The customer adds products to the cart. Fills in the address. Picks cash-on-delivery. And then — does not order. Leaves the site.
This is the most expensive moment in the e-commerce funnel. The customer was almost a buyer. They had already shown intent. And that is exactly where they are lost.
of shopping carts in online stores are abandoned before the order is completed. In BG stores with COD (cash-on-delivery), abandonment is likely higher because of the extra hesitation around paying on delivery.
For every 100 visitors who added a product to the cart, 70 leave without buying. Even if you recover only 10% of them, that is 7 additional orders for every 100 potential buyers.
Why cash-on-delivery complicates things
In Bulgaria, cash-on-delivery is the dominant payment method in e-commerce — especially for a first order from an unfamiliar store. But it is exactly that which increases abandonment.
The customer thinks: "If I do not like it, I will have to send it back. Will I get my money back? Is the courier reliable?" COD looks "safer," but the hesitation around the return procedure is what stops many people from completing the order.
The recovery sequence needs to address exactly those fears — not just "did you forget something in your cart."
What a 3-message sequence looks like
The demo on our site shows a concrete recovery sequence for PowerUp BG — a fictional sports supplements store. A customer named "Ivan" has added protein and creatine (€67) to his cart and abandoned it. Here is what the sequence looks like:
Message 1 — 2 hours after abandonment:
"Ivan, you left something in your cart 🛒 The protein and creatine are waiting for you. Complete your order →"
No pressure. Just a reminder. Most people who forgot or got distracted come back at this message.
Message 2 — 24 hours after abandonment:
"Ivan, only 3 units of your protein are left in stock. + 10% off with code IVAN10 →"
Two elements: light urgency (stock) plus an incentive (a personalised discount). The discount is personalised in two ways — the code includes the customer's name, and it is offered only to people who abandoned a cart, not to everyone.
Message 3 — 3 days after abandonment:
"Last chance — code IVAN10 expires tonight. The protein is almost gone →"
It closes the window. After that, you stop sending. If the customer has not bought after 3 messages, additional reminders will only annoy them.
recovery rate with a well-timed 3-message sequence. At an average order value of €50 and 20 abandoned carts per month — 2 to 3 recovered orders = €100 to €150 of additional monthly revenue.
The channel matters — Messenger, Viber, or email
In Bulgaria, Viber is the dominant channel for personal communication. Open rate for Viber messages: ~90%. Open rate for email: ~25%. If you send your recovery sequence by email, 75% of customers will never see it.
Facebook Messenger is the practical starting point: free, no monthly fee, and most BG online stores already have a Facebook page. Customers write there naturally.
Viber is the premium option for stores whose customers communicate mostly there. The Viber Business bot requires registration and a €100/month platform fee (typically passed to the customer). At high order volumes, the difference in results justifies the cost. As a basic alternative, SMS recovery works well for customers who provided a phone number when ordering.
How the automation works
The cart recovery agent is connected to Shopify. When a cart is abandoned (you define the threshold — usually 2 hours with no completed order):
- The agent waits a defined period of time
- It sends a personalised message (uses names, specific products, prices from the actual cart)
- If the customer does not respond, it moves on through the sequence
- If the customer buys, it stops automatically
- If the customer replies with a question, the agent replies (or escalates to you in complex cases)
All of this happens without your involvement. You only see the orders that came in from the recovery sequence — tagged in Shopify for tracking.
Who you should not chase
Not every abandoned cart is a lost order waiting to be "saved." A customer who has abandoned their cart three times without buying is probably just browsing. Overloading them with recovery messages will erode their trust.
Good practice: a maximum of 3 messages, a 7-day window, and then you stop. Better to lose 1 potential sale than to drive a customer away forever.