Abandoned carts: how do you win them back on WhatsApp? A complete guide for store owners

The abandoned cart is the most common thing that happens in any online store: a customer picks products, adds them to the cart, reaches checkout, then closes the page. This guide explains how ATMET Chat reminds them on WhatsApp, when the message arrives, what settings and plan you need, and what real stores have won back so far.

What is an abandoned cart, and how many shoppers leave one?

An abandoned cart is an order the customer started and didn't finish: the products are in the cart, often with their details on the checkout page, but no order was created. According to the Baymard Institute, which has compiled dozens of studies on the subject, about 70% of shoppers leave their cart without completing the purchase.

The reasons vary: a shipping cost that appeared at the last step, a customer comparing prices, a phone call that interrupted them, or simply putting it off. Some of these no message will change, but many are interested customers who need a reminder at the right time, in the app they open every day.

How does ATMET Chat know a customer left their cart?

ATMET Chat is connected to your store through your platform's app store, so the alert comes from the platform itself when a cart is left behind:

• Salla: the platform reports an abandoned cart about an hour after the customer's last activity.
• Zid: Zid sends its abandoned cart alert directly.
• Shopify: the checkout details arrive when the customer creates or updates their checkout.

On top of these alerts, ATMET Chat regularly checks your store for carts whose alert never arrived, so no cart is lost because an alert was late or missing.

The reminder needs the customer's mobile number. Nothing is sent for a cart that has no number on it.

When does the reminder reach the customer?

You choose the timing. In the abandoned cart reminder settings you set the hours and minutes after the alert arrives; the default is one hour. You can set it to zero to send the reminder as soon as the alert arrives.

Two things to keep in mind:

• Your delay comes on top of the platform's wait. On Salla, the platform itself waits about an hour before treating a cart as abandoned, so with the default the reminder arrives about two hours after the customer left.
• No night-time reminders from your linked number. If you send through the ATMET Chat channels, a reminder that falls due between 9 pm and 9 am in the customer's local time waits until morning, then goes out at a random time within the next two hours.

Will a customer who already bought get the reminder?

No. ATMET Chat sends only one reminder per cart, and checks before sending that the message still makes sense. The reminder is not sent if:

• the customer completed the purchase from that same cart before the reminder was due;
• the customer placed another order with your store in the last 24 hours;
• the same number got a cart reminder in the last 24 hours;
• the reminder is more than six hours past its due time — for example because your linked number was offline;
• the number is in Excluded numbers.

If you want a second reminder, you build it in Workflows on the Ultra plan: a message, a wait that you set to cancel if the customer buys during it, then a second message. Without that setting, the second message reaches customers who already bought.

What should the reminder say?

You write the message yourself and add the cart's details with the variable buttons, which ATMET Chat fills in for each customer at send time. The most useful ones for a cart reminder are {First name}, {Cart total}, {Products} and {Cart link}, which takes the customer back to their cart exactly as they left it.

An example of a short message:

Hi {First name}, your cart at {Store name} is still saved for you.
It comes to {Cart total}, and you can finish your order here: {Cart link}
If you have any question before buying, just reply to this message.

On Shopify, leave {Cart total} out of English messages for now: Shopify's cart total and currency are currently written in Arabic, whatever the message's language. ATMET Chat's English templates for Shopify leave it out for the same reason.

Three rules that make the message work:

1. Short and clear. The customer reads it in seconds, so make the link the only thing you're asking them to do.
2. In their name, from your store. The name and the store name make the message expected rather than strange.
3. An open door for questions. Some customers left their cart over a question they couldn't get answered, and replies to the message land in your ATMET Chat inbox.

Should I add a discount coupon to the reminder?

The coupon is optional and off by default. It switches on when you add {Discount code} to the message, which opens its settings:

• Discount type: a percentage or a fixed amount.
• Minimum order and validity in days.
• A tiered discount by cart value: a bigger discount for carts above an amount you set, and a smaller one below it.
• Extra options: free shipping on Salla and Zid, excluding discounted products on Salla, and excluding certain payment methods on Salla and Zid.

ATMET Chat creates the coupon in your store automatically for each customer. It can be used once only, ATMET Chat tracks its use from your orders, and deletes codes that expired without being used.

What's the difference between a temporary coupon and a code in the customer's name?

On the Plus plan the coupon carries a generic code starting with TMP. From the Pro plan you can turn on a code in the customer's name: the code is built from the customer's first name plus four digits, so the customer knows it was made for them alone.

One exception: if you add a copy-code button to a template on the official connection, the code has to be in Latin letters, so an Arabic name falls back to the generic code.

Which plan includes abandoned cart reminders?

• Plus: abandoned cart reminders, with a temporary coupon if you want one.
• Pro: everything in Plus, plus the code in the customer's name.
• Ultra: everything in Pro, plus Workflows for building a second reminder.

On Salla and Zid: Plus is 49 SAR, Pro 99 SAR and Ultra 249 SAR a month. On Shopify, plans are billed in US dollars. Full details are on the pricing page.

Which number sends the reminder: the ATMET Chat channels or the official connection?

Every notification in ATMET Chat has a route you choose:

• The ATMET Chat channels: the reminder goes out from your linked number with the text you write, with no message fees.
• The official connection (WhatsApp API): it goes out from your official number using a template approved by Meta. Meta counts a cart reminder as a marketing message and charges for it by the customer's country, and you pay Meta directly with no commission from ATMET. Nothing is sent from a template that is still in review until Meta approves it.

Meta's rates by country are on the Meta pricing page, and ready-to-copy cart reminder templates are in the article Ready-made message templates.

How much have stores actually won back?

Instead of an ideal percentage with no source, here are ATMET Chat's own figures, as shown on the merchant results page on 14 October 2026:

• 509,132 SAR in orders came after a cart reminder, across every store using ATMET Chat, since counting began in July 2026.
• That is part of a total of more than 789K SAR that came after ATMET Chat messages — cart reminders, campaigns and back-in-stock alerts.

The rule behind the figure: an order counts when it is placed within 7 days after an ATMET Chat cart reminder, campaign or back-in-stock alert reached the same customer. Cancelled orders don't count, and when several messages came before an order only the last one gets the credit, so no order is counted twice. The figures update continuously, so check the page for the latest.

How do you measure what your own store won back?

On the home page of your ATMET Chat dashboard, the "Revenue from ATMET" card uses the same rule, split between carts, campaigns and back-in-stock alerts, for the period you choose. After your first month, compare what came from carts with the price of your plan — plus Meta's fees if you are on the official connection. That is your real return, in your store's own numbers.

How do you start?

1. Install ATMET Chat from the Salla, Zid or Shopify app store.
2. Connect your WhatsApp number: the ATMET Chat channels, the official connection, or both.
3. Open the automatic notifications page, then the abandoned cart reminder, and turn it on.
4. Choose when to send, write the message, and add {Discount code} if you want a coupon.
5. Save the settings.

Everything a store needs for these steps is on the ATMET Chat for stores page.