Recovery emails should make it easy for customers to return to their cart and also give them a clear way to stop receiving recovery messages. Cart Recovery supports customer-facing links for both purposes:
- Restore Cart link — lets the customer return to their saved cart.
- Unsubscribe link — lets the customer stop receiving cart recovery emails.
These links are important for both user experience and privacy compliance.
Restore cart link
The Restore Cart link is the main call-to-action in a recovery email. When the customer clicks this link, the plugin uses a secure recovery token to identify the abandoned cart and attempt to restore it.
Example button text:
Restore My Cart
Other good button labels include:
Return to Cart
Continue Checkout
Complete My Order
View My Cart
Where to use the restore link
Add the restore cart link inside every recovery email template.
Recommended placement:
Hi {customer_name},
You left a few items in your cart.
[Restore My Cart]
If you have any questions, reply to this email or contact our support team.
The restore link should be easy to find and should appear as a clear button, not only as a plain text link.
How cart restoration works
When a customer clicks the restore link, the plugin checks the recovery token from the email URL. If the token matches a saved abandoned cart, the plugin can restore the saved cart data into the customer’s WooCommerce cart session.
The restored cart may include:
- Products from the abandoned cart
- Product quantities
- Selected variations, when available
- Cart total recalculated by WooCommerce
- Customer/session recovery tracking
After restoration, the customer can continue shopping or complete checkout.
Important note about prices and stock
Cart restoration does not permanently lock old product prices or stock status. WooCommerce may recalculate the cart when it is restored.
That means:
- If a product price changed, the current price may apply.
- If a product is out of stock, it may not be restorable.
- If a variation no longer exists, it may not be restored correctly.
- If a coupon expired, it may no longer apply.
- Shipping and tax may be recalculated during checkout.
This is normal WooCommerce behavior and helps prevent customers from checking out with outdated product data.
What happens after the customer clicks the restore link
After the customer clicks the restore link, one of several things can happen.
Cart restores successfully
If the cart is valid and products are available, the customer is returned to the store with their cart restored.
Recommended expected result:
Customer clicks recovery email
↓
Cart is restored
↓
Customer returns to cart or checkout
↓
Customer completes order
Cart is restored but checkout is still required
Restoring a cart does not complete the order automatically. The customer still needs to review the cart/checkout and place the order.
Cart cannot be restored
A cart may fail to restore if:
- The recovery link is invalid.
- The recovery token has expired or no longer exists.
- The cart record was deleted.
- The cart was already cleaned up by retention rules.
- Products were deleted.
- Products are out of stock.
- Variations changed or no longer exist.
- WooCommerce sessions are not working.
- Caching/session plugins interfere with the cart.
Customer revisits without completing checkout
If the customer restores the cart but does not complete checkout, the cart may be recorded as Restored but not Recovered.
This is an important difference:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Restored | Customer returned to the cart |
| Recovered | Customer completed the order |
Recovered order tracking
A cart is marked as Recovered when the customer completes checkout after the abandoned cart has been restored or connected to recovery activity.
When this happens, Cart Recovery may record:
- Recovered status
- Recovered date/time
- WooCommerce order ID
- Recovered revenue
- Recovery source
- Cart journey event
Example:
Cart Recovered
Order: #1045
Recovered Revenue: $124.00
Why recovered order tracking matters
Recovered order tracking helps you measure the real value of Cart Recovery.
It answers questions like:
- How many abandoned carts became orders?
- How much revenue was recovered?
- Which emails helped customers return?
- Which products are most often recovered?
- Which recovery sequence performs best?
Restored vs recovered
Do not confuse restored carts with recovered carts.
A restored cart means the customer came back. A recovered cart means the customer actually completed checkout.
Example:
Customer clicks restore link = Restored
Customer places order = Recovered
Unsubscribe link
The Unsubscribe link allows customers to stop receiving recovery emails for their abandoned cart.
Every recovery email should include an unsubscribe link.
Example unsubscribe text:
If you no longer want to receive cart recovery emails, you can unsubscribe here.
Or:
Unsubscribe from cart reminders
Where to place the unsubscribe link
Place the unsubscribe link near the bottom of the email.
