Cart Recovery
Cart Rebuild Link
A cart rebuild link is a link in an abandoned cart email that recreates the shopper's cart when clicked, so it works on a different device from the one that built the cart. Depending on the platform, the link either lists the products itself or carries a key that looks up a saved cart.
October 31, 2026
A cart rebuild link is a link in an abandoned cart email that recreates the shopper's cart when clicked. Because the items don't depend on the browser that built the cart, it works on a different device.
How do cart rebuild links work?
There are two types, and they behave differently.
| Type | How it works | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| The link lists the products | Variant IDs and quantities are written into the URL | Shopify cart permalinks, including snippets built from Klaviyo event data |
| The link carries a key | A key points to a cart saved on the store's side | Klaviyo's WooCommerce integration (wck_rebuild_cart), and Shopify's checkout recovery link in Started Checkout flows |
Klaviyo's help center says some integrations can rebuild a cart fully whichever device the link is clicked from, and that the link depends on the integration. In a 2021 community answer, a Klaviyo employee listed the fix by platform and pointed Shopify merchants to responsive_checkout_url. That thread is about Started Checkout flows.
What are the limits on Shopify?
- Added to Cart has no built-in version. The accepted fix in a 2022 Klaviyo thread is a custom permalink that takes "a fair bit of custom coding".
- Subscriptions don't carry over. Shopify's documentation says selling plans don't work with cart permalinks. Merchants share an unofficial workaround that clears the cart and adds items with a selling plan, which removes anything else in that browser's cart.
- It usually lands on checkout. Permalinks go to checkout by default. That's a payment form, so there's no browsing, adding another product is hard, and there's little chance to change the order or switch an item to subscribe & save. That suits a shopper who's ready to pay and works less well for one who's still deciding, so a rebuild link isn't automatically better than a cart page. Shopify also calls permalinks a legacy feature.
- It shows the cart as the email knew it. A link built from event data reflects what the event recorded, so later edits may be missing.
- Someone maintains it. The template logic has to be added to each email that needs it.
How is this different from a cart recovery page?
A rebuild link answers "how do the items get back?" A cart recovery page also answers "what does the shopper see when they arrive?"
reOtter's page puts the latest saved cart back into the real Shopify cart on whichever device they use, when reOtter holds the cart and knows who clicked. Shoppers can then change quantities, remove items and choose subscribe & save per line where the product offers it. Carts are held only with analytics consent from the store's banner. If there's no match, the shopper sees the page with whatever cart that device has.
A rebuild link needs no extra app and works when the link is built correctly, so it's a reasonable choice for stores with simple carts and no subscriptions. See where an abandoned cart email should link for the full comparison.
Key takeaways
- A cart rebuild link recreates a cart on click, using either products in the URL or a key to a saved cart.
- On Shopify, Added to Cart flows have no native version, and standard permalinks don't carry subscriptions.
- A rebuild link restores items. A cart recovery page also gives the shopper a page to edit them.
See how reOtter restores the cart → Abandoned cart recovery
Frequently asked questions
- How does a cart rebuild link work?
- When someone clicks, the store recreates the cart in whichever browser opened the link. The items come either from the link itself, as with a Shopify cart permalink, or from a saved cart the link points to with a key, as with Klaviyo's WooCommerce integration.
- Does Shopify have a cart rebuild link?
- Partly. In Started Checkout flows, Klaviyo's checkout link rebuilds the checkout across devices. Added to Cart flows have no native saved-cart link, so merchants who want one usually build a cart permalink in the email template.
- Does a cart rebuild link keep subscriptions?
- Not with a standard Shopify permalink, because Shopify's documentation says selling plans aren't supported. Some merchants use a workaround that clears the cart and adds items with a selling plan. It's unofficial, and it removes what was already in that browser's cart.
- Is a cart rebuild link the same as a cart recovery page?
- No. A rebuild link recreates items and usually moves the shopper toward checkout. A cart recovery page is a page where they can see the restored cart, edit it and choose options before buying.