Abandoned cart WhatsApp templates for restaurants
Updated October 20, 2026
An abandoned cart reminder on WhatsApp is a marketing template, even when the customer asked for it. Meta's own marketing examples include "You left {{items}} in your cart!", so a restaurant cart reminder is always billed at the marketing rate outside the 24-hour window (about US$0.0635 to a UK number, Meta's rate card effective October 1, 2026) and is not delivered to US numbers at all. Inside the window it is different: a normal chat message reaches the customer, including in the US. Menuthere's Abandoned cart flow does exactly that split for you: a chat message inside the window, Menuthere's own approved template outside it, and a button that rebuilds the cart.
In short
- Category: Marketing. Meta lists cart reminders under retargeting.
- US customers: only those who wrote to you in the last 24 hours get a reminder, as a chat message. The template would not be delivered.
- In Menuthere: the reminder goes after 10 minutes by default (you can pick 5 minutes to 24 hours), only to signed-in customers, never while you are closed, and at most once in 12 hours per customer.
- In the US, WhatsApp can send order updates but not promotions; use email for offers.
Three abandoned cart wordings
Wording 1 is the template Menuthere submits for you (cart_reminder_v1). {{items_label}}, {{items}}, {{total}} and {{customer_name}} are filled from the cart. Every marketing wording carries "Reply STOP to unsubscribe".
1. Menuthere's template
Header: Your cart is still waiting
Hi {{customer_name}} 👋
You've got *{{items_label}}* waiting in your cart at *{{store_name}}* 🛒
🍽️ {{items}}
💰 Cart total: *{{total}}*
Your picks are saved and ready to go. Tap *Complete my order* below to check out in just a few taps 😋
Footer: Reply STOP to unsubscribe
Button: Complete my order2. Short
Hi {{customer_name}}, your cart at {{store_name}} is saved: {{items}}. Tap below to finish your order whenever you're ready.
Footer: Reply STOP to unsubscribe
Button: Finish my order3. Offer help
Hi {{customer_name}}, you started an order at {{store_name}} ({{total}}) but didn't check out. Reply to this message if anything went wrong, or tap below to pick up where you left off.
Footer: Reply STOP to unsubscribe
Button: Back to my cartThe template to submit to Meta
If you write your own instead of using Menuthere's, this is wording 2, ready to paste. The button rebuilds the customer's cart, so its link ends in that cart's id:
Name: abandoned_cart_short
Category: Marketing
Language: en_US
Body:
Hi {{1}}, your cart at {{2}} is saved: {{3}}. Tap below to finish your order whenever you're ready.
Body examples:
{{1}} = Maria
{{2}} = Luna Taqueria
{{3}} = 2 x Carne asada tacos, 1 x Horchata
Footer: Reply STOP to unsubscribe
Button (visit website): Finish my order → https://menuthere.com/cart/{{1}} (example: https://menuthere.com/cart/8f3c2a71)How Menuthere's abandoned cart reminder works
| Setting or rule | What it does |
|---|---|
| Where | Sales channel → WhatsApp → Flows → Global flows → Recover sales → Abandoned cart → Add to my flows |
| Send after | 10 minutes by default; from 5 minutes to 24 hours |
| Who | Signed-in customers only, whose phone number is proven. A number typed into a form is never messaged |
| Inside the 24-hour window | A normal chat message with a Complete order button |
| Outside the window | The approved cart_reminder_v1 marketing template. Menuthere submits it to Meta when you switch the flow on |
| Not sent when | The customer has ordered since, replied STOP, was reminded in the last 12 hours, or your store is closed |
| The button | Opens the cart page, signs the customer in and rebuilds the cart with checkout open |
What it costs per send (outside the window)
| Customer's number | Marketing rate per message | Per 100 sends |
|---|---|---|
| United States (+1, US area code) | Not delivered by Meta | US$0 (nothing is sent) |
| Canada (+1, Canadian area code) | US$0.025 | US$2.50 |
| United Kingdom | US$0.0635 | US$6.35 |
| India | US$0.0118 | US$1.18 |
| Brazil | US$0.0625 | US$6.25 |
| United Arab Emirates | US$0.0576 | US$5.76 |
Meta's USD rate card effective October 1, 2026, read on October 20, 2026 (Canada is priced under North America). Meta charges per delivered message and bills your own WhatsApp Business account; Menuthere adds no markup.
