Looking at my own store’s numbers and most of my cart abandoners never left an email or phone — Klaviyo/WhatsApp flows can’t touch them since there’s nothing to message.
Anyone found a way to capture some contact info earlier in the journey, before checkout? Curious what’s actually worked for people vs. what’s just theory.
Pretty normal. Most people leave before entering any contact info. You could try an email popup with a small discount, or let people save their cart and email it to themselves. I’d A/B test a couple options and see what actually improves recovery.
Thanks for your response. But have you seen anything beyond a discount popup — like a more personalized reason for someone to opt in, tied to what’s actually in their cart?
One cart-specific angle to test is “Save this cart and email me a link” rather than “Join our list.” The value is immediate and tied to what they chose, and you only need the email. For products where timing matters, “Email me if this item is low in stock, back in stock, or drops in price” can work for the same reason.
I’d run it after the first add-to-cart, not on arrival, and compare it against a generic discount popup. Track opt-in rate, recovered sessions, purchase rate, and unsubscribes—not just emails captured. Keep consent wording explicit, and don’t automatically add someone to marketing from a transactional save-cart email unless they opt in separately.
This is genuinely useful, thanks the add-to-cart timing point makes sense. Curious if you’ve seen this done via WhatsApp instead of email anywhere, especially for markets where WhatsApp is the primary channel (India, LatAm, etc)? Haven’t come across anyone doing the cart-specific hook that way yet.
Yes—the pattern is established. WhatsApp’s own Business Platform guidance specifically describes abandoned-cart re-engagement. I’d keep the same cart-specific hook: after add-to-cart, offer “Send this cart to WhatsApp,” collect the number there, and state clearly what reminder they’re opting into. The first message should be the cart/recovery link, not a generic promotion. The important distinction is that entering a phone number isn’t the same as opting in to WhatsApp messages. For business-initiated follow-ups, follow WhatsApp’s current opt-in/template rules and the local privacy/marketing rules for each market. I’d cap it tightly—one useful reminder first, stop on purchase or opt-out—and compare recovered purchases plus blocks/complaints against email. One Shopify wrinkle: native abandoned-checkout recovery is email-based, so WhatsApp is an app/Business Platform flow. I’d pilot it on a small traffic slice before making it the default.
There are two different numbers here. Shopify’s checkout takes the email at step one, so checkout abandoners are already reachable. The unreachable ones are cart abandoners who never started checkout.
On your follow-up to Moss: the timing matters more than the incentive.
A pop-up that fires on arrival is interrupting someone who hasn’t decided anything yet, so you get junk addresses typed to dismiss it. The same ask after they’ve engaged with a product converts far better, and the address is more likely to be real. Back-in-stock is one of the cleanest examples, because they’re the one who wants something from you.
Full disclosure, I built Carti, an AI sales assistant for Shopify. Two parts are relevant here.
It answers shopper questions and recommends products in real time, so a chunk of would-be abandoners just buy instead. (You’d be surprised how much conversion drop-off there is if visitors have to wait even one day for an email response.)
Email capture is built in. Users can unlock a reward offer surfaced inside the conversation when it’s actually relevant. So verified addresses are collected in context, instead of pestering everyone. The app’s totally free for smaller stores, so could be worth a try!
Thanks Daniel for your response Have you seen anyone doing this specific flow over WhatsApp instead of on-site chat, especially for India/LatAm markets? I’m thinking of creating for that Market specific right now. Do you have any suggestions, and how had you get your early customers and traction?
Worth adding the margin angle here. The contact rate matters, but so does whether recovering that order is actually profitable after you factor in the discount or incentive you used to bring them back. A 10% off recovery email on a product with 25% gross margin and high ad acquisition cost can flip a barely-profitable order into a loss. Before optimising the contact rate, it is worth knowing your net margin per product on recovered orders specifically - including the discount, the email tool cost allocated per send, and the original ad spend. Some products are worth chasing hard. Some are better left abandoned.
Hi there @SleepingSloth
It depends on the store, but a lot of merchants only get contact information from a fraction of those who leave their carts behind. One effective technique is to ask consumers to register, save a wish list, or gain acess to a minor perk before the checkout process that naturally demands providing an email address. Shop Pay also streamlines checkout for returning customers. Just be aware you don’t want too much friction too early in the process as that can have the effect of reducing conversions overall.
Checkout abandoners and cart abandoners are different lists.
If they reached checkout and typed an email, Shopify already has them and Klaviyo/Shopify Email can recover. The painful bucket is people who add to cart and leave before any identity. WhatsApp/SMS cannot touch that group either, even in India/LatAm, until you have consent and a number.
What actually moves the unidentified bucket, without another discount overlay on every session:
(1) Capture earlier than checkout: first-visit popup for unknowns only, footer form, post-ATC “save this cart / tell me if it sells out” on the cart page.
(2) Keep consent explicit. Do not scrape a number into WhatsApp.
(3) For people who already dismissed the popup, give them a non-modal path (bell / notification feed) for restock, drop, and a second signup, then sync that into the ESP you already run. That is not a replacement for Klaviyo recovery emails.
I work on Atomato (Atomato Email, SMS & Upsell - Grow email and SMS lists and upsell from a feed... | Shopify App Store). It is the bell + feed version of (3), with email/SMS as one card in the feed, not an ESP and not WhatsApp. Keep the popup you have. Only useful if you want that widget. The split between identified checkout abandoners and unidentified cart abandoners is the bigger lever.