Draft:Abandoned Cart Reminder

Overview

What Abandoned Cart Reminder add-on does

Abandoned Cart Reminder module is intended to collect shopping cart content of all customers who specified their email address (no matter whether it’s an anonymous or register user), but haven’t finished placing their order for some reason: changed their mind, encountered payment problems, simply forgot or postponed this task till a later date. This leads us to the most interesting part of of this extension. As soon as the abandoned cart is registered, admin have an ability to follow up these customers either offering them a discount coupon to stimulate the purchase or just contact them to sort some issues out. Sieze the opportunity. No more lost orders and spontaneous calls to customers, Abandoned Cart Reminder is here to increase your profit.

Why Abandoned Cart Reminder?

• More potential orders. You will be the first to know that an order remained unfinished and will be able to contact your customers even before they contact you.
• Recovers shopping cart content with a single click. No need to add items to the bag from scratch.
• Increases the conversion rate by giving customers an option to eventually finish their order with a discount.
• Can work in fully automatic mode. Just set up a cron task and the module will flick through the abandoned carts and send email notifications automatically.
• Works both with registered and anonymous customers.
• Works with product options and variants.
• Automatically logs in registered customers.
• Provides an opportunity for admin to set the time period between the abandonment and the reminder along with a number of remind emails.
• Helps to take care of your clients by providing tools for following them up. Eventually, it brings your merchant to customer relationship to a higher level.
• Professional, easy and time-efficient facilities to create orders with one button click in Admin area, if your customers contact you about unfinished transaction by phone or via chat session (in X-Cart 4.5.3 and later).
  
  

System requirements

To be able to successfully install and use the Abandoned Cart Reminder module, you must have a working copy of X-Cart GOLD or GOLD PLUS version 4.5.3 or later installed on your server. Make sure that the version of the module is the same as the version of the installed copy of X-Cart.

Note: If you do not remember the version of installed X-Cart, find it in the Environment info section of the Summary page in X-Cart Admin area.

Installation

To install the module for X-Cart 4.5.3 or higher:

1. Obtain a distribution package for the Abandoned Cart Reminder add-on module by downloading it from the File Area section of your X-Cart Account. The distribution package you need is contained in the archive file x-abandoned-cart-reminder-x.y.z.tgz where x, y and z are the version numbers of the module. Make sure the version of the module is the same as the version of the installed X-Cart.
2. Copy the distribution package to the X-Cart root directory on your server or hosting account.
   • If you are using a Windows-based server, or a UNIX-based server without terminal access:

   a) Decompress the archive with the Abandoned Cart Reminder distribution package to a directory on your system using your favorite compression program (WinZIP or any other archiver with support for TAR files).

   b) Use an FTP client to upload all the files contained in the archive (retaining the directory structure) to the X-Cart root directory on your server or your hosting account.

   • If you are using a UNIX-based server with terminal access:

   a) Use an FTP client to upload the archive with the distribution package to the X-Cart root directory on your server or your hosting account.

   b) Decompress the package using the following command:

   tar -xzvf x-abandoned-cart-reminder-x.y.z.tgz

   Important: Make sure you keep the directory structure while unpacking and uploading the distribution package, otherwise some necessary files can be overwritten!

3. In a web browser, run the installation script httр://<YOUR_XCART_DOMAIN>/install-x-abandoned-cart-reminder.php replacing the variable <YOUR_XCART_DOMAIN> with the actual domain name of your X-Cart store.
4. Enter the Auth code, accept the License Agreement and click Next.
5. The installation script patches the files and activates the module. Click Next to continue the installation.
   
   Note: if you are using custom skin, you will need to manually apply the patches to it. Otherwise, the module will not work in this skin.
6. The installation script generates a new system fingerprint. Click Next to complete the installation.
7. Use the ADMINISTRATOR AREA link to log in to the Admin area.

Enabling the Abandoned Cart Reminder add-on module

After the Abandoned Cart Reminder add-on module installation has been completed, the module you have installed needs to be enabled in your store:

1. In Admin area, go to the Modules section (Settings menu->Modules).
2. Choose the Abandoned Cart Reminder module by selecting the respective check box on the left.
3. Click the Apply changes button. This activates the module.
   
   

Configuring the Abandoned Cart Reminder add-on module

After the Abandoned Cart Reminder add-on module has been enabled in your store, you should check and adjust its configuration: