When should a Shopify brand add calls to its SMS recovery flow?
How to decide when SMS is enough and when a call recovers more abandoned checkouts, how to sequence both channels, and what calls added for Houndsy.
Short answer: add calls to your SMS recovery flow when three things line up: the shopper is open to a call, the conversation is too involved for a few texts, and the cart is worth the cost of a person’s time. When those conditions are missing, a two-way SMS conversation usually recovers the checkout on its own. When they are present, a call adds revenue on top of SMS. Houndsy, a Shopify brand that already ran email and SMS recovery, saw roughly 21% more revenue from the leads that also received calls in a holdout test.
This guide was written by Consio (AI and human phone outreach for Shopify) with input from TxtCart (conversational SMS for Shopify). It covers how to make the call vs. text decision, where each channel performs best, and how to coordinate both so a shopper never hears from you twice about the same cart.
Key takeaways
Conversational SMS should stay the default recovery channel for eligible shoppers who have consented to SMS marketing.
Add a call when the shopper prefers to talk, the conversation is involved, and the cart value justifies it.
Repeated no-replies are a weak reason to call on their own.
One owner per conversation and cross-channel suppression keep shoppers from being contacted twice.
Houndsy measured roughly 21% more revenue from leads that received calls on top of email and SMS.
Why this decision matters for Shopify brands
Most checkouts never finish. Baymard Institute puts the average documented cart abandonment rate at 70.22% across 50 studies. The top reasons US shoppers give for leaving checkout are extra costs (40%), slow delivery (20%), not trusting the site with card details (19%) and being forced to create an account (18%).
Many of those reasons are questions. What will shipping really cost? Will it arrive in time? Is this site safe? A reminder that restates your shipping policy helps some shoppers. Others need a real answer to their specific doubt, and the channel you use to give that answer changes both the recovery rate and the cost of recovering each order.
That is why the useful question for a Shopify brand is when to bring in a call, and for which shoppers. SMS and calls do different jobs in the same flow.
How to decide whether calls belong in your recovery flow
Base the decision on three criteria, in this order.
1. The shopper’s preference
Start with how the shopper wants to talk to you. Some shoppers reply to texts within minutes and would ignore an unknown number. Others write back “can someone call me?” or ask questions that clearly need a conversation. Signals that a shopper is open to a call:
They ask to talk to someone, by text, chat or email
They called your store before, or reached out through a phone channel
They gave a phone number with consent to be called at checkout, separate from SMS marketing consent
If none of these signals exists, keep the conversation in SMS.
2. How involved the conversation is
Some purchases resolve in two messages. Others need several back-and-forth questions, a comparison between products, or reassurance that is easier to give by voice. A call becomes more useful when:
The shopper has several connected questions (sizing, compatibility, delivery date and returns at once)
The product is a considered purchase: furniture, premium pet products, health devices, high-end apparel
The order is custom, bulk or B2B, with quantities, pricing or delivery terms to agree on
3. Whether a call makes commercial sense
A call needs to recover enough additional profit to cover its cost. Compare the additional revenue generated by adding calls, multiplied by your gross margin, with the cost of telephony and agent time. A higher-value cart can justify more attention, but margin and the additional orders calls generate matter too.
A practical rule: by default, let SMS handle stalled checkouts from eligible shoppers who have consented to SMS marketing, and route a call only when at least one of the first two criteria is met and the cart value clears your threshold.
When a text conversation is enough
TxtCart’s view: A recovery text should give shoppers a way to ask what is stopping them from buying. With the right store information, TxtCart’s AI Agent can answer product and policy questions, check inventory, and continue the conversation over text. Set timing and follow-ups around the shopper’s consent, local time and responses. An engaged shopper needs an answer to their question before another recovery reminder.
Two-way SMS resolves more than most brands expect. With a conversational setup, where a person or an AI agent actually replies to the shopper, text can handle:
Shipping costs and delivery times: “Shipping is free over $75, and you’re $12 away” or “Orders placed today arrive by Thursday”
Discount and promo questions: a code that did not apply, a promotion that ended, a price match request
Simple product questions: sizes, colors, materials, what is in the box
Payment hesitation: confirming accepted payment methods, buy now pay later options, or how to retry a failed card
Trust reassurance: a link to reviews, the return policy or secure checkout details
Text also has practical advantages: the shopper answers on their own time, the conversation is easy to pick up later, and they can tap straight back into checkout from the thread.
For ready-to-use wording, TxtCart has published 10 abandoned cart text message examples covering timing, personalization and incentives.
For many stores, conversational SMS is the right home for most recovery conversations. A call only earns its place on top of it.
When a call adds value
A call is most useful in the situations where text slows things down:
The shopper prefers to talk. They asked for a call, or they have a history of calling your store.
The conversation has many moving parts. Five texts back and forth on fit, delivery and returns take longer than a two-minute call.
