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Why Is Online Cart Abandonment So Stubbornly High?
Surprise shipping fees, lengthy delivery, security concerns, and a cumbersome checkout process are just some of the long list of reasons for online cart abandonment.
Statista reports that online cart abandonment has been climbing steadily since 2014, reaching 70% in 2023 for the first time since 2013 and up from 60% in 2006.
Last year, Baymard Institute found that the top reason U.S. online shoppers had abandoned a cart within the previous three months was “I was just browsing/not ready to buy,” cited by 47.8%. At checkout, the top five abandonment issues were the extra costs were too high (shipping, tax, and fees), cited by 47%; the site required the creation of an account, 25%; delivery was too slow, 24%; not trusting the website with their credit card information, 19%; and the checkout process was too long or complicated, 18%.
Ranking lower, the remaining reasons in the top 10 were not being able to see or calculate the total order cost upfront, 17%; unsatisfactory returns policy, 16%; the website had errors or crashed, 14%; inadequate payment methods, 11%; and their credit card was declined, 6%.
Baymard Institute said in the study, “Unlike the ‘just browsing’ segment, a lot of these issues can be resolved. In fact, many of them can be fixed purely through design changes.”
A survey of 350 retail shipping professionals from OneRail, a provider of software that optimizes last-mile deliveries, found the top causes of online cart abandonment to be missing inventory/out of stock, cited by 40%; long delivery times, 32%; high shipping costs, 25%; lack of coupons and discount codes, 20%; and shortage of payment options, 18%.
OneRail stated, “Delayed deliveries, limited capacity, poor service quality and geographic limitations affected many retail fulfillment leaders, and more than half (58%) have lost sales as a direct result of their inability to find enough capacity.”
A survey of U.S. consumers last year from third-party logistics provider Radial found the security of the website being shopped on (48%) and concerns about the use and security of personally identifiable information (45%) to be two sizable culprits for increasing cart abandonment rates.
A survey of U.S. and U.K. adults from Commercetools from last fall found that those ages 55 and up cite shipping costs (24%) as the No. 1 reason they abandon their carts, while Gen Z (ages 18-24) are looking to find a better deal elsewhere (21%). Additionally, consumers in the U.S. are more likely than those in the U.K. to abandon their carts because they are waiting to see if a product will go on sale (17.6% versus 11.9%).
Jen Jones, chief marketing officer for Commercetools, said, “Retailers need to focus on offering a wide array of payment options, investing in easy-to-use loyalty programs that provide distinct financial benefits, and personalization in engagement from product discovery to post-purchase.”
Discussion Questions
Why are online cart abandonment rates still so high?
Can you name some “low-hanging fruit” that should have been easily resolved at this point?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Mohamed Amer, PhD
Independent Board Member, Investor and Startup Advisor
Scott Benedict
Founder & CEO, Benedict Enterprises LLC
There is no single reason for cart abandonment; there are, instead, groups of different reasons. The first is cost surprises: this is extra fees, such as unexpected shipping or other fees, being added during the checkout process and deterring people from buying. The second is lack of information: this is where a retailer can’t give details on things like shipping times, so the customer is reluctant to proceed with the purchase. The third is complexity: this is where the checkout process takes too long, requires too much information, mandates account creation, or it’s unclear how to proceed. The fourth is technical issues: this is slow load times, pages not displaying properly, or currencies not converting. All of these things are largely within the control of a retailer and, generally, many of the deficiencies have improved over time.
Finally, there are some psychological reasons such as consumers using the cart to look at prices, assess totals, save products to look at later, delayed decision-making, fantasy shopping and so forth. These are more difficult to remedy and, interestingly, they have become more significant over time.
“look in cart to see price.” Well, that’s a sure way to get an abandoned cart. As Mark said below, many reasons are retailers’ own making, Will they stop? Hard to say….I think if the pandemic hadn’t happened, they’d still open stores on Thanksgiving. Pity,
Yeah, the price thing is annoying. It’s mostly on electronic items like small appliances. Down to contractual restrictions on minimum price that can be advertised, etc.
The reasons for why online shoppers abandon shopping carts are many, but what’s most noteworthy is that most if not all of the issues can be minimized by the retailer. So the question is, why? Why do these retailers perpetuate this abandonment behavior by not doing more to reduce it since it is largely a function of their own processes? The fact that online cart abandonment has increased from a decade ago is perplexing given how much more sophisticated retailers should be today. I believe that better total price transparency prior to checkout would be very helpful. As noted, often shoppers don’t know the total price (including shipping, taxes, etc.), until they are at checkout. If shoppers knew the total cost prior to checkout, perhaps fewer would abandon their cart when it’s time to pay.
THE BIG QUESTION—“Why do these retailers perpetuate this abandonment behavior by not doing more to reduce it since it is largely a function of their own processes? “
I agree that better price transparency before checkout as one of the key solution. Indeed, knowing the total cost upfront could prevent many shoppers from abandoning their carts during payment.
