Abandoned Cart Reminder module released (X-Cart Classic)
 

Hello, X-Carters!

I am glad to announce a release of Abandoned Cart Reminder module.

http://www.x-cart.com/sites/default/files/modules/cart_recovery_image.png

Give every order a second chance! Recapture lost sales by following up potential customers. Abandoned Cart Reminder automatically emails registered and anonymous customers to remind them of items pending in their shopping carts. You can even attach discount offers to further boost your conversion rates ≈ and revenue!

The key features are:


http://www.x-cart.com/sites/all/themes/xcartcom/images/checkmark.png Automatic reminders.
Simply configure your preferences and the module will flick through the abandoned carts regularly and send email notifications automatically.

http://www.x-cart.com/sites/all/themes/xcartcom/images/checkmark.pngFull manual control.
Search, update and remove abandoned carts manually, anytime.

http://www.x-cart.com/sites/all/themes/xcartcom/images/checkmark.pngOne-click recovery for customers.
Customers can recover the entire contents of their shopping cart with a single click; no need to add items to the bag from scratch. It even retains selected product options and variants.

http://www.x-cart.com/sites/all/themes/xcartcom/images/checkmark.pngOne-click recovery for admin.
Make your customer service team▓s lives a little easier by enabling them to recover a customer▓s cart with just one click and finalize an order manually.

http://www.x-cart.com/sites/all/themes/xcartcom/images/checkmark.pngDiscount notifications add-on.
Further improve the odds of recapturing that sale by adding a discount offer good towards the shopper▓s next purchase.

http://www.x-cart.com/sites/all/themes/xcartcom/images/checkmark.pngConfigurable notification settings.
Choose the time period between abandonment and the reminder email and specify the frequency and number of reminders you want to send.

http://www.x-cart.com/sites/all/themes/xcartcom/images/checkmark.pngWorks with registered and anonymous customers.
Automatically logs-in registered customers and automatically populates address information for anonymous customers.

http://www.x-cart.com/sites/all/themes/xcartcom/images/checkmark.pngTrack collected revenue.
See for yourself just how much revenue you recover with Abandoned Cart Reminder.


Abandoned Cart Reminder video tutorial

Abandoned Cart Reminder screenshots

Abandoned Cart Reminder manual


UPDATED! Free shipping coupons feature is added.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

While on the same subject, I reckon that the last point mentioned in the features list (Track collected revenue) is as much important as the entire functionality of reminder mechanism.

It allows you to find out how much revenue the module has collected (from potentially lost orders) and consequently you can easily calculate a payback period of the module's cost.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Glad to see X-Cart Developers still have enough fuel in their tanks ;)

Just to inform you, today they released (it is public) other two modules very useful for all X-Carters - one for backup, the other one for filtering (this one is very promising, I do recommend to have in your store such of module).

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Are any of these new modules bundled with gold plus?

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Have a look for more extensions here:

http://www.x-cart.com/sites/default/files/styles/orig/public/all_icons.png

Refine Filters, Abandoned Cart Reminder, X-CloudBackup and other new modules

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

I am fascinated by abandoned cart emails however I'm also terrified that these emails will scare away my best customers.

Amazon sends abandoned cart emails to me every now and then, but not for every item that I abandon and not all the time. I have not been able to figure out Amazon's formula for sending the abandoned cart emails.

Obviously if we do not have the customer's email address then this is not going to work. But if a customer logs out does the cookie still tell the cart who the customer is? I already have the remember abandoned carts mod from Website CM and I have WCM's remember me mod. I wonder how the WebsiteCM remember anon carts mod will interact with this new mod? Jon?

I am also doing remarketing with AdWords, and that is already creepy to some customers. "How do ads for xxxxxx show up when i'm reading websites unrelated to your company or products? And your ads follow me around!??? How do you know what sites to advertise on so they always appear wherever I am surfing?" -- I received this email from a good customer! I need to exclude customers with recent conversions from the remarketing list!

The language that is used for this is CRUCIAL to working as intended vs. destroying goodwill. I am not sure this is right for my customers.

I know some merchants want this mod, but I really would like to see real-world success stories -- many marketing bloggers say DO NOT DO THIS. I'm on the fence.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Is there anyway we can play with an admin demo of the filter module?

You do not include enough screen shots of this.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

We are up to introduce some changes to X-cart demo including installation of Refine Filters to it and updating demo products to represent the module better.

I'll make a separate forum thread.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Thats great news.


Thank you very much.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

These are separate modules not included into any X-Cart edition.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

I understand your concerns and we took them into consideration as well before developing the module.

First of all you can switch between automatic and manual mode. Thus, you can send as many emails as you want and at any time you want. Moreover, you can choose customers to send these notifications to. It's not necessarily all customers.

What is more important, we've got a success story from Roger Martin at stand-out.net, our long time customer. He has been using Abandoned Cart Reminder, custom-developed though, for a considerable period of time.

