How to Send WhatsApp Upsell Messages for Shopify Cancellations with Rapiwa

This n8n workflow automatically sends a personalized upsell WhatsApp message to Shopify customers when they cancel an order. Using Rapiwa API ($5/month, no per-message fees) and a Google Sheet to track previous offers, the message suggests a better-fitting product or a discounted alternative. Over 56 developers use this workflow to recover revenue from cancellations.

What This Workflow Does

When a Shopify order is cancelled:

1. n8n detects the cancellation via Shopify webhook
2. Looks up the customer's purchase history in a Google Sheet
3. Selects the most relevant upsell product based on what was cancelled
4. Sends a personalized WhatsApp message offering the alternative product
5. Logs the upsell offer to the Google Sheet to prevent duplicate sends

Result: 8–15% of customers who receive a relevant upsell after cancellation make a new purchase within 48 hours.

Ready-made template: Import with one click: Automated WhatsApp upsell messages for Shopify cancellations with Rapiwa & Sheet →(56 installs)

Prerequisites

• Rapiwa account — Start free 3-day trial →
• n8n — Cloud free tier or self-hosted
• Shopify store — Admin API access token
• Google Sheets — for upsell product mapping and logging

Step 1: Set Up the Upsell Product Mapping Sheet

Create a Google Sheet with two tabs:

Tab 1: Product Mappings

Tab 2: Upsell Log (to prevent duplicate messages)

Step 2: Import the n8n Template

1. Go to n8n.io/workflows/10790
2. Click Use this workflow
3. The workflow nodes:
   • Shopify Trigger → orders/cancelled
   • Google Sheets → check if upsell already sent
   • Google Sheets → fetch upsell product for cancelled SKU
   • IF node → skip if no upsell mapping found
   • Set node → build upsell message
   • HTTP Request (Rapiwa) → send WhatsApp
   • Google Sheets → log the sent upsell

Step 3: Configure Shopify Trigger

1. Click Shopify Trigger node
2. Credentials: enter store URL + Admin API token
3. Topic: orders/cancelled

Step 4: Configure the Google Sheets Lookup

Lookup node: check if upsell already sent

• Operation: Lookup Row
• Sheet: Upsell Log
• Lookup Column: order_id
• Lookup Value: {{ $json.id }}

Lookup node: fetch upsell product

• Operation: Lookup Row
• Sheet: Product Mappings
• Lookup Column: Cancelled SKU
• Lookup Value: {{ $('Shopify Trigger').item.json.line_items[0].sku }}

Step 5: Configure the Rapiwa Send Node

Find the HTTP Request node "Send WhatsApp Upsell":

• Method: POST
• URL: https://app.rapiwa.com/send-message
• Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
• Body:

{
  "number": "={{ $json.customer_phone }}",
  "message": "={{ $json.upsell_message }}"
}

Working cURL test:

curl -X POST https://app.rapiwa.com/send-message \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "number": "8801234567890",
    "message": "Hi Sarah! We noticed you cancelled your order for the Laptop Pro.\n\nMaybe our Laptop Standard is a better fit? Same quality, lower price:\n\nhttps://yourstore.com/laptop-standard\n\nUse code *CANCEL10* for 10% off — valid for 48 hours! 🎁"
  }'

Expected response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "messageId": "msg_upsell_abc123",
  "timestamp": "2026-07-05T10:30:00Z"
}

Step 6: Craft Effective Upsell Messages

The upsell message template:

Hi {{ $json.customer_first_name }}! 👋

We noticed you cancelled your order for *{{ $json.cancelled_product_name }}*.

No problem — but before you go, have you considered *{{ $json.upsell_product_name }}*?

It might be a better fit for you:
✅ {{ $json.upsell_benefit_1 }}
✅ {{ $json.upsell_benefit_2 }}
💰 Price: {{ $json.upsell_price }}

🎁 Special offer: Use code *{{ $json.discount_code }}* for 10% off.
Valid for 48 hours only.

View product: {{ $json.upsell_url }}

No pressure — just wanted you to know! 😊

What makes an effective upsell after cancellation:

1. Acknowledge the cancellation — don't pretend it didn't happen
2. Suggest a real alternative — not just any product, but one that's relevant to what they cancelled
3. Explain why it's better — 2–3 bullet points of specific benefits
4. Add a time-limited discount — 10–15% discount with 48-hour expiry
5. Keep the tone friendly — low pressure, high value

Step 7: Log the Upsell and Avoid Duplicates

After sending, add a row to the Upsell Log sheet:

The duplicate-check node at the start will find this row and skip future runs for the same order.

Real-World Results

• 56 Shopify stores already use this workflow
• 8–15% of customers who receive a relevant WhatsApp upsell make a new purchase
• Upsell conversion is 3–4x higher via WhatsApp than email for cancelled orders
• Personalized upsells (based on the cancelled product) outperform generic discount codes by 2x

Common Errors and Fixes

• No upsell mapping found: Not every product has a mapped upsell. The IF node should check for empty lookup results and skip gracefully.
• Phone not available: Shopify may not store customer phone numbers. Check order.billing_address.phone and order.customer.phone — use whichever is populated.
• Customer-requested cancellations: If the cancellation reason is customer, the upsell message is still appropriate — the customer changed their mind, so they may respond to an alternative.
• 401 from Rapiwa: Regenerate API key in Dashboard → API Keys.

FAQ

What cancellation reasons should trigger an upsell? All cancellation types except fraud. For customer-requested, inventory, and payment-declined cancellations, an upsell makes sense. For fraud, don't send any follow-up messages.

How long after cancellation should I send the upsell? Send within 30 minutes — while the purchase intent is still warm. A 24+ hour delay drastically reduces conversion.

Does Rapiwa charge per upsell message? No. Rapiwa charges $5/month flat with no per-message fees.

Can I A/B test different upsell messages? Yes. Add a Random node in n8n to assign customers to variant A or B, send different messages, and track redemption by discount code in Shopify.

What if the customer doesn't have a mapped upsell product? The IF node routes these cases to a generic message: "We noticed you cancelled — here's 10% off your next order: store URL with code WELCOME10." It's less targeted but still recovers some revenue.