Separate cart recovery from checkout recovery
Use the furthest reliable event, eligibility rule, and restorable destination for each recovery flow.
Skip this if Pre-launch stores with no deliverability or checkout evidence beyond controlled QA
A cart event and a checkout event are not interchangeable. A cart can exist before the store knows who the visitor is. A checkout means the shopper started Shopify Checkout and supplied enough information for the configured system to recognize the record. Combining them in one vague “abandonment flow” hides the trigger, audience, and destination that need to work.
Shopify Messaging distinguishes abandoned product browse, abandoned cart, and abandoned checkout automations. Its cart automation targets customers who added products but did not start checkout. Its checkout automation targets customers who started checkout but did not complete an order.[1]
The rest of this lesson is available once the Atlas is unlocked.