Abandoned cart

WoodMart can record carts that customers leave without completing an order and send a recovery email with a link that restores the saved products. You can also include a one-time coupon in the email.

Enable cart recovery

Navigate to Dashboard -> Theme Settings -> Shop -> Abandoned cart, enable Enable cart recovery, and save the Theme Settings.

Enable cart recovery
Enable cart recovery in Theme Settings.

WoodMart tracks carts differently depending on the customer:

  • Registered customers: their cart is saved automatically while they add, remove, or update products.
  • Guest customers: their cart can be saved after they enter a valid email address on the checkout page when Recover guest carts is enabled.

Set the cart timeout and cleanup period

A newly recorded cart has the Open status while the customer is active. Use Cart timeout to define how long WoodMart should wait after the last cart activity before treating it as abandoned. The default value is two days, but you can adjust it to match your store’s typical purchase cycle.

Cart timeout setting: 60 minutes
Set the period after which an inactive cart becomes abandoned.

The recovery process runs approximately every 15 minutes. When the configured timeout has passed, the cart receives the Abandoned status during the next scheduled run. It then appears under Dashboard -> Products -> Abandoned carts, and WoodMart sends the recovery email.

Abandoned carts list page backend
Abandoned carts appear in the Products menu after the timeout expires.
Abandoned cart reminder email
The recovery email includes a link that restores the saved cart.

Use Cart cleanup to specify how long abandoned cart records should remain in the database. WoodMart permanently deletes records that have exceeded this period.

Cart cleanup setting: remove abandoned carts after 3 days
Set how long abandoned cart records should be retained.

Recover guest carts

Enable Recover guest carts to record carts belonging to customers who are not logged in. A guest cart is saved only after the customer enters a valid email address on the checkout page.

Recover guest carts setting enabled
Enable recovery for carts created by guest customers.
Checkout page with billing details form, order summary, payment options, and Place Order button
WoodMart can record a guest cart after an email address is entered at checkout.

If customers must consent before their guest cart data is stored, enable Guest data consent. Use Guest data consent text to customize the checkbox label displayed at checkout.

Guest data consent toggle enabled
Configure the consent checkbox and its text for guest customers.

Configure a recovery coupon

Enable Enable coupon to include a unique, one-time coupon in the recovery email. Configure the coupon using the following options:

  • Coupon prefix: sets the prefix used for generated coupon codes.
  • Coupon value: sets the discount amount and whether it is a percentage or a fixed cart discount.
  • Delete used coupons: removes generated coupons after they have been used.
  • Delete expired coupons: removes generated coupons after their expiration date.
  • Coupon expires after: defines how long a generated coupon remains valid.
Coupon settings form with coupon enabled, 10% value, and expiration set to 1 day
Configure the generated recovery coupon.
Abandoned cart reminder email with 10% off and a Recover cart button
A generated coupon can be included in the recovery email.

Configure the recovery email

Navigate to Dashboard -> WooCommerce -> Settings -> Emails -> Abandoned cart. Here you can enable the email and configure its subject, heading, and email type. The email includes the cart recovery link, an unsubscribe link, and the generated coupon when coupons are enabled.

Back to Emails settings
Configure the abandoned cart email in WooCommerce settings.

Customize the email templates

Standard email settings do not require template changes. To customize the email markup, copy the required template to the same relative path in your child theme and edit it there:

  • woocommerce/emails/abandoned-cart.php
  • woocommerce/emails/plain/abandoned-cart.php

Manage abandoned carts

Navigate to Dashboard -> Products -> Abandoned carts to review recorded abandoned carts. The table displays the customer, email address, subtotal, status, and last activity. You can open a record to inspect its cart contents or delete records that are no longer needed.

How cart recovery works

  1. WoodMart records an active cart with the Open status.
  2. After the configured cart timeout, the next scheduled recovery process changes its status to Abandoned.
  3. WoodMart sends the recovery email and generates a coupon when that option is enabled.
  4. When the customer follows the recovery link, WoodMart replaces the current cart with the saved products and deletes the stored abandoned cart record.
  5. The record is also removed when an order with the matching customer email is completed or when the configured cleanup period expires.

If the customer continues shopping after restoring the cart but does not complete the purchase, later cart activity may create or update another Open cart that can enter the recovery process again.

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