AI-Powered Cart Recovery Assistant for Magento 2

Magento 2 module for recovering abandoned carts with features for:

• detecting abandoned carts
• cart scoring using AI or heuristics
• generating cart recovery emails
• optional coupon generation
• conversations with an AI shopping assistant
• admin panel and analytics
• REST API endpoints and CLI commands

Overview

The module helps recover abandoned carts in Magento 2 by detecting inactive carts, evaluating purchase intent, and sending emails with a secure link to restore the cart. Depending on the configuration, it can operate in two modes:

• heuristic mode, without external AI
• OpenAI mode, with AI analysis, email content generation, and assistant conversations

Typical workflow:

1. The customer adds products to the cart.
2. The customer leaves the store without placing an order.
3. After the configured inactivity period passes, the cart is marked as abandoned.
4. The module assigns a score to the cart.
5. If the score is high enough, a recovery email is sent.
6. The email may include a discount coupon and a link to the AI assistant page.
7. If the customer returns and places an order, the cart is marked as recovered.

Requirements

Before installation, make sure the store meets the following requirements:

• Magento 2 with CLI access
• properly working Magento cron
• transactional email sending configured in Magento
• HTTPS enabled on the storefront
• if AI mode is used: OpenAI API account with active billing and an API key

Operational recommendations:

• production mode for the live store
• tested email template and correctly configured sender
• privacy policy covering the use of AI services if OpenAI mode is enabled

Installation

* = on production, use the --keep-generated option

Type: Composer

1. Add the Composer repository to the configuration:

   

   composer config repositories.ai.abandoned.cart vcs https://github.com/kowalco/ai-abandoned-cart

2. Add an access token for the private GitHub repository:

   

   composer config --global --auth github-oauth.github.com 

3. Install the module via Composer:

   

   composer require kowal/module-ai-abandoned-cart

Then run:

bin/magento module:enable Kowal_AiAbandonedCartbin/magento setup:upgradebin/magento setup:di:compilebin/magento cache:flush

Post-installation checklist

After installation, check:

• whether the module is enabled in Magento
• whether the database schema was installed by setup:upgrade
• whether Magento cron is working correctly
• whether the store sends transactional emails
• whether the storefront uses valid HTTPS URLs

Useful verification commands:

bin/magento module:status Kowal_AiAbandonedCartbin/magento cron:runbin/magento cache:flush

Configuration

Magento Admin:

Stores -> Configuration -> Kowal -> AI Abandoned Cart

Admin pages:

Marketing -> AI Abandoned Cart

Configuration fields

Key settings:

• Enable Module Enables or disables the entire module.

• Cart Inactivity Threshold (minutes) Defines after how many minutes of inactivity an active cart should be considered abandoned.

• AI Provider Available values:

  • Heuristic Fallback
  • OpenAI

• OpenAI API Key Required only when AI Provider is set to OpenAI.

• Minimum Intent Score Only carts with a score equal to or higher than this value qualify for sending a recovery email.

• Enable Dynamic Coupons Enables generation of one-time coupons for selected abandoned carts.

• Maximum Coupon Discount Defines the upper limit of the automatically generated percentage discount.

• Maximum Failed Email Attempts Defines how many failed sending attempts are allowed before the module stops retrying.

• Email Address for Message Copies Optional BCC recipient for recovery messages.

• Enable AI Assistant Link If enabled, the recovery email will include a secure link to the AI assistant page.

• Conversation Expiration Time (minutes) Defines how long the AI assistant link remains valid.

• Batch Size Defines how many carts are processed in one detection, scoring, and email sending run.

• Cart Analysis Prompt Used when AI scoring is active.

• Email Generation Prompt Used to generate email content in AI mode.

• Conversation Prompt Used by the AI assistant during a conversation with the customer.

Recommended initial configuration

A safe starting set of settings is:

• Enable Module: Yes
• Cart Inactivity Threshold (minutes): 30
• AI Provider: Heuristic Fallback or OpenAI
• Minimum Intent Score: 0.45
• Enable Dynamic Coupons: Yes
• Maximum Coupon Discount: 5
• Maximum Failed Email Attempts: 3
• Enable AI Assistant Link: Yes
• Conversation Expiration Time (minutes): 1440
• Batch Size: 100

Heuristic mode vs OpenAI mode

Heuristic mode

Use this mode if you want to start without integrating with external AI.

In this mode, the module:

• detects abandoned carts
• calculates intent score based on built-in business rules
• sends recovery emails
• can generate coupons
• can still provide the assistant page, but responses will be based on built-in logic instead of OpenAI

OpenAI mode

Use this mode if you want greater personalization.

In this mode, the module can additionally:

• analyze cart context using OpenAI
• generate more personalized email content
• handle AI assistant conversations about products in the cart
• use product descriptions, related products, up-sell, and cross-sell in responses

OpenAI configuration

To enable OpenAI mode:

1. Create an API key in your OpenAI Platform account.
2. In Magento Admin, go to Stores -> Configuration -> Kowal -> AI Abandoned Cart.
3. Set AI Provider to OpenAI.
4. Paste the key into the OpenAI API Key field.
5. Save the configuration.
6. Clear the Magento cache.

