How to add SMS to your abandoned cart flow

You will learn

Learn how to add SMS to your abandoned cart flow as well as compliance requirements and best practices.

Before you begin

Before adding SMS, turn on SMS in your account and connect your ecommerce integration so your flow’s trigger event and order events sync to Klaviyo. Only send marketing SMS to people who have opted in.

Check that your abandoned cart flow excludes people who purchase: use Placed Order zero times since starting this flow for your ecommerce integration. If you also use Klaviyo’s Buy with Prime integration, include the same condition for its Placed Order metric. See the guide to creating an abandoned cart flow for setup details.

Note that using quiet hours is highly encouraged for SMS abandoned cart reminders. This is on by default in Klaviyo for SMS, and we do not recommend turning it off.

The US has certain requirements for anyone sending SMS messages in abandoned cart flows. If you are sending to US recipients, the following are all required:

• Use double opt-in when collecting SMS consent.
• Only send 1 SMS per recipient.
• Send within 48 hours of someone abandoning a cart.

Create an SMS abandoned cart flow

Here, we walk you through how to add SMS to your existing abandoned cart flow.

Don’t already have an abandoned cart flow? Open this section.

1. Navigate to Flows.
2. Click Create flow in the upper right corner.
3. Search for “abandoned cart” and look for a template that includes email and SMS.

1. Pick an abandoned cart flow template for your ecommerce integration.
   1. Here, we choose the template named “Standard (Email & SMS).”
2. Name the flow (e.g., “Abandoned Cart Reminder”).
   

1. Click Use template.
2. If you're using Amazon Buy with Prime and have integrated it with Klaviyo, add the following flow filter to exclude customers who made purchases via Buy with Prime from receiving incorrect messaging:
   • Placed Order (Buy with Prime) zero times since starting this flow.
3. Go into each message and edit the text
   • Note: Before changing anything about the dynamic variables, copy the variable or block of variables.
     1. Dynamic variables must be formatted exactly right or they won’t work.
     2. Copying the block gives you a backup to restore if your edits break the dynamic variables.
4. Preview each message to check its dynamic content and links, then save your changes. For SMS, click Preview, close the preview after checking it, and click Next to save and return to the flow.
5. Do not turn off quiet hours for the SMS message.
6. Click Review and turn on in the upper right. If the flow already has active actions, click Update status.
7. Open the dropdown menu and select Live.
8. Click Save to apply the status change.

Add SMS to an abandoned cart flow

1. Navigate to Flows.
2. Click the abandoned cart flow where you want to include SMS.
3. In the flow, add a Conditional split after the first time delay, then click the split to configure it.
   1. For US recipients, schedule the SMS within 48 hours of cart abandonment. Allow for quiet hours, which can delay the send.
4. Set If someone can or cannot receive marketing > Person cannot receive > text message marketing, then click Save.

5. On the No path, add a Text message action. Keep the existing email on the Yes path.

6. Click on the SMS message card.
7. Click Edit in the details panel.
8. Add in your message.
   “Hey {{ person|lookup:"first_name"|default:'there' }}, you left something in your cart. Ready to check out? [LINK]”
9. Replace [LINK] with the cart or checkout link for your integration and flow trigger. For example, a Shopify Started Checkout flow can use {{ event.extra.checkout_url }}. Use the event data for your own flow to choose the correct link.
10. Recommended: Include a discount to encourage people to buy.
    “Hey {{ person|lookup:"first_name"|default:'there' }}, you left something in your cart. Get 10% off now with code {% coupon_code 'YOUR_COUPON' %} [LINK]”
    

Replace YOUR_COUPON with the name of a coupon you have created in Klaviyo, and make sure the discount in your message matches the coupon.

1. Click Preview and check that the customer name, link, and any coupon appear correctly. Close the preview, then click Next to save and return to the flow.
2. Drag the rejoin icon below the SMS onto the email path after the first email. SMS recipients will skip that first email and continue with the later steps.

3. Keep quiet hours enabled for the SMS message.
4. Click the SMS message card. In its settings panel, select Live from Status, then click Save.

Improve your SMS abandoned cart flow

Above we detail a basic SMS and email abandoned cart flow. However, there are ways you can customize this flow.

For US recipients, keep each person’s path to 1 abandoned cart SMS. You can have more than 1 SMS in the flow by using separate branches to target different audiences.

See examples below.

Skip SMS if product isn't available

Showcase 1 item to keep your SMS short and concise.

SMS can use dynamic event data and template tags, including an item count when the event provides one.

For example, feature the first item in someone’s cart. You can skip the message if that item is unpublished in your Klaviyo catalog.

Use unpublished="cancel" in a catalog lookup to skip the entire SMS when the referenced item is unpublished. The message is also skipped if the item cannot be found. Whether an out-of-stock item is unpublished depends on your integration and catalog settings.

In the examples below, replace event.ProductID with the event variable for the item’s catalog ID, and replace event.URL with the appropriate product or cart URL. These variables depend on your integration and trigger. Preview the message with a recent event to check them. Learn more in the catalog lookup tag reference.

Format	Example
{% catalog event.ProductID unpublished="cancel" %} Your message reminding someone of their abandoned cart... [Link to product] {% endcatalog %}	{% catalog event.ProductID unpublished="cancel" %} Hi Friend! Did you still want this? Click to shop now: {{ event.URL }} {% endcatalog %}

Value split

Product collection split

New purchaser vs. returning customer split

Frequent purchaser split

Additional resources

• Learn more about abandoned cart flows
• See how to create other SMS flows:
  • Add SMS to your browse abandonment flow
  • Add SMS to your thank you flow