According to the research summary published by the Baymard Institute, around 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned on average. PrestaShop abandoned cart recovery works on two fronts: remove the obstacles in your checkout (surprise costs, forced account creation, long forms, missing payment methods) and send a short series of two or three reminder emails to shoppers who left their email address. Below you will find the main causes, a ready-made email schedule, notes on consent and GDPR, and the settings that make checkout shorter.
How many shopping carts are abandoned?
The Baymard Institute has collected cart abandonment studies for years and publishes their average, which sits at roughly 70%. In practice, out of ten carts with products in them, usually only about three turn into orders. Your own rate depends on your industry and traffic, so treat it as a benchmark, not a target.
Not every abandoned cart can be won back: some people use the cart as a wish list or are only comparing prices. The rest leave for reasons you can fix.
How do you find abandoned carts in the PrestaShop back office?
In PrestaShop 1.7, 8 and 9 the list of carts is under Orders → Shopping Carts. For each cart you see the customer, the total, the date and whether it became an order. Carts without an order are marked "Non ordered" or "Abandoned cart". Open a cart to see its products, the customer's email address (if they entered one) and the date of the last change.
Why do customers abandon their carts?
Baymard's surveys, once "just browsing" visitors are filtered out, keep pointing to the same reasons:
- Extra costs shown too late — shipping, fees or taxes that appear only on the last step. This is the most common reason.
- Forced account creation — the customer wants to buy once, and the store makes them invent a password.
- A long or complicated checkout — too many fields, steps and page reloads.
- Lack of trust — doubts about entering card details, no clear returns policy, no visible contact details.
- Too few payment methods — the shopper's preferred wallet or local method is missing.
- Slow pages and errors — a checkout that loads slowly or rejects valid data.
Most of these can be fixed in your store settings before you send a single reminder.
How do you recover abandoned carts in PrestaShop with email?
A reminder email is the simplest way to win back part of your abandoned carts. It only works when you know the shopper's address, though: a logged-in customer, or a guest who typed their email in the first checkout step. An anonymous visitor who only added a product to the cart cannot be reminded by email. That is why it helps to ask for the email address at the very start of checkout, which is exactly what the standard PrestaShop checkout does.
A reminder schedule that works
Two or three messages over a few days is a proven pattern; more tends to annoy people.
| When to send | What to say | Discount code | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Reminder | 1–3 hours after abandonment | product photos and names, a button back to the cart, contact details | no |
| 2. Answer doubts | around 24 hours | shipping cost and time, returns, payment methods, product reviews | usually not |
| 3. Last call | 2–4 days | a short reminder, stock information, optionally a code | optional |
The first email arrives while the purchase is still on the customer's mind, the second answers typical concerns, and the third is the place for an incentive, if you use one at all.
Should you add a discount code?
A discount can tip undecided shoppers over the line, but it has a cost: it cuts your margin, and regular customers quickly learn that leaving a cart earns them a discount. If you do offer one:
- add it only to the second or third email, never the first,
- use single-use codes assigned to one customer,
- keep the validity short, for example 48–72 hours,
- consider a minimum cart value or free shipping instead of a percentage off.
To create such a code by hand, go to Catalog → Discounts → Cart Rules: in the conditions tab pick the customer, limit it to one use and set an expiry date. With dozens of abandoned carts a day, automation is the better choice.
How do you write a good abandoned cart email?
- A specific, calm subject line, such as "Your cart is waiting", rather than a shouty promotion.
- Product photos, prices and one clear button back to the cart.
- A recognisable sender: your store name and an address on your own domain.
- A way to contact support, for shoppers with an open question.
- A visible link to stop receiving reminders.
- A layout that reads well on a phone.
Are abandoned cart emails GDPR compliant?
