Short answer: an abandoned checkout is a cart that reached Shopify's checkout and got an email or phone number before the shopper left; an abandoned cart is any cart a shopper filled and left. Shopify lists only abandoned checkouts. CartSpy, an app for Shopify, keeps every abandoned cart, including the ones left before checkout, with the products still in it.
| Abandoned cart | Abandoned checkout | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A shopper added a product to the cart and left without ordering | A shopper started checkout, entered an email or phone number, and did not pay |
| Where Shopify shows it | Only as a count (Live View's active carts, the add to cart step in the reports) | As a list under Orders, Abandoned checkouts |
| Products in it | Not listed by Shopify | Listed by Shopify |
| Contact details | Usually none | Email or phone number |
| Recovery email from Shopify | No | Yes |
| In CartSpy | Kept, with products, value, location, source and stage | Kept, marked as the checkout or payment stage |
Every abandoned checkout is also an abandoned cart, but not the other way around. The carts that never reach checkout are the larger group on most stores, and they are the ones the Shopify admin never lists.
Shopify's Abandoned checkouts list exists to send recovery emails. A recovery email needs an address, so a checkout counts only once the shopper has typed one in. Shopify marks it as abandoned after it has sat unfinished for more than ten minutes and removes it from the admin after three months.
A shopper who added a jacket to the cart and closed the tab gave no address, so Shopify keeps no record of that cart beyond the totals in Live View and the conversion funnel.
CartSpy records every add to cart, checkout and order from your storefront through Shopify's web pixel. When a cart does not become an order, it stays in the Abandoned Carts list with the products, the value, when the shopper left, their location, the traffic source and the stage they reached: cart, checkout or payment. So the abandoned checkouts you know from Shopify are there, and so are the carts left before them.
The daily email says each morning how many of yesterday's abandoned carts reached checkout and how many were left before it. More in how to see abandoned carts before checkout and abandoned cart analytics. The listing: CartSpy on the Shopify App Store (apps.shopify.com/cartspy).
What it does not do: CartSpy does not send recovery emails and does not invent contact details. Most carts left before checkout are anonymous, and CartSpy shows them as anonymous.
Cart abandonment counts every shopper who added a product to the cart and left without ordering. Checkout abandonment counts only the shoppers who went on to start checkout and then left. Checkout abandonment is a subset of cart abandonment, and on most stores the larger group leaves before checkout.
On Shopify, an abandoned checkout is a checkout where the shopper entered an email or phone number and did not pay. Shopify lists these under Orders, Abandoned checkouts, and can send them a recovery email.
The Shopify admin has no list of abandoned carts. It lists abandoned checkouts (Orders, Abandoned checkouts) and shows cart totals in Live View and the reports. To see each abandoned cart with its products, including carts left before checkout, you need an app such as CartSpy.
Shopify sends abandoned checkout emails, to shoppers who reached checkout and gave an email. A shopper who left at the cart has usually given no contact details, so there is nobody to email. CartSpy does not send emails; it shows you every abandoned cart and exports the contacts that do exist.
Essential is $9.99 a month and includes abandoned cart analytics. Advanced is $19.99 a month and Pro is $39.99 a month. All three come with a 7-day free trial.
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