How to Recover Abandoned Checkouts on Shopify and Boost Sales

When someone leaves an e-commerce site without buying, they are depriving the business of income. Around 70% of intended purchases have been left in the lurch. Now, just think about how much more you can earn if only one part of those who turned away actually decided to buy something.

The problem of cart abandonment is an issue for virtually all organizations engaged in e-commerce. Similarly, knowing why customers are leaving your platform without purchasing something is the gateway to effectively turning this loss into gain. Markloops helps you reduce cart abandonments and improve your sales. 

What Is Cart Abandonment?

A woman who has registered on a particular site views some products, takes an interest in some of them, and so on. She puts them in the cart for a while but eventually fails to make the payment for those goods. This can also be caused by high shipping charges, few modes of payment allowed, or sometimes even simple moments of hesitation. In every case, this results in a loss of potential revenue for the business.

The Financial Impact

Let’s talk numbers. If you make very rough estimations and see that with a $15,000 revenue generated in a month, you get 25% of abandoned carts returned to you, this is an added $45,000 in sales for the current year.

After reviewing the numbers, you should target the reasons for cart abandonment and employ fixative techniques. Missing an opportunity to raise revenue or convert more traffic into transactions is unprofessional.

An abandoned checkout occurs when a shopper chooses items to purchase, goes to the last stage of the purchase (the checkout button), and indicates their email but fails to complete the transaction. This issue is familiar to online stores and can lead to sales loss. However, Shopify comes in handy in such cases, providing resources to recover such sales. Our checkout extensibility services focus on identifying, investigating, and recovering such omitted checkouts on your online store using Shopify.

Reviewing Abandoned Checkouts

To start recovering lost sales, you first need to analyze and understand the reasons behind abandoned checkouts using the Shopify dashboard. This is where you get to know the trends and what might have gone wrong that makes customers run away in the middle of shopping.

Steps to review abandoned checkouts:

1. Navigate to your Shopify admin and go to Orders > Abandoned Checkouts.
2. Review the list of incomplete transactions.
3. Look for patterns such as payment failures, high shipping costs, or the unavailability of certain items.
4. If necessary, create a draft order with the exact details to retain a specific abandoned checkout.

Shopify automatically removes abandoned checkouts after three months if they haven’t been updated in a month and don’t have a completed transaction attached.

Understanding Payment Failures

Failed payments are one of the main reasons for abandoned checkouts. When a customer attempts to pay, Shopify records a payment event in the checkout timeline. Reviewing these events can help identify why a payment failed and guide you in assisting customers. 

Common reasons for payment failure include:

• High-risk transaction blocks
• Insufficient funds or expired cards
• Incorrect billing address or CVV code
• Technical payment processing errors
• Card declines by the payment provider
• Slow site speed and performance 

If a customer reports issues with payment, reviewing the checkout timeline can provide insights to help them complete their purchase. Focusing on site speed and performance optimization can also improve conversion rates. Slow site speed can lead to frustration and might lead to cart abandonment.

Setting Up Automated Abandoned Checkout Emails

Shopify allows you to automatically send emails to customers who abandon their checkout automatically automatically. These emails include a link for them to resume and complete their purchase.

Steps to activate abandoned checkout emails:

1. Go to Marketing > Automation in your Shopify admin.
2. Select View Templates and choose the Abandoned Checkout Automation template.
3. Click Edit to customize the email content and workflow.
4. Turn on the automation and save your settings.

Shopify automatically stops sending recovery emails in cases where:

• A customer completes the order before the email is sent.
• Payment processing failed during checkout.
• Products are out of stock or unavailable.
• A customer used a phone number instead of an email at checkout.

Manually Sending Abandoned Checkout Emails

If you prefer more control over customer follow-ups, you can manually send abandoned checkout emails.

Steps to send a manual recovery email:

1. Go to Orders > Abandoned Checkouts.
2. Select the checkout you want to recover.
3. Click on the customer's email under their information.
4. Your email client will open with a pre-filled recovery link.
5. Send a brief email to the customer with a personalized email marketing design and urge them to complete the purchase.  

Markloops’ email marketing services can also help minimize cart abandonment and recover lost sales.

The Use of Discounts and Security Badges against Abandoned Checkouts

Consider making use of Shopify discounts, including giveaways and confidence builders.

• Giveaways: A promotion that is given for a limited amount of time is usually more likely to make conversions for a second-time shopper.
• Confidence Boost: The customer also feels better when they see lock secure icons when payment areas are concerned.

Measuring the Plug of Abandoned Carts Resorted to

Shopify offers a feature known as “the Abandoned Cart Email Report” under marketing, which would help one access the effectiveness of their recovery efforts. This report contains information on:

• The number of sessions and recovered orders from recovery emails.
• Conversion rates and total sales generated.
• Average order value and number of products per recovered checkout.

Handling Abandoned Checkouts from Third-Party Payment Gateways

If your store uses external payment providers, abandoned checkouts may occur due to issues like:

• Customers close the checkout page before returning to Shopify.
• Delays in communication between Shopify and the payment gateway.
• A misconfigured return URL prevents Shopify from receiving order confirmation.

If you experience abandoned checkouts linked to third-party gateways, contact your payment provider to ensure the integration is set up correctly. Start implementing these strategies today and turn lost opportunities into revenue.

Contact Us

Need help to recover abandoned checkouts or optimize your Shopify store? Markloops is here to assist you with expert Shopify solutions, including automation, payment insights, and conversion strategies. Whether you're looking to improve checkout recovery rates, set up automated email campaigns, or streamline your store's performance, we've got you covered. Contact us now and get your Shopify to the top!