RC
Returning customer, 480 USD cart, SMS consent
SMS
in 20 min
No discount
Why this message. Loyal buyer with a high-value cart. A quick reminder is enough, so we keep your margin.
AI cart recovery decision engine that decides per cart
The Recovery Brain is CartAbandon's AI cart recovery decision engine. For every abandoned cart, checkout or failed payment it picks the channel, the delay and the offer, inside your margin guardrails, and an AI writes the message in your brand voice. Every decision is logged with a plain-English reason.
Different shoppers need different recovery, so one flow for everyone wastes money
A standard abandoned cart flow sends the same message, at the same time, with the same coupon, to everyone. That costs you twice. Loyal customers who would have come back anyway get a discount they did not need. First-time bargain hunters get no reason to return. And a declined card gets a marketing email instead of a payment fix.
The Recovery Brain treats each cart as its own decision. It looks at who the shopper is, what they left and how you can reach them, then chooses the action with the best expected outcome for your margin.
Twelve signals shape each decision
| Signal | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Customer type (new, returning, VIP) | Returning buyers rarely need a discount |
| Lifetime value | High-value customers get careful, no-discount handling |
| Cart value | A large cart justifies a faster, more personal channel |
| Price sensitivity | Discount code history and sale-only buying |
| Consent per channel | Only channels the shopper agreed to |
| Time zone and quiet hours | No messages at night in the shopper's local time |
| Device | Mobile shoppers often respond better to SMS or push |
| Abandonment stage | Browse, cart, checkout or payment |
| Payment decline code | Insufficient funds needs a different fix than an expired card |
| Stock level | Low stock can justify an earlier reminder |
| Previous recovery messages | Frequency caps across all channels |
| Your guardrails | Max discount, minimum margin, no-discount lists |
Three carts, three different decisions
Returning customer, high-value cart
- Shopper: returning customer, 480 USD cart, SMS consent
- Decision: SMS after 20 minutes, no discount
- Why: a known buyer with a large cart and SMS consent is likely to finish with a quick, friendly reminder. A discount would only cost margin.
First visit, price sensitive
- Shopper: first visit, 70 USD cart, price sensitive, email only
- Decision: email after 4 hours with 10 percent off
- Why: a new shopper with a history of using discount codes needs a reason to come back. Email is the only channel with consent. The 10 percent stays inside the margin guardrail.
Declined card
- Shopper: card declined, decline code insufficient funds
- Decision: payment update message with a secure link, no discount, retry timed to a payday pattern
- Why: the shopper wanted to buy. The problem is the payment, not the price. Learn more about failed payment recovery.
Discounts are the last step, not the first
The Recovery Brain climbs an offer ladder only as far as it needs to.
- No offer. A plain reminder with product details and answers to common questions.
- Free shipping. Often enough for shoppers who stopped at shipping cost.
- Percent or fixed amount off. Only when signals point to price as the blocker.
Every offer is capped by your margin rules. A discount that would push an order below your minimum margin is never sent. Each code is unique and single use, so it cannot be shared on coupon sites.
Your guardrails always win over the AI
You set the limits once. The Recovery Brain works inside them on every cart.
- Maximum discount, as a percent or an amount
- Minimum margin per order
- No-discount lists, for example VIP customers or items already on sale
- Quiet hours by the shopper's time zone
- Frequency caps across email, SMS, WhatsApp and push
- Unique single-use codes only
Every message comes with a reason you can read
Each decision is logged in the panel under "Why this message". It shows the signals that mattered and the choice that followed, in plain English. For example:
Returning customer (4 past orders), cart 480 USD, SMS consent recorded. Sent SMS after 20 minutes. No discount: returning customers with this cart value usually complete without one, and the VIP no-discount rule applies.
You can open any recovered or unrecovered cart and see exactly what was sent, when and why.
Rules and scoring decide, AI writes the words
The Recovery Brain is not a black box. Decisions come from your rules plus a scoring model that ranks the possible actions for each cart. The AI's job is the message text: it writes in your brand voice, using the product, the shopper's stage and the chosen offer. You can edit any message or lock a template.
Learning from your own tests
- A/B tests (Growth and up) compare messages and delays. Winning versions become the default for that flow.
- Holdout groups (Scale and Plus) keep a small random share of carts without messages. The difference shows true incremental revenue, which the scoring uses to favour actions that add sales rather than claim them.
Your own rules on Plus
On Plus you can add custom decision rules and margin models per store. For example, a different minimum margin per product category, or a rule that high-value B2B carts always go to email first.
Per-cart decisioning starts on Growth
| Plan | How decisions are made |
|---|---|
| Starter | Same flows with fixed timing, no dynamic discount |
| Growth | Recovery Brain per-cart decisioning, dynamic discounts with guardrails, A/B testing |
| Scale | Everything in Growth plus holdout groups |
| Plus | Everything in Scale plus custom decision rules and margin models per store |
See channels and their consent rules on the recovery channels page, and all limits on pricing.
FAQ
Questions about ai cart recovery decision engine
Does the AI decide how big the discount is?
It decides whether a discount is needed and picks from the offer ladder, but only within your guardrails. Your maximum discount, minimum margin and no-discount lists always apply.
Can I see why a shopper got a certain message?
Yes. Every decision has a "Why this message" entry in the panel with the signals used and the choice made, in plain English.
Is the Recovery Brain available on Starter?
No. Starter runs cart, checkout and browse flows with fixed timing and no dynamic discount. Per-cart decisioning starts on Growth.
Does the AI send messages to people who did not consent?
No. Consent per channel is one of the signals, and marketing messages go only to people with a recorded consent for that channel.
Can I override a decision?
Yes. You can edit messages, lock templates, change guardrails and exclude customers or products. On Plus you can add custom decision rules per store.
Find out how many of your carts need a different decision
Your estimate shows recoverable revenue by flow and a sample decision card.