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| Image credit: Pexels |
Last updated: November 8, 2026.
Table of contents
- How to measure your abandonment rate
- Why shoppers leave, and the fix for each reason
- What to fix first
- Show the full price and delivery date early
- Shorten the checkout
- Payment methods by country
- Trust, errors and declined cards
- Recovery messages that work
- Returns, cancellations and subscriptions
- How to test changes
- Mistakes that keep carts empty
- FAQ
How to measure your abandonment rate
Cart abandonment rate is the share of carts created that never become orders. The formula is (1 − completed purchases ÷ carts created) × 100. If you had 1,000 carts and 300 orders last month, your rate is 70%.
Baymard’s list of 50 studies published between 2006 and 2025 ranges from 55% to 84%, so no single number counts as good. Your own rate falling over time is the useful benchmark. Track the steps in your funnel separately, since a shopper who leaves at shipping needs a different fix from one who leaves at payment.
| Step | GA4 event | A large drop here usually means |
|---|---|---|
| Product to cart | add_to_cart | Price, product page or trust problems |
| Cart to checkout | begin_checkout | Surprise costs, delivery options or forced login |
| Shipping step | add_shipping_info | Shipping price, speed or address form problems |
| Payment step | add_payment_info | Missing payment method, trust or declined cards |
| Order | purchase | Final page errors or payment failures |
Split every step by device, country and payment method. If mobile shoppers in Brazil drop at payment while desktop shoppers in Germany do not, the cause is a local payment gap, not your checkout design.
Why shoppers leave, and the fix for each reason
Baymard asked US online shoppers why they abandoned a cart. After removing the 42% who were just browsing, the answers fall into the table below.
| Reason | Share | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Extra costs too high | 40% | Show shipping, tax and duties before checkout and include them in the displayed price where you can |
| Delivery too slow | 20% | Show a delivery date, not just “standard” or “express”, and add a faster option |
| Did not trust the site with card details | 19% | Use recognized payment buttons, clear company details and a secure checkout page |
| Forced to create an account | 18% | Offer guest checkout and ask for a password after the order |
| Checkout too long or complicated | 17% | Cut form fields, turn on address autofill and remove optional steps |
| Website errors or crashes | 17% | Fix slow pages, broken buttons and unclear error messages, especially on mobile |
| Returns policy unsatisfactory | 13% | Show your returns terms on the product page and in the cart |
| Could not see total cost up front | 12% | Add a shipping and tax estimate in the cart |
| Card declined | 10% | Offer a retry, a second payment method and a clear decline message |
| Not enough payment methods | 9% | Add the wallets and local methods your buyers use |
What to fix first
| Effort | Fix | Problem it solves |
|---|---|---|
| An hour | Add a shipping estimate to the cart and a returns link beside the checkout button | Hidden costs and policy doubts |
| An afternoon | Turn on guest checkout and remove optional form fields | Account walls and long forms |
| A day | Add Apple Pay, Google Pay or the local wallet for your top market | Missing payment methods |
| A week | Fix slow pages, add delivery dates and set up a three-message recovery flow | Errors, slow delivery and lost carts |
| A month | Rebuild the checkout flow and run tests on the steps with the biggest drop | Structural checkout friction |
Show the full price and delivery date early
Extra costs are the top reason, and the problem is the surprise, not the amount. Show a shipping and tax estimate in the cart, before the shopper enters an address, and show an actual delivery date. For cross-border orders, customs duties and import tax are a common surprise. Rules for low-value parcels are changing in several regions, so collect duties and taxes at checkout where your shipping setup allows it, or state clearly what the buyer will pay on delivery.
| Detail | Where to show it |
|---|---|
| Shipping cost by method | Product page and cart |
| Tax or VAT | Cart, using the shopper’s country |
| Customs duties for international orders | Cart, or a clear note that duties are paid on delivery |
| Delivery date range | Product page, cart and shipping step |
| Free-shipping threshold | Cart, with the amount still needed |
If a buyer in the Philippines adds a $25 item and sees $12 shipping at the last step, the order is gone. Showing the shipping range on the product page lets that shopper decide earlier, and a free-shipping threshold can raise the order value.
Shorten the checkout
Baymard’s benchmark found that the average US checkout shows 23.48 form elements by default, while its testing shows an ideal checkout can use 12 to 14. It estimates a 20% to 60% cut is possible for most sites, and that fixing solvable checkout problems could lift conversion by 35.26% for an average large retailer.
| Field or step | What to do |
|---|---|
| Account creation | Make it optional, and offer it after payment |
| Separate billing address | Default to “same as shipping” |
| Second address line and company name | Show them only on request |
| Phone number | Ask only if the carrier requires it, and say why |
| Email confirmation twice | Remove it and validate the format instead |
| Coupon box | Collapse it, so shoppers do not leave to search for codes |
| Address entry | Use autocomplete, and match formats such as Japan’s postal code order and Brazil’s CEP |
Payment methods by country
Digital wallets accounted for 56% of global e-commerce value in 2025, according to Worldpay’s Global Payments Report 2026. Local methods decide sales in many markets, and a missing one causes the 9% of abandonments blamed on too few payment options. Check your own payment-step drop before adding anything.
| Market | Add first | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | Credit cards, convenience-store payment (konbini), PayPay | Cards account for more than half of online payments |
| India | UPI | UPI-linked wallets made up 68% of online value in 2025 |
| Brazil | Pix, cards with installments | Analysts put Pix at about 40% of e-commerce volume |
| Mexico | Debit and credit cards, OXXO cash vouchers, SPEI bank transfer | Cash vouchers serve shoppers without cards |
| Philippines | GCash | Leads digital payments in the country |
| Indonesia | E-wallets such as GoPay, OVO and Dana, plus QRIS QR payments | Check which your customers use |
| Thailand | PromptPay | Real-time bank transfer |
| Netherlands, Poland | iDEAL, BLIK | Bank-based methods dominate |
| Germany | PayPal, invoice or buy-now-pay-later | Shoppers like to pay after delivery |
| US, UK, France, Australia | Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay | Wallets sit on top of card accounts |
If you sell anime merchandise to fans in Brazil, India and the Philippines, a card-only checkout leaves out the methods most of them use. Pix, UPI and GCash each remove a step that cards need.
