Abandoned Cart Email Examples: Klaviyo vs Omnisend for Ecommerce Abandoned Cart Campaigns

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Both Klaviyo and Omnisend can send abandoned cart emails, but they define the “abandoned” moment differently. Klaviyo’s standard setups are built around a shopper starting checkout, with add-to-cart triggers available for some store integrations. Omnisend keeps shoppers who leave from the cart stage separate from shoppers who leave after starting checkout. The better platform for your store is the one whose trigger matches the events your store actually sends and the funnel stage you want to recover. Neither vendor’s documentation shows that one platform recovers more carts than the other.

What “abandoned” means in each platform

Before you copy any example email, decide which abandonment you are targeting. A shopper who added a product and left the cart page is in a different situation from a shopper who entered shipping details and then closed the tab. The two platforms make this distinction in different ways.

Klaviyo: checkout-start flows and some add-to-cart triggers

Klaviyo’s prebuilt abandoned cart flows are generally built on a Started Checkout trigger. Some integrations also support an Added to Cart trigger, but that depends on how your store sends data. For Shopify, add-to-cart events may require behavioral tracking to be enabled. For BigCommerce, they may require additional setup. Check your integration’s documentation before you assume a cart-stage flow will fire.

Omnisend: separate Abandoned Cart and Abandoned Checkout automations

Omnisend documents two separate automations. The Abandoned Cart automation targets shoppers who leave before checkout. The Abandoned Checkout automation targets shoppers who begin checkout and leave before placing an order. A shopper who moves from the cart into checkout exits the cart flow and enters the checkout flow. This gives you control over the two stages, but it also means you need to configure both if you want to cover both.

Three abandoned cart email examples to adapt

The examples below are editorial drafts meant to be adapted, not tested campaigns or quoted copy from either vendor. Replace the bracketed product name with the item in the cart, and only make claims your store can verify.

Email 1: the cart reminder

Subject: Still thinking it over?
Preview text: Your

is still in your cart.
Body: Show the actual cart items with images, name one concrete benefit of the product, and include a single “Return to your cart” button. Klaviyo’s guidance also recommends featuring the abandoned item and a clear return-to-cart call to action.

Email 2: answer one hesitation

Subject: Questions about

?
Body: Address one real objection using a policy or fact your store already publishes, such as shipping times, sizing guidance, or the return window. Klaviyo suggests addressing common hesitations directly, and some teams add a short poll asking what kept the shopper from buying. Keep the email to one objection. A list of five reasons to buy reads like a sales page.

Optional later message: an incentive, only if your margins allow it

If you offer a discount, decide the rules from your own margin and customer strategy rather than from a template. Klaviyo advises against including a coupon in the first email, stating: “we don’t encourage you to include a coupon in the first email.” The concern is that early discounts can teach shoppers to wait for one. Omnisend documents order-value splits and customizable discounts, so you can vary the offer by cart value. Neither vendor’s documentation shows that discounts raise recovery.

Setting up the flow in Klaviyo

1. Start from an appropriate prebuilt abandoned cart flow in the flow builder, or build one from a Started Checkout trigger.
2. Confirm which event your store integration sends. If you want cart-stage recovery, verify that an Added to Cart event actually reaches Klaviyo before you rely on it.
3. Add a filter that removes anyone who has placed an order since the flow started. Set it to zero times since flow start for Placed Order. Klaviyo rechecks profile filters before each email, so a shopper who buys between messages should drop out.
4. Keep dynamic product blocks in the email so each message shows the current cart contents.
5. Set the wait before the first email with your integration’s sync speed in mind. Klaviyo notes that an integration may sync as slowly as hourly in its example, so a wait shorter than that can mean the email does not arrive at the nominal time. Its guidance is to allow at least 1 hour 15 minutes when a short delay is required.
6. Send a test to a controlled contact through a real trigger, not only through the editor, and confirm the cart items and return link populate.

Setting up the flow in Omnisend

1. Create an Abandoned Cart automation for shoppers who leave before checkout, and an Abandoned Checkout automation for shoppers who start checkout and leave, if both stages matter to you.
2. Make sure the shopper can be identified. Omnisend documents identification through email link clicks, signup forms, and email entry during checkout. Without identification, the flow cannot be attached to a person.
3. Confirm that cart and checkout events include product line items and a recovery URL. Those fields drive the cart content and the return link in email and SMS.
4. Set the trigger inactivity time so the shopper has time to finish adding or editing items. The documented frequency default is 24 hours, and you can change it.
5. Turn off the store platform’s own abandoned cart automation manually if you use Omnisend’s flow, to avoid duplicate reminders.
6. Do not rely on a test email sent from the editor to confirm cart recovery data. Omnisend notes it may not populate because it lacks event context. Trigger a real workflow with a controlled test contact instead.

