How to Set Up Abandoned Cart Emails in Shopify (2026): Built-In vs Email Apps

Short answer: Every Shopify store can send an automatic abandoned checkout email for free through the Shopify Messaging app – turn it on first. Move to a dedicated email tool when you want a multi-email sequence with your own logic, product recommendations, or one platform for all your store automations. Among the tools below, Omnisend and ActiveCampaign include abandoned cart on their entry plans, while GetResponse starts it on Marketer ($59/month at 1,000 contacts).

See GetResponse Marketer

This guide is based on each vendor’s published documentation and pricing pages, checked October 21, 2026 – not on hands-on testing.

How Shopify defines an abandoned checkout

Shopify’s help center says a checkout counts as abandoned when it “remains incomplete for more than ten minutes” after the customer has entered their email address. A few limits worth knowing before you set anything up:

• Recovery emails work only for the Online Store and Buy Button sales channels – not Shopify POS or third-party channels.
• No email is sent if the customer entered a phone number instead of an email, completed the purchase in the meantime, or hit certain payment or shipping errors.
• Abandoned checkouts older than three months are deleted automatically.
• For Shopify B2B, abandoned checkouts are off by default; the store owner has to contact Shopify Support to turn them on.

Option 1: Shopify’s built-in automation (free)

Shopify now runs abandoned checkout emails as a marketing automation inside the Shopify Messaging app. To turn on the current version:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Messaging.
2. Click Automations.
3. Click View templates and select the Abandoned checkout template.
4. Optional: click Edit to change the email content or the workflow.
5. Click Turn on automation, review the details and click Continue.

Things to know about how it behaves, according to Shopify’s documentation:

• Who receives it: by default, the abandoned checkout automation is sent only to customers subscribed to email marketing. You can change the To: field to all customers – check the consent rules for your markets first (see our email marketing rules guide).
• Timing: a new abandoned checkout automation defaults to a 10-hour wait. The wait time is edited in Shopify Flow.
• Cost: Shopify says abandoned checkout automation emails don’t count toward your emails sent with Shopify Messaging.
• One-way switch: activating the new automation is permanent – you can’t go back to the older “legacy” abandoned checkout email. On older stores you may still see the legacy settings, where you choose Send to (which visitors get the email) and Send after (the delay).

You can also send a recovery email by hand: open the checkout under Orders > Abandoned checkouts and click the customer’s email. Shopify warns that anyone with that link can continue the checkout, so send it only to the customer who abandoned it.

What to send, and when

Shopify’s own blog post on abandoned cart emails suggests a three-email sequence:

The same article recommends product images and a clear link back to the cart, short subject lines that survive mobile truncation, trust signals such as reviews and a clear return policy, and urgency only when it’s accurate (for example, real stock levels). It also says to test intervals against your own data, because the best timing varies by product type.

Note the gap: the built-in automation’s default is a single email at 10 hours. If you want the earlier first touch and follow-ups above, you’ll need to edit the workflow in Shopify Flow or use an email app built around multi-step flows.

Option 2: An email marketing app

A dedicated tool makes sense when you want several emails with waits and conditions, product blocks pulled from your catalog, or one place for welcome, post-purchase and win-back flows as well. Here’s which plans include abandoned cart, per each vendor’s pricing or help pages:

A few details from the documentation:

• GetResponse: after connecting your Shopify store, you build the flow under Campaigns > Ecommerce campaigns (or start from the Abandoned cart template). You set how long a cart must sit before it counts as abandoned, then add Wait and Send email steps. GetResponse says the whole campaign, including all waits, can’t exceed 21 days, and the flow ends once the customer buys. Contacts need valid marketing consent, which GetResponse acquires when syncing contacts through its store plugin. More in our GetResponse review.
• MailerLite: abandoned cart emails are available on all MailerLite plans – Free, Comfort and Power – through the e-commerce triggers in the Shopify integration. MailerLite notes that, for Shopify, these workflows only fire for shoppers who subscribed through a MailerLite form or clicked a MailerLite email link. The free plan limits you to 3 active automations, so a paid plan gives more room if you run several flows. See our MailerLite review.
• ActiveCampaign: abandoned cart is listed even on Starter. Its pricing page didn’t show prices when we checked, so see our ActiveCampaign review and check the live page.
• Omnisend: the only tool here with abandoned cart on a free plan (250 contacts, 500 emails/month). Paid plan details are in our Omnisend pricing guide.

See MailerLite plans

Which route should you take?

• Just launched, small list: turn on Shopify’s built-in automation today. It’s free and takes minutes.
• Want a proper sequence without paying yet: compare the free email tools for Shopify – Omnisend Free includes cart abandonment flows.
• You also run webinars, courses or lead-gen funnels: GetResponse Marketer adds abandoned cart, product recommendations and unlimited workflows alongside those tools.
• Already using an app: check whether Shopify’s automation is also on, so the same shopper isn’t reminded by both.

See Privy pop-ups and abandoned-cart flows Compare GetResponse plans

Prices and plan features change; check each vendor’s page before you buy. Figures above were checked October 21, 2026.

Related: Ecommerce Email Marketing Statistics · How to Set Up a Welcome Email Series for Your Shopify Store

The other four revenue templates: best email templates.