If youâve been following my work, youâll know Iâve been obsessed with integrating AI into my agency to cut out time-consuming and costly processes.
Weâve used AI to create ad copy, write code, handle client outreach, and even close âdeadâ leads for our clients.
But recently, I ran an AI-powered abandoned cart campaign for an ecommerce brand that opened my eyes to a whole new world of opportunity.
Not only did it recover sales the client thought were gone forever-it also made $500-$600 per day in pure profit for us⊠on autopilot.
Hereâs exactly what I learned.
1: Work with Ecommerce Brands Using a Two-Step Checkout
The first step to making this work is choosing the right type of ecommerce store.
We specifically target brands with a two-step order process:
Step 1: Customer enters name, email, and – most importantly – phone number.
Step 2: Customer adds payment details and checks out.
Why does this matter?
Because if 100 people complete step one but only 50 complete step two, youâve got a goldmine of 50 leads who were ready to buy but didnât.
Most ecommerce companies either:
Send a single âyou left something in your cartâ email
Or do nothing at all.
We step in and use AI to SMS those leads in real-time, re-engage them, and send them back to complete their order.
Even increasing conversions by 10â20% can mean huge profits for these brands.
2: Prioritise Real-Time Data Over Old Data
Yes, you can start with older abandoned cart leads – sometimes ecommerce brands will offer you their database from the past year or two to âprove yourself.â
While this can be a good entry point, itâs real-time data that delivers the fastest wins.
That means the moment a lead completes step one but doesnât buy, you get their details immediately, and your AI follows up within minutes.
This timing matters.
Leads who abandoned two weeks ago have likely moved on. Leads who abandoned two minutes ago are still thinking about your product – and are far more likely to buy.
3: Protect Your Phone Numbers and Stay Compliant
We run all SMS and AI interactions through our own CRM environment (we use HighLevel) with a number registered to the client.
This setup protects our intellectual property and ensures smooth tracking of every sale via our affiliate links.
But hereâs the catch: if you spam people, use the wrong words, or try to blast out 10,000 SMS messages in a day, your number could be flagged or suspended.
To avoid this:
Start slow
Monitor responses
Avoid risky or misleading language
Follow SMS compliance rules in your region
Think of it like the early days of Facebook Ads – anything goes at first, then regulations tighten. Play it smart.
4: Keep Your First SMS Simple
Marketers love to overcomplicate things.
But with abandoned cart recovery, we found simplicity beats complexity every time.
Instead of a multi-step conversational approach, we started with:
A short, direct offer (e.g., âHey, hereâs 15% off your orderâ)
A link back to the checkout page
Thatâs it.
The result?
Sales exploded almost instantly.
Yes, AI can handle questions and objections, and thatâs valuable – but the majority of sales came from that first message.
The âdirty little secretâ is that ecommerce buyers often just need a small nudge and a good reason to click âbuy.â
5: Make a Performance-Based Offer They Canât Refuse
This is where the real magic happens.
When pitching to ecommerce brands, I ask:
âDo you have abandoned cart leads youâre not converting?
I can turn them into sales on a performance basis. If you donât make money, I donât get paid.â
That offer gets a âyesâ almost every single time.
Then, we run a short demo showing our AI in action – often using OpenAI – and the deal is closed.
Because thereâs no upfront cost and no risk for the client, itâs an easy win. And when they see the extra revenue coming in daily, they want to keep running the campaign indefinitely.
The Bigger Picture
This strategy isnât just about ecommerce abandoned carts.
The same AI SMS re-engagement process can be applied to:
Leads that didnât book a call
Prospects who went cold after initial interest
Event attendees who didnât convert
Itâs all about automation, personalisation, and perfect timing.
Ready to Learn the Full System?
I break down every step of this process – from setup, to AI integration, to scaling – in my book The Instant AI Agency.
Itâs the exact system my agency uses to:
Recover abandoned carts
Reactivate âdeadâ leads
Run profitable campaigns on a performance basis
If youâre serious about building an AI-powered agency, grab your copy now.
Final Thoughts
Abandoned cart recovery is nothing new – but using AI to run it on a performance basis changes everything.
Itâs faster, more profitable, and works for ecommerce brands all over the world.
The five lessons above took us from testing an idea⊠to making hundreds per day in pure profit.
If you apply them, you can do the same.
