Best Practices for Setting Up Opensend Reconnect Journeys on Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC)

To help brands fully capitalize on Opensend Reconnect, we recommend implementing four strategic Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) Journeys designed to re-engage high-intent, anonymous shoppers through precise, event-triggered messaging. These include:

Session Abandonment, which targets users who viewed products but took no action
Product Abandonment, engaging those who showed product-level interest without adding to the cart
Cart Abandonment Reminder, nudging cart abandoners who didn’t initiate checkout
Checkout Abandonment, focused on recovering users who started—but didn’t complete—the checkout process.

General Notes

SFMC Journeys: For triggers use Opensend-specific event_type

Filtering: Strict exclusion of events from the default journeys and other similar tools tracking events/metrics

Configuring Entry Rules (Global Suppressions):

Entry Rules determine who is allowed to enter a Journey.
Use cases include:

Preventing users who already completed a purchase from re-entering
Avoiding conflict with similar event-based journeys from other tools
Enforcing cool-down periods

Implement a waterfall across all abandonment journeys, placing Opensend Reconnect where appropriate. Time delays, filters, and entry rules should be configured accordingly.

Personalize Journey Templates by using Reconnect Event Payload

Personalize journey templates using dynamic content from the Opensend Reconnect event payload. For a detailed breakdown of each Reconnect metric, refer to the documentation here.

Prerequisites: Link Data Extension to Contacts Data

When using a Decision Split in Journey Builder, it's important to know what data sources it can access:

Journey Data: This includes the entry event payload or the journey context.
Contact Data: These are attributes defined within the Contact Model.
Related Data Extensions: Only Data Extensions that are linked to the Contact Model within Contact Builder's Data Designer are accessible.

Therefore, to utilize Opensend Reconnect Event data within a Decision Split, the corresponding Data Extension must be linked to the Contact Model.

Select Attribute group

Within Audience Builder > Contact Builder > Data Designer, locate and select the Email Data attribute group. Please create it if it does not already exist.

Link data extension

Next to the Data Extension button, click the small arrow, and then select Link.

In the modal that appears, choose the Opensend Reconnect Event data extension.

Establish a “Many” relationship by linking the Email Address of Customer Data to the email field in the data extension.

Save the relationship by pressing "Save."

Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) Opensend Reconnect Journey Best Practices

🔄 1. Session Abandonment Journey (Opensend Reconnect)

To implement this journey, we recommend either cloning your existing Multi-step Journey for the same event and adjusting the configuration as outlined below, or creating a new journey from scratch.

1.1 Setting up an Entry Source

Select API Event Entry Source
Drop the API Event Entry Source element onto your journey canvas.

Select API Event
Click on the API Event Entry Source and select the Opensend Reconnect API Event API event:

Now, you will set up event filter (which determines which events will trigger the Journey)
Click the Edit button to modify the Filter Contacts settings
In the Filter Contacts window, navigate to Journey Data -> Event Data
Drag the event_type attribute into the Filter Criteria
Set the condition to trigger the journey. For example, you could set the condition so the journey is only triggered if the event is Opensend Reconnect Device Profile Detected

Click Done to save the API Event setup after configuring the Filter Contacts.

Click on Journey Settings:

Select the following options and click “Done”:

1.2 Wait By Duration

Wait for: 2 Hours

1.3 Using In-Journey Flow Control

Flow Control allows you to:

Separate Buyer vs Non-Buyer
Add event-based checks mid-Journey
Create delays or fallback logic

Exclude users who triggered:

Default Events:

Placed Order, Added to Cart, Viewed Product, Started Checkout, Active On Site

Other tools metrics:

Tool 1: Viewed Product, Added to Cart, Checkout Started
Tool 2: Viewed Product, Added to Cart, Checkout Started
Similarly, excluding metrics from any other identity providers you are using

Other Opensend Reconnect metrics:

Opensend Reconnect Viewed Product, Opensend Reconnect Added to Cart, and Opensend Reconnect Started Checkout

Decision Split Logic:

Contact Data -> Email Data -> Opensend Reconnect Event -> event_type equals one of the defined events.
Contact Data -> Email Data -> Opensend Reconnect Event -> timestamp greater than Journey Data -> Entry: Opensend Reconnect API Event -> timestamp.

