In this article, we will explain how to create an Abandoned Cart workflow to automatically send a reminder email when customers abandon a cart.

We've created a series of articles to help you automatically send an abandoned cart email to your customers:

• Introduction to Abandoned Carts
• Part 1: Create an abandoned cart email template
• Part 2: Set up an Abandoned Cart workflow - YOU ARE HERE
• Part 3: Send abandoned cart emails in different languages (optional)
• Part 4: Record a conversion (optional)
• FAQ

Before you start

• Make sure you have installed the Brevo tracker on your website, added the Identify function to the script, and created the abandoned cart track events.
• To make sure your customers don't receive double abandoned cart emails, we recommend you disable abandoned cart emails created outside Brevo.

🧐 How does the abandoned cart workflow work?

After installing the Brevo tracker, adding the Identify function to the script, and creating the abandoned cart track events on your website, you will be able to track and add identified contacts who abandon their cart to your Abandoned Cart workflow. After a specific delay, a personalized abandoned cart email will be sent to encourage them to complete their purchase.

The Abandoned Cart workflow consists of 6 actions and conditions:

🖱️ Select the Abandoned Cart workflow

To select the Abandoned Cart workflow:

1. Go to Automations.
2. Click Create an automation.
3. Select the Abandoned Cart automation.
   
4. Click Use this automation.

From now on, you will automatically be guided through a series of 6 steps to create your Abandoned Cart workflow.

🛒 Step 1: Contact adds a product to their cart (entry point)

The entry point for the Abandoned Cart workflow is An event happens. Events are alerts that Brevo can receive from your website when certain key activities occur, such as when a shopping cart is purchased. Since we want to follow-up with abandoned carts, the trigger of this entry point will be when a shopper creates a new shopping cart.

To add your entry point:

1. In the Custom Event (Track Event) field, enter the event name that indicates when a cart is created or updated.
   Note: By default, the cart_updated event used in our Brevo plugins is automatically populated. If you are using your own custom events, please replace it with your own event name.
   
2. If you want to apply a specific condition to the event:
   1. Select Add conditions to the selected JS event.
   2. Create your condition by selecting data in the drop-down lists and fields.
      In our example, we added a condition so that the workflow will only be triggered if the total value of the cart is more than 10$.
      
3. Click NEXT.

Now, as soon as a contact creates a new cart, they will enter the workflow.

To learn more about track events and properties, read our technical documentation.

⏳ Step 2: Add a delay before the sending of your abandoned cart email

In the Abandoned Cart workflow, you will be prompted to add a 2-hour delay between the time the event happens and the sending of your abandoned cart email. You can update the delay to best meet your needs.

To update the delay:

1. In the first field, enter the delay you want your contact to wait for.
2. In the drop-down, select the time units you want to use.
   
3. Click NEXT.

✉️ Step 3: Send an abandoned cart email

Once the delay is up, the next step in the Abandoned Cart workflow is to send an email. You will have to choose the email template you want to send as your abandoned cart email.

1. Select your abandoned cart email template.
   Note: If you haven't created your abandoned cart email template yet, refer to Part 1: Create an abandoned cart email template to learn how to create and personalize an abandoned cart email template.
   
2. To customize your email with the values generated by the event you added as your entry point, select Use my event data and The event data which triggered the workflow.
   Note: You must select this option in order to pull data from the event that triggered the workflow, otherwise the values in the email sent will be empty.
3. If necessary, select the following options:
   1. I want to send a hidden copy of this email: select this option if you want to receive a copy of the abandoned cart email every time a contact receives it. You can send a hidden copy of the email to specific recipients separated by commas or to contacts that contain a certain contact attribute.
      
   2. I want to choose when to send this email:
      • Send at best time: select this option to maximize the open rate by delivering your emails at the optimal time for each recipient over a 24 hour period.
      • Choose a specific time frame: select this option to choose when you want to send the email, for example any day of the week at 8 am.
        
4. Click NEXT.

Your personalized email template will receive and insert the product details for each shopper who abandons a cart.

💰 Step 4: Contact purchases their cart (exit condition)

Once a contact has purchased their cart, you want to remove them from your Abandoned Cart workflow.

To remove a contact from the workflow after their purchase:

1. In the Custom Event (Track Event) field, enter the event name that indicates when a cart is purchased.
   Note: By default, the order_completed event used in our Brevo plugins is automatically populated. If you are using your own custom events, please replace it with your own event name.
   
2. If you want to apply a specific condition to the event:
   1. Select Add conditions to the selected JS event.
   2. Create your condition by selecting data in the drop-down lists and fields.
      In our example, we did not add any condition to the event as we want to remove all contacts who purchased their cart, without exception.
3. Click NEXT.

❎ Step 5: Contact deletes products from their cart (exit condition)

When a contact deletes products from their existing shopping cart, you want to remove them from your Abandoned Cart workflow.

To remove a contact from the workflow after the deletion of products from their cart:

1. In the Custom Event (Track Event) field, enter the event name that indicates when products are deleted from an existing shopping cart.
   Note: By default, the cart_deleted event used in our Brevo plugins is automatically populated. If you are using your own custom events, please replace it with your own event name.
   
2. If you want to apply a specific condition to the event:
   1. Select Add conditions to the selected JS event.
   2. Create your condition by selecting data in the drop-down lists and fields.
      In our example, we did not add any condition to the event as we want to remove all contacts who deleted products from their cart, without exception.
3. Click NEXT.

🔄 Step 6: Contact updates their cart or creates a new one (restart condition)

As soon as a contact updates their cart again or creates a new one, you want them to restart the Abandoned Cart workflow from the beginning.

To restart the workflow when a contact updates their cart:

1. In the Custom Event (Track Event) field, enter the event name that indicates when a cart is created or updated.
   Note: By default, the cart_updated event used in our Brevo plugins is automatically populated. If you are using your own custom events, please replace it with your own event name.
   
2. If you want to apply a specific condition to the event:
   1. Select Add conditions to the selected JS event.
   2. Create your condition by selecting data in the drop-down lists and fields.
      In our example, we added a condition so that the workflow will only restart if the total value of the cart is more than 10$.
      
3. Click NEXT.

✅ Activate your workflow

Once you are done setting up the workflow, you can activate it to allow contacts to enter it and receive your abandoned cart email.

To activate your workflow, click Status: Inactive and select Active.

🔨 Test your workflow [highly recommended]

To make sure your workflow works well and that the email sent populates with the event data, you can test it yourself. For the Abandoned Cart workflow, we recommend testing the workflow with a real test scenario:

1. Create an account on your store.
2. Add a product to your cart.
3. Abandon your cart and wait for the delay you added at step 3.
4. Test the rest of the workflow by updating, removing, and, purchasing products from your cart.

This should trigger the workflow and provide you with a true sense of how the workflow is functioning.

⏩ What's next?

• Part 3: Send abandoned cart emails in different languages (optional)
• Part 4: Record a conversion (optional)
• FAQ

🤔 Have a question?

If you have a question, feel free to contact our support team by creating a ticket from your account. If you don't have an account yet, you can contact us here.