Shopify added WhatsApp marketing automations to Shopify Messaging on October 28, 2026. Its templates cover abandoned browsing, carts and checkouts. A merchant can start with one event, then check whether eligible customers receive the intended message and whether another workflow already sends a reminder for the same event.
Pick the event you want to recover
A product view, a cart addition and an unfinished checkout describe different customer actions. If your goal is to help people who started checkout and stopped, begin with the checkout template. Before switching it on, inventory any existing email, SMS or third-party reminders tied to checkout. Decide whether they should run alongside WhatsApp and how to handle customers who qualify for more than one message.
Verify eligibility and delivery
Shopify’s help pages describe setup requirements and say the WhatsApp abandonment templates are submitted for approval automatically during setup. Check the template’s approval status and WhatsApp marketing subscription status before expecting a send. Test with a store-controlled contact eligible for WhatsApp marketing, and separately check that an otherwise similar contact without that subscription is excluded. Also check what happens if a test shopper completes checkout before the reminder is due.
Track cost separately from recovered sales
Shopify says WhatsApp automation charges are per message sent, with rates based on the recipient’s region. For a fictional pilot with 100 sends at an assumed rate of $0.04 each, the message cost is $4. That rate is illustrative, not a Shopify quote. Use your actual regional rates and log messages sent, orders after a reminder and overlapping sends. An order placed after a reminder could have happened anyway; a comparable group without the reminder can help estimate whether the campaign adds sales.
Shopify’s October 28 WhatsApp automation changelog
Shopify Help: automation requirements and pricing