Abandoned Cart Recovery for OpenCart

Overview

Win back abandoned carts with up to three automatic reminder e-mails, unique single-use coupons and a one-click restore link that rebuilds the cart on any device. A dashboard shows how many carts were abandoned, how many came back and how much revenue the reminders recovered.

• Captures carts of signed-in customers as soon as they add a product, and of guests as soon as they enter an e-mail address at checkout
• Consent built in: an "E-mail me a reminder if I leave items in my cart" checkbox under the checkout e-mail field (opt-out or opt-in mode), an unsubscribe link in every e-mail and a do-not-remind list
• Up to three reminders with their own delay, subject, heading and message
• Unique, single-use coupons per e-mail as native OpenCart coupons (percentage, fixed amount or free shipping, valid for N days); unused codes are removed after they expire
• Signed restore link: products, options and quantities come back (also the exact quantities of Sell by Weight & Length lines), the guest e-mail is prefilled and the coupon applied
• No double discounts: products bought at an accepted Make an Offer price are left out of the coupon
• Recovered revenue: every order is linked to the cart and the reminder that won it back; dashboard tiles, a daily chart, per-reminder performance and the most abandoned products
• Admin tools: cart list with filters, cart timeline, e-mail preview, test e-mail, send the next reminder now, Run now, erase by e-mail address
• Cron: OpenCart 4 cron job, a secret cron URL (also for OpenCart 3, which has no cron) and an optional fallback on admin page views
• Responsive HTML e-mail (Twig template you can override) and a test mode that writes e-mails to files
• No core file changes and no OCMOD: OpenCart events only
• OpenCart 4.0.2.0 – 4.1.x and 3.0.3.x – 3.0.5.x, one license for both

Installation

Requirements

OpenCart 4

1. Extensions > Installer: upload kv_abandoned_cart_recovery.ocmod.zip, then click Install next to it.
2. Extensions > Extensions, type Modules: find Abandoned Cart Recovery and click Install (green +).
3. Click Edit, set Status to Enabled, check the Reminder sequence tab, enter your license key on the License tab and click Save.

Installing also adds the job Abandoned Cart Recovery: send due cart reminders to System > Maintenance > Cron Jobs. It runs whenever OpenCart's cron is called (index.php?route=cron/cron or php cron.php from your server's crontab). If your host does not call it, use the cron URL from Settings > Sending & cron.

OpenCart 3

1. Extensions > Installer: upload kv_abandoned_cart_recovery-oc3.ocmod.zip.
2. Extensions > Modifications: click Refresh (the package contains no file patches; this only lists it).
3. Extensions > Extensions, type Modules: install Abandoned Cart Recovery, then Edit, enable it and save.
4. Add the cron job (OpenCart 3 has no built-in cron): copy the line from Settings > Sending & cron into your hosting panel, for example cPanel > Cron Jobs, every 5 to 15 minutes:

*/10 * * * * curl -s "https://yourstore.com/index.php?route=extension/module/kv_abandoned_cart_recovery/cron&key=YOUR_KEY" >/dev/null 2>&1

Without a cron job, Also send on admin page views (on by default) sends the due reminders at most every 10 minutes while you use the admin panel.

After installing

• Marketing > Abandoned carts appears in the admin menu (dashboard and cart list).
• The checkout shows the reminder checkbox under the e-mail field (guests) or under the heading (signed-in customers).
• Try it: put a product in the cart in a private window, enter an e-mail at checkout, then open the cart list. Use Send reminder 1 now on the cart page to see the e-mail.
• On a staging store without a mail server, set E-mail delivery to Test mode: e-mails are written to system/storage/kv_abandoned_cart_recovery/mail/ as HTML files.

Upgrading

OpenCart 4: Extensions > Installer, uninstall and delete the old package, upload and install the new one. OpenCart 3: upload the new package over the old one and refresh the modifications. Settings and data stay as long as you do not uninstall the module.

Uninstalling

Extensions > Extensions > Modules > Abandoned Cart Recovery > Uninstall removes the events, settings, the cron job and the tables (captured carts, reminder log, do-not-remind list). Coupons already sent stay in Marketing > Coupons until you delete them; orders are not touched.

Configuration

Extensions > Extensions > Modules > Abandoned Cart Recovery > Edit (or the gear button on Marketing > Abandoned carts).

General

Reminder sequence

Up to three reminders. Each has:

Coupons. Each e-mail with a coupon gets its own OpenCart coupon (Marketing > Coupons, named "Abandoned cart #12, reminder 3"): one use in total and per customer, valid until the end of the last valid day. Unused codes are deleted after they expire; used ones stay with their coupon history.

Consent & privacy

Every e-mail has an unsubscribe link. It opens a page with a button (so e-mail security scanners that open links cannot unsubscribe anybody); the shopper can turn reminders back on there. Choose the mode that fits your legal basis and check with your legal adviser.

Sending & cron

E-mail template

The layout is a Twig template with inline styles and a table layout for Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail and phones. To change it, copy system/library/kv_abandoned_cart_recovery/templates/mail.twig (OpenCart 3) or extension/kv_abandoned_cart_recovery/system/library/templates/mail.twig (OpenCart 4) to system/storage/kv_abandoned_cart_recovery/mail.twig and edit the copy; it survives updates. Values are escaped automatically. Variables: store_name, store_url, logo_url, heading, hello, text, products (name, url, image_url, options, qty, price, total), subtotal, coupon (code, text, expires, note) or empty, restore_url, button, unsubscribe_url, unsubscribe_text, footer, step, firstname, email.