The following screenshot shows a few examples:

1.4 Flow Dynamic Content Update:

For the Session Abandonment Email, no e-commerce event data will be used or accessible. Default email templates should be used as currently configured.

However, the following dynamic variables can be used within the email content:

Page Title -
Page Location -
User Geolocation -
User Agent -

Example HTML email: Welcome back

We can access subscriber information by using Salesforce Personalization:

To access event items, we can use AMPScript to query the Opensend Reconnect Event Item DE:

<p>Event items:</p>

<ul>

%%[

  Var @eventItems, @rowCount

  /* Retrieve rows */

  /* Note that case of data extension, column name, and value don't match the source data */

  Set @eventItems = LookupRows("Opensend Reconnect Event Item","event_id", event_id)

  Set @rowCount = RowCount(@eventItems)

  If @rowCount > 0 then

    For @counter = 1 to @rowCount do

      Var @row, @item_id, @item_name, @price, @quantity, @image_url

      Set @row = Row(@eventItems, @counter)

      Set @item_id = Field(@row, "item_id")

      Set @item_name = Field(@row, "item_name")

      Set @price = Field(@row, "price")

      Set @quantity = Field(@row, "quantity")

      Set @image_url = Field(@row, "image_url")

]%%

  <li>%%=v(@item_id)=%% %%=v(@item_name)=%% %%=v(@price)=%%)  %%=v(@quantity)=%% %%=v(@image_url)=%%</li>

%%[

      Next @counter

  EndIf

]%%

</ul>

🛍️ 2. Browse/Product Abandonment Journey (Opensend Reconnect)

To implement this journey, we recommend either cloning your existing journey for the same event and adjusting the configuration as outlined below, or creating a new journey from scratch if one doesn't already exist.

2.1 Setting up an Entry Source

Select API Event Entry Source
Drop the API Event Entry Source element onto your journey canvas.

Select API Event
Select the Opensend Reconnect API Event

Set up the event filter- which determines which events will trigger the Journey
Click the Edit button to modify the Filter Contacts settings
In the Filter Contacts window, navigate to Journey Data -> Event Data
Drag the event_type attribute into the Filter Criteria
Set the condition to trigger the journey. For instance, you could set the condition so the journey is only triggered if the event is Opensend Reconnect Viewed Product

Click Done to save the API Event setup after configuring the Filter Contacts.
Click on Journey Settings (see below):

Select the following options and click “Done”:

2.2 Wait By Duration

Wait for: 90 Minutes

2.3 Using In-Journey Flow Control

Flow Control allows you to:

Separate Buyer vs Non-Buyer
Add event-based checks mid-Journey
Create delays or fallback logic

Exclude users who triggered:

Default Events:

Placed Order, Added to Cart, Viewed Product, Started Checkout

Other tools metrics:

Tool 1: Added to Cart, Checkout Started
Tool 2: Added to Cart, Checkout Started
Similarly, excluding metrics from any other identity providers you are using

Other Opensend Reconnect metrics:

Opensend Reconnect Added to Cart, and Opensend Reconnect Started Checkout

Decision Split Logic:

Contact Data -> Email Data -> Opensend Reconnect Event -> event_type equals one of the defined events.
Contact Data -> Email Data -> Opensend Reconnect Event -> timestamp greater than Journey Data -> Entry: Opensend Reconnect API Event -> timestamp.

