Shopping cart abandonment is an ecommerce term used to describe a situation where a visitor leaves a website in the middle of the checkout process, meaning they don’t complete their purchase. Unfortunately, this creates a lot of pain for online businesses.
Take a look at some of the most significant facts and figures to understand why people leave their carts and what online retailers can do to address the issue.
Top Shopping Cart Abandonment Statistics: Editor’s Choice
- The cart abandonment rate is, on average, 69.82%.
- Cart abandonment costs ecommerce businesses up to $18 billion in sales annually.
- Because providing personal information at the checkout is too difficult, 39% of potential consumers abandon their cart.
- If the delivery time is excessively long, 22% of consumers will abandon their cart.
- Requiring someone to register can cause a 35% drop in sales.
- Hidden extra costs result in 55% of customers abandoning their purchases.
- Cart abandonment for the travel industry is one of the highest at 81.7%.
- The cart abandonment rate on mobile phones is 85.65%.
- All cart abandonment emails are opened 45% of the time.
- 26% of customers will return to your site through retargeting ads.
Checkout Abandonment Rate Benchmark in 2022
When thinking about shopping cart abandonment, no online shop is immune. Even the best-designed, most popular, and well-optimized ecommerce stores suffer greatly from this issue to the point it costs them more than it should.
1. 58.6% of US online shoppers abandon their carts simply because they are not ready to place an order.
A recent report showed that most people are just browsing, with no intention of purchasing any product or service. If we take this portion of potential buyers out, people highlighted many reasons they wouldn’t proceed with the checkout.
Cart abandonment statistics show that 24% of people leaving their carts claimed the site required them to create an account. 17% agreed the checkout process was too long or complicated. Only 4% abandoned the website because their credit card was declined.
Overall, the vast majority of people (48%) do not complete their purchases due to extra fees and taxes, shipping costs, slow delivery, and time-consuming checkout processes.
2. The cart abandonment rate is, on average, 69.82%.
If you thought your business was the only one with a high shopping cart abandonment rate, think again.
This percentage indicates that most companies only convert approximately one in four of their checkout visitors into paying customers. Optimizing the checkout process is one of the best ways to rectify this issue.
3. Approximately 40% of shoppers add products to their cart with no intention of purchasing.
When looking at shopping cart abandonment effects, small business owners can suffer a dent in their confidence when they see potential customers add items to their baskets yet fail to purchase them.
According to the latest shopping cart abandonment stats, adding items to their basket for a later date or comparing products have become the norm. Especially with the pandemic outbreak, this trend has grown tremendously among many online buyers.
4. Cart abandonment costs ecommerce businesses up to $18 billion in sales annually.
Additionally, over $4 trillion worth of merchandise sales is reported to be lost due to cart abandonment.
For this reason, the shopping cart abandonment reduction strategy is crucial in setting your business up for growth and expansion.
5. The average cart abandonment rate is at its highest around 8–9 PM.
It appears that more people abandon their carts in the evening. People could be too tired to complete their purchase or wanted next-day delivery and missed the cut-off.
Although these statistics might sound discouraging, the evening is the right time for businesses to push their online business—potential customers also purchase the most in the evening.
6. Shoppers abandon $4.6 trillion worth of merchandise per year.
The damaging effects of shopping cart abandonment cost every industry enormously.
However, shopping cart abandonment statistics for 2022 bring some positive news. Roughly $2.75 trillion of this lost revenue can be recovered. In order to reclaim those lost sales, businesses need to manage abandoned carts through successful retargeting strategies.
7. Saturdays and Sundays had the highest rates of cart abandonment—standing at 89%.
With so many people browsing for new items to purchase over the weekend, it’s no secret that shopping carts get abandoned the most during these days. Compared to the 85% registered on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the average checkout abandonment rate on Saturdays and Sundays is slightly higher, at almost 90%.
However, Sunday is only the second-most active day for ecommerce shoppers, right after Monday.
What Are The Most Common Shopping Cart Abandonment Reasons?
Potential buyers abandon shopping carts for a plethora of reasons—complexity of the process, unexpected costs, slow UX, etc. Take a look at the figures.
8. 39% of potential buyers abandon the cart because entering their personal information at the checkout is too complex.
