How to Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment

Shopping cart abandonment occurs when a customer initiates the checkout process on a company’s website or app, but fails to complete the transaction. Since purchases are never finalized, cart abandonment can lead to significant losses in sales revenue, which we’ll explore in greater detail later in this article.

When a business experiences high rates of cart abandonment, it could be a sign that customers are encountering obstacles or “friction” in the payment process. For example, there might be too many steps for checking out, or too few payment methods to choose from. Since cart abandonment can have such a negative impact on revenue, it’s critical for online businesses to help make transactions as easy as possible for shoppers to complete.

According to an analysis by the Baymard Institute, based on data from almost 50 studies, the average shopping cart abandonment rate is higher than 70%. Mobile users are at even greater risk, with mobile cart abandonment rates exceeding 75%. Abandonment rates are highest of all for jewelry and luxury products (over 81%), followed by transactions involving home goods and furniture (over 78%), fashion and apparel (over 76%), and beauty products (over 72%). 

How is this impacting merchants? Sellers Commerce reports that abandoned carts cost ecommerce businesses more than $18 billion in annual sales revenue. Meanwhile, shoppers leave a whopping $4 trillion worth of merchandise in their digital carts each year.

Businesses need to combat shopping cart abandonment because of the negative impacts it can have on their bottom line. When customers abandon their carts prematurely, it contributes to lost sales and missed revenue opportunities, places the business at a competitive disadvantage, and drives up marketing costs. For example, cart abandonment can dramatically reduce customer lifetime value (CLV) as shoppers switch to competing brands.   

Some degree of cart abandonment is inevitable. However, a high or increasing level could mean there’s a problem with your online checkout process. It could also mean that your app or website is experiencing technical issues, or that customers are dissatisfied with your pricing or return policy.

Does cart abandonment affect inventory?

In short, no. Shopping cart abandonment doesn’t impact your available stock levels. Stock does not officially decrease until a shopper actually completes a purchase. However, some ecommerce platforms have features that prevent multiple shoppers from placing the same items into their carts simultaneously. This can cause shoppers to leave your app or website and search for the item elsewhere, causing you to lose not just one but two sales: the shopper with the abandoned cart, plus the shopper who was unable to make their intended purchase.

Lost revenue isn’t the only consequence of cart abandonment — retailers also need to consider what happens after a shopper abandons their cart. While it’s possible that the user might return to complete their purchase online or in-store later, there’s also a risk that they’ll turn to a competitor who offers a more convenient and frictionless payment process. Along with making your checkout process frictionless, using reminder emails and retargeted ads can encourage customers to complete their purchases instead of choosing other brands.

To reduce and prevent cart abandonment, it’s essential to understand why it occurs in the first place. Some of the most common reasons for shopping cart abandonment include unexpected charges or fees, overly complex checkout processes, and mandatory account creation requirements. Let’s go over some checkout pain points that can prevent customers from completing transactions.

Unexpected or additional costs

According to the Baymard Institute, the leading cause behind cart abandonment is when a customer encounters unexpected charges or fees at checkout, with a whopping 48% of consumers experiencing this issue. Some typical examples include unexpected service fees, shipping fees, payment processing fees, state taxes, or other surprise costs. When an order’s total cost is significantly higher than anticipated, it negatively impacts the shopper’s trust and decreases their likelihood of completing the transaction. 

Mandatory account creation

In a survey of over 1,000 consumers, more than a quarter of respondents (26%) said they abandoned a shopping cart because the merchant required them to create an account. Some shoppers wish to avoid this due to concerns over data privacy, while others simply want to avoid completing the extra steps. In both cases, merchants can reduce cart abandonment by allowing customers to complete online purchases without requiring them to set up user accounts.

Long and complicated checkout process

In a 2024 survey of more than 1,000 respondents, 22% said that a long or complicated checkout process caused them to abandon their shopping carts during the past three months. Research shows that the average ecommerce checkout process is five steps, so offering shoppers a simpler method can help reduce cart abandonment.

Security concerns

Shoppers may be less likely to complete purchases if they have concerns about the security of your website or app. Businesses can combat this issue and reduce cart abandonment by displaying security badges on their websites, including a page on their website or app describing the measures they take to protect customer data, including using secure, encrypted payment methods.

Website errors and performance

A slow or glitchy app or website can frustrate users, cause customers to lose trust in your payment platform, and ultimately, lead to cart abandonment. In fact, 17% of consumers polled say website errors have caused them to abandon a cart. Two ways to potentially reduce cart abandonment are to increase page speed and fix website performance issues, such as broken links, pages that don’t load, or page access issues. Taking these steps can help ensure that customers enjoy a smooth and successful checkout experience.

Poor return policy

From a shopper’s perspective, making an online purchase can feel like taking a financial risk, especially since there’s no physical way to try out the item in advance. Offering a flexible return and refund policy may make customers feel more at ease, showing that you have confidence in your products while promoting trust in your brand. On the other hand, having an unclear or overly restrictive return policy might discourage shoppers from making or completing purchases, leading to a higher rate of cart abandonment.

