Following up an abandoned checkout

Who can use this feature?

Actions and templates are set up in the Admin area of Engage, so this needs someone with administrator access.

Engage can write to a donor when their checkout is abandoned, by email or by a direct message to their phone. You set this up once, as an action, and from then on every abandoned checkout is followed up automatically. The message goes to the email address or phone number the donor typed at checkout.

The two signals

An action sends a message when Engage raises a signal. Abandoned checkouts have two.

Signal	Raised when
Abandoned Checkout Created	A donor's checkout is abandoned and they have no abandoned checkout yet
Abandoned Checkout Updated	A donor who already has an abandoned checkout abandons a different, newer checkout

An action on Abandoned Checkout Created alone sends one message for each abandoned checkout. Add Abandoned Checkout Updated if you also want to write to a donor each time they leave another checkout unfinished.

Writing the message

The message is a template, created in the usual way. The steps for an email are in Email Templates, and a template for any other channel is set up in the same way.

Two settings matter when you create it:

• Set Template Models to Abandoned Checkout. Engage will not save an action whose template uses another model.
• Leave Category empty. A message with a category is never sent. A category cannot be removed from a template once it is set, so create a new template rather than reusing an existing one.

A few of the people you write to will already have given another way, because a gift made over the phone or by bank transfer does not remove an abandoned checkout. We recommend including a line that thanks them if they have.

What the message can include

A template on the Abandoned Checkout model can use these merge fields.

Field	What it holds
Name	The donor's title, first name, last name and full name
Email	The email address the donor typed
Telephone	The phone number the donor typed
Items	Each item the donor was about to give to
Total	The value of the items
Currency	The currency the donor was giving in
Stage	How far the donor got: Details, Payment or Payment Failed
Abandoned At	When the checkout was abandoned
Checkout ID	The ID of the donor's checkout, available to use in links
Cart ID	The ID of the donor's cart, available to use in links

From Care Compass

To alex.morgan@example.org

Your donation is waiting for you

Dear Alex,

Clean Water Fund£50.00

Total£50.00

Complete your donation

EmailA follow-up email. The donor's name, the item, its value and the total all come from the abandoned checkout.

Creating the action

1. In Engage, select Admin, then Communication, then Actions, and select + Add Action.
2. Give the action a Name.
3. Under What kind of entity is this action related to?, choose Abandoned Checkout.
4. In Select Signals, choose Abandoned Checkout Created, and Abandoned Checkout Updated as well if you want it.
5. Leave Delay empty, or set a length of time to wait before the message is sent.
6. Choose your template under each channel you want the message to go out on, such as Email. You can use more than one.
7. Select Save.

Engage  ·  Admin  ·  Communication Actions

Name

Abandoned checkout reminder▾

What kind of entity is this action related to?

Abandoned Checkout▾

Select Signals

Abandoned Checkout Created ×

Delay Leave empty to run this action as soon as one of its signals is raised

Delay Length▾

Email

Abandoned checkout reminder▾

CancelSave

EngageAn action for abandoned checkouts. The entity is Abandoned Checkout and the signal is Abandoned Checkout Created.

The rest of the Actions screen is described in Actions.

Choosing a delay

A checkout counts as abandoned about four hours after the donor left it, so with no delay the message goes out then. Any delay you set is added to those four hours.

If the donor gives while the action is waiting, the message is not sent.