These cart abandonment statistics point out how four out of ten people who make it to the checkout phase of the purchasing find the final process too complicated. Some of the ways businesses tackle this is by keeping their forms short, their buttons large, and their design responsive.
As people increasingly place their orders from smartphones, it is crucial for businesses to optimize their checkout process for all devices, mobile included.
9. 57% of visitors will abandon a cart if the website takes too long to load.
Slow websites and shopping cart abandonment are clearly linked, statistics show. If a website takes more than three seconds to load, the potential customer will likely get frustrated, resulting in them leaving the website to look for the product elsewhere.
Not only is this damaging in terms of reducing profitability, but it can also be highly detrimental to consumer loyalty.
10. 22% of people will abandon their cart if the delivery time is too slow.
Out of all the stats, this one is the least worrying. After all, 22% isn’t a huge figure, yet it is something to consider. That said, these shopping cart abandonment statistics indicate If a business can offer quick delivery times or a next-day delivery option, they are bound to capitalize on more sales.
11. The perfect number of checkout form elements is between 12 and 14.
Many people leave their shopping cart when the process is too long-winded. By forcing people to sign-up, become members, or ask for unnecessary information, they become frustrated.
The optimal number of fields within the checkout form must be at least 12. For this reason, these online purchasing stats point out how businesses need to optimize the checkout process.
12. 25% of shoppers abandon their products because of high costs.
Another reason for ecommerce cart abandonment is high costs. When the time comes to input their card details and complete the purchase, customers may worry about the price.
An excellent way to tackle this type of shopping cart abandonment is to offer special discounts to entice customers to finish their purchasing journey.
13. A lack of a good return policy deters 80% of shoppers from making a purchase.
One of the significant issues when it comes to ecommerce shopping cart abandonment is a bad return policy. If a company doesn’t have a return policy in place or is very vague, people will feel less sure about continuing their purchase.
Customers want to feel safe knowing that they can return an item if it is not quite what they were expecting.
14. Requiring someone to register can cause a 35% drop in sales.
We have already established that optimizing the checkout process is one of the best online shopping cart solutions. These shopping cart abandonment stats show why it is so critical. Having a customer sign up to become a member can be beneficial in many ways, such as sending personalized offers.
However, by forcing someone to create an account before buying something, you’re making the checkout process longer and more complicated than it needs to be. As a result, more than a third (35%) of customers would not make their purchase.
15. Hidden extra costs result in 55% of customers abandoning their purchases.
The ecommerce average cart conversion will drop if a store adds hidden costs throughout the checkout process. While it may seem like a good idea to display products at their lowest possible rate, then add on taxes and other fees at the checkout, it rarely works out.
Customers will feel like they are duped. This practice can make a brand appear dishonest, which is something any business wants to avoid.
16. Entering a discount code that does not work has 46% of shoppers abandon their cart.
When it comes to cart abandonment recovery, statistics demonstrate that offering coupons as part of shopping cart abandonment retargeting can be a great idea. However, these coupons need to work. Otherwise, customers will end up leaving again.
Nowadays, most customers will search for coupons online before purchasing to ensure that they can get the most bang for their buck. If a customer gets to the checkout and the voucher does not work, this can cause frustration, resulting in them abandoning their purchase altogether.
Cart Abandonment Rate By Industry
Of course, shopping cart abandonment isn’t as equally alarming in every industry—some have lower, some higher rates. However, what is clear is that it represents a problem to all businesses, no matter the niche.
17. The gaming sector has the lowest cart abandonment rate at 64.2%.
Gamers are the most reliable when it comes to checking out. With an abandonment rate of only 64.2%, this is one of the lowest compared to other industries.
The fact that gamers tend to read reviews and consider their purchase before adding a game to their basket may be the reason for this low rate.
18. Cart abandonment for the travel industry is one of the highest at 81.7%.
Booking a vacation is costly, and most people like to browse and compare deals before committing to a purchase. Many people will often add different holidays to their basket to see the total cost.
While the rate of abandonment is high for this industry, it is worth noting that many customers do intend to complete their purchases in the future.
