Checkout recovery

Checkout Recovery is a feature that helps bring back customers who otherwise have a very low probability of completing a transaction (around 3%). It’s supported by our consultants and automated notification systems, functioning like a dedicated team that works for you to maximize your revenue. Typically, merchants don’t have the capacity (nor is it practical) to employ someone solely focused on recovering abandoned transactions. With our service, you have such a team at your disposal, operating nearly 24/7. When combined with the Easycart network, which stores customer data, this becomes an effective method to increase your earnings… without any extra effort on your part.

By enabling the checkout recovery service, you agree to the terms outlined in this article, including the commission fee, and consent to contacting customers on your behalf to complete the transaction.

How to Enable Checkout Recovery?

By default, the service is disabled on your account. You can enable it in two ways—globally, applying to all existing and newly created checkouts, or for specific checkouts only. If you enable the feature globally, individual checkouts cannot be excluded, but their discount parameters can be modified (if you want to enable the service for a few specific checkouts, use the local method outlined below).

Enabling Recovery Globally (Recommended)

1. Go to the Checkout Recovery → Recovery Settings section, then turn on the Checkout Recovery option.
2. Set a small discount that some customers will receive as part of the recovery procedure. A 10% discount is a reasonable value that can help save many checkouts. You can set a flat or percentage-based discount. This step is optional but highly recommended.
3. If you sell subscriptions, the discount will only be applied to the first subscription period. Regular prices will apply in subsequent cycles.

From now on, all your current and newly created checkouts will use the Checkout Recovery service. If needed, you can manage its settings for each product individually. To do this, go to the Add-ons → Checkout Recovery section for a specific checkout and adjust the recovery settings.

Summary:

• If you want to enable recovery for all checkouts, set it up globally.
• If you want to modify discount settings for one or a few checkouts, enable the feature globally and then adjust it locally for those selected checkouts.
• If you want to set up recovery for just one or a few specific checkouts, apply it directly to those products without enabling it globally.
• If you want to enable recovery for all checkouts but add discounts to only a few, set it up globally without defining any discounts, and configure them for specific checkouts separately.

How to Check Recovery Effectiveness?

In the Creator portal, you’ll find a dedicated Checkout sessions tab that provides information about all sessions and recovery statistics.

A session is created whenever someone visits a checkout page. If a customer revisits the same checkout from the same device and browser, a new session is not created. We remember their entry for 30 days, and during that time, the session status may change accordingly.

Session Statuses:

• In Progress (opened): The customer entered the checkout and might have filled in some details. If they revisit the checkout without using the recovery link (explained later), the status remains In Progress.
• Error: The session ended with an error, and the customer left. If they return, the status immediately changes back to In Progress.
• Finalized: The customer completed the purchase without using the recovery process (either they didn’t use the recovery link or completed the purchase independently).
• Recovering: The customer used a recovery link, or a recovery action was taken by the team (e.g., a phone call, email).
• Recovered: The customer completed the purchase after the session was marked as Recovering, i.e., they used the link sent via email or completed the transaction during an intervention by the support team. The sale will be marked as Recovered.
• Help Requested: When the customer provides their phone number in the checkout after encountering a transaction error.

The status is one of the most important pieces of information in the panel, but in addition to it, you’ll find other relevant data in the session records.

Since some customer data may come from the entire Easycart network, it is anonymized.

What commission is charged on recovered checkouts?

We charge a 10% commission on the recovered amount. This only applies to checkouts that were recovered through our mechanisms. If the customer returns to the checkout from another source, such as a link sent in an email or directly after consultant contact — the transaction will not be considered recovered, and no commission will be charged. You can find information about the commission charged both in the column with the individual session (0, if the sessions end without our intervention) and at the top in the summary.

When the session is in recovery, only if the purchase is made directly from our link, we consider it successfully recovered. The mere fact that we start the process and send notifications does not mean that we charge any commission if, for example, the user visits the checkout again from your site and not from our link. We do not set any cookies upon entry from our link that would extend our chance to recover the checkout. Simply — if someone does not use our link directly or does not complete the transaction through the consultant, we do not charge a commission.