Example:
You are receiving this email because you started checkout on our store.
Unsubscribe from cart reminders
The link should be visible enough for customers to find easily, but it does not need to be the main call-to-action.
What happens after unsubscribe
When a customer clicks the unsubscribe link, the plugin marks the cart/customer recovery record as unsubscribed for that recovery flow.
After unsubscribe:
- The cart should no longer receive additional recovery emails.
- Already-sent emails remain in the activity history.
- The cart record may still exist for reporting or privacy retention purposes.
- The customer may still receive normal WooCommerce transactional emails, such as order confirmations, if they later place an order.
- Unsubscribing from cart recovery does not necessarily unsubscribe the customer from all marketing emails unless your store connects it to a broader email preference system.
Important difference
Cart recovery unsubscribe usually applies to recovery emails from this plugin. It is not the same as unsubscribing from:
- Order confirmation emails
- Password reset emails
- Account emails
- Shipping emails
- Newsletter emails
- Marketing platform emails
If your store uses a separate email marketing tool, manage those preferences separately.
Compliance and privacy notes
Cart Recovery may process personal data such as customer email, cart contents, checkout details, IP address, and browser information. Because of this, store owners should handle abandoned cart tracking responsibly.
Add abandoned cart tracking to your privacy policy
Your privacy policy should explain that your store may save cart and checkout information to remind customers about incomplete purchases.
Suggested privacy policy wording:
We may store your name, email address, cart contents, and checkout details when you add products to your cart or begin checkout. This allows us to remind you about incomplete purchases and help you restore your cart. You can unsubscribe from cart recovery emails at any time using the unsubscribe link in the email.
Review this wording with a legal professional if your store must comply with GDPR, CCPA, or other privacy laws.
Always include an unsubscribe link
Every recovery email should include a clear unsubscribe option. This helps customers control future messages and improves trust.
Do not send too many emails
Use a reasonable recovery sequence, such as two or three emails per abandoned cart. Avoid aggressive or excessive follow-ups.
Respect retention settings
Use the retention settings to avoid storing abandoned cart data longer than necessary.
Recommended retention:
| Store preference | Suggested retention |
|---|---|
| Privacy-focused | 14–30 days |
| Standard setup | 30–60 days |
| Longer reporting | 90 days |
Avoid misleading email content
Recovery emails should clearly relate to the customer’s cart. Avoid misleading subject lines, fake urgency, or claims that are not true.
Best practices for restore and unsubscribe links
Use one clear restore button
The restore cart button should be the primary action in the email.
Good button text:
Restore My Cart
Avoid vague text like:
Click Here
Keep the restore link close to the cart reminder
Place the button shortly after the reminder text so customers immediately know what to do.
Include the unsubscribe link in every email
Do not hide the unsubscribe link. A clear unsubscribe option reduces spam complaints and builds trust.
Test both links before activating emails
Before enabling automation, send a test email and check:
- Restore cart button opens correctly
- Cart products restore correctly
- Checkout page loads correctly
- Unsubscribe link works
- Email looks good on mobile
- Links are not blocked by security/caching plugins
Use HTTPS
Make sure your store uses HTTPS so recovery links are secure.
Troubleshooting restore links
Restore link opens but cart is empty
Possible causes:
- Cart record was deleted.
- Retention cleanup removed the cart.
- Product is out of stock.
- Product was deleted.
- Variation no longer exists.
- WooCommerce session is not saving.
- Cache plugin is caching cart/checkout pages.
- Customer opened the link in a different browser with blocked cookies.
Restore link says invalid or does nothing
Possible causes:
- Recovery token is missing or invalid.
- Link was modified by an email builder.
- Security plugin stripped URL parameters.
- Cart Recovery data was deleted.
- The customer already unsubscribed or the cart is no longer valid.
Customer restored cart but it is not marked recovered
This is expected if the customer has not completed checkout. A cart becomes recovered only after an order is placed.
Unsubscribe link does not work
Check:
- The email template includes the correct unsubscribe link/placeholder.
- Security plugins are not blocking URL parameters.
- The cart record still exists.
- The link was not modified by the email editor.
- The site URL is correct.