Are your Shopify abandoned cart recovery efforts misguided?

All the articles about abandoned cart recovery are useless.

If you search for "Shopify abandoned cart," a lot of articles about countermeasures come up. But no matter which one you read, they all say the same thing.

• Clearly state shipping fees
• Increase payment methods
• Set up abandoned cart emails
• Customize checkout

Are these even truly "abandoned cart recovery" measures in the first place?

An abandoned cart means "I intended to buy, but stopped the purchase midway for some reason." In other words, there was an intention to buy at the point when the item was added to the cart. Yet, the purchase wasn't made.

Let's look at the measures suggested in popular articles.

"Clearly state shipping fees" — Certainly, there are cases where customers abandon their cart when shipping fees suddenly appear at checkout. But even if you state shipping fees on the product page, that only "prevents a surprise." The fact that shipping fees are incurred doesn't change.

"Increase payment methods" — Shopify natively supports major payment methods such as credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Shop Pay. How many cases are there where someone can't buy because a payment method is unavailable?

"Set up abandoned cart emails" — This is a feature that Shopify itself strongly recommends setting up. It should be a given that it's already implemented.

"Customize checkout" — Many stores disallow new customer accounts, but the default settings for input fields are almost ideal. There isn't much you can do beyond Plus plans.

Customers are not that simple. If they really want something, they'll buy it even if it takes a little effort.

That's not why they don't buy. Don't you think popular articles underestimate customers?

Why other articles don't solve the problem

The reason is simple. The people writing them have no practical experience.

They're copies of overseas articles, or ivory tower theories from consultants. Because they're written based only on knowledge, only superficial solutions emerge. They haven't actually operated a store or been responsible for sales, so they're not as dedicated to sales as you are. They're not as troubled or worried as you are.

That's why they stop at "clearly state shipping fees" and "increase payment methods." Those are "efforts to prevent abandonment," not "methods to motivate purchase."

Indeed, if a store hasn't even set up abandoned cart emails or only enables Shopify Payment, these measures might be effective. But store owners like that aren't worried enough to search for "abandoned cart recovery." They probably have other things they should be doing.

You, who are searching for this article, have already done these basics. That's why when you read popular articles, you think, "So what?"

They can only talk at an e-commerce textbook level. They don't delve into real purchasing psychology.

The real way to prevent abandoned carts

So, how can abandoned carts be prevented?

The answer is something you all should already know, as you use e-commerce yourselves.

Abandoned carts don't happen in the cart

Think back. When you shop online, have you ever abandoned a cart or left during checkout? And then, have you ever returned later and completed the purchase?

When you abandoned, what was missing?
→ "I don't need it right now," "Let me think about it a bit more."

When you returned and bought it, what happened?
→ "I really wanted it after all," "Stock was running low," "The sale was about to end."

In other words, purchasing intent has stages. If that stage crosses a threshold, a purchase is made; if not, abandonment occurs.

Abandoned carts don't happen in the cart. They are determined by the psychological state before adding to the cart.

Improving the checkout screen or clearly stating shipping fees only "lowers barriers to abandonment." It doesn't boost purchase intent.

How to boost purchase intent

Purchasing psychology has stages. People shop through a flow of "Awareness → Interest → Consideration → Comparison → Purchase."

The abandoned cart measures discussed in popular articles act on the "Comparison → Purchase" stage. In other words, just before buying.

Even if you clearly state shipping fees or add more payment methods, that only lowers the barrier for "Comparison → Purchase." But if purchase intent is low to begin with, lowering the barrier won't lead to a purchase.

What is truly effective is to boost purchase intent at the earlier "Interest → Consideration" stage. To turn "I want it" into "I'll lose out if I don't buy it now."

Common measures	Real measures
Consider it a cart problem	Consider it a pre-cart problem
Lower abandonment barriers	Boost purchase intent
Act on "Comparison → Purchase"	Build up from "Awareness → Interest → Consideration"

What to do at each stage

So, what should be done at each stage? Since this article is about abandoned carts, I'll briefly explain each stage.

Awareness
First, people need to know you exist. Ads, social media, SEO. Any method is fine. Increase exposure in a way that suits your store.

However, the conversion rate (CVR) varies greatly depending on the access route. Is it ads or search? Text ads or video ads? The age, income, and even initial purchase intent differ by medium. Even within Google Ads and Facebook Ads, the segment that adds to the cart and the segment that leads to purchase are distinct. In modern ad operations, these are naturally managed separately. If this is overlooked, no matter how much traffic you get, abandoned carts won't decrease.

Interest
Just knowing about it isn't enough to make a purchase. Communicate the product's appeal, story, and what makes it different. This is the stage of creating "a little bit of interest." This involves crafting your landing page and branding. This is where the foundation of purchase intent is set.

Consideration
People who are interested start to research further. Reviews, detailed product descriptions, Q&A. This is the stage of building trust.

If you neglect this, people will abandon with "I'm interested but unsure." Are the product photos sufficient? Is information on size and material clearly stated? Are there testimonials from actual buyers? The deciding factor is whether you can provide the reassurance that "it's okay to buy."

Comparison → Purchase
This is the stage where people are close to deciding, "Maybe I'll go with this." They make their final decision by comparing with other products or stores.

What works here is a final push on price. Free shipping, limited-time sales, and coupons. Because purchase intent has been built up upstream, these become the final push.

Conversely, if the upstream is weak, giving out coupons alone is meaningless. Giving a coupon to someone who was "just browsing" will result in a "hmm." It's when you give a coupon to someone who is "interested but hesitant" that it becomes "I'll buy it now."

Common measures focus only on "Comparison → Purchase." But if purchase intent isn't built up upstream, coupons won't resonate.

The battle is won before the item even enters the cart.

How to create "I'll lose out if I don't buy it now"

So, how can purchase intent be boosted during the "Interest → Consideration" stages?

"Because it's cheap," "Because it's convenient," "Because I want it"... there are many reasons, but the strongest is the feeling of superiority of "I got it cheaper than others." This drives purchasing behavior.

This psychology is created by "acquisition-based coupons."

• A coupon obtained through one's own action has value.
• A deadline creates a sense of "I'll lose out if I don't buy it now."
• And a feeling of superiority, "I got it cheaper than others," is born.

Coupons sent unsolicited or distributed casually aren't effective. It has value because you acquired it yourself. The deadline immediately boosts purchase intent. And after the purchase, a sense of satisfaction remains, "I got a good deal."

This is the strongest abandoned cart recovery strategy.

Mechanism for customers to acquire coupons in advance

The important thing is to give customers the coupon "before they add to the cart."

• Display discount on the product page
• Distribute coupons for LINE registration
• Distribute coupons for newsletter subscription

Any method is fine. What matters is the experience of "acquiring it yourself" and the condition of "having a deadline."

A coupon is not just a discount tool. It's a tool to give a sense of superiority, "I can buy it cheaper than others."

Summary

Common abandoned cart recovery articles are written by people with no practical experience. That's why they only cover basic techniques.

The real abandoned cart recovery is about giving a sense of superiority, "I can buy it cheaper than others." This is achieved through acquisition-based, time-limited coupons.

Abandoned carts are not something to be remedied "after they've dropped." They're something to be dealt with "before they drop."

Even if you send abandoned cart emails, if purchase intent is low, it's just spam. They abandoned because purchase intent was low; emails won't raise purchase intent.

We also run a store and have faced similar challenges. That's why we hope this article is somewhat helpful.

Try "Claim Coupon," an app that easily issues acquisition-based, time-limited coupons: Claim Coupon