How to Reduce Cart Abandonment

01What Is Cart Abandonment Rate?

Cart abandonment rate is the ratio of visitors who add items to their shopping cart but leave the site without completing the order, to all visitors who created a cart. It is one of the most closely watched e-commerce metrics, because it shows why the customer closest to buying gave up.

Abandoning a cart is not always a negative sign. Some customers add products to compare prices, to use the cart like a notepad or to buy later. But a significant share of those who leave do so because of a fixable obstacle on the site. Studies compiled by the Baymard Institute put the industry average at around 70 percent, so the problem is widespread and the room for improvement is large.

Cart abandonment rate = (1 - Completed orders / Carts created) x 100

Example: 400 carts, 120 orders
(1 - 120 / 400) x 100 = %70

02Why Do Customers Abandon Their Carts?

The reasons for abandonment are largely about surprises and friction in the checkout process. Finding out which one affects your own site requires measuring each checkout step separately, but the list below summarizes the most common causes.

• Surprise costs: Shipping, cash-on-delivery or service fees appearing only at the last step
• Forced registration: Requiring customers to create an account in order to buy
• A long and complicated checkout form
• Distrust of the site or the payment page
• The desired payment method or installment option not being available
• Unclear or long delivery times
• Slow pages and forms that malfunction on mobile
• The cart being emptied after a failed payment

03Show the Cost Upfront

The most common reason for abandonment is the customer meeting a fee they did not expect at checkout. When a product seen at a certain price on the product page turns into a different amount at the last step because of shipping and cash-on-delivery fees, the customer feels deceived.

The solution is simple: the shipping fee and the free-shipping threshold must be stated clearly on the product page and in the cart. Progress information in the cart, such as “this much left for free shipping,” removes the surprise and also raises the basket value. Installment surcharges and the cash-on-delivery fee should also be visible before a choice is made.

04Simplify the Checkout Step

The shorter and more predictable the checkout process, the fewer customers give up. The goal here is less about cutting the number of steps than about limiting what is asked at each step to what is truly necessary.

Allow Guest Checkout

For a first-time customer, creating an account is an extra obstacle. Offer a guest checkout option and suggest registration with one click after payment. That way you gain members without losing the customer.

Shorten the Form

Ask only for the fields truly needed for delivery. Offer province and district selection as lists, and do not make customers type the billing address a second time if it is the same as the delivery address. Reveal business invoice fields only when the customer chooses them.

Show Progress

If checkout has several steps, a progress bar such as “Address – Shipping – Payment” lets the customer see how far they have left to go. Uncertainty is one of the silent reasons for giving up.

Test on Mobile

A numeric keyboard on the phone number field, autofill support and large tap targets are small but effective improvements. Run through the checkout process from your own phone, start to finish, every month.

05Trust and Payment Options

Customers enter card details only on a site they trust. A secure connection, a recognized payment infrastructure, 3D Secure verification and a clear return policy are the foundation of that trust. Visible contact details, real customer reviews and accepted card logos also reduce hesitation.

Variety of payment methods directly affects the abandonment rate too. Options such as card installments, bank transfer/EFT and, for suitable products, cash on delivery meet different customer habits. We cover the details of choosing a bank and payment provider in our what is a virtual POS article.

A failed payment is a separate cause of abandonment. Keeping the cart when a card is declined, writing a clear error message and guiding the customer to try again with a different method can rescue an order that would otherwise be lost.

06Speed and Technical Problems

A slow cart or checkout page can lose even a customer who has already made up their mind. Removing unnecessary scripts, large images and distracting pop-ups from the checkout page improves both speed and focus. For technical improvements, speed and performance optimization is a good place to start.

The best way to find errors is measurement. By following the checkout funnel step by step, you can see at which step customers leave. If there is a sudden drop at a particular step, there is a design or technical problem there.

It is also important to split measurement by device and browser. A checkout form that works fine on desktop can lose customers through a bug like a button hidden under the keyboard on a specific phone model. Tracking the mobile funnel separately quickly reveals this kind of hidden problem.

07Abandoned Cart Emails

Despite all improvements, some customers leave the cart halfway. An abandoned cart email reminds those who have given contact permission about the products in their cart. A well-designed reminder can bring back a customer who was already close to buying.

• Send the first reminder within a few hours; include the product image and a link back to the cart.
• In the second reminder, answer a common question or explain the return conditions.
• Do not automatically give a discount coupon to every customer who abandons; customers start to wait for it.
• Send only to customers who have given contact permission, and keep the consent records.

08Cart and Checkout at Aurora

On Aurora Smart E-Commerce’s e-commerce platform, guest checkout and one-click registration after payment are standard; carts are not abandoned because of forced registration. Prices in the cart are refreshed every time it opens, stock and coupons are returned on incomplete payments, and double payments are blocked. You can track abandoned carts from the admin panel and send reminder emails with Mailchimp.

Like the rest of your store, the cart and checkout pages are designed around your products and customer base with our concept design service. Settings such as the free-shipping threshold and parcel-size-based (desi) shipping fees work together with shipping integration.

For win-back campaigns, remarketing ads and email flows, you can work with our digital marketing team. We cover how these features affect total cost when choosing a platform in our e-commerce website pricing and Shopify alternative articles.