Ask this before you switch reminders on, because there is no single clear answer. A reminder sent on the store's initiative, especially one with a discount code, is treated by many lawyers as marketing. Marketing emails generally require the recipient's consent, both under the GDPR and under the national e-marketing rules based on the EU ePrivacy Directive (in the UK, PECR). Others consider a short reminder about an unfinished purchase acceptable on the basis of the store's legitimate interest. Sending reminders to people who have not consented to marketing is therefore a legal grey area.
This article is not legal advice. Before launching reminders, check your approach with a lawyer who knows e-commerce in the countries you sell to. Whatever their view, these good practices help:
- ask for consent in checkout with a separate checkbox that is not ticked by default,
- describe the reminders in your privacy policy (purpose, legal basis, how long you keep the data),
- include an easy opt-out link in every email and honour it straight away,
- keep the number of messages low and never email people who have unsubscribed,
- record when and how each customer gave consent.
Note: abandoned cart data is personal data. Do not export it to third-party tools without a data processing agreement, and do not keep it longer than you need it.
How do you shorten the checkout in PrestaShop?
Every obstacle you remove from checkout helps all your customers, not only the ones who get an email.
Guest checkout
Enable it under Shop Parameters → Order Settings → Enable guest checkout. Customers can then order without a password and create an account later if they want to.
Shipping costs shown early
Do not hide the shipping cost until the last step. Show it on the product page or in the cart, and if you offer free shipping above a certain amount, set it under Shipping → Preferences → Free shipping starts at and mention it in the cart. The Free Shipping Progress Bar module shows in the cart how much is left to that threshold and updates after every change. If you ship orders the same day, the Same-Day Dispatch Countdown module answers the next question on the product page: how long the customer has to order for dispatch today.
Fewer form fields
- In Customers → Customers and Customers → Addresses, the Set required fields for this section button shows which fields are mandatory.
- In Shop Parameters → Customer Settings, turn off Ask for birth date and Enable partner offers if you do not use them.
- You can change the address format and required fields per country in International → Locations → Countries.
Everything on one page
The standard checkout in PrestaShop 1.7, 8 and 9 is a single page with steps that open one after another: personal information, addresses, shipping and payment. Each step has to be confirmed before the next one appears. If you want address, shipping and payment on one screen, you need a one-page checkout module; before you buy one, check that it works with your payment and carrier modules.
Familiar payment methods and a fast store
A missing payment method is a common reason to give up. If you sell to Poland, shoppers there expect BLIK and instant bank transfers; you will find a comparison of the options in our post on PrestaShop payment methods. Speed matters just as much: every extra second a cart takes to load on a phone is a chance to leave, so read our guide on how to speed up PrestaShop too.
Where should you start with cart recovery?
| Step | Impact | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Guest checkout | high | easy, one setting |
| Shipping costs visible in the cart | high | easy to medium |
| Removing unnecessary fields | medium | easy |
| A series of 2–3 reminder emails | high | medium, needs consent and copy |
| One-page checkout | medium to high | medium |
| Extra payment methods | depends on your customers | medium |
After each change, compare the share of carts that turn into orders over similar periods, and walk through the whole purchase on a phone yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Does PrestaShop have built-in abandoned cart emails?
Not in a standard installation. You can see abandoned carts under Orders → Shopping Carts and write to a customer by hand, but an automatic email series needs a module or an integration with an email marketing tool.
When should the first reminder go out?
Usually within 1–3 hours of abandonment, while the customer still remembers the purchase. An email after a few minutes can feel pushy, and after several days the shopper has often bought elsewhere.
Should every reminder include a discount?
No. A discount in the first email teaches customers to abandon carts on purpose. Start with a plain reminder and an email that answers common doubts, and add a single-use code with a short validity to the last message at most.
Can I send reminders to people who did not consent to marketing?
It is a legal grey area: some lawyers treat cart reminders as marketing that requires consent, others accept them on the basis of legitimate interest. Check with a lawyer before you start, and include an opt-out link in every email.
Want to show shoppers how close they are to free delivery? Take a look at the Free Shipping Progress Bar module or contact us.
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