Answer
How long should you wait before sending an abandoned cart email?
Test a longer wait than the first hour. A field experiment by Xueming Luo and colleagues, with about 40,500 customers, found messages sent 30-60 minutes after abandonment were less likely to produce a purchase, and that 1-3 days later worked better. It's one study, so split test the timing on your own flow.
October 31, 2026
Test a longer wait than the first hour. A field experiment by Xueming Luo and colleagues, with about 40,500 customers reached by email and app, found messages sent 30-60 minutes after abandonment were less likely to produce a purchase. Per its press release, the Journal of Marketing paper found that messages sent too early can do worse than sending nothing, and that a message after 1-3 days had a positive incremental effect.
Why might a quick message fall flat?
We're going by summaries of the paper here, so the explanation is our judgment. A plausible explanation is that someone who left a few minutes ago is still deciding. They may be comparing prices or waiting until later, and a prompt within the hour can feel pushy. A message a day or two later may reach them when the decision is still open and they're ready to act.
How much weight should this study carry?
| What it gives you | What it doesn't |
|---|---|
| A controlled experiment, which is stronger evidence than a flow report | A rule for your category or order value |
| A clear reason to question a default under an hour | A test of your own template or offer |
| A timing range worth testing | A result from your own customers |
Treat it as a good hypothesis. Benchmarks such as revenue per recipient won't settle timing either, because they're attributed.
How do you test timing on your own flow?
- Pick the first email in your abandoned cart flow.
- Split shoppers randomly between your current delay and a longer one, such as one day.
- Compare orders per person who entered each path, counting orders from any source.
- Run it long enough to cover your normal weekly swings.
Comparing all orders matters, because a later email may get less attributed credit if some shoppers come back by themselves. A shopper who did that wasn't lost. Do abandoned cart emails actually add revenue? goes further on this.
Does timing change where the click should go?
It doesn't, but the two compound. The longer the wait, the more chance that the email opens somewhere other than the laptop where the cart was built. If the button goes to /cart, that shopper can find an empty cart whatever delay you chose.
reOtter's cart recovery page keeps your Klaviyo trigger, filters and timing as they are, and only the button link changes. When reOtter holds the shopper's cart and knows who clicked, the cart goes back on whatever device they're on. Held carts last 30 days.
Key takeaways
- One field experiment found messages at 30-60 minutes were less likely to produce a purchase.
- The study points to 1-3 days, so test a longer delay instead of copying it outright.
- Judge a timing test on all orders per person, since attributed revenue can mislead.
See how reOtter restores the cart → Abandoned cart recovery
Frequently asked questions
- Is it bad to send an abandoned cart email within an hour?
- One field experiment found messages at 30-60 minutes were less likely to produce a purchase. That doesn't settle it for every store. It's enough reason to test a later send rather than assume sooner is better.
- Should cart and checkout emails use the same timing?
- They don't have to. A shopper who has typed an email and reached checkout is at a different stage from one who added an item and left. Test each flow separately.
- Does send timing affect the empty cart problem?
- A longer wait gives a shopper more time to move between devices, though timing doesn't cause the problem. The cart stays behind whenever the click opens in a different browser. That depends on the button's destination.