Calculating your cart abandonment rate is simple. Just follow these three steps:

• Determine your total amount of completed transactions (for example, 500) and uncompleted transactions (for example, 300) 

• Multiply your uncompleted transactions by 100 (300 x 100 = 30,000)

• Divide by your completed transactions (30,000 ÷ 500 = 60)

In the above example, 300 out of 500 transactions are incomplete, which is a lower-than-average cart abandonment rate of 60%. The average cart abandonment rate is around 70%, but this percentage varies by region, demographic, product type, and other factors.

Businesses can potentially reduce shopping cart abandonment by implementing strategies that directly target its root causes, like fixing website errors that interfere with shopping or checking out. By resolving the issues that lead to cart abandonment, businesses can improve their abandoned cart recovery rates and increase sales revenue. Here are seven tips and strategies for how to reduce cart abandonment, from simplifying your checkout process to offering more payment options.

Improve user experience

Businesses can potentially reduce shopping cart abandonment by delivering a better, more engaging user experience (UX). One way to improve UX is by pairing detailed product descriptions with appealing visuals, which gives customers more information — and more confidence — about the items or services they’re browsing. Another way to improve UX is by incorporating a live chat feature into your app or website. A live chat tool (or “chatbot”) can provide nearly-instant answers to customer questions, drastically reducing customer service wait times.

Create a streamlined checkout process

Over a quarter of the respondents (26%) in a survey of roughly 1,000 consumers said they abandoned carts because the merchant required them to create a user account. In the same survey, 22% of respondents said that a lengthy or complex checkout process prevented them from completing a purchase. 

The takeaway is that merchants should make the checkout process as quick, easy, and simple as possible for shoppers. Businesses can potentially reduce cart abandonment and streamline checkout by: 

• Offering auto-fill options for forms

• Limiting the number of steps in the checkout process 

• Incorporating a side cart feature

• Allowing shoppers to complete transactions without creating accounts

Retarget abandoned cart users

Retargeting, which is sometimes called remarketing, is a marketing strategy that uses web cookies to track how customers interact with your website. If they leave your site without completing a purchase, your business can retarget them with personalized advertisements or messages, such as email offers for free shipping. Retargeting can be a highly effective cart abandonment strategy, with some research showing that retargeting can increase conversion rates by as much as 150%.

Be transparent about costs

Hidden or higher-than-expected costs are another cause of online shopping cart abandonment. Prioritizing pricing transparency can potentially reduce cart abandonment. By being clear about shipping, taxes, and other fees from the start of the purchase process, businesses can help build trust, avoid causing frustration for shoppers, and deliver a more positive customer experience.

Offer several payment options

Another way to help reduce cart abandonment is to accept more payment methods, increasing the odds that your business can accommodate a wider range of customers and their preferred ways to pay. Giving shoppers more payment options can help make the checkout process more flexible and convenient, and contribute to  boosting customer satisfaction and transaction efficiency. Some examples of popular payment methods include digital wallets, mobile apps, payment links, and BNPL services like Zip for businesses.

Create an easy return policy

Merchants can help reduce shopping cart abandonment by offering free returns, providing customers with prepaid shipping labels, and/or giving customers plenty of time to return unwanted items. For businesses that sell digital services like content subscriptions, it can be more appealing to customers to define the terms of a cancellation policy that prioritizes ease and convenience. Being transparent about policies can give customers more confidence to sign up or renew.

Build trust

According to a survey conducted by the Baymard Institute, 25% of consumers have abandoned an online cart because they didn’t trust the website to keep their payment information secure, underscoring the importance of building consumer trust. Some trust-building strategies that can help reduce cart abandonment include:

• Complying with PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards) 

• Displaying trust badges to boost customers’ confidence 

• Showing off positive reviews and client testimonials 

• Using fraud prevention tools and software

Zip can help your business reduce shopping cart abandonment by giving your customers simple, flexible ways to pay for any purchase. Over 6 million customers around the globe use Zip to shop with thousands of brands and retailers, including Apple, Temu, Target, Amazon, Walmart, and more. From bills, electronics, and travel expenses to furniture and fashion accessories, Zip provides a convenient way for shoppers to complete transactions.¹

How does cart abandonment work?

Cart abandonment occurs when a shopper places items in their cart, but never checks out or completes the purchase.

How does cart abandonment change between desktop and mobile?

Smartphone users are more likely to abandon their shopping carts than tablet or desktop users. According to research by Sellers Commerce, the average mobile cart abandonment rate is 75.50%, compared to 69.04% for desktop users and 68.55% for tablet users. To put those figures into context, the average cart abandonment rate overall is 70.19%.

What is the average cart abandonment rate?

Although cart abandonment statistics vary by region, demographic, and industry, the overall average cart abandonment rate is 70.19%. The highest cart abandonment rates are for purchases involving jewelry or luxury goods (81.68%), furniture or home goods (78.65%), and clothing or accessories (76.48%).