AI Abandoned Cart Recovery Calls for Shopify

Shopdigits recovers abandoned carts by having its AI voice agent call shoppers who left checkout. It calls from your store's number, talks about the items they left using your real Shopify products and policies, and helps them back to checkout. It only calls inside a window you set, checks consent before every call, and waits out quiet hours. This post explains how a recovery call works, what it can and can't do, and the rules you need in place before you switch it on.

What is an abandoned cart recovery call?

An abandoned cart recovery call is a phone call to a shopper who started checkout but didn't finish. Where a recovery email is a reminder with a link, a call is a conversation: it asks what held the shopper back, answers it, and helps them complete the order. In Shopdigits, an AI voice agent makes these calls for your Shopify store.

Why call shoppers who abandoned checkout?

Because most of them had a question. Baymard Institute puts the average online cart abandonment rate at about 70%, across 50 studies. Many of those shoppers were only browsing. Of the ones who weren't, the top reasons are things a short conversation can clear up:

An abandoned checkout email can list your policies, but it can't hear which one the shopper was worried about. A call can. And when the hesitation is about the product itself, like sizing, compatibility, or how something works, a conversation is the fastest way to resolve it.

How does Shopdigits' AI call abandoned carts?

1. A shopper leaves checkout. Shopify treats a checkout as abandoned once it's been incomplete for more than ten minutes after the shopper entered their email address.
2. Shopdigits checks consent. Before every call, it checks that the shopper consented. Shoppers without consent are skipped and never called.
3. It checks the clock. If it's inside your calling window, the call goes ahead. If it's quiet hours, the call waits until the window opens.
4. The AI calls from your store's number. The shopper sees the same business number that's on your store, not an unknown line, and the agent introduces your store by name.
5. It has a real conversation. The agent knows your synced Shopify products and store policies, so it can talk about the specific items left in the cart and answer the question that stopped the shopper.
6. It points them back to checkout. If the shopper is ready, the agent helps them pick up where they left off. If not, the call ends politely.
7. You see what happened. The call is recorded, transcribed, and matched to the Shopify customer, alongside every other call your store makes and receives.

When does the AI call, and who does it skip?

The AI only calls shoppers who pass a consent check, and only inside the calling window you set, outside quiet hours. Those three limits apply to every recovery call:

• A calling window you set. You choose the hours calls can go out, such as 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nothing goes out before or after.
• A consent check before every call. Consent is checked per shopper, per call. No consent, no call.
• Quiet hours. Checkouts abandoned late at night aren't called late at night. The call waits in line until your window opens.

These limits exist for shoppers' sake, but also for yours. An unwanted call costs you a customer and can cost you much more under US calling law.

Are AI abandoned cart calls legal in the US?

Yes, with the shopper's prior express written consent and within federal calling hours. This section is general information, not legal advice. Have a lawyer review your consent wording before you turn on outbound calls.

• AI voices are artificial voices. In February 2024 the FCC issued a declaratory ruling confirming that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's rules on artificial or prerecorded voices cover AI-generated voices. AI calls aren't banned. They follow the same rules as any prerecorded call.
• Marketing calls need written consent. An artificial-voice call that advertises or counts as telemarketing, made to a mobile or residential number, needs the called person's prior express written consent. A recovery call encouraging a purchase should be treated as marketing.
• Calling hours. Telephone solicitations can't be made before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the called person's local time. Set your calling window inside that range, and remember that a store selling coast to coast spans several time zones.
• Identify the business and offer a way out. Artificial-voice calls must clearly state who is calling, and marketing calls must give the person a way to opt out.

Note that consent is channel-specific. Shopify, for example, keeps email marketing consent and SMS marketing consent separate, and consent to one doesn't carry over to the other. Don't assume a shopper who ticked the email newsletter box agreed to be called.

Abandoned cart calls vs emails vs texts

Use them together. Keep your Shopify abandoned checkout email running, since it's free and reaches the most shoppers. Add calls for the shoppers who agreed to them, where a two-minute conversation is worth more than another reminder.

What can't the AI do on a recovery call?

• Call without consent. Shoppers who fail the consent check are skipped.
• Call outside your window. Calls wait for your hours instead of going out late.
• Change orders or issue refunds. The agent's access to orders is read-only. It can't issue refunds, cancel or edit orders, or change addresses.
• Make things up. It answers from your synced products and store policies. If your shipping or returns policy is vague, its answers will be too, so tighten those pages first.

How to set up abandoned cart calls in Shopdigits

1. Install Shopdigits from the Shopify App Store and choose Medium Shop or Enterprise. Both include recovery calls.
2. Reserve your store's number in the app.
3. Review your checkout's phone and consent wording with a lawyer, so shoppers know they may be called.
4. Set your calling window inside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. for every time zone you sell to.
5. Check your shipping, returns, and product pages. The agent answers from them, so clear pages mean clear calls.
6. Read the first week of call transcripts, and follow up personally wherever a shopper asked for something the agent couldn't do.

The same agent also answers your store's incoming calls when your team can't. For how that side works, see AI receptionist for Shopify: how it works and what it saves. If you haven't published a number yet, start with how to add a phone number to your Shopify store. Recovery calls are included on Medium Shop at $49 a month and Enterprise at $99 a month, each with a 14-day free trial. Compare plans.