The following screenshot shows a few examples:

2.4 Flow Dynamic Content Update:

You can use the following dynamic variables in your email content:

Product Image URL - image_url
Product Title - item_name
Product Page URL - url
Product Price - price
Product Price - quantity

Example HTML email: Browse Abandonment

We can access subscriber information by using Salesforce Personalization:

To access event items, we can use AMPScript to query the Opensend Reconnect Event Item DE:

<p>Event items:</p>

<ul>

%%[

  Var @eventItems, @rowCount

  /* Retrieve rows */

  /* Note that case of data extension, column name, and value don't match the source data */

  Set @eventItems = LookupRows("Opensend Reconnect Event Item","event_id", event_id)

  Set @rowCount = RowCount(@eventItems)

  If @rowCount > 0 then

    For @counter = 1 to @rowCount do

      Var @row, @item_id, @item_name, @price, @quantity, @image_url

      Set @row = Row(@eventItems, @counter)

      Set @item_id = Field(@row, "item_id")

      Set @item_name = Field(@row, "item_name")

      Set @price = Field(@row, "price")

      Set @quantity = Field(@row, "quantity")

      Set @image_url = Field(@row, "image_url")

]%%

  <li>%%=v(@item_id)=%% %%=v(@item_name)=%% %%=v(@price)=%%)  %%=v(@quantity)=%% %%=v(@image_url)=%%</li>

%%[

      Next @counter

  EndIf

]%%

</ul>

🛒 3. Cart Abandonment Journey (Opensend Reconnect)

To implement this journey, we recommend either cloning your existing Journey for the same event and adjusting the configuration as outlined below, or creating a new journey from scratch.

3.1 Setting up an Entry Source

Select API Event Entry Source
Drop the API Event Entry Source element onto your journey canvas.

Select API Event
Click on the API Event Entry Source and select the Opensend Reconnect API Event API event:

Now, set up the event filter, which determines which events will trigger the Journey
Click the Edit button to modify the Filter Contacts settings
In the Filter Contacts window, navigate to Journey Data -> Event Data
Drag the event_type attribute into the Filter Criteria
Set the condition to trigger the journey. For instance, you could set the condition so the journey is only triggered if the event is Opensend Reconnect Added to Cart

Click Done to save the API Event setup after configuring the Filter Contacts.

Click on Journey Settings:

Select the following options and click “Done”:

3.2 Wait By Duration

Wait for: 1 Hour

3.3 Using In-Journey Flow Control

Flow Control allows you to:

Separate Buyer vs Non-Buyer
Add event-based checks mid-Journey
Create delays or fallback logic

Exclude users who triggered:

Default Events:

Placed Order, Added to Cart, Started Checkout

Other tools metrics:

Tool 1: Checkout Started
Tool 2: Checkout Started
Similarly, excluding metrics from any other identity providers you are using

Other Opensend Reconnect metrics:

Opensend Reconnect Started Checkout

Decision Split Logic:

Contact Data -> Email Data -> Opensend Reconnect Event -> event_type equals one of the defined events.
Contact Data -> Email Data -> Opensend Reconnect Event -> timestamp greater than Journey Data -> Entry: Opensend Reconnect API Event -> timestamp.

The following screenshot shows a few examples:

3.4 Flow Dynamic Content Update:

You can use the following dynamic variables in your email content::

Product Image URL - image_url
Product Title - item_name
Product Page URL - url
Product Price - price
Product Price - quantity

Example HTML email: Cart Abandonment

We can access subscriber information by using Salesforce Personalization:

To access event items, we can use AMPScript to query the Opensend Reconnect Event Item DE:

<p>Event items:</p>

<ul>

%%[

  Var @eventItems, @rowCount

  /* Retrieve rows */

  /* Note that case of data extension, column name, and value don't match the source data */

  Set @eventItems = LookupRows("Opensend Reconnect Event Item","event_id", event_id)

  Set @rowCount = RowCount(@eventItems)

  If @rowCount > 0 then

    For @counter = 1 to @rowCount do

      Var @row, @item_id, @item_name, @price, @quantity, @image_url

      Set @row = Row(@eventItems, @counter)

      Set @item_id = Field(@row, "item_id")

      Set @item_name = Field(@row, "item_name")

      Set @price = Field(@row, "price")

      Set @quantity = Field(@row, "quantity")

      Set @image_url = Field(@row, "image_url")

]%%

  <li>%%=v(@item_id)=%% %%=v(@item_name)=%% %%=v(@price)=%%)  %%=v(@quantity)=%% %%=v(@image_url)=%%</li>

%%[

      Next @counter

  EndIf

]%%

</ul>

🧾 4. Checkout Abandonment Journey (Opensend Reconnect)

To implement this journey, we recommend either cloning your existing journey for the same event and adjusting the configuration as outlined below, or creating a new journey from scratch.