Inside the window the reminder is a normal chat message, priced like any chat reply as a service message; each business number gets 1,000 free service messages a month.
Worked example: 300 abandoned carts a month, UK vs US
A restaurant sees 300 signed-in customers leave a cart each month. Assume 120 of them (40%) wrote to the restaurant on WhatsApp in the last 24 hours.
| Customers | UK restaurant | US restaurant |
|---|---|---|
| 120 inside the window | Chat reminder, counted with your service messages | Chat reminder, counted with your service messages |
| 180 outside the window | Marketing template: 180 × US$0.0635 = US$11.43 | Template not delivered: no reminder, no charge |
| Customers reminded | 300 | 120 |
For a US restaurant, the way to remind more customers is to get more of them talking to you first, for example with a WhatsApp link on your menu and receipts. The 40% figure is this example's assumption. Related: is an abandoned cart reminder a marketing or utility message? and can I send a cart to a customer on WhatsApp?
FAQs
Is an abandoned cart reminder a utility or marketing message on WhatsApp?
Marketing. Meta lists a you-left-items-in-your-cart reminder as a marketing example, so it is billed as marketing outside the 24-hour window even if the customer asked for reminders.
Can I send abandoned cart reminders on WhatsApp to US customers?
Only as a normal chat message to customers who wrote to you in the last 24 hours. Meta does not deliver marketing templates to US phone numbers, so the template version does not reach them.
How long does Menuthere wait before sending a cart reminder?
10 minutes by default. You can set anything from 5 minutes to 24 hours in the flow's Send after setting.
Will a customer get a cart reminder every time they leave a cart?
No. Menuthere sends at most one reminder per customer in 12 hours, skips customers who replied STOP or have ordered since, and sends nothing while your store is closed.
Do I have to write the cart reminder template myself?
No. Menuthere's Abandoned cart flow comes with its own marketing template and submits it to Meta for review when you switch the flow on.
Sources (7)
- Meta categorization page, MARKETING › Retargeting example "Cart reminder": "You left {{items}} in your cart!…" (accessed 20 Oct 2026).
- WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy (opt-in before messaging; respect every opt-out; best practice: separate opt-in by message category), last updated September 23, 2026: https://whatsappbusiness.com/policy/ (accessed 20 Oct 2026)
- Meta for Developers, Template categorization (utility = non-promotional and specific to or requested by the user; mixed content = marketing; examples by category; utility submitted but judged marketing is approved as marketing since April 9, 2025): https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/templates/template-categorization (accessed 20 Oct 2026; the page shows no date)
- Meta for Developers, Template components (text header 60 characters and 1 parameter; body 1,024; footer 60; up to 10 buttons; URL buttons up to 2, label 25, one variable appended to the end of the URL): https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/templates/components (accessed 20 Oct 2026)
- Meta for Developers, Template review (rejection reasons: mismatched braces, non-sequential parameters, too many parameters for the length, template starts or ends with a parameter, duplicates; decisions can take up to 24 hours): https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/templates/template-review (accessed 20 Oct 2026)
- Meta for Developers, Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform (per delivered message, by category and the recipient's country calling code; utility in the customer service window billed as regular from October 1, 2026; 1,000 free service messages per business number per month): https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing (accessed 20 Oct 2026)
- Meta for Developers, Per-user marketing template message limits ("WhatsApp does not currently deliver marketing template messages to WhatsApp users with United States phone numbers", defined as +1 with a US area code): https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/templates/marketing-templates/per-user-limits (accessed 20 Oct 2026)