We charge the commission at the time of the transaction.

How exactly does it work and which sessions are qualified?

Sessions that we undertake to recover, i.e., have a chance to go into Recovering mode, are two types of sessions:

The first type of session is abandoned carts - which meet the following conditions (all conditions must be met):

• The session was started at least 3 hours ago, but was not completed
• The user left the cart
• We have consent from the user to contact (they must have bought something before and accepted our terms and privacy policy, or check consent in an open session)

Based on our data from over 40,000 processed carts, the conversion rate of such a customer is about 3%. This means that in 97% of cases, such a customer will not buy your product. The cart recovery option thus gives a chance for conversion that would not happen under other conditions.

Additional motivation - recovery with the help of a discount

One of the best working methods of converting such an undecided customer is to offer them a discount code to finalize the purchase. Usually, even a small discount, e.g., 5-10% is able to convince significantly more customers to buy.

That’s why in the recovery settings you have the option to add an automatic discount that will generate an individual discount code for the customer. The discount will be applied to the cart when the customer enters using the rescue link they receive in an email or see in a campaign. To prevent customers from getting used to this type of discount, they are awarded randomly - not all recovery actions offer the customer a discount, even if it is set. The element of randomness means that customers will not deliberately withhold purchases in order to receive a discount. Of course, an additional safeguard is the fact that only some carts will have the recovery function enabled.

The second situation that triggers recovery is Transaction Errors - in a situation where (again, all conditions must be met):

• The session is currently open (probably the customer is still in the cart)
• The customer made unsuccessful payment attempts - received an error From the pop-up window level (only for carts with recovery enabled) the customer requested phone contact and provided a phone number (or we had it remembered)

This means that the customer is currently in the cart, trying to make a transaction, but is receiving errors. Then, for carts that have the recovery option enabled, there is an option to receive help by phone. The customer fills in their phone number and we call them back immediately, trying to save the transaction.

For a transaction recovered in this way, an additional phone icon and information about recovery by customer service will appear next to its status. In this case, of course, the customer is not offered a discount.

Based on our data from over 40,000 processed carts, currently the conversion rate of such a customer is less than 16%. This means that in 84% of cases, such a customer will not buy your product. The cart recovery option thus gives a chance for conversion that, in other conditions, in most cases would not happen.

An additional advantage of recovery in such a case is the fact of direct, immediate contact with support, which the customer perceives as your customer service. In this way, it builds even greater trust in purchases from you and your company and a greater inclination to make purchases from you in the future.

What are the actions related to recovery?

Sessions that meet the above conditions (abandoned carts or transaction errors) go into Recovery mode, which means that we try by all methods to make the user finalize the payment. Such methods are primarily:

Email with an attempt to save the cart, containing a rescue link (only a purchase directly from this link will be counted as a successfully rescued cart) Attempt to contact by support - by chat or phone, if there is a good reason for it (by default we don’t call customers) Promotional campaigns (we’re testing this variant, at our expense for some products), where we reach individual people with remarketing in the Google and Facebook network, trying to save the purchase Other methods that are not burdensome for the customer A few additional advantages of the process:

Our support can also accept payment details by phone and process it even when the customer is no longer in the cart If the customer has ever made a transaction and has saved data, at their explicit request, even if they are no longer in the cart, we can process the transaction remotely, without their participation Cart recovery uses the easy network

The great strength of easycart in the context of cart recovery is the fact that our customers have their data, including contact details, remembered in the system. This means that we also have data of people from our entire network in your cart. This brings a number of benefits, such as 1-click purchases, automatic invoice issuance, or transfer of shipping data, even if that person has never bought anything from you. It also helps in cart recovery, because theoretically such a customer doesn’t have to provide any data in your cart, just display it for us to be able to contact them and try to save the transaction (which doesn’t mean we do so in every case - more below).

Standards of communication with the customer

In no case do we try to aggressively rescue carts. All attempts to rescue them are preceded by an analysis of the customer, their purchasing preferences and communication, and we never choose the most effective method, but the one most tailored to the needs of maintaining high communication standards. In short - we always ask ourselves if by saving the cart we are really helping the customer. If in doubt, we don’t take any action.

