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Creating an abandoned checkout automation

Abandoned checkout automations reach customers who leave your checkout before completing their purchase. Customers who get this far are close to buying, so a timely reminder can recover revenue you would otherwise lose. Abandoned Checkout extends Abandoned Browse and Abandoned Cart, so you can follow up at every stage of the purchase journey. Because the automation knows what the customer was about to buy, your email can show the exact products, prices, and discounts.

Before you get started

Checkout tracking

The automation relies on checkout events sent from your site. If you use the Voyado Tracking Script, you need version 0.1.8 or later. Version 0.1.8 adds support for the checkout event and has no breaking changes from earlier versions. If you integrate through the tracking API, you send checkout events to the tracking/checkouts endpoint instead. Read more in Tracking checkout changes in the developer documentation.

Entry criteria

For the automated communication to be relevant, you need to ensure that the right contacts are included in the automation. Thus, setting the entry criteria is an important aspect of building the automation.

Labels

Labels make it easier to track contacts and assign them different communication. With labels, you can segment on contacts that are in a specific automation.

Trigger splits and time delays

A trigger split makes sure that activities in a flow are triggered by certain actions, such as a purchase. If the action isn't performed, you can wait until a certain time has passed, for example, seven days, before sending the customer forward in the automation.

This is different from a time delay, which postpones the next action by the time you choose, regardless of what the customer does.

What the automation does

Your site sends a checkout event every time the checkout changes, for example, when a product is added or removed, a coupon is applied, or a shipping or payment method is selected. A checkout that still contains products and hasn't been touched for 30 minutes is treated as abandoned. If the checkout is connected to a contact, Customer Engagement triggers the Abandoned checkout automation that matches the locale of the checkout.

The contact enters the flow, is labeled for tracking, and receives an email reminding them of the products in their checkout. A trigger split then checks whether the customer completes the purchase within the time window you choose. Customers who purchase can receive a thank-you message and have their label removed. Customers who don't purchase can receive a reminder and, if you want, a personal offer to encourage them to complete the purchase.

Build the automation

Automation flow

  1. Trigger: Abandoned checkout
  2. Entry condition: Configure if needed
  3. Track: Set a label such as Abandoned checkout
  4. Message 1: Send an abandoned checkout email with the products from the checkout
  5. Delay: Wait seven days
  6. End: Remove the label

Step-by-step

  1. Click Automation in the left-hand menu, click New automation, and select the trigger Abandoned checkout.

    The trigger has no additional entry criteria.

    The New automation screen with the Abandoned checkout trigger selected as the starting point of the automation.

    You could also set criteria for which customers should enter the automation by toggling and configuring any criteria from Start this automation when.

  2. Click the plus sign below the trigger, choose Activity, and select Set label. This makes it easier to track the contacts that have entered the flow. You could, for example, name it Abandoned checkout.

  3. Add an email by clicking the plus sign, selecting Activity, and then Send email sendout. Either choose a ready-made email from the drop-down or click Create. Make sure that an Abandoned Checkout module is added to the email.

    An email in the editor with the Abandoned Checkout module added, which displays the products from the customer's checkout.

  4. After the email is sent, click the plus sign and choose Time delay. Configure the delay to seven days.

  5. Click the plus sign, Activity, and Remove label.

    The Remove label activity added to the end of the automation flow, after the time delay.

Remember to click Save and Activate in the top right corner to get the automation going.

Using checkout data in your email

The Abandoned Checkout module can use every field that your site sends in the checkout event. This includes the products and their prices, the discounts, the coupon code, whether a shipping or payment method has been selected, and the links back to the cart and checkout. You can use this data to make the email more relevant, for example by reminding customers of a coupon they applied or by linking them straight back to their checkout.

Using Abandoned Checkout with Abandoned Browse and Abandoned Cart

If a single session contains product views, cart changes, and checkout changes, only one abandoned signal is produced for that session. This means a customer doesn't receive a separate reminder for each type of event. You can run Abandoned Browse, Abandoned Cart, and Abandoned Checkout automations side by side. We recommend using a different label in each automation so you can tell the contacts apart.

Common mistakes to avoid

Forgetting to include an Abandoned Checkout module in the email

Make sure your email contains an Abandoned Checkout module. Otherwise, the customer won't see the products from their checkout.

Forgetting to remove the label

If the label isn't removed at the end of the flow, contacts may remain tagged as abandoned checkout customers.

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