19. The apparel industry shows a cart abandonment of 68.3%.
When it comes to the fashion industry, the industry average apparel cart abandonment rate is considerably lower than other industries. The low-risk factor when buying clothes may be the reason for this.
Customers don’t require as much convincing to purchase a new dress as they would buy a two-week vacation overseas.
20. The finance sector’s abandonment rate is 83.6%.
One factor is that financial products are often more complicated than other items. Customers require a deeper understanding of the service or product before completing the process. For this reason, when considering shopping cart abandonment, the shopping cart retrieval cost is relatively high in the finance sector.
Another reason behind it is that more personal details are needed. The time to complete the forms and the amount of prerequisite information required is most likely why consumers abandon financial products.
21. Out of all products, clothes are the most commonly abandoned—at 40%.
While the average rate isn’t too high in the apparel sector, clothes are most commonly abandoned out of all items.
Around 40% of shoppers end up abandoning clothes. In the second place, we have tech products, which are left unpurchased 18% of the time. Homeware follows with 16%.
Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate By Device
The cart abandonment varies significantly when the devices from which the browsing is done are concerned.
22. Desktops are the most reliable of all devices, with an abandonment rate of 73%.
When looking at the rate people abandon their carts based on the device, the desktop computer comes out on top. Our desktop computers are more convenient for online browsing.
They provide a quicker and easier shopping experience. At the moment, mobile shopping still causes frustrations for many shoppers.
23. The average ecommerce cart abandonment rate on mobile phones is 85.65%.
As expected, the average abandonment rate for mobile phones is considerably higher than desktop devices. Due to the difficulty of completing a purchase on a mobile device, more shoppers abandon carts.
While ecommerce developers are continually improving user experience, there is still a long way to go for the mobile shopping experience to be as good as on desktop.
Shopping Cart Abandonment by Region
People shop differently online worldwide. Take a look at the facts and figures from all corners of the world and how consumers’ behavior differs across the globe.
24. European countries have the lowest abandonment rate, at just 70.9%.
Compared with the world average, European countries are doing well to avoid shopping cart abandonment. Their abandonment rate is at the lowest, with only seven in ten online shoppers leaving their carts.
25. In North America, cart abandonment stands at an average of 74%.
When determining the average abandoned cart percentage, North America also seems to be doing a little bit better than the average. A significant contributor to this is the strong consumerist tendencies of American consumers.
Statistics show that the northern states are doing better than other areas of the country.
26. With an average of 76.3%, digital shopping cart abandonment problems are highest in Asia and the Pacific.
Asian and Pacific countries appear to have the most significant rate of abandonment across the globe. On average, the cart abandonment rate is hitting almost 80%, with Japan showing the worst percentage of the entire region.
27. 76.1% is the average abandonment rate in the Middle East and Africa.
The Middle East and Africa are parts of the world where the typical rate of abandoned shopping carts is higher than the norm. While cart abandonment is fairly consistent worldwide, these regions hit staggering figures, and here’s why.
Ecommerce has not developed as quickly in these locations, which means that there could be more barriers when purchasing items online.
28. Cart abandonment rate in India for ecommerce sites goes from 60–70%.
This means that only around 30 out of 100 customers who pick out a product they like actually go through with the purchase. It is a defeating score, considering how hard it is to get consumers to that point.
The primary reason is the payment option. In India, most payment choices rely on a payment gateway. As a result, the seller can only accept payments from specific banks, causing the buyer to abandon their cart in frustration.
Additional Shopping Cart Abandonment Stats: Advertising, Retargeting, and More
Retargeting is one of the safest bets for getting your customers back on your sites and purchasing something.
29. 45% of all cart abandonment emails are opened.
Not only do businesses need to consider statistics regarding cart abandonment, but they need to plan how they will recover and retarget the customers they have lost.
Email recovery efforts are undoubtedly the most popular. Companies can send customers emails with special offers to try and entice them to complete the purchase. On average, potential customers will open almost half of these cart abandonment emails.
30. 46.94% of travel abandonment emails are opened.
Shopping cart abandonment email statistics differ depending on the industry. For instance, the travel sector has the most result with retargeting emails. Considering the high rate of abandonment in this sector, it’s good news for them.
