Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce (by CartFlows) is a free plugin that sends automated emails to customers who added products to their cart but did not complete purchase. It captures the customer’s email at the checkout page (before they submit the order) and uses it to trigger a recovery sequence if the order is not completed. On most stores, 60-80% of customers who start checkout do not complete it – recovery emails recapture 5-15% of that abandoned revenue.
How Email Capture Works
The plugin captures the customer’s email address as soon as they type it into the checkout email field, using JavaScript to detect the input without form submission. If the customer leaves without completing the order, their email address, cart contents, and checkout URL are stored. The plugin sends recovery emails only to customers who entered their email address – it cannot recover truly anonymous abandonments.
This means the recovery rate is relative to customers who at least started the checkout form, not all cart sessions. The customers who enter their email but do not complete are the highest-intent abandonments – they were close to buying and something stopped them. These are the most recoverable segment.
Step 1: Install and Verify Email Capture
Install the plugin from WordPress.org and activate. No initial configuration is required for the core functionality to start capturing. Verify it is working: add a product to your cart, navigate to checkout, type a test email address (do not complete the form), then check WooCommerce -> Cart Abandonment. Your test session should appear in the list within a few minutes.
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Step 2: Configure the Email Sequence
Go to Cart Abandonment -> Email Templates. The plugin includes a default three-email sequence. Customise each email for your brand and products. The sequence timing that works for most stores:
- Email 1: 1 hour after abandonment – a simple reminder. Show the cart contents and a prominent “Complete your purchase” button. Do not offer a discount yet – many customers abandoned because they got distracted, not because of price. A discount in email 1 trains customers to abandon intentionally to receive discounts.
- Email 2: 24 hours after abandonment – add social proof. Show product reviews or testimonials alongside the cart. Mention how many people bought the same product recently. If the product has limited stock, mention it genuinely.
- Email 3: 72 hours after abandonment – offer a discount if appropriate for your margins. A 10% off code at this stage catches price-sensitive customers who have been considering the purchase for days.
Step 3: Personalise Email Content
The plugin supports dynamic variables in email content. Use these to personalise every recovery email:
{customer.firstname}– the customer’s first name from the checkout form{cart.total}– the cart total at time of abandonment{product.names}– the names of abandoned products{checkout.url}– a direct link back to their cart with items preserved{coupon.code}– a dynamically generated coupon code (for the discount email)
Subject line personalisation has the most impact on open rate. “Your cart is waiting” is generic. “John, you left [Product Name] behind” is specific and harder to ignore.
Step 4: GDPR Compliance
Cart abandonment emails are marketing communications that require consent under GDPR in the EU and similar regulations in other jurisdictions. The plugin captures emails before the customer explicitly opts in. Your legal basis for sending recovery emails depends on your jurisdiction and customer location. For EU customers, check with a legal adviser whether cart abandonment emails require explicit consent or fall under legitimate interest. Add a clear opt-out mechanism in each email – an unsubscribe link is essential regardless of jurisdiction.