Event Overview

The Checkout Started event is a critical signal for high-purchase intent. It is primarily used to trigger abandonment recovery sequences if the customer does not complete the purchase within a specified timeframe.

Use Cases

  • Checkout abandonment campaigns
  • Multi-step abandonment recovery
  • Guest checkout conversion
  • High-value cart recovery
  • Free shipping threshold messaging

Event Attributes

FieldTypeDescription
checkout_idstringUnique checkout session ID
checkout_urlstringResume checkout URL
cart_idstringShopping cart identifier
total_itemsintegerTotal line items in cart
total_quantityintegerTotal product quantity
total_unique_itemsintegerNumber of unique products
subtotalnumberCart subtotal before fees
discount_totalnumberTotal discount amount
shipping_costnumberShipping fee
tax_totalnumberTax amount
totalnumberFinal order total
currencystringCurrency code
coupon_codestringApplied coupon code
coupon_discountnumberCoupon discount amount
discount_percentagenumberTotal discount percentage
shipping_methodstringSelected shipping method
shipping_tierstringShipping speed tier
estimated_delivery_datestring (ISO 8601)Estimated delivery
payment_methodstringSelected payment method
checkout_stepstringCurrent checkout step
checkout_step_numberintegerStep number in sequence
is_guest_checkoutbooleanGuest vs registered user
is_first_purchasebooleanFirst-time buyer
productsarrayArray of product objects
checkout_sourcestringWhere checkout initiated
Checkout Step Values:
  • cart - Viewing shopping cart
  • information - Entering contact/shipping info
  • shipping - Selecting shipping method
  • payment - Entering payment details
  • review - Reviewing order

Payload Example

{
  "attributes": {
    "checkout_id": "CHK-001",
    "checkout_url": "https://example.com/checkout/resume/CHK-001",
    "cart_id": "CART-789",
    "total_items": 2,
    "total_quantity": 2,
    "total_unique_items": 2,
    "subtotal": 339.98,
    "discount_total": 50.00,
    "shipping_cost": 15.00,
    "tax_total": 28.50,
    "total": 333.48,
    "currency": "USD",
    "coupon_code": "WELCOME10",
    "coupon_discount": 34.00,
    "discount_percentage": 10,
    "shipping_method": "UPS Ground",
    "shipping_tier": "standard",
    "estimated_delivery_date": "2026-02-12T18:00:00+05:30",
    "payment_method": "credit_card",
    "checkout_step": "information",
    "checkout_step_number": 2,
    "is_guest_checkout": false,
    "is_first_purchase": true,
    "checkout_source": "web_store",
    "products": [
      {
        "product_id": "PROD-123",
        "product_name": "Leather Boots",
        "sku": "BT-001",
        "price": 89.99,
        "quantity": 1,
        "total": 89.99,
        "product_url": "https://example.com/products/boots",
        "image_url": "https://example.com/images/boots.jpg"
      },
      {
        "product_id": "PROD-456",
        "product_name": "Wireless Headphones",
        "sku": "HP-002",
        "price": 249.99,
        "quantity": 1,
        "total": 249.99,
        "product_url": "https://example.com/products/headphones",
        "image_url": "https://example.com/images/headphones.jpg"
      }
    ]
  }
}