Abandoned Checkout Recovery: a personal AI-written email one hour after a cart is left behind
An n8n workflow that catches Shopify's abandoned-checkout webhook, waits one hour, has Claude write a short personal recovery email that mentions the exact items left in the cart, and sends it from your own Gmail — not a template blast, an actual note.
- 1
Catch the abandoned checkout
Add a
Webhooknode in n8n and register its URL in Shopify under Settings → Notifications → Webhooks, eventcheckouts/createwon't work here — usecheckouts/updateand filter forcompleted_at = null, or simpler: Shopify'sAbandoned checkoutlist via the Admin API on a schedule. The workflow file uses the webhook variant with a filter step. - 2
Wait one hour, then re-check
Add a
Waitnode (1 hour), then aShopifynode that fetches the checkout by token and anIFnode that stops the flow ifcompleted_atis no longer null — the customer already bought, don't email them. - 3
Have Claude write the note
Add an
HTTP Requestnode to the Claude API. Give it the customer's first name, the cart items, and your store name. Prompt for a 2–3 sentence plain-text email, friendly but not pushy, that names the items and includes the checkout recovery link. Explicitly forbid discount offers — you can always add a coupon variant later, but starting without one protects your margin. - 4
Send from your own Gmail
Add a
Gmailnode, operation Send. Use your real founder address, subject likeforgot something?in lowercase — it consistently outperforms Title Case marketing subjects. Log every send to a Google Sheet if you want to track recovery rate.
Frequently asked questions
Why one hour and not immediately?
Sending instantly feels like surveillance and catches people who were just comparing shipping costs. One hour is the sweet spot most stores converge on: recent enough that the intent is warm, late enough that you only mail genuine abandoners. The Wait node is one setting — tune it freely.
Is emailing abandoners legal?
In most jurisdictions yes, because the customer entered their email during checkout (existing business relationship). You should still include an unsubscribe line and honor it. If you sell into the EU, check your GDPR basis — the safe pattern is mentioning it in your checkout privacy notice.
What makes this better than Shopify's built-in recovery email?
Shopify sends one fixed template. Claude writes a fresh two-sentence note that names the actual products and matches your store's voice — which reads like a human followed up. Merchants consistently report higher reply and recovery rates from plain personal emails than from branded templates.