Timing: how long to wait between emails

Klaviyo’s documentation recommends sending the first message two to four hours after a checkout starts and a second email 20 to 48 hours later. The exact wording is: “We recommend sending your first message between 2–4 hours after someone starts a checkout, and then sending a second email 20-48 hours later.” These are vendor recommendations, not performance guarantees. The prebuilt default is four hours.

Omnisend leaves timing to you through the trigger inactivity setting and the frequency default noted above. Pick delays based on three things you can observe: how quickly your integration delivers events, how often shoppers edit carts before buying, and how long your product’s buying cycle is. A low-consideration accessory and a high-consideration appliance rarely warrant the same wait.

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Stopping the wrong messages

• Purchases after the flow starts. Klaviyo uses the Placed Order filter. Omnisend treats a placed order as the exit condition for the checkout flow. Test this with a real order before you activate the sequence.
• Shoppers who move from cart to checkout. In Omnisend, this moves them out of the cart flow and into the checkout flow. Check that they are not receiving messages from both.
• Duplicate reminders from the store. If your ecommerce platform sends its own abandoned cart emails, disable them when you use the email platform’s flow. Both vendors warn about this overlap.
• Channel overlap. Klaviyo documents email and SMS in its flow guide and describes adding push for opted-in app users in a separate guide. Omnisend documents email, SMS, and push blocks. If you send SMS and email in the same sequence, plan the spacing so a shopper does not receive both at the same moment.

Side-by-side comparison

Decision axis	Klaviyo	Omnisend	What to check before you choose
Funnel trigger	Started Checkout in most prebuilt flows; Added to Cart for some integrations	Separate Abandoned Cart and Abandoned Checkout automations	Which events your store sends, and whether you need cart-stage, checkout-stage, or both
Purchase exit	Placed Order filter, rechecked before each email	Placed order exits the checkout flow	Test exits with a real order in live event data
Timing defaults	Prebuilt default of four hours; vendor suggests 2–4 hours for the first email and 20–48 hours for the second	Customizable trigger inactivity time; documented 24-hour frequency default	Integration sync speed, editing habits, and buying cycle
Shopper identification	Depends on integrated event collection and profile creation; sync frequency can matter	Required; documented through email clicks, signup forms, and checkout email entry	Consent and identification rules for your audience and platform
Offers	Vendor advises against a coupon in the first email	Order-value splits and customizable discounts	Your margin and discount policy
Channels	Email and SMS in the flow guide; push in a separate guide	Email, SMS, and push blocks	Which channels your audience has opted into
Native store duplication	Vendor warns about disabling default store messages	Turn off overlapping native store automations manually	Your ecommerce platform’s built-in reminder settings

What the evidence does and does not show

Both vendors cite abandonment figures. Klaviyo’s flow guide, in a help article dated March 30, 2026, states that “almost 70% of shopping carts are abandoned on average.” Omnisend’s tracking article dated May 21, 2026 says “7 out of 10 customers abandon their carts.” Neither passage names an original study, publisher, or study year, and they do not confirm each other. Treat both as vendor claims, not established industry statistics.

The official documentation describes features, setup steps, and recommended timing. It does not compare campaign results, pricing, deliverability, or customer satisfaction between the two platforms. Any statement that one tool recovers more revenue would go beyond what these pages support. Platform behavior can also differ by ecommerce integration and can change as documentation is updated, so check the current help pages for your specific store before you build.

How to choose

• Choose Klaviyo if your store integration reliably sends Started Checkout events and you want a prebuilt flow that you can adjust, with dynamic cart content and a documented Placed Order filter.
• Choose Omnisend if you want to treat cart-stage and checkout-stage abandonment as separate campaigns, and you can confirm that shoppers are identified and that cart and checkout events carry line items and recovery URLs.
• Choose neither on features alone if your store’s event data is incomplete. Fix the integration first, because both platforms depend on it.

Whichever you choose, send one test through a real trigger before you turn on a live sequence.

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