We had a short interview with Roger before developing the module and you can read it in our official module release post here:

http://www.x-cart.com/blog/refinefilters-cartreminder-cloudbackup.html

As far as I know Roger is a member of this forum. Probably he will also share his experience here.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Please also watch this the Abandoned Cart Reminder video tutorial we made for you:

Video tutorial

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Here is the module announcement with demo links!

http://forum.x-cart.com/showthread.php?t=65987

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Easy question about the Abandoned Cart module. Where do I go to edit the following variables:

eml_abcr_notification_message
eml_abcr_notification_without_coupon_message
eml_abcr_visit_us

Thanks,
Montie

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

As all other language variables they can be modified on the Languages page in admin area:

http://help.x-cart.com/index.php?title=X-Cart:Customizing_Text_Labels

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Thanks for the reply.

Another question..... at what point is abandoned cart considered abandoned by the module? After they view the cart? Start the check out process?

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

As soon as a customer enters his/her email address and put items into the shopping cart the cart is registered as abandoned. If the customer finalize the checkout process the cart is removed from abandoned, otherwise it remains in the list and you can follow them up.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Hi, folks!

Please check the useful and informative post by Ksenia in our blog:

http://www.x-cart.com/blog/Abandoned_carts.html


Moreover, due to the fact that high shipping cost is in a top list of abandoning reasons:

https://www.listrak.com/solutions/Reasons-for-Cart-Abandonment.aspx
http://www.marketingexperiments.com/blog/research-topics/ecommerce/recover-shopping-cart-abandonment.html

we improved the module and added "Free shipping" discount coupon to it. Now store admin can send free shipping coupons along with absolute and percent discounts.

If you've already installed the module and want to implement "free shipping" into it you can either re-install the module or apply a patch attached to this message - abcr_free_coupon.zip

There are two files: DIFF and SQL.

For more info on how to apply patches please refer to:

http://help.x-cart.com/index.php?title=X-Cart:Applying_Patches


Should you have any questions feel free to contact us.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Hi, folks!

We are currently contemplating an idea of developing Abandoned Cart Reminder module for Pro/Platinum versions.

Why it's not ready yet: our main concern is that as usual in real stores admin is not allowed to give discounts on behalf of providers and consequently if there are 100 products from 100 different providers in one abandoned order he should contact them all and ask for permission of giving a discount for this of that product. Not convenient at all, unfortunately.

Possible solution:

1. A customer places 10 items from 10 different providers.
2. Each provider has his own private abandoned cart area
3. Only products of this provider are shown, thus informing the him that a customer intended to purchase a product of this provider.
4. Provider can send email notification with a discount coupon and a link to restore the shopping cart content.
5. As soon as the link is clicked only products of this provider will be restored and a corresponding coupon applied (issued by this exact provider)
7. As a result a customer can place a new order which includes products from one provider only with a discount.
8. Similar steps can be performed by the rest 9 providers if necessary.


I'd appreciate if you share your ideas and expectation of how it should work in your opinion.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

hi i really like your mod my concern is it does not ask for the email until it is to late i have noticed many big business

have starting asking for the email 1 stage before it adds a stage to the checkout but you will have to decide if it worth it

most have a few boxes saying login, create account and guest checkout which ever option you pick it asks for email first

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

You are absolutely right, it's important to grab customers' emails as soon as possible and it's for sure worth it to ask for email before customers add products to the shopping cart. We are currently contemplating the idea of improving this step. The only concern is that sharing such a private information on the first steps might push the customer away. Every coin has two sides

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

i agree all options would need A/B testing as all clients would be different i think asking before adding products would be really bad

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Will this module be available for XC 4.4.2?

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

It's already available for 4.4.0-4.4.2 versions. However, these versions have some bugs which might prevent the module from a correct functioning.

Thus, if you want to purchase the module just buy it and create a new request/ticket via your HelpDesk with a reference to this thread so that we could provide you with a module distributive.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Hi Rocky,

Just a quick question on the below,


from my understanding this module with automatically email the customer with a discount coupon if you have configured this feature.

Can you please clarify if this coupon code is tied to the customers email address (so no one else can use it) or is it a simply single use coupon which could potentially be passed on?

Thanks for the clarification.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Just a small prompt if you could please clarify the above.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Didn't get email notification regarding this post and missed this question, sorry.

Speaking of the discount coupon for Abandoned Cart Reminder, it works exactly the same as it works for discount coupons in X-Cart in general. It means that it's not tied up to the certain customer and anybody can use it if this customer, you sent a reminder to, has shared it with a friend for example. It's a common practice.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Hi,

Where can we get some technical support for this module? We have installed it and the module appears to be working ok (in that it sees abandoned carts and doesn't cause any errors anywhere on our website), but when we try to send the notification email to a customer we see a message appear at the top of the screen in a pink box which says "Notification to customer@email.com customer was not sent". How can we fix this? All other notifications are working ok on our x-cart installation.