The communication we create primarily meets the following standards:

• It is professional but friendly, we treat the customer as a business partner It is never intrusive, aggressive
• The customer’s interest is always more important than the seller’s It always gives a clear possibility to opt out of further communication It is one-time (we don’t remind 10x that the promotion is expiring etc.)
• If in doubt whether it helps the customer, it is not carried out
• We always try to give the customer a benefit from the contact (that’s why small discounts are important) It is randomly supported by satisfaction surveys that allow us to take care of customer satisfaction
• We don’t rescue all transactions - we try to choose those transactions for which recovery will be natural for the customer as well, and we are very careful not to make them feel tracked, even at the cost of rescued transactions.

What about GDPR?

The cart recovery action is performed on your behalf, but of course from Easycart contact channels (email, phone) and we don’t pretend to be you, the customer always knows by name which Easycart consultant they are talking to. If you disable cart recovery, we won’t take any actions. We contact the customer only after obtaining prior consent (this always means explicit acceptance of the regulations, which describe the service, by clicking a checkbox - it is never implied consent!). This is not a marketing action, but we treat it in the category of transactional support. Recovery occurs at the moment of error or shortly after the user leaves the cart without proper finalization of purchases. Explicit marketing consent is not required for this, and consent resulting from acceptance of our regulations is sufficient.

Please remember that all customers are yours and the easycart network only makes it easier for them to make purchases and only in this context do we contact them. Data security is key for us. We don’t use customer data for any actions that could be contrary to your interest as a seller.

It’s worth understanding that as Easycart, we are primarily interested in a long-term relationship with the customer and seller. Hence, we don’t use any techniques that may give an effect in the short term, but will harm the seller’s reputation in the long term.

How do discount codes work?

Discount codes are generated individually for each buyer and can be used only once. They are embedded in the link that is sent individually in the message to the buyer and only after using this link directly for purchase, do we treat the transaction as recovered. They are also time-limited (24 hours) to additionally rationalize a quick purchase decision. In the case of single purchases, the purchase amount is automatically reduced when entering from the link, for subscription purchases similarly, however, the code is granted only for the first subscription period. Subsequent payments are collected at the regular price. The customer receives clear information about this. Codes are sent randomly, according to the assumptions below.

Element of randomness and A/B tests

We focus on finding the best possible way to recover carts, putting the comfort and safety of the customer first. We also want to avoid the effect of customers waiting for a possible discount who have already used recovery before. To this end:

We constantly test, change and optimize notifications in the recovery process to ensure the highest conversion The discount you set in the cart is awarded randomly and not all customers receive it in the recovery process We monitor the behavior of customers who have already received a discount during recovery, if their behavior indicates an attempt to get a discount on subsequent purchases - we exclude them from sending a discount code We monitor unnatural behaviors of user groups in the cart - if many people leave the cart at once (e.g., information about a discount leaked in a sales window)

What does the message look like and can I customize it?

The email message is the main, least invasive way to recover carts. We are constantly experimenting and A/B testing many different versions of messages in order to learn which ones convert best, but its basic template is very simple and you can, like other messages, customize some of its elements by going to the After Purchase -> Notifications section in the cart.

Path increasing conversion in renewals

Additionally, in the case of subscription renewals, payment errors are a factor reducing conversion - it often happens that there are not enough funds on the card and therefore the transaction is not processed. As part of easycart, we have a number of mechanisms that help convert such a transaction:

When a charge fails, we send an email notification about the error and automatically extend the subscription validity for a specified time. We do this multiple times and suggest a sequence of 1-3-5 days. The customer is able to fix the error right away by going to our panel, where they will find additional information as well as a button allowing immediate initiation of the re-charge procedure (e.g., after funding the card) In the email, we also send information about when the next charge attempt will occur if the customer doesn’t take action in the panel Additionally, we send notifications about the approaching expiration date of the card. These notifications are automatic and are not part of the cart recovery process - we don’t charge any commission on them nor do they appear in the session summary.