an email. Shoppers who added to cart and never started checkout need a different trigger, from your storefront rather than Shopify's checkout data. Our guide to abandoned checkout vs abandoned cart explains the difference and how to run both.

The best time to send abandoned cart emails

Send the first email within hours, while the shopper still remembers what they picked. Then space the next two about a day apart. Here's how Audienceful's Abandoned checkout recovery template is timed:

Audienceful marks a checkout abandoned once it has gone about four hours without an order, so email one lands about five hours after the shopper started checkout. Email two arrives about a day after the first, around the same time of day they were shopping. Want the first email sooner? Delete the first wait.

The three emails, and what to write

Email 1: the reminder. Short, warm, no discount. Say their cart is saved, show the items, and give one button back. Invite a reply if something gave them pause.

• You left something behind 🛒
• Your cart is saved, right where you left it
• Did something come up?

Email 2: the reason. Answer the likely objection (shipping, returns, fit) and add the incentive. The template uses 10% off with COMEBACK10, good for 48 hours. Create the code in Shopify, then add it to the email.

• Still thinking it over? Here's 10% off
• A little nudge: 10% off your cart
• Free returns, fast shipping, and 10% off

Email 3: the deadline. Say this is the last email and the code is about to expire. Mention that popular items sell out only if yours do.

• Last chance: your cart's about to expire
• Your code expires tonight
• We'll stop nudging after this one

Leading with a discount in email one teaches regular shoppers to abandon on purpose. Keep the offer for email two.

10 Shopify abandoned cart email examples

These are examples we wrote, not emails from real brands. Each pairs a subject line with an angle, so you can pick the ones that fit your store and your shoppers' usual reasons for leaving.

Two rules for all ten: keep the subject honest about what's inside, and keep the button text specific ("Return to my cart" beats "Click here").

Set it up in Audienceful

1. Install Audienceful from the Shopify App Store. Your account is created from your store, with no signup form, and the plan is billed on your Shopify invoice. Customers, orders, checkouts and products sync in. Existing users connect from the Integrations tab (how to connect).
2. Apply the template. Open the Shopify automation templates and pick Abandoned checkout recovery. It arrives paused, with the checkout abandoned trigger, all three emails, the waits and the purchase goal set.
3. Edit the copy. Swap in your voice, your shipping threshold and your code. Create the code in Shopify first.
4. Add a Product List block set to Dynamic, so each email shows the shopper's own items. Add a second block with a best-seller feed if you want alternatives below.
5. Switch it on. Abandoned checkout uses Shopify's checkout data, so there's nothing to install in your theme.

The free plan runs one automation, and this is the one to choose. The help doc walks through every setting.

How to measure it

Audienceful credits an order to the last email clicked within five days, with bot clicks excluded and refunds netted off, so you see what the flow really earned. Look at revenue for the whole automation and for each email. If email three rarely earns anything, try a different angle there. If email two earns most, test a smaller incentive. More on how this works: revenue attribution.

Audienceful is free up to 1,000 contacts, then paid plans start at $32/month billed yearly ($37.50 monthly) for 3,000 contacts. Install it on your Shopify store and the abandoned checkout sequence is ready to switch on.

FAQs

Does Shopify send abandoned cart emails automatically?

Only once you switch on its abandoned checkout automation. By default it waits 10 hours, sends one email, and goes to customers subscribed to marketing.

What is the best time to send an abandoned cart email?

Send the first within a few hours, while the shopper remembers the cart, then follow up about a day apart. Audienceful's template sends about five hours after checkout starts, then a day later, then a day after that.

How many abandoned cart emails should I send?

Three is a good default: a reminder, a reason (often an incentive), and a last chance. Stop the sequence as soon as they buy, which Audienceful's purchase goal does for you.

Should abandoned cart emails include a discount?

Not in the first email. Many shoppers come back with a simple reminder. Keep the code for the second email so you don't train regulars to abandon on purpose.

Can I use Audienceful and Shopify's email at the same time?

You can, but shoppers who get both would hear about the same cart twice. Switch off Shopify's abandoned checkout automation once Audienceful's sequence is on, and keep Shopify's order and shipping notifications as they are.

Sources

• Baymard Institute: Cart abandonment rate statistics, How to reduce cart abandonment
• Shopify Help Center: Recovering abandoned checkouts
• Shopify Help Center: Migrating to the new abandoned checkout automation
• Shopify Help Center: Creating marketing automations in Shopify Messaging