Key takeaways
- The average documented cart abandonment rate is 70.22% — some of that is browsing, but a big share is fixable.
- Unexpected extra costs are the number one reason shoppers abandon a checkout, followed by slow delivery, trust worries and forced account creation.
- Show total costs early, offer guest checkout and express payments, and cut every field you don't need.
- Speed is a conversion feature — a 0.1-second faster mobile site lifted retail conversions by 8.4%.
You've paid to get the visitor to your store. They found a product, liked it and added it to their cart. Then they left.
It's the most frustrating moment in e-commerce — and one of the most common. Here's what the research says about why it happens, and ten practical fixes that win more of those sales back.
The numbers
Baymard Institute, which has studied checkout usability for well over a decade, calculates the average documented cart abandonment rate at 70.22%, based on 50 different studies.
Not all of that is lost revenue. In Baymard's survey of US shoppers, around four in ten who'd abandoned a cart said they were just browsing — saving items, comparing prices or not ready to buy yet. But set those people aside and the reasons that remain are mostly ones you can fix.
Why shoppers leave
Among US shoppers who'd abandoned an order during checkout (leaving out "just browsing"), Baymard found:
| Reason for abandoning | Share of shoppers |
|---|---|
| Extra costs too high (shipping, tax, fees) | 40% |
| Delivery was too slow | 20% |
| Didn't trust the site with their card details | 19% |
| The site wanted them to create an account | 18% |
| Checkout was too long or complicated | 17% |
| Website had errors or crashed | 17% |
| Returns policy wasn't satisfactory | 13% |
| Couldn't see or calculate the total cost up front | 12% |
Almost every line in that table is a design or communication problem — which means it can be solved.
10 fixes that win carts back
1. Show the total cost early
Surprise costs at the last step are the biggest single reason people leave. Show shipping costs (or a shipping calculator) on product and cart pages, state free-shipping thresholds clearly, and never add fees the shopper didn't see coming.
2. Offer guest checkout
Making people create an account before they can pay stops a lot of them cold. Let them check out as a guest, then offer to save their details on the confirmation page — when tracking the order gives them a reason to say yes.
3. Cut every field you can
Each extra field is another moment to reconsider. Use address autocomplete, combine first and last name where you can, hide optional fields like "Company" behind a link, and only ask for a phone number if you genuinely need it.
4. Add express payment options
Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and Shop Pay let people pay in a couple of taps without typing card details — especially valuable on mobile. Show the options people in your market actually use.
5. Show trust signals where people pay
Card-security worries spike at the payment step. Place recognisable payment logos, clear security messaging, your returns policy and contact details right next to the payment form — not just in the footer.
6. Make your store fast
Speed is a conversion feature. In Deloitte's "Milliseconds Make Millions" study with Google, a 0.1-second improvement in mobile site speed lifted retail conversions by 8.4%. Compress images, trim apps and scripts you don't need, and test on a real phone over mobile data.
7. Answer every question on the product page
Shoppers who aren't sure about sizing, materials, delivery dates or returns often add to cart "to think about it" — and never come back. Put the answers on the product page: size guides, clear delivery estimates, returns in plain English and reviews with real photos.
8. Be clear about delivery times
Slow delivery is the second-biggest reason for abandoning. If you can't be the fastest, be the clearest: show an estimated delivery date, not just "3–5 working days", and offer a faster option where you can.
9. Send abandoned-cart emails
For shoppers who've entered an email address, a short automated sequence recovers a meaningful share of carts. Send the first reminder within a few hours, keep it helpful — the product, the price, an easy link back — and save any discount for later in the sequence, if you use one at all.
10. Test it like a customer
Buy something from your own store on your phone, on mobile data, as a first-time customer. Then watch session recordings of real shoppers. You'll find friction you'd never spot from a desktop in the office — a coupon field that sends people hunting for codes, a button below the fold, an error message that doesn't say what's wrong.
How to measure progress
Set up a checkout funnel in GA4 (or your platform's analytics) that shows drop-off at each step: cart, information, shipping, payment and confirmation. Fix the step with the biggest drop first, measure for a few weeks, then move to the next. Small improvements at each step multiply into a noticeably bigger number at the end.
If you'd like an expert pair of eyes on your store, book a free 30-minute call. We'll walk through your product pages and checkout like a shopper and show you where sales are slipping away.
