Why shoppers abandon carts
- Unexpected extra costs, such as shipping, taxes or fees
- Being forced to create an account
- A long or confusing checkout
- Slow delivery, or unclear return policies
- Missing payment options, or worries about payment security
- Just browsing or comparing prices
How to reduce cart abandonment
- Show all costs early, ideally on the product page.
- Offer guest checkout and popular payment methods.
- Keep the checkout short and mobile-friendly.
- Show delivery times, returns and trust badges clearly.
Abandoned cart emails
If a shopper has given their email address and agreed to receive emails, an automated reminder can bring them back. A typical sequence sends a first email within a few hours and one or two more over the next days, sometimes with an incentive. Keep the tone helpful: an abandoned cart email should remind and reassure, not read like a hard sales pitch.
Remarketing ads can also remind shoppers of the products they left behind.
Abandoned cart example
A visitor adds a pair of running shoes to the cart, sees a shipping fee at the last step and closes the tab. The shop’s analytics records an abandoned cart. If the visitor had entered an email address and agreed to marketing emails, a reminder that mentions free returns, or shows delivery times up front, may bring them back.
How to measure cart abandonment
- Cart abandonment rate: carts created minus orders completed, divided by carts created.
- Checkout step drop-off: where in the funnel visitors leave (cart, shipping, payment).
- Recovery rate: the share of abandoned carts that later turn into orders after an email or ad.
Track these in your shop platform and in Google Analytics, and look at mobile and desktop separately.
Abandoned cart mistakes
- Emailing people who never agreed to receive marketing messages.
- Sending a discount in the first email, which teaches shoppers to abandon carts on purpose.
- Adding surprise fees late in checkout.
- Ignoring mobile checkout, where forms are hardest to complete.
Abandoned cart FAQs
What is a normal cart abandonment rate?
It varies widely by industry and device, so compare your own rate over time rather than chasing a headline figure. Improving your checkout usually matters more than any benchmark.
How is it related to conversion rate?
Every abandoned cart is a lost sale, so reducing abandonment raises your conversion rate. Ads that follow up with shoppers are covered under remarketing.