The cart value is high. A premium product or a multi-item order justifies a person’s time.
The purchase needs reassurance from a human. First-time buyers on an expensive item often want to hear a real voice before they commit.
The order is custom or bulk. Quantities, pricing and delivery terms are easier to agree on live.
Repeated no-replies are a weak reason to call. A shopper who ignores three texts usually is not ready to buy, and calling them by default adds cost and annoyance. Treat silence as a signal to wait or to stop, and keep calls for shoppers who show intent or fit the criteria above.
How to coordinate SMS and calls without contacting the shopper twice
TxtCart’s view: Keep the conversation in SMS while the shopper is comfortable there and their question can be resolved. Bring in a person when the shopper requests one or the AI needs help. If the shopper wants a call, make the SMS conversation available to the person calling. Before running both channels, confirm how your tools will share purchase, reply and opt-out signals, and pause competing recovery messages while someone is handling the conversation.
The biggest risk of running both channels is over-contacting the same shopper. A text arrives while an agent is dialing, or a shopper who already replied gets a call about the same cart. These rules keep the experience clean:
One owner per conversation. Once a shopper replies to a text, the SMS thread owns the conversation until it resolves. Once a call connects, the call owns it.
Suppress across channels. When a shopper completes checkout, replies, or opts out on one channel, pause every other recovery touch for that cart.
Share context in both directions. The agent who calls should see the SMS thread, and the SMS agent should see call notes, so the shopper never has to repeat themselves. If your SMS and phone tools are not connected, a short handoff note in your helpdesk or CRM does the job.
Set a clear sequence. For example: an automated SMS reminder first, a conversational SMS follow-up if the shopper engages, and a call only for qualified high-intent carts.
Respect consent and quiet hours. SMS marketing consent and consent to receive calls are separate. In the US, the TCPA limits telephone solicitations to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the recipient’s local time, and since February 2024 the FCC treats AI-generated voices as “artificial” under the TCPA, which requires prior express written consent for those calls. Check your setup with your legal team.
Getting this right is what makes the two channels add up. Shoppers experience one conversation with your brand, wherever it happens.
What adding calls changed for Houndsy
Houndsy, the Shopify brand behind the Houndsy Kibble Dispenser, already had email and SMS recovery running when it added phone outreach through Consio. Calls were placed by human agents working in the Consio platform, on abandoned checkouts, abandoned carts and shoppers who browsed the site without buying.
To measure what calls actually added, Houndsy ran a holdout test in June 2026:
Eligible shoppers were split 50/50 into two groups. One group received phone outreach through Consio. The other was held out as a control.
Over the full test period, the group that received calls generated roughly 21% more revenue than the holdout group.
Looking only at weekdays, when the agent was calling, the lift rose to roughly 23%.
Over the test, Consio agents placed 931 calls to 556 shoppers in the Consio group.
The key takeaway: calls produced incremental revenue on top of an existing email and SMS program. They reached shoppers that the other channels were not converting.
A checklist to add calls to your SMS recovery flow
Keep conversational SMS as your default recovery channel for eligible shoppers who have consented to SMS marketing.
Define your call criteria: shopper preference, conversation complexity, and a minimum cart value.
Collect call consent separately from SMS consent, and document it.
Set one owner per conversation and suppress every other touch once a shopper engages or converts.
Share context between your SMS and phone tools, through an integration, a shared helpdesk or a handoff note, so no one asks the same question twice.
Respect quiet hours in the shopper’s local time zone.
Run a holdout test before scaling: compare revenue from leads that receive calls with a control group.
Review weekly: connection rate, conversion on connected calls, revenue per lead, opt-outs and complaints.
FAQs
Should I call every shopper who abandons checkout?
No. Calling every abandoned checkout costs more than it recovers for most stores. Use SMS for eligible shoppers who have consented to SMS marketing and reserve calls for shoppers who prefer to talk, have involved questions, or carry a cart value that justifies the call.
Is SMS or a phone call better for abandoned cart recovery?
They do different jobs. SMS is better for scale and quick answers, and works well for shipping, discount and simple product questions. Calls are better for high-value, involved purchases and shoppers who want to talk to a person. The best results come from using both with clear rules.
How do I measure whether calls add revenue on top of SMS?
Run a holdout test. Split stalled checkouts into two comparable groups, send calls to one group only, keep every other channel identical, and compare revenue per lead. Houndsy used this method and measured a lift of roughly 21%.
Do I need separate consent for calls and texts?
In the US, SMS marketing consent and consent to receive marketing calls are handled separately, and AI voice calls require prior express written consent under the TCPA. Confirm the rules that apply to your store with your legal counsel.
Can AI voice agents make these recovery calls?
Yes. Consio offers both AI voice agents and human agents. In the Houndsy test, the calls were made by human agents.
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