When offering a special deal to a prospective travel customer, even a 10% saving can be substantial. A discount can encourage consumers to book before missing out on the offer.
31. 57% of customers said they would like the option of live assistance.
83% of people stated that they need support during the customer journey, helping them make it through completing the purchase. There is evidence to show that live chat reduces cart abandonment, as 57% of people said that they would like to have the ability to get live assistance.
32. 26% of customers will return to your site through retargeting ads.
Retargeting ads can fix issues with digital shopping cart abandonment and inventory losses, as personalized retargeting advertising can boost ROI by 1,300%. In today’s digital landscape, customers expect businesses to cater to their personal needs.
Companies can do this by using personalized retargeting ads to bring people back to their websites—figures show that three out of four potential buyers notice retargeting ads.
33. Google and Facebook retargeting cart abandonment get the best results.
Facebook and Google Display Network are the most effective ways to retarget customers. Facebook advertising statistics imply it’s an excellent platform for remarketing, as one billion users are logging into their accounts every day.
Google Display Network serves more than one trillion impressions to over one billion users every month.
34. An ecommerce store loses, on average, 75% of sales to online shopping cart abandonment.
Cart abandonment hits every online store and marketplace, including the ecommerce giant Amazon. One of the best metrics to determine the Amazon cart abandonment rate is by far the “Unit Session Percentage,” which indicates how many units were bought compared to the number of people who viewed that specific item. Of course, the conversion rates for your Amazon store will depend on their category and price points.
Generally, cart abandonment on ecommerce sites can still be tracked with Google Analytics. This way, businesses can reduce the number of abandoned carts and boost their sales and revenue as a result. Moreover, the cart abandonment rate in Google Analytics makes it much easier to understand how customers engage with your website and act accordingly.
Shopping Cart Abandonment Statistics: The Takeaway
It’s true that the percentage of dropped shopping carts has reached astonishing numbers with the pandemic outbreak in 2020. However, not all hope is lost.
Businesses can easily keep track of customer behavior and correct their issues. These statistics show which are the most common reasons why online buyers give up on purchasing goods on your websites. So, it’s vital to understand what is needed to optimize your checkout process and ensure customers complete their purchases.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of users abandon their shopping cart?
The worldwide average is around 70%. However, the percentage of abandoned carts can range anywhere from 50% to 80%, as there are many different factors that influence shopping cart abandonments.
Many elements come together to determine the likelihood of a customer abandoning their shopping cart from industry to device.
What percent of all online shopping carts are abandoned?
According to Statista, shoppers abandoned 88.05% of all online shopping orders in March 2020. Of course, this is also the month whereby the COVID-19 pandemic started to become a significant problem in many countries, which could have had a considerable impact.
What is a good abandoned cart recovery rate?
If a customer abandons their cart, businesses should not forget about them. Retargeting these customers with special deals via email can be an excellent way to get the custom back.
Even recovering five percent of all abandonments can make a huge difference in revenue. After all, you could potentially create a loyal customer for the future.
What is the most common reason that online shoppers abandon their shopping carts before checking out?
There are many different reasons why people abandon their shopping carts before checking out. Some of these reasons include the following:
- Lack of customer support.
- A declined credit card or debit card.
- They were not happy with the return policy.
- The website had errors, crashed, or was too slow.
- Express shipping was not available.
- They could not find a coupon code.
- The checkout process was too long and confusing.
- Concerns regarding payment security.
- The user was researching to purchase later.
- Being forced to create a new membership account.
- Unexpected shipping costs.
What is the cart abandonment rate on Etsy?
Shopping cart abandonment can undoubtedly differ depending on the platform. Around 77% of all orders placed into Etsy shopping carts are abandoned. Etsy has been committed to launching new tools to try and fight this.
Shopping cart abandonment statistics in 2018 show that Etsy gave shop owners the ability to send targeted offers to shoppers who added products to their cart but did not check out. These offers could include free shipping or a small discount.
Sources
Asendia, Baymard, Bolt, Digifly, Dynamic Yield, Envisage Digital, Exact Metrics, Feedback Whiz, Fundera, Imagine It Studios, Indian Online Seller, Invesp, Kinsta, Moosend, POPio, Sleeknote, Unific, UK Web Host Review, VWO