Shopify Browse Abandonment Email: Setup and Who Gets It
A Shopify browse abandonment email goes to a shopper who viewed at least one product but didn’t add it to the cart or buy before leaving. Shopify Messaging sends it from the Convert abandoned product browse template, by email or SMS, and fills the email with the product that was viewed. It reaches only shoppers Shopify can identify and who are subscribed to marketing, which makes the audience smaller than the number of product views in your reports.
The template and setup come from Shopify’s Help Center page on creating marketing automations, and the email section from Shopify Messaging templates, both read on October 23, 2026.
How browse abandonment works in Shopify
Shopify groups three templates under “Recover site visitors”:
| Template | Fires when the shopper | Channels |
|---|---|---|
| Convert abandoned product browse | Viewed at least one product, didn’t add it to the cart or buy | Email, SMS |
| Recover abandoned cart | Added products but didn’t start checkout | Email, SMS |
| Recover abandoned checkout | Started checkout but didn’t complete the order | Email, SMS |
Browse abandonment is the earliest of the three, sent when the shopper only viewed a product.
Two limits decide who receives it. First, Messaging’s marketing automations send only to customers subscribed to marketing by default. Shopify names the option to send to all customers only for the abandoned checkout automation. Second, an email can only reach a customer with an address on file; Shopify’s page doesn’t say which visitors it can identify. In our understanding that leaves out anonymous first-time visitors, who browse without signing in or arriving from one of your emails. That’s why growing the subscriber list, with a signup form or popup, comes before tuning this automation; see Shopify email list growth.
The emails count toward your Messaging allowance: 10,000 free emails a month on the Basic plan and higher, with only abandoned checkout emails free of that count. SMS versions are billed per message by country.
Set it up
- On a desktop or in the Shopify app, go to Apps > Messaging and click Automations.
- Click Create automation and choose Convert abandoned product browse.
- In the dialog, select Email (or SMS) as the channel.
- Click Edit email to change the copy; the Abandoned browse section already shows the product the customer viewed.
- Optional: Send test to see it in your inbox.
- Turn the automation on.
To change when it sends, open it and use Edit workflow on a desktop, then Apply changes. The Abandoned browse section works only in this automation, or in a Shopify Flow workflow that uses the Messaging Send Marketing Email action, if you want a custom trigger.
What to write
Our advice for a browse email:
- One email, sent the same day. The shopper showed interest but no intent to buy, so a single reminder is in proportion.
- The product first: the Abandoned browse section shows the item they viewed. Add one or two lines on what makes it worth a second look: the material, a size guide, a review.
- No discount by default. A code in the first contact after a product view rewards window-shopping. Save discounts for checkout reminders, if you use them at all.
- One button back to the product, and a short subject line that names it, such as “The linen shirt you looked at”.
Keep it short; Shopify’s guidance for marketing emails is under 200 words, with the important part in the first two scrolls on mobile.
Browse, cart and checkout together
The three templates fire at different moments, and a shopper can trigger more than one: browse, then add to cart, then start checkout. We’d turn on the checkout automation first, then the cart one, and the browse email last, checking after each that the emails don’t overlap for the same visit and that the reports justify the next. The cart and checkout side, with timing and discounts, is in Shopify abandoned cart recovery. Further guides on email automations are in the email and popups hub.
FAQ
Who receives Shopify browse abandonment emails? The automation sends to customers subscribed to email marketing by default. In our understanding it can reach only visitors Shopify can match to a customer with an email address; Shopify’s page doesn’t spell out which visits it can identify.
Is the browse abandonment email free? Browse emails count toward Shopify Messaging’s 10,000 free emails a month on the Basic plan and higher. Only abandoned checkout emails don’t count.
Can I send browse abandonment by SMS? The Convert abandoned product browse template supports SMS as well as email, sent to customers subscribed to SMS marketing and billed per message.
How soon should a browse abandonment email send? We would send it the same day, a few hours after the visit; check the template’s default wait when you create it, and change it in the automation’s Edit workflow.