License

Enter the key on the License tab and click Check now. Without a key the extension runs for a 14-day trial. Without a valid license no carts are captured, the checkbox is hidden and no new reminders or coupons are sent; restore and unsubscribe links in e-mails already sent keep working, coupons already sent stay valid until they expire, and the dashboard, cart list and data stay available. The license check sends only the key, the extension id and version and your store's host names to cs-cart.kaviolabs.com.

Usage

What the shopper sees

Checkout. Under the e-mail field there is a checkbox E-mail me a reminder if I leave items in my cart with the hint At most three e-mails about this cart. Every e-mail has an unsubscribe link. Signed-in customers see the same box under the checkout heading.

Reminder e-mail. Store logo, heading and message, the products with image, options, quantity and price, the subtotal, the coupon box (when the reminder has one), a Return to my cart button and an unsubscribe link.

Restore link. Adds the products with their options and quantities to the current cart (products already in the cart are not added twice; disabled products are skipped), fills in the guest's e-mail and name, applies the reminder's coupon and opens the checkout. A cart that was already ordered shows This cart has already been ordered. Thank you!; a modified link shows This link is invalid or has expired.

Unsubscribe. A page Stop cart reminder e-mails to j\\\@example.com?* with an Unsubscribe button, and Turn reminders back on afterwards.

Admin: Marketing > Abandoned carts

Dashboard (last 7, 30, 90 or 365 days, by the day a cart was captured):

• Abandoned carts: carts idle for at least the first delay that were not ordered before a reminder, with their value
• Reminded carts and e-mails sent, Restore rate (reminded carts whose link was used)
• Recovered orders and the recovery rate, Recovered revenue with the part already paid (order status in your processing / complete statuses)
• Ordered before a reminder (not counted as recovered)
• Captured and recovered carts per day, Reminder sequence performance (sent, restored, recovered, rate, revenue, coupons used per reminder), Most abandoned products, the last run
• Run now sends the due reminders immediately

Cart list with filters (e-mail or name, status, customer / guest, period), reminder dots, the restore marker, the status and the order. Bulk actions: Stop reminders for selected, Delete selected. Below it: erase the data of an e-mail address (privacy requests).

Cart page: products, timeline (captured, reminders with coupon and its state, restore clicks, order), status with the next planned reminder, the customer and consent. Actions: Send reminder N now (ignores the delay, not the consent), Stop reminders, Unsubscribe this e-mail / Allow reminders again, Delete, E-mail preview of reminders 1–3 with this cart's data (links disabled) and Send a test e-mail to any address (sample coupon code, not counted).

How an order is counted as recovered

When an order gets its first status, the extension looks for the shopper's cart in this order: the cart restored from a reminder in this browser session, the cart whose reminder coupon the order uses, the shopper's own open cart, and reminded carts of the same e-mail address. If that cart got a reminder within the attribution window, it becomes Recovered with the order total and the reminder number; otherwise Ordered. The shopper's other open carts stop their sequence. Orders placed elsewhere (another device without the link, by phone through the admin) are matched by e-mail on the next run. If the order of a recovered cart is not paid and the shopper orders again, the new order replaces it.

Works with other Kavio Labs extensions

• Sell by Weight & Length: measured lines (1.25 m, 0.750 kg) are captured, shown in the e-mail and restored with their exact quantity.
• Make an Offer: products the shopper bought at an accepted offer price are excluded from reminder coupons.

FAQ

Which carts are captured?

Carts of signed-in customers when they add a product, and guest carts once the shopper enters an e-mail at checkout (and did not untick the box). Anonymous carts without an e-mail cannot be reminded.

OpenCart deletes guest carts after the session ends. Does the restore link still work?

Yes. The extension keeps its own copy of the cart lines (product, options, quantity), so the link works days later and on another device.

Why did a reminder not go out?

Check the cart page: the status and the next planned reminder. Common reasons: no cron job (use the cron URL or keep "Also send on admin page views" on), the shopper changed the cart (the delay starts again), the cart is below the minimum value, the shopper unticked the box or unsubscribed, the extension is disabled or not licensed, or the store has no mail engine. Failed sends are listed in the timeline and on the dashboard ("Last error").

Can I test without sending real e-mails?

Set E-mail delivery to Test mode: e-mails are written to system/storage/kv_abandoned_cart_recovery/mail/. Or use Send a test e-mail on a cart page.

Do coupons pile up in Marketing > Coupons?

No. Each reminder creates one single-use coupon; unused ones are deleted after they expire. Used ones stay with their history.

Does a coupon stack with the Make an Offer price?

No: products with an accepted offer are excluded from the coupon.

Is it GDPR-friendly?

Guests are captured only after they enter their e-mail next to a clear checkbox; you choose opt-out or opt-in; every e-mail has an unsubscribe link; records are deleted after a retention period; you can erase all records of an e-mail address. No IP addresses are stored.

Can e-mail scanners trigger restores or unsubscribes?

Unsubscribing needs a button click, so scanners cannot unsubscribe anybody. A scanner that opens the restore link is counted as a click (it does not create an order).

Does it change core files?

No. It uses OpenCart events only (no OCMOD), so it works with themes that keep the standard checkout e-mail field (name="email").

Multi-store?

Carts remember their store; links in the e-mails point to that store and use its name.