Important information:

• ChatGPT subscriptions and API billing are separate things
• API usage is billed independently by OpenAI
• in AI mode, the prompt and cart context are sent to OpenAI

Cron Jobs

The module uses Magento cron jobs for automatic processing.

Configured cron jobs:

• kowal_ai_abandoned_cart_detect
• kowal_ai_abandoned_cart_score
• kowal_ai_abandoned_cart_email

What they do:

• detect: finds inactive carts that qualify as abandoned
• score: calculates intent score and reason code
• email: sends recovery emails and saves logs

If Magento cron is not working, the module will not automatically process carts.

First test after configuration

After installation and configuration, perform a full end-to-end test:

1. Open the storefront as a guest customer.
2. Add one or more products to the cart.
3. Start checkout and enter an email address.
4. Leave checkout without placing an order.
5. Wait until the configured inactivity threshold has passed.
6. Run cron or CLI commands manually.
7. Confirm that the cart appeared in the admin panel.
8. Confirm that the recovery email was sent.
9. Open the cart restore link from the message.
10. If the option is enabled, open the AI assistant link and send a test message.

Manual CLI sequence:

bin/magento kowal:ai:cart:detectbin/magento kowal:ai:cart:scorebin/magento kowal:ai:cart:send-emails

Admin pages

The module adds dedicated admin pages under:

Marketing -> AI Abandoned Cart

Available sections:

• Dashboard Overview of detected and recovered carts.

• Recovery Analytics Recovery performance statistics and operational metrics.

• Conversations History of AI assistant conversations linked to abandoned carts.

• Email Logs Log of sent and failed recovery messages.

These pages are especially useful during implementation because they let you verify whether detection, scoring, email sending, and recovered cart tracking are working correctly.

Email content and customer experience

Each recovery email can include:

• a personalized subject line
• custom message content
• a summary of products in the cart
• cart value
• a secure link to restore the cart
• an optional one-time discount coupon
• an optional link to the AI assistant

Customer journey:

1. The customer receives an email.
2. The customer clicks the restore link and returns to the saved cart.
3. The customer can optionally open the assistant page from the message.
4. The assistant can answer product questions, compare options, and guide the customer back to checkout.

How coupons work

If dynamic coupons are enabled, the module can generate a coupon when:

• the cart value is high enough
• the intent score suggests that a discount may help
• the calculated discount does not exceed the configured maximum

Current built-in rules:

• carts below 100 store currency units do not receive a coupon
• carts with a high intent score do not receive a coupon
• carts with lower intent may receive a discount, usually 3% or 5%, limited by the configuration

Generated coupons are:

• one-time use
• limited per customer
• linked to a shared Magento cart rule for the given discount level and store

CLI

You can run the module manually from the CLI, especially during testing and diagnostics.

bin/magento kowal:ai:cart:detectbin/magento kowal:ai:cart:scorebin/magento kowal:ai:cart:send-emails

Command meaning:

• kowal:ai:cart:detect Detects abandoned carts.

• kowal:ai:cart:score Assigns scoring and a reason code to carts.

• kowal:ai:cart:send-emails Sends recovery messages for qualifying carts.

Security

Cart restore and assistant links use signed tokens.

The token payload contains:

• quote_id
• email
• store_id
• expires_at

The token is validated by:

1. signature verification
2. expiration date check
3. cart ownership verification

This gives the customer a secure link tied to a specific cart and limited in time.

Troubleshooting

Carts are not being detected

Check:

• whether the quote is still active
• whether the cart contains products
• whether the quote does not have a related completed order
• whether the customer email address was captured
• whether the inactivity threshold has passed
• whether Magento cron is running

Carts are detected, but emails are not being sent

Check:

• whether Enable Module is enabled
• whether Minimum Intent Score is not set too high
• whether email sending works in Magento
• whether the Maximum Failed Email Attempts limit has not been reached
• whether the email address assigned to the cart is correct

OpenAI mode is enabled, but the AI score is not being used

Check:

• whether AI Provider is set to OpenAI
• whether OpenAI API Key is filled in correctly
• whether the server allows outbound connections to the OpenAI API
• whether the OpenAI account has active billing

If the OpenAI call fails, the module will switch to the built-in heuristic behavior.

The AI assistant link opens, but responses are generic

Check:

• whether OpenAI mode is active
• whether the conversation prompt is configured correctly
• whether the link is still valid and has not expired

Notes for production use

Before launching in production, it is worth:

• checking email content and branding
• testing the coupon policy against real business rules
• verifying privacy and compliance requirements
• testing AI prompts on the store catalog and communication tone
• monitoring the first days of operation in Dashboard, Conversations, and Email Logs

Information needed for a support request

When reporting an issue, prepare:

• Magento version
• PHP version
• store mode: developer or production
• information on whether cron is running
• information on whether the issue occurs in heuristic or OpenAI mode
• sample quote ID or customer email address affected by the issue
• relevant entries from Magento exception logs or system logs