Cart Abandonment Recovery Playbook for Shopify
Written by Katie Samuelson
Why Cart Abandonment Happens (and How to Fix It)
Across Shopify stores, the average cart abandonment rate is:
69.8% of shoppers leave without buying.
Most don’t abandon because they don’t want the product — they abandon because:
- Shipping costs surprise them
- Checkout takes too long
- They’re distracted or not ready… yet
- They need one small nudge to convert
Your job?
👉 Recover as many of those high-intent shoppers as possible.
And this playbook shows you exactly how using Privy.
A winning recovery strategy includes:
The 3-Stage Cart Recovery Engine
Pre-Abandonment: Onsite popups + reminders
Post-Abandonment: Email automation
High-Intent Follow-up: SMS Reminders
Let's break it down to build your full machine!
Stage 1: Stop Shoppers From Leaving
Trigger exit-intent popups in the cart and checkout funnel:
Best-Practice Popup Configuration
Example Copy:
Wait! Don’t forget your 15% off code 🤫
Complete your order now and save.
✅ No new discounting needed
✅ Just reminding them of value already offered
Free Shipping Threshold Popup
H3
If shoppers are close to free shipping, remind them:
Message:
You’re $12 away from FREE shipping 🚚 💨
📈 This drives instant AOV lift + completion rate
Timer Popups During Live Sales
H3
“Sale ends in 01:51:22 ⏱️
Your discount expires soon!”
Urgency = conversions.
Stage 2: Recover Carts With Email Automation
Once someone exits with items in their cart…
Privy automatically triggers a recovery flow.
Recommended 3-Email Sequence
30 Minutes:
- Header: Did something go wrong? 👀
4 Hours:
- Header: Your cart missed you
24 Hours:
- Header: Take another look + last chance 👇
Swipeable Email Copy
H3
Email #1:
Hey {{first_name}},
Something interrupted checkout — want to finish?
[SEE MY CART]
Email #2:
Still thinking it over?
Here’s a quick reminder — we saved your cart for you 👇
[ACTION BUTTON]
Email #3:
Last call!
Your items might sell out — grab them while they’re still here 🔥
[CTA: Complete My Order]
These emails consistently recover 10–20% of abandoned checkouts
Stage 3: Use SMS to Recover High-Intent Buyers
SMS has 4x higher conversion than email alone — because they see it instantly.
2-Message Sequence
45 Minutes:
- Copy: Hey {{first_name}} — you left something behind 👉 <cart link>
22 Hours:
- Copy: Last chance to save your cart before it’s gone! <cart link>
✅ Perfect for high-value carts
✅ Works best with FOMO messaging
Privy + Emotive manage compliance + opt-in best practices automatically.
What “Good” Cart Recovery Looks Like
Cart abandonment rate
- Good performance: Under 65%
Email recovery rate:
- Good performance: 12-18%
SMS recovery rate:
- Good performance: 18–35%
Revenue from recovery:
- 5–10% of monthly revenue
The Complete Shopify Cart Recovery Stack (Copy/Paste Setup)
H2
✅ Cart exit popup
✅ Free shipping reminder popup
✅ 3-email recovery flow
✅ SMS reminders for high-value carts
✅ A/B testing turned on
All built and automated in Privy ✅
Complex → simplified
Lost revenue → found revenue 💰
Writen by Katie Samuelson
Katie is the VP of Marketing at Privy.
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