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Walkthrough: Create an abandoned cart automation

Abstract

How to create an automation in Moosend that sends email messages to customers who leave abandoned carts on your website.

Sometimes, a customer might abandon their shopping cart and leave your website without making a purchase. By creating an abandoned cart automation in Moosend, you can quickly send an email message encouraging them to return to your website and complete their purchase.

This walkthrough tells you how to:

  • Give the automation a name.

  • Define the trigger that activates the automation.

  • Give the customer time to browse your website and complete their purchase.

  • Check if a purchase is made.

  • Send an email message.

Give the automation a name

You can give the automation a name now or later in the process and you can change the name at any time.

To give the automation a name:

  1. On the menu bar, click Automation.

  2. Click New > From recipe.

  3. In the Automation recipes list, navigate to Abandoned cart and click arrow.png to select the recipe.

    The automation designer displays the selected recipe on a new page, with the name, ID, status, and task list of the automation in the left pane, and the preconfigured workflow in the design pane.

  4. Click Abandoned cart, enter the name of your automation, and click Save.

    This pane also contains a description field. You can ignore this field for now. It is filled in automatically as you add elements to the automation. When you have finished designing the automation, you can edit the description.

Define the trigger

Every automation requires a trigger to activate it.

To define the trigger:

  1. In the design pane, click the When someone adds any product to their cart trigger.

  2. In the Trigger only once? field, in the drop-down list, select the No - Trigger every time someone adds a product option.

    You want the abandoned cart automation to be triggered every time a user puts an item in their cart, not just the first time.

  3. In the Website field, specify the websites that you want the automation to be triggered on, and then click Save.

Give the customer time

Every time a customer adds an item to their cart, the automation sequence is initiated. However, there is no point in sending an email message immediately. Give the customer time to browse your website, add more items to their cart, and complete their purchase.

To specify the amount of time a customer has to complete their purchase:

  1. In the design pane, click the Wait for 45 minute(s) step.

  2. In the Wait 45 minute(s) dialog, specify the amount of time you expect the customer to need and click Save.

    Note

    45 - 60 minutes is probably the optimum waiting time. This gives customers enough time to browse your site for other items and move forward with the purchase. If they have not purchased anything by then, they might need a reminder.

Check if a purchase was made

Now that your customers have had time to buy the items they added to their cart, you can use the Filter (if condition/Else) step split them up, based on whether they purchased any items or not.

To check if they made a purchase:

  1. In the design pane, click the (Not Purchased a Product in the last 45 minutes) step.

  2. In the (Not Purchased a Product in the last 45 minutes) dialog, in the Apply this set of filters to field, select the email list that you want this filter to be applied to.

  3. In the first drop-down field, select the Purchased a Product option.

  4. In the second drop-down field, select the is false option.

    In the abandoned cart automation, you are only interested in the customers who did not make a purchase.

  5. If you want to know if the customer did not purchase a particular product, in the third drop-down field, enter the product code.

    If you are interested in every product, leave the third drop-down field empty.

  6. On the right side of the(Not Purchased a Product in the last 45 minutes) dialog, click the time symbol.

    You now have extra options to help you define a time span for the condition to take place.

  7. Set an appropriate time span and then click Save.

Your filter is ready and separates customers into two groups: those who bought something during the time period, and those who did not, by asking the question Did the customer make a purchase in the last XX minutes, yes or no?

Send the email message to the correct group of customers

Now you must set up the email message and specify that it is only sent to the customers who did not complete a purchase.

To set up the email message:

  1. In the design pane, click the Then send email campaign action.

  2. In the Then send email campaign dialog, enter all the appropriate values:

    Field

    Value

    Subject line

    The title of the email message.

    From name

    The address that the email message is sent from.

    Add the content that suits you

    Create a new email message or select one from an existing campaign.

    Emails per day

    The number of email messages sent by this action every day.

  3. Click Save.

  4. To activate the automation, in the left pane, set the Inactive toggle switch to Active status.

You have now created a simple abandoned cart automation. You can go back and add more steps or do things differently if you want to. For instance, you can choose to send a discount as a thank you to the people who purchased a product by adding an action under the Yes side of your condition