Trust, errors and declined cards
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Shoppers doubt the site | Show a real business name, address, contact options, returns terms and recognized payment buttons on the checkout page |
| Slow or unstable pages | Aim for Google’s Core Web Vitals targets: largest content shown within 2.5 seconds, interaction response under 200 ms and layout shift under 0.1 |
| Mobile friction | Use numeric keypads for card and phone fields, large buttons and wallet buttons at the top of the cart |
| Declined cards | Explain the decline in plain words, let the shopper retry and offer another method |
| Unclear form errors | Mark the exact field, keep what the shopper typed and fix errors in place |
Recovery messages that work
A reminder sequence wins back some of the carts you cannot fix with design. Klaviyo’s benchmark across 143,000 abandoned cart flows reports a 3.33% placed-order rate, a 6.25% click rate and a 50.5% open rate. Apple Mail Privacy Protection inflates open rates, so judge a flow by clicks and orders.
| Message | When | Job | Discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email 1 | Within 1 to 2 hours | Show the cart contents with a single button back to checkout | No |
| Email 2 | About 24 hours | Answer doubts about shipping, returns and quality with reviews | No |
| Email 3 | 48 to 72 hours | Last reminder, with free shipping or a small offer if needed | Only if needed |
| SMS, optional | A few hours after email 1 | Short reminder to shoppers who agreed to texts | No |
Stop the sequence as soon as the shopper orders. Check the rules for each country you sell to before you send. The EU and UK require consent for most marketing email, and the US requires prior consent for marketing texts. Give a discount last, since offering one first teaches shoppers to abandon on purpose.
Returns, cancellations and subscriptions
An unsatisfactory returns policy drives 13% of abandonments. State your returns window, who pays return shipping and how refunds are paid on the product page, in the cart and beside the payment button. For subscriptions, show the renewal price, the billing date and how to cancel before the shopper pays. Clear terms reduce chargebacks and angry reviews, and they remove a reason to hesitate.
How to test changes
| Rule | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Change one thing per test | You can tell which change moved the rate |
| Measure completed orders, not clicks | A button can earn clicks without earning sales |
| Split results by device and country | A win on desktop can hide a loss on mobile |
| Run the test through full weeks | Weekday and weekend shoppers behave differently |
| Test the step with the biggest drop first | It has the most to gain |
Mistakes that keep carts empty
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Adding a popup before fixing checkout friction | Fix the cause first, since a popup cannot repair a hidden fee |
| Offering a discount in the first recovery email | Send a plain reminder and keep the offer for the last message |
| Hiding the guest checkout link | Put it above the login form |
| Copying another country’s payment setup | Check what shoppers in each market use |
| Judging recovery emails by open rate | Track clicks and orders |
| Testing on desktop only | Place a real order on a phone on a slow connection |
FAQ
What is the average cart abandonment rate?
The average is 70.22%, based on Baymard Institute’s list of 50 studies published between 2006 and 2025. Individual studies range from 55% to 84%.
How do you calculate cart abandonment rate?
Divide completed purchases by carts created, subtract the result from 1 and multiply by 100. With 1,000 carts and 300 orders, the rate is 70%.
Why do shoppers abandon their carts?
42% of US shoppers abandon because they are only browsing. Among the rest, the top reasons are extra costs (40%), slow delivery (20%), distrust of the site with card details (19%), forced account creation (18%) and a long checkout (17%).
What is a good cart abandonment rate?
No single rate counts as good. Studies range from 55% to 84%, so compare your rate with your own history by device and country.
How can I reduce cart abandonment quickly?
Show a shipping and tax estimate in the cart, turn on guest checkout, remove optional form fields and add a returns link beside the checkout button. These changes take hours, and they address the biggest reasons.
Is cart abandonment higher on mobile?
Yes. Baymard’s research shows smaller screens, harder form entry and weaker error recovery make shoppers easier to lose on mobile. Use wallet buttons, numeric keypads and clear error messages.
How many abandoned cart emails should I send?
Three is the usual sequence: one within an hour or two, one at about 24 hours and one at 48 to 72 hours. Stop it when the shopper orders, and keep any discount for the last message.
Which payment methods reduce abandonment?
The ones your buyers already use. Examples are Pix in Brazil, UPI in India, GCash in the Philippines, iDEAL in the Netherlands and convenience-store payment in Japan. Digital wallets made up 56% of global e-commerce value in 2025.
Do abandoned cart emails need consent?
Often yes. The EU and UK require consent for most marketing email, and the US requires prior consent for marketing texts. Check the rules for each country you sell to.
How much can better checkout design raise conversions?
Baymard estimates that fixing solvable checkout issues could lift conversion by 35.26% for an average large retailer. Results vary by site, so test each change.
Victor Aaron is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ComfortSkillz, where he contributes to the publication's leadership and digital development. With a background in computer science, cybersecurity and digital marketing, Victor brings a combination of technical knowledge, creative thinking and digital industry experience to his work. Read more..