Create a cart abandonment flow

How cart abandonment recovery works

A cart abandonment flow listens for a customer event such as add_to_cart or checkout_started. When the event arrives, Casa Signals schedules a message for the delay you choose.

If the customer completes payment during the delay and the suppression checkbox is enabled, Casa Signals skips the message. This keeps the customer experience clean because buyers should not receive recovery messages after they have already paid.

For customer SMS, Casa Signals renders your message, shortens links, adds a STOP unsubscribe link, checks unsubscribe status, checks recipient cooldowns, charges credits, sends the SMS, and logs the result. For customer email, Casa Signals uses the assigned active email template, adds unsubscribe handling, checks cooldowns, charges one credit, and logs the delivery.

Choose the right trigger

The most common cart abandonment trigger is add_to_cart. It catches shoppers early, as soon as they add an item.

A checkout rescue flow usually uses checkout_started. It catches shoppers with stronger purchase intent because they reached checkout.

If you are creating your first recovery flow, start with add_to_cart and a 10 minute delay. After you review performance, you can add a separate checkout_started flow with a slightly different message.

• Use add_to_cart for broad cart recovery.
• Use checkout_started for stronger-intent checkout rescue.
• Avoid creating several active flows with the same trigger and short delays until you understand how often customers will be contacted.

1. Create the flow from the template

1. Open the Flows page

   In Casa Signals, open the dashboard, choose the connected WooCommerce site, then click Flows.

2. Select the Abandoned basket save template

   In the Templates panel, click Abandoned basket save. Casa Signals fills the flow builder with a sensible abandoned-cart setup.

3. Review the prefilled settings

   The template uses Send SMS, Customer, trigger add_to_cart, 10 minute delay, active status, and payment-success suppression.

   The default message is: Your basket is still waiting. Complete checkout here: {{page_url}}

   • Action: Send SMS.
   • Notify: Customer.
   • Trigger: Add to cart.
   • Delay minutes: 10.
   • Status: Active.
   • Guardrail: Do not send if payment succeeds during the delay.

2. Or configure it manually

1. Set the action

   Choose Send SMS for a text message, or Send Email if you want to use an email template. SMS is usually best for fast cart recovery. Email is useful when you want more design, product explanation, or a longer message.

2. Name the flow

   Use a clear name such as Abandoned cart SMS - 10 minutes or Checkout rescue email - 30 minutes. Good names make delivery logs and recovery reporting easier to understand later.

3. Choose the recipient

   For cart abandonment, choose Customer. Shop owner alerts are designed for internal notifications and send immediately without a delay or customer STOP link.

4. Choose the trigger

   Select add_to_cart for cart recovery or checkout_started for checkout recovery.

5. Set the delay

   Enter a delay from 0 to 180 minutes. For first-time cart recovery, 10 to 30 minutes is a good starting point.

   A delay of 0 sends as soon as the flow is processed. For abandoned cart recovery, a short delay is usually better because it gives the customer time to continue naturally.

6. Set the status

   Choose Active when the flow is ready to send. Choose Disabled if you want to save the flow without letting it send yet.

3. Write the recovery message

Keep the message direct, helpful, and easy to act on. Do not make it sound like the customer did something wrong. Mention the basket, include a useful link, and leave enough room for the automatic STOP link.

SMS message templates can use tokens from the event, including customer_name, customer_email, order_id, order_total, order_currency, product_name, page_url, page_path, and domain.

For cart abandonment, {{page_url}} is useful because it can send the customer back to the page captured on the event. Always preview the message before saving.

• Recommended starter SMS: Your basket is still waiting. Complete checkout here: {{page_url}}
• Alternative SMS: Still thinking it over? Your basket is saved here: {{page_url}}
• Keep SMS under the 900 character limit.
• Remember that unsubscribe text is added automatically to customer SMS messages.
• If there is no approved Sender ID, Casa Signals can prefix the store name to the SMS.

4. Enable payment-success suppression

For abandoned cart flows, leave Do not send if payment succeeds during the delay enabled. This is one of the most important customer-experience safeguards.

When the flow is delayed, Casa Signals checks for payment_successful and order_placed events for the same customer identity during the delay window. The match can use available identifiers such as WordPress user ID, customer email hash, visitor ID, session ID, or order ID.

• Enable suppression for customer cart and checkout recovery.
• Use a delay long enough for the customer to complete checkout naturally.
• Test both paths: a customer who buys before the delay, and a customer who does not.

5. Confirm SMS requirements

Customer SMS flows can only send when the triggering event includes a customer phone number. If the event does not include a phone number, the delivery is logged as skipped.

Casa Signals checks whether the phone number has unsubscribed from SMS for the store. If the customer has unsubscribed, the message is skipped.

Casa Signals also applies a 15 minute recipient cooldown per store, so the same phone number does not receive repeated SMS flow messages too quickly.

SMS credit usage depends on the final message length after rendering tokens, shortening links, adding the store name when needed, and adding the STOP unsubscribe link.

6. Confirm email requirements

If you choose Send Email, create and activate an email template first, then assign it to the flow.

Email flows send to the customer email captured by the event. If the event has no email address, the delivery is skipped.

A main domain email address should be saved in the site Settings because flow and broadcast emails use it as the reply-to address. If you set up a sending domain, emails can send from your own authenticated domain once verification is complete.

Email flows have a 15 minute recipient cooldown per store and cost 1 credit per email.

7. Save, test, and monitor

1. Create or update the flow

   Click Create flow. The flow will appear in Configured flows with its trigger, delay, action, status, and suppression condition.

2. Run a no-purchase test

   Open the store in a private browser, add a product to the cart, enter checkout contact details if needed, then leave without paying. Wait for the configured delay and check the flow delivery log.

3. Run a purchase-suppression test

   Repeat the flow trigger, but complete payment before the delay ends. The scheduled message should be skipped when payment-success suppression is enabled.

4. Review delivery logs

   Use the flow delivery logs to review sent, skipped, and failed messages. Skips are useful because they explain missing sends, such as no customer phone number, customer unsubscribed, recent recipient cooldown, payment success during delay, or missing email template.

5. Review recovered revenue

   When a customer orders after a flow message, Casa Signals can attribute recovered revenue back to the site, customer, and flow. Review recovery performance after the flow has been active long enough to collect meaningful data.

Best practices

• Start with one abandoned cart flow before layering several recovery messages.
• Use a 10 to 30 minute delay for the first SMS recovery flow.
• Keep the message helpful, short, and linked to the cart or checkout journey.
• Leave payment-success suppression enabled for customer recovery flows.
• Check delivery logs before assuming the flow is broken.
• Make sure consent language on the store matches the channel you are using.
• Monitor recovered revenue and unsubscribe behavior before increasing message frequency.
• Avoid sending both SMS and email at the exact same delay until you know customers respond well.