How to add WhatsApp to your abandoned cart flow

Learn how to add WhatsApp messages to your abandoned cart flow and follow best practices.

Adding WhatsApp to your abandoned cart flow lets you remind shoppers to complete their purchase using a direct and immediate channel. When combined with email, this can increase recovery while maintaining a good customer experience.

Before you begin, set up WhatsApp in your Klaviyo account and collect WhatsApp marketing consent. Use a marketing template for your abandoned cart reminder. For template setup, see How to create a WhatsApp template.

Check that your existing flow has a filter for Placed Order zero times since starting this flow. This prevents further abandoned cart messages from sending after a shopper purchases.

Add WhatsApp to an abandoned cart flow

Follow these steps to add WhatsApp to your existing abandoned cart flow.

1. Navigate to Flows.
2. Find the abandoned cart flow where you want to include WhatsApp.
3. In the flow, place a Conditional split after the first time delay and before the first email. If your sidebar shows Split instead, add that.
4. Select the split. If you are using Split, click Add path criteria on the first path. Configure the condition: If someone can or cannot receive marketing > Person cannot receive > WhatsApp marketing.
5. Click Save to save the condition. If the path panel shows Apply instead, click Apply, then click Save in the split panel.
6. On the NO path, add a WhatsApp message and keep the first email on the YES path. For Split, add WhatsApp to Everyone else and keep the first email on the path with the “cannot receive” condition.
7. Click the WhatsApp message card.
8. Click Use template in the details panel. Choose an existing marketing template using its Use template action, or click Create to make a new one. For a new template, enter its name and language, select Marketing as the Message intent, then click Create.
9. For a new template, add your message content in the editor. If you selected an existing template, review its content and links. To change it, choose Manage > Edit template in the message panel. For example:
   
   “Hey {{ person|lookup:"first_name"|default:'there' }}, your cart is about to expire. Did you want to check it out?”
   
   Add a Visit website button with the cart or checkout link from your flow’s trigger event. Use the example’s expiry wording only if the cart actually expires.
10. To encourage conversions, consider including a discount. For example:
    
    “Hey {{ person|lookup:"first_name"|default:'there' }}, your cart is about to expire. Get 10% off now with code.”
    
    Add a Copy code button and enter {% coupon_code 'YOUR_COUPON' %}, replacing YOUR_COUPON with the name of your coupon. Keep the Visit website button so recipients can return to their cart. The generated coupon code must contain only letters and numbers and be no more than 15 characters.
11. For a new or edited template, click Preview and check the personalized content, coupon, and links. Then click Submit for review, review the template details, and click Submit. Return to your flow after submitting.
12. Drag Join path below the WhatsApp message to the email path after the first email and before the next shared delay or message. WhatsApp recipients will skip the first email and continue through the rest of the flow.
13. Once Meta has approved the template, select the WhatsApp message, choose Live from Status, and click Save.

Improve your WhatsApp abandoned cart flow

You can customize your abandoned cart flow with additional targeting and splits. If your builder shows Split, use Trigger-based conditions for cart value or collection and Profile-based conditions for purchase history. These correspond to the trigger and conditional splits described below.

While you should limit reminders to 1 WhatsApp message per recipient for a single abandoned cart event, you can include additional WhatsApp messages in the flow by targeting different audiences.

Skip WhatsApp if the product is unavailable

A best practice is to showcase only 1 item in a WhatsApp message. This keeps the message concise and ensures clarity.

Because WhatsApp messages cannot dynamically display multiple abandoned items in the same way as email, focus on the first item in the cart. Use a catalog tag to cancel the message if that item is unpublished in your Klaviyo catalog. The example below assumes your trigger event has a ProductID property. For Shopify Started Checkout, use event.extra.line_items.0.product_id instead. Match the property to the product ID in your catalog.

This skips out-of-stock items only if your integration marks them as unpublished in the Klaviyo catalog. It does not check stock quantity directly.

Still interested in {% catalog event.ProductID unpublished="cancel" %}{{ catalog_item.title }}{% endcatalog %}? Return to your cart to finish checking out.

Value split

Use a trigger split to send different WhatsApp messages based on cart value. For example, offer a discount only to customers whose cart value exceeds a certain threshold.

Product collection split

Add a trigger split based on collection to tailor your WhatsApp message to specific product categories.

New purchaser vs. returning customer split

Use a conditional split to send different WhatsApp messaging to new customers versus returning customers.

Frequent purchaser split

Create a conditional split based on purchase frequency to reward loyal customers with different incentives.

Next steps

After adding WhatsApp to your abandoned cart flow:

1. Test the flow to confirm messages send correctly.
2. Review timing to ensure WhatsApp and email messages are spaced appropriately.
3. Monitor performance and adjust incentives or copy to improve recovery rates.