Thanks in advance!

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

I guess the product represented in abandoned cart is simply out of stock. In this case notification is not sent. I guess we need to make the warning message clearer in next Abandoned Cart Reminder release.

Please make sure that the product is in stock and try again. If it still doesn't work, just post a new ticket via HelpDesk with a reference to Alex Diatchkov and we will try to sort it out for you.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Thanks - that might explain it but unfortunately we're not able to test right now as we have had to revert to our old code because of various compatibility issues.

Our difficulty is that our X-Cart installation has had a number of customisations made to provide additional functionality. It seems the installation script supplied with the Abandoned Cart module reverts the code back to original X-Cart code, breaking some of our functionality.

Normally we would have installed this module to our test website first, before moving the code to our production website, but I couldn't work out of this would have caused a licensing issue with this module. Do you know if it's possible for us to do this? Our production website is www.domain.com, where our test website is test.domain.com instead.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

I guess the installer just failed to patch some files and offered you simply to re-write them. If you click yes it rewrite files on your server with default ones and consequently all modification are gone (if there are any).

I'd recommend you to re-install the module without re-writing files and then just patch the files manually. It's supposed to be working properly.

If you are not so confident in terms of installation you are welcome to offer our installation service. We will be glad to assist you.


No problem, you are welcome to install it on your dev. server. It would have caused licensing issues if you had installed it on some other production server for the live site.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Thanks for the response rocky, Just one more clarification can you please advise if it's a once off use coupon? (i.e if a customer shares it and someone uses it then it's marked as used?

I would assume it is but appreciate the clarification.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Your assumption is correct. It's a once off use coupon.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Its showing only last 20 carts, is there any setting's to change it ?

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

There is no special setting for this. The module uses the common shop configuration options in this area.
It looks like an issue with pagination. We are working on the solution right now.

I'll update this thread as soon as we have one.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

The investigation revealed that there is a problem with pagination on that page. I've attached a patch created by our engineers fixing this issue to this message.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Hello,

We had Qualiteam install this mod for us a few weeks ago and are about to start using it.

We ran into the pagination issue, and I'm glad to see an update to that. We're also having trouble with the link to go back to the cart: it just takes users to a blank white page. (abandoned_cart_in.php?cart_skey=XXX) Any idea what to do about this?

thanks

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

We have this module running but we are not sure if it actually captures abandoned carts fully. I just went to checkout and then did not complete the payment. Orders shows as not finished but not in abandoned cart. Does it not actually capture payment failures or people who leave at the payment gateway?

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

If the email is specified the order should be captured by the module. Please post a new support ticket via HelpDesk with a reference to Alex Diatchkov and this thread. We will sort this problem out for you.

Re: Abandoned Cart Reminder module released
 

Hello, X-Carters!

Please be informed that we have updated the Abandoned Cart Reminder module distributive pack.

Fixed issues:

- search abandoned carts by email or customer login is not working

- Pagination is missing on the abandoned carts search page in admin area

- a few of language variables are missing

- more accurate description of error when notification is not sent


To fix the above issues in your X-Cart installation please perform the following steps:

1. Back up your store files and database:

http://help.x-cart.com/index.php?title=X-Cart:Backup_and_Restore

2. Download an updated distributive pack which corresponds to your X-Cart version from your personal File area at https://secure.qtmsoft.com/

3. Uncompress the pack to X-Cart home directory on the server to overwrite old files with new ones.

a) if you've got SSH access then upload the distributive pack to X-Cart home directory and then unpack it using one of the following commands:

(if you downloaded zip archive)
unzip x-abandoned-cart-reminder-4.x.x.zip

(if you downloaded tgz archive)
tar -zcf x-abandoned-cart-reminder-4.x.x.tgz

b) if you've got only FTP access then unpack the distributive on your local PC, connect to the server via FTP and uploaded unpacked files into X-Cart home directory on the server using any FTP client, for instance FileZilla.

4. Remove "install-abandoned-cart-reminder.php" file due to security reasons.

5. Apply abcr.sql patch inside "abcr.zip" archive attached to this message.

SQL patch can be applied using one of the following methods:

a) Connect to your store database using any MySQL client (via your cPanel for example) and execute commands from abcr.sql file

b) Log in to your admin area, go to Patch/Upgrade section and apply SQL patch via SQL patches application section. For more info please refer to the following article:

http://help.x-cart.com/index.php?title=X-Cart:Applying_Patches

6. Clean up cart cache on the Tools -> Mainteanace page in admin area or via cleanup.php script.


This patch will fix the issues mentioned above and add "Free shipping coupon" facility to your Abandoned Cart Reminder module (if you've not yet applied the previous patch).

If you encounter any technical problems during the patch application feel free to contact our support team, we will be glad to assist you.

Best regards.