4.1 Setting up an Entry Source

Select API Event Entry Source
Drop the API Event Entry Source element onto your journey canvas.

Select API Event
Click on the API Event Entry Source and select the Opensend Reconnect API Event API event:

Now, set up the event filter, which determines which events will trigger the Journey.
Click the Edit button to modify the Filter Contacts settings.
In the Filter Contacts window, navigate to Journey Data -> Event Data.
Drag the event_type attribute into the Filter Criteria.
Set the condition to trigger the journey. For instance, you could set the condition so the journey is only triggered if the event is Opensend Reconnect Started Checkout

Click Done to save the API Event setup after configuring the Filter Contacts.
Click on Journey Settings:

Select the following options and click “Done”:

4.2 Wait By Duration

Wait for: 30 Minutes

4.3 Using In-Journey Flow Control

Flow Control allows you to:

Separate Buyer vs Non-Buyer
Add event-based checks mid-Journey
Create delays or fallback logic

Exclude users who triggered:

Default Events:

Placed Order, Started Checkout

Decision Split Logic:

Contact Data -> Email Data -> Opensend Reconnect Event -> event_type equals one of the defined events.
Contact Data -> Email Data -> Opensend Reconnect Event -> timestamp greater than Journey Data -> Entry: Opensend Reconnect API Event -> timestamp.

The following screenshot shows a few examples:

4.4 Flow Dynamic Content Update:

You can use the following dynamic variables in your email content::

Checkout URL - checkout_url
Product Image URL - image_url
Product Title - item_name
Product Page URL - url
Product Price - price
Product Price - quantity

Example HTML email: Checkout Abandonment

We can access subscriber information by using Salesforce Personalization:

To access event items, we can use AMPScript to query the Opensend Reconnect Event Item DE:

<p>Event items:</p>

<ul>

%%[

  Var @eventItems, @rowCount

  /* Retrieve rows */

  /* Note that case of data extension, column name, and value don't match the source data */

  Set @eventItems = LookupRows("Opensend Reconnect Event Item","event_id", event_id)

  Set @rowCount = RowCount(@eventItems)

  If @rowCount > 0 then

    For @counter = 1 to @rowCount do

      Var @row, @item_id, @item_name, @price, @quantity, @image_url

      Set @row = Row(@eventItems, @counter)

      Set @item_id = Field(@row, "item_id")

      Set @item_name = Field(@row, "item_name")

      Set @price = Field(@row, "price")

      Set @quantity = Field(@row, "quantity")

      Set @image_url = Field(@row, "image_url")

]%%

  <li>%%=v(@item_id)=%% %%=v(@item_name)=%% %%=v(@price)=%%)  %%=v(@quantity)=%% %%=v(@image_url)=%%</li>

%%[

      Next @counter

  EndIf

]%%

</ul>

Best Practices for Setting Up Opensend Reconnect Journeys on Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC)

General Notes

Personalize Journey Templates by using Reconnect Event Payload

Prerequisites: Link Data Extension to Contacts Data

Select Attribute group

Link data extension

Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) Opensend Reconnect Journey Best Practices

🔄 1. Session Abandonment Journey (Opensend Reconnect)

Select API Event Entry Source

Select API Event

Now, you will set up event filter (which determines which events will trigger the Journey)

🛍️ 2. Browse/Product Abandonment Journey (Opensend Reconnect)

Select API Event Entry Source

Select API Event

Set up the event filter- which determines which events will trigger the Journey

🛒 3. Cart Abandonment Journey (Opensend Reconnect)

Select API Event Entry Source

Select API Event

Now, set up the event filter, which determines which events will trigger the Journey

🧾 4. Checkout Abandonment Journey (Opensend Reconnect)

Select API Event Entry Source

Select API Event

Now, set up the event filter, which determines which events will trigger the Journey.