Abandoned Cart Email Examples for Shopify: What to Write
A good abandoned cart email for Shopify is short, shows the exact products the shopper left, gives one button back to the cart, and answers the question that likely stopped them, such as delivery time or returns. In Shopify Messaging you build it from the Recover abandoned cart or Recover abandoned checkout template, which already fills in the shopper’s products; the work is in the subject line, a few sentences of copy and the timing.
The writing limits below come from Shopify’s Help Center page on writing best practices, and the sections from Shopify Messaging templates, both read on October 23, 2026. The four examples are ours, written to those limits; they aren’t copies of any brand’s emails.
Four examples, annotated
Each example lists the subject line, the preview text and the sections used. The Abandoned cart and Abandoned checkout sections show the products the customer left; they work only inside those automations or in a Flow workflow using the Messaging Send Marketing Email action.
1. The plain reminder (first email, cart or checkout)
- Subject: Still thinking it over?
- Preview text: Your cart is saved: the merino sweater in navy, size M.
- Sections: Header, Text (two sentences), Abandoned cart, Button (“Back to your cart”), Footer.
- Copy: “You left a few things in your cart. We’ve kept them for you, and you can pick up where you left off.”
It works as a first email because it asks for nothing new. The shopper sees the products and a way back. The preview text names the product so the email is recognizable in the inbox list.
2. The reassurance (second email)
- Subject: Free returns for 30 days
- Preview text: And delivery in 2 to 4 business days to most of the US.
- Sections: Header, Text, Abandoned cart, Multi-column (three short blocks: delivery, returns, contact), Button, Footer.
- Copy: one line per block, with each policy linked.
This email answers the doubts your store can answer honestly. Use your real return window and delivery time; if you don’t offer free returns, lead with what you do offer.
3. The last call with a discount (third email, checkout only)
- Subject: 10% off what you left behind
- Preview text: Use code WELCOMEBACK at checkout.
- Sections: Header, Text, Abandoned checkout, Discount, Button, Footer.
- Copy: “Here’s 10% off the items you left. Enter WELCOMEBACK at checkout to use it.”
The Discount section only shows a code that already exists in Discounts, so create it first. Leave out the Countdown section here: it counts down to one fixed date and time, which fits a campaign with a deadline but goes stale in an automation that sends every day.
4. The browse follow-up (one email)
- Subject: The linen shirt you looked at
- Preview text: Back in stock in all sizes.
- Sections: Header, Abandoned browse, Text, Product (static, two related items), Footer.
- Copy: one sentence on why the product is worth a second look, such as a material or a review.
A browse email goes to people who viewed a product and added nothing, so a discount is premature; product information carries it.
Subject lines and preview text
Shopify’s guidance for every marketing email: keep the subject line to 3 to 6 words or under 50 characters so it reads on a phone, write it last so it matches the content, and always add preview text that complements the subject instead of repeating it. Subject lines support emojis and international characters. In the body, keep the email under 200 words or about 20 lines (Gmail hides content past 102 KB), put the important part within the first two scrolls on mobile, and never put the offer only in an image, because some email clients block images.
Six subject lines of our own that stay under the limit:
| Subject | Characters | Use for |
|---|---|---|
| Still thinking it over? | 23 | First reminder |
| Your cart is waiting | 20 | First reminder |
| Free returns for 30 days | 24 | Reassurance |
| Questions about sizing? | 23 | Reassurance for apparel |
| 10% off your cart until Sunday | 30 | Last call |
| The linen shirt you looked at | 29 | Browse follow-up |
For more on subject lines, including AI-generated ones, see email subject lines.
Timing for a three-email sequence
The timing below is our recommendation, not a Shopify default; the search results for this topic range from 15 minutes to 72 hours, and none of those figures come with a source either.
| Send after the shopper leaves | Content | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Reminder | 1 to 4 hours | Products and a button |
| 2. Reassurance | About 24 hours | Delivery, returns, contact |
| 3. Last call | About 72 hours | Discount, if your margin allows |
To set a wait, go to Apps > Messaging > Automations, open the automation, click Edit workflow, change the wait and click Apply changes; editing workflows needs a desktop. Shopify’s pages describe changing when an automation sends, not adding emails to it, so check in the workflow editor whether your store lets you add further email steps. A longer sequence can also be built as a Shopify Flow workflow with the Messaging Send Marketing Email action, which is where the abandoned-cart and abandoned-checkout sections also work. After a month, look at which email brings back orders and rework the one that brings back fewest.
When to add a discount
In our view, a discount in every first email teaches regular customers that leaving the cart pays. We would keep discounts for the last email, and only on products where the margin can carry it; the pricing arithmetic is in how to price products on Shopify.
Two Shopify details matter here. With the legacy abandoned checkout email, a discount applied through the template replaces any code the customer had already entered, so don’t send a smaller recovery code to someone who already had a bigger one. And a code added to the email doesn’t explain itself, so write a line saying what it is and when it ends.
The setup itself, from turning on the automation to the abandoned checkout settings, is in Shopify abandoned cart recovery and abandoned checkout recovery tools. More guides on email and popups are in the email and popups hub.
FAQ
How many abandoned cart emails should I send? We recommend up to three for an abandoned checkout, if your workflow allows more than one email, and one for an abandoned browse. Check the reports after a month and drop an email that recovers almost nothing.
Should the first abandoned cart email include a discount? In our view the first email should remind, and a discount belongs in the last one, if at all. Offering it first gives away margin to shoppers who might have come back anyway.
Can I add a countdown timer to an abandoned cart email? The Shopify Messaging editor has a Countdown section that generates a live GIF to an end date you set. Use it only for a real deadline.
Can the email show the products the customer left? The Abandoned cart and Abandoned checkout sections show the products the customer left, and the Abandoned browse section shows the product they viewed.