An abandoned cart journey helps recover revenue by reminding visitors about items they left behind. In this guide, you will set up a simple, effective journey using product sets.
🧠Not sure if this is the right article?
New to Spotler Activate? Start with Get started with Spotler Activate, which walks you through the basics, including setting up your first abandoned cart journey. Already familiar with Activate and want each visitor to see the exact products they left behind instead of a generic selection? This article shows you how, using Product Sets.
A generic abandoned cart email shows the same product selection to every visitor, no matter what they actually left behind. With a Product Set, each visitor sees the exact items they left in their cart instead, which makes the email feel relevant instead of generic and gives visitors a reason to click back in.
Cart abandoners are high-intent visitors. A timely reminder with the right products can convert them without heavy discounts. In this setup, we keep the flow clean: a single follow-up after a short delay, capped frequency, and clear rules to avoid sending when there are no products to show.
🎓 In-app guidance
We've also created an in-app tour, taking you through these parts of Spotler Activate. Launch it by clicking the link below, and keep this Help Center page alongside for more details.Â
- Step 1 Connect your ESP
- Step 2 Create your abandoned cart product set
- Step 3 Build your abandoned cart journey
- Step 4 Test your abandoned cart journey
⏩ Skip if ready: switch to another journey
Want to use this same technique for a different trigger than classic cart abandonment? Pick an alternative use case and build a variant. You can still follow the steps below, but adjust the settings based on your use case. Each option helps you split the customer journey into smaller phases and move more visitors from one step to the next.
Send a follow-up when someone viewed a product but didn’t add it to the cart. Optionally require multiple views to confirm intent.
-
Product set: set Event to
ViewContent(recently viewed items). -
Journey entry/trigger: use
ViewContentso the journey starts after a product view (no add-to-cart). -
Engagement splits (both nodes): set the goal event to
AddToCart. If a contact adds the product to the cart, they will flow into your existing Abandoned Cart journey. - Why this works: nudges high-interest browsers toward cart, while keeping cart recovery logic in your dedicated abandoned cart flow.
Nudge visitors who began a payment/checkout but didn’t complete it.
-
Journey entry/trigger: use
PrePurchase(started payment). -
Goal event: set to
Purchase(completed order). - Product set: same configuration as your Abandoned Cart product set (no changes required).
- Important when going live: update your Abandoned Cart journey goal from Purchase to PrePurchase, so this checkout journey takes over from that point onward.
- Why this works: splits the customer journey into clearer phases, increasing the chance to move people from checkout-start to purchase. People in this phase might need other information, like your return policy, payment methods our troubleshooting.
Step 1 Connect your ESP
To send the email, Spotler Activate needs a connection to your Email Service Provider (ESP). Once connected, you can trigger automations and pass product data from your journey. Create your abandoned cart email in your ESP so you can select it later on during journey building.
⏩ Skip if ready
If your ESP is already connected in Apps → Connectors, continue to the product set.
đź“š Need more guidance?
- Apps
- Triggering an automation in Spotler Mail+ from Activate
- All connectors & populair ESP connectors: Spotler Mail, Copernica, Spotler MailPro, Deployteq, Mailchimp, Klaviyo, MailCampaigns, Dotdigital, Mailjet
Step 2 Create your abandoned cart product set
The product set determines which items appear in your email. Keep it recent and concise so recommendations feel relevant and messages stay lightweight.
Why these values? A 7-day window focuses on fresh intent; a cap of 5 items keeps the email clear and reduces load.Â
| Setting | Value (example) | Why it matters | Action to apply |
| Event | AddToCart |
Targets products the visitor actually added. | Set Event to AddToCart
|
| Time window | Last 7 days | Stays close to intent; avoids outdated items. | Set time window to 7 days |
| Retention | 7 | Aligns with window for consistent filtering. | Set Retention to 7 |
| Max # of products | 5 | Prevents bulky emails; clearer CTA. | Limit to 5 items |
| Fallback | None | Prefer no send over low-quality content. | No fallback (journey will skip empty sets) |
đź“š Need more guidance?
Step 3 Build your abandoned cart journey
Use the pre-defined abandoned cart setup in the Journey builder, then tailor the timing and rules for a clean start with this journey. We deliberately keep only one email so you can learn from early results before adding complexity.
⏩ Already have a journey live?
If you already have an abandoned cart journey running, you don't need to rebuild it. Open the journey in the Journey builder, open the email node, and select your new product set under Products. You can skip the rest of this step and continue to testing.
| Canvas element | Recommended value | Why it matters | Action to apply |
| Pre-defined journey | Abandoned cart | Starts with best-practice nodes prefilled. | Select Abandoned cart |
| Entry | Event = AddToCart
|
Triggers only on real cart intent. | Confirm Entry event is AddToCart
|
| Engagement split (1) | Wait = 2 hours | Gives the visitor time to complete naturally. | Change wait to 2 hours |
| Email node | Limit = 1 / 14 days | Avoids over-messaging repeat abandoners. | Set Limit to 1 per 14 days |
| Email node | Select ESP automation | Routes send via your ESP journey/automation. | Choose the automation you created in your ESP connector |
| Email node | Products = product set above | Ensures the email shows the right items. | Select product set Added to cart – 7 days |
| Extra nodes | Remove 2nd email & 3rd split | Keeps MVP simple; analyze before optimizing. | Delete “Reminder” email and “Purchase 1d?” split |
| Engagement split (2) | Outcome = “goal isn’t reached” on no-path | Clear reporting on non-purchases. | Set the “no” branch to goal isn’t reached |
Click Save (do not Save & Publish yet).Â
đź“š Need more guidance?
- How does the journey builder work?
- Journeys – overview
- What are Pre-defined Journeys?
- Triggering an automation in Spotler Mail+ from Activate
Step 4 Test your abandoned cart journey
Test with a safe URL and shorter wait time so you can validate end-to-end quickly. Remember to revert these settings before you go live.
| Where | Temporary test value | Why it matters | Revert after testing |
| Entry node | URL contains testSpotler
|
Limits triggers to a preview/debug page. | Delete rule: URL contains testSpotler
|
| Engagement split (1) | Wait = 5 minutes | Speeds up your test loop. | Change wait back to 2 hours |
| Publish state | Save & Publish | Activate the test version. | Click Save & Publish |
Click Save & Publish.
Wrapping up
You've created a product set that reflects real cart intent and wired it into your abandoned cart journey, tested end-to-end. From here, your visitors will start receiving emails with the exact products they left behind, without any manual work on your side. 🎉
Keep an eye on performance for the first few weeks. If open or click rates are lower than expected, revisit the product set settings (time window, max items) before touching the journey timing, since the products shown usually have more impact on conversion than the delay before sending.
Once this journey is live and stable, the same product set technique can power other use cases, like nudging recently viewed items or recovering abandoned checkouts, to extend your setup without starting from scratch.