What is an abandoned cart (and why it is not yet an order)?

An abandoned cart (брошенная корзина) is a shopping session where the buyer added goods (or clearly intended to buy) but never completed the step that creates a real order — payment, confirmed checkout, or an agreed “I’ll take it” that your shop treats as an order.

This piece defines the term. How to message people later is a separate recovery topic.

Why it is not an order

• No committed purchase yet — stock should usually stay free (or only under a short soft hold)
• No reliable revenue — counting abandoned carts as sales lies to you
• Often incomplete identity — guest session, unread chat, closed Mini App

An order starts when both sides have a clear deal: lines, price, and a status your team will fulfill.

Abandoned cart vs nearby ideas

• Cancelled order — there was an order; then it died. Stock and money rules differ.
• Unanswered lead — interest without a cart of lines
• Saved wishlist — intentional “later,” not a failed checkout
• Unpaid reserved order — already an order with a hold; not merely a cart

Where carts appear for small shops

• Website or Mini App checkout left mid-way
• Chat: “send the link / hold size M” then silence
• Marketplace checkout drafts (rules vary by platform)

Same idea: intent without completion.

Why the definition matters for stock

If every half-finished chat becomes a permanent reserve, free stock dies. If you never notice abandoned intent, you miss a demand signal — but that signal is still not a sale. Keep the two apart.

Optional next step

Name carts and orders differently in your team slang first. Reminders and recovery links are another topic; shared order boards in tools like datalizeCRM only help after you stop calling every interest an order.