How Do I Recover Abandoned Carts With Chat Instead of Email?
Use chat in two places: answer the question that stops the sale while the shopper is still on your store, and follow up on WhatsApp with shoppers who opted in. AeroChat answers shipping, sizing and stock questions on the product and cart pages from your Shopify data. For shoppers who gave their number and agreed to messages, it sends a cart reminder with an approved WhatsApp template and picks up the conversation when they reply. Shoppers who left no contact details can’t be reached by any channel, so the first part matters most.
Shopify behavior from Shopify’s help center: Abandoned checkouts. WhatsApp rules from Meta’s developer docs: template category guidelines and getting opt-in. All checked 11 November 2026.
Why it happens
Abandoned carts are a constant topic on the Shopify Community. Merchants ask what actually recovers them now: email, WhatsApp, text or push. One points out that most shoppers who abandon never left an email or phone number, so recovery flows have nobody to message. Others want to hand-pick carts and send each one a personal note, or send an offer to every open cart at once. Some found their recovery flow never fired, or that out-of-stock items in carts were causing abandoned checkouts.
Many carts stall over a single unanswered question. Is shipping free? Will it arrive before Friday? Does it run small? If nobody answers in the moment, the shopper leaves to look elsewhere.
What Shopify’s help center says
Per Shopify’s help center, checked 11 November 2026:
- A checkout counts as abandoned if it stays incomplete for more than ten minutes after the customer provides their email.
- If the customer enters a phone number instead of an email, the recovery email can’t be sent.
- Recovery emails cover the Online Store and Buy Button channels. You can set them up with the “Abandoned checkout emails by Shopify” automation, choose who receives them and when.
- You can also email a customer their checkout link by hand. Anyone with the link can continue that checkout, so send it only to that customer.
The usual fixes and their limits
- Shopify’s recovery emails. Built in and easy to switch on. They reach only shoppers who entered an email at checkout.
- An email or SMS platform, such as Klaviyo or Omnisend. More control over timing and content. A reminder can’t answer the question that stopped the sale.
- Exit pop-ups and discounts. Some shoppers come back. Others learn to wait for the discount.
- WhatsApp reminders. Hard to miss on a phone. Meta classes cart reminders as marketing, even when the user asked for them, so they need opt-in and an approved marketing template.
How to handle it in chat with AeroChat
First, on your store. AeroChat answers shoppers on product and cart pages from your products, stock, shipping rules and discounts in Shopify. A shopper who asks “will this arrive by Friday?” gets an answer and a link back to the cart, while they still want to buy.
Second, after they leave. For shoppers who gave their WhatsApp number and agreed to messages, AeroChat sends a cart reminder with an approved marketing template. If they reply with a question, AeroChat answers it in the same chat, checks the item is still in stock and sends the checkout link again. If they pay, the order appears in Shopify and the conversation ends there.
AeroChat: Hi Tom, you left the Field backpack in your cart (example). It’s still in stock. Here’s your cart: [link]. Any questions before you check out?
Customer: Does it fit a 16-inch laptop?
AeroChat: Yes. The laptop sleeve fits up to 16 inches (example). Shipping is free on orders over US$75, so this one ships free. Want me to send the checkout link again?
Customer: Yes please.
AeroChat: Here it is: [link]
In Shopify: the order for one Field backpack comes in from the same checkout.
Copy this into AeroChat
When a shopper with a WhatsApp number and marketing opt-in abandons a checkout, follow these steps.
- Wait one hour (example). If they have not completed the order, send our approved cart reminder template with the items and the checkout link.
- If they reply with a question, answer it from our product details, stock, shipping rules and knowledge base.
- Check every item is still in stock. If one is not, suggest an in-stock alternative.
- Send the checkout link again when they are ready.
- If they ask to stop messages, opt them out straight away and confirm it.
Send only one reminder per checkout. Never offer a discount unless it is one of our active discounts. Reply in the customer’s language.
Get your cart reminder template approved and set your own timing before you turn this on. A starting point is in our abandoned cart templates.
What to connect
- Your Shopify store. Built in. Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store and connect your store. AeroChat reads products, stock, discounts, shipping rules and abandoned checkouts.
- WhatsApp Business. With an approved marketing template for cart reminders and a way for shoppers to opt in. See opt-in and opt-out.
- Web chat on your store. For answering shoppers before they leave.
Questions
Can I send WhatsApp reminders to everyone who abandons a cart?
Only to shoppers who opted in to messages from you. Meta requires clear opt-in, and cart reminders count as marketing messages.
Will my number get banned for cart reminders?
The risk comes from messaging people who didn’t agree, or sending too often. See WhatsApp cart reminders without a ban.
What about shoppers who left no contact details?
No channel can reach them after they leave. That’s why answering on the page, in the moment, matters.
Where can I learn more about cart abandonment?
See the glossary entry on cart abandonment, abandoned carts on WhatsApp and abandoned cart recovery.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
Answer the question that stops the sale
Install AeroChat, connect WhatsApp, and abandon a test cart from your own phone.
7-day free trial.