{"id":106445,"date":"2026-10-16T11:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T11:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/18\/woocommerce-abandoned-cart\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T13:13:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T13:13:16","slug":"woocommerce-abandoned-cart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/en\/blog\/2026\/10\/16\/woocommerce-abandoned-cart\/","title":{"rendered":"How to recover abandoned carts in WooCommerce with Mailrelay: a step-by-step guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How many people filled up a cart in your store today and left without paying? If you run a WooCommerce store, chances are it’s seven out of ten. According to the Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate is 70.22%<\/strong> (average of 50 studies, updated in September 2025).<\/p>\n\n

The good news is that some of those abandoned carts in WooCommerce can be recovered. All it takes is a timely reminder, sent automatically.<\/p>\n\n

In this guide, we show you how to set it up with Mailrelay, step by step. You’ll see how to connect your store with the free plugin, how to create the WooCommerce abandoned cart<\/strong> automation, and which emails to send. And we’ve included three emails and an SMS for you to copy.<\/p>\n\n\n

What you need before you start<\/h2>\n\n

Setting up abandoned cart recovery in WooCommerce with Mailrelay takes less than an hour. Before you start, make sure you have three things.<\/p>\n\n

A WordPress store with WooCommerce active.<\/strong> It’s the only store platform the Mailrelay plugin connects to.<\/p>\n\n

A Mailrelay account.<\/strong> The free account<\/a> will do: the plugin and automations are included, with up to 80,000 emails a month and 20,000 contacts.<\/p>\n\n

A Mailrelay API key<\/strong>, which connects your store to your account. It takes a minute to create, as you’ll see in step 2.<\/p>\n\n

If you’re going to add an SMS<\/a> to the sequence, you’ll also need SMS credit. Check Mailrelay’s SMS pricing<\/a> first to work out the cost per message.<\/p>\n\n

What the Mailrelay plugin does in WooCommerce<\/h2>\n\n

The Mailrelay plugin for WordPress<\/a> is free and published in the official WordPress repository. It connects your website to your account and, when you use WooCommerce<\/a>, it does three things:<\/p>\n\n

What it syncs<\/th>What it does for you<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Customers and users<\/td>They’re added as subscribers to the Mailrelay groups you choose, without exporting or importing lists<\/td><\/tr>
Products<\/td>You can insert them into your newsletters with the Product List block, with name, price and a buy button<\/td><\/tr>
Carts<\/td>Mailrelay knows which carts were left unpaid and can trigger an automation<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

As you can see, you don’t need Make or any coding.<\/strong> The plugin acts as a bridge between your store and your email marketing account.<\/p>\n\n

It also adds a subscription form block to the WordPress editor. That way, you can capture contacts on your blog or on product pages with the same plugin.<\/p>\n\n

\n

Connect WooCommerce with Mailrelay for free<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Install the plugin, sync your customers and create your first automation with the free account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Create a free account<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

How to set up the WooCommerce abandoned cart step by step<\/h2>\n\n

Here’s the complete process. There are six steps, and you don’t need to touch any code.<\/p>\n\n

Step 1: install the Mailrelay plugin<\/h3>\n\n

In the WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New<\/strong> and search for “Mailrelay”. Install it and activate it.<\/p>\n\n

If you prefer, you can download it from the WordPress repository and upload the folder to \/wp-content\/plugins\/. The result is the same.<\/p>\n\n

Step 2: create an API key in Mailrelay<\/h3>\n\n

In your Mailrelay account, go to Settings > API keys<\/strong> and create a new key. Copy it: you’ll paste it in the next step.<\/p>\n\n

The key is what lets your store and your account talk to each other. Treat it like a password and don’t share it.<\/p>\n\n

Step 3: connect your store to your account<\/h3>\n\n

Go back to WordPress and open Settings > Mailrelay<\/strong>. Enter your account name (you’ll find it in Mailrelay’s welcome email) and the API key. Save the changes.<\/p>\n\n

Then turn on WooCommerce sync<\/strong> and choose the Mailrelay group your customers should be added to. Run the first sync to load the contacts you already have.<\/p>\n\n

One thing, though: check consent. You should only send commercial communications to people who have agreed to receive them. If in doubt, go over the requirements for double opt-in<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Step 4: create the abandoned cart automation<\/h3>\n\n

In Mailrelay, go to Automations > +Add<\/strong>, give it a name (for example, “Store abandoned cart”) and click Create automation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

Click New entry point<\/strong> and, under Block type<\/strong>, choose When a cart is abandoned<\/strong>. You’ll see three settings.<\/p>\n\n

In Store<\/strong>, you choose the store connected through the plugin. In How long until a cart is considered abandoned?<\/strong>, you decide how much time to give the customer before you write to them.<\/p>\n\n

The third one, Skip subscribers who have already been in this automation<\/strong>, stops the same person from getting the sequence every time they leave a cart.<\/p>\n\n

The time can be set in minutes, hours or days. For the first reminder, a short delay usually works better than a long one<\/strong>, for example one hour: the customer still remembers what they were buying.<\/p>\n\n

If you like, tick Filter subscribers that enter this automation<\/strong> to limit it to a group or a segment using Mailrelay’s segmentation<\/a>. For example, only customers from Spain or only carts from one category.<\/p>\n\n

Step 5: add the emails, the waits and the SMS<\/h3>\n\n

The WooCommerce abandoned cart is the entry point. Below it, you can add the same actions as in any other mailing automation<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n