> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.mediarithmics.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.mediarithmics.io/audience-and-activation/automate/cart-abandonment-automation.md).

# Cart abandonment automation

The wait-then-remind pattern: catch users who did not complete an action, and stop chasing the ones who did.

## Your goal

Bring back users who showed intent and did not follow through - and stop contacting them the moment they do.

## Expected outcome

An active automation that adds users on an intent event, holds them for a few hours, sends a reminder through a custom action to those who have not converted, and removes anyone who converts in the meantime.

## When this is useful

{% hint style="info" %}
**The scenario.** Cadabra Inc is a major online retailer. They noticed that a lot of their users stop browsing after adding items to their carts, and would like to have them complete their purchases.
{% endhint %}

The automation should:

* Add to the automation users who have added an item to their cart.
* **Wait a few hours - say 2** - in case those users complete their order. If they do, they should exit the scenario before the next action.
* Send the remaining users a reminder, or a promotion code, to entice them into completing the order.

## Prerequisites

* Automations enabled on your organisation, and the `UserScenario` schema requirement satisfied. See [Automations reference](/audience-and-activation/automate/automations-reference.md).
* The events you will trigger and exit on being ingested, and their fields carrying `@TreeIndex` in the runtime schema.
* A custom action built for your organisation, for the [Custom action](/audience-and-activation/automate/automations-reference/actions.md#custom-action) node. Your Account manager can help you get started.

## The build

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Trigger on the intent event

Choose **React to an event** as the trigger, configured on a `$basket_view` event.

An event trigger, rather than a segment trigger, because the scenario has to act within hours - segment triggers run at the pace of segment computation. See [Triggers](/audience-and-activation/automate/automations-reference/triggers.md).
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Wait

Add a **Wait** node configured to **2 hours** - long enough for a genuine purchase to happen, short enough for the reminder to still be relevant.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Add the exit condition

Add an exit condition on a `$transaction_confirmed` event. Because an exit condition is evaluated at any moment regardless of the user's position, a user who buys during the wait leaves before the reminder node is reached.

{% hint style="warning" %}
This node is not optional politeness. Without it, buyers get the reminder, and - because of the [re-entry rule](/audience-and-activation/automate/automations-reference/triggers.md#re-entry) - they also stay parked in the scenario, unable to re-enter it next time they abandon a cart.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Send the reminder

Add a **Custom action** node configured to send the reminder.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Test, then activate

Force a user through with the **Test** button and follow the notifications in that user's timeline. Then save and activate. See [Lifecycle, testing & analytics](/audience-and-activation/automate/automations-reference/lifecycle-testing-and-analytics.md).
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

## The same pattern, one step earlier in the funnel

{% hint style="info" %}
**Post-visit reminder.** Cadabra Inc also noticed that many users look at item pages without adding anything to their basket, and want to draw them into the purchase funnel. Same shape, different values:

* Entry triggered by a `$page_view` event.
* Wait node configured to **3 hours** - not too pushy, and long enough to let the user add items themselves.
* Custom action node configured to send a reminder with the products consulted during the last visit.
* Exit condition on a `$transaction_confirmed` event.
  {% endhint %}

The two differ only in the entry event and the wait duration. That is the general form of this pattern:

| Element        | Cart abandonment           | Post-visit                          |
| -------------- | -------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| Entry event    | `$basket_view`             | `$page_view`                        |
| Wait           | 2 hours                    | 3 hours                             |
| Exit condition | `$transaction_confirmed`   | `$transaction_confirmed`            |
| Action         | Reminder or promotion code | Reminder listing consulted products |

## Verification

* The test user's timeline shows the entry, the wait, and the reminder.
* Once active, the per-node counters advance. Remember they count **passages, not unique users**.
* The exit condition's detailed stats show users leaving - which is the signal that people are converting during the wait rather than that the scenario is broken.

## Troubleshooting

<table data-search="false"><thead><tr><th width="290">Symptom</th><th>Likely cause</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Buyers receive the reminder anyway</td><td>The exit condition is missing, or configured on a different event than the one your schema actually records.</td></tr><tr><td>A user who abandoned a second cart never re-enters</td><td>They are still inside the scenario. See <a href="/audience-and-activation/automate/automations-reference/triggers.md#re-entry">Re-entry</a>.</td></tr><tr><td>The trigger query cannot be saved</td><td>A field in it does not carry <code>@TreeIndex</code> in the runtime schema.</td></tr><tr><td>Users are woken late from the wait node</td><td>More than 50,000 users per hour are passing that node. See <a href="/audience-and-activation/automate/automations-reference.md#usage-limits">Usage limits</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table>

## Related pages

<table data-view="cards" data-search="false"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Post-purchase engagement</strong></td><td>The same components, aimed after the conversion rather than before it.</td><td><a href="/audience-and-activation/automate/post-purchase-engagement.md">Post-purchase engagement</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Flow control</strong></td><td>Wait and exit conditions in full.</td><td><a href="/audience-and-activation/automate/automations-reference/flow-control.md">Flow control</a></td></tr></tbody></table>


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