The end of the online shopping journey is the moment when so many aspects of the retail organization come together – product information, pricing/promotions, shipping/supply chain, fulfillment, etc. And while every retailer strives for a friction-free experience, its also clear that many retailers continue to have organizational and process silos, further contributing to online shopping challenges. Also in today’s environment of high inflation and consumers being more price conscience, the high rate of cart abandonment is not surprising.
We’re all familiar with the (facetious?) admonition that “when the facts contradict the theory, the facts must be changed”, and I thinjk this may be a case of that: namely that the metric on abandonnment isn’t very useful. Certainly not if “I was just browsing” is really as reported. The corollary (in the physical world) is, of course, the percent of people who walk thru the front door who buy something; would retailers be alarmed if that number was only 30%?? He** no!! The lesson here is to adjust our expectations to reality, not to be dissapointed that reality isn’t what we think it “should be”..
Interesting comparison of walking through the door. After reading, it occurred to me that perhaps the retailer believes that the more people add to the cart, the more likely they will purchase in the end. So, don’t show them taxes and shipping, or make them set up an account, or tell them it will take three weeks to arrive, and surely don’t tell them about our very, very limited return policy, if at all.
Cart abandonment remains high due to barriers like extra costs and cumbersome or slow e-commerce processes.
Low-hanging fruit for e-commerce ease include correcting website errors and ensuring visibility into returns and the total order amount. Online shoppers will abandon their carts if they get undesirable surprises.
There are many reasons for cart abandonment, as the cited research and surveys indicate above. Assuming the exclusion of half the shoppers that are just browsing, the reasons for cart abandonment cluster around (1) transparency to the total delivered cost, (2) the order-to-door promise, (3) technical performance issues, and (4) the trust and payment hurdle.
What remains outside these are shopper behaviors that use the cart as a holding bin for their shopping list or social confirmation, getting back to it when they have more time, or any other reason that belongs on the consumer side of the equation. The original cluster of reasons represents friction areas within the retailers’ span of control. The latter are not but can be influenced by creative means of engagement and shopper insights.
I expect the online cart abandonment rate to remain stubbornly high because online activity, at its core, carries little commitment in time and, to date, is primarily a unidirectional experience. However, retailers that can add intelligent interactions via a live agent or an AI bot will add a relationship element and heighten the customer’s commitment, reducing cart abandonment.
I agree that adding smart interactions, like live agents or AI bots, can build relationships and reduce abandonment rates, improving the online shopping experience.
Is it really abandonment, or are shoppers just using the cart as a sort of bookmark while they keep shopping alternatives? Do we know if there is a difference between the abandonment rates of loyalty program members and first time shoppers? That might be telling.
I am guilty of using the shopping cart functionality as a parking lot. It’s just easier, especially when sites don’t have a “love” or “favorites” feature.
So many e-commerce sites are still not that user friendly. You kind of like something, are forced to put it in “your cart” and go look for something else that is nowhere to be seen, and you leave. Fix that part of the experience and this data will improve. Hopefully. I mean, you see physical carts all over everywhere-what is up with that? Perhaps this is an instance of the virtual trying to mimic the physical world? Okay, probably a stretch there, but still.
Online shoppers have their own particular habits in determining their purchases. The 47.8% browsing of the 70% cart abandonment amounts to 33% of online shoppers browsing. Sounds realistic. The concept of a wishlist was always cumbersome. Add to that the experience of online shopping often has a sporting element to it and the shopping cart is the playing field. Will the site offer a discount on abandoned carts to elicit a purchase? Is there an additional discount code to be discovered? Is there a better price somewhere else? One may never know but some may want to search.
The top reason, “I was just browsing” is no surprise. I would love to know how many of those people BOBIS’ed (browsed online, bought in store) – that’s a nicer application of that term. And with online return policies being tightened, abandonment due to “perceived” unfriendly return policies will likely remain high. There’s a reason Amazon controls around 40% of the US online market. If you want to know what to do to limit abandon cart, that’s probably a good place to start. The challenge for “normal retailers” is that they’re not Amazon but most OTS ecommerce platforms address many of the issues people cite for abandoning a cart.
Remember when the internet was tax free? There are reasons on that list that are silly (like taxes) but most can be addressed though I suspect there are other reasons people are abandoning carts that are not reflected here. Anyone ever get an email discount to close their cart? Retailers should do the basics but let’s not forget ecommerce accounts for less than 20% of total global retail sales for a reason.
And maybe once retailers are done implementing the basics (or during that process), they can implement cool tech like Nibble’s Negotiation Software or Bloo Kanoo’s online cart assist (live video tech), shameless plug for a couple of great people with cool tech (Ryan and Rosie respectively).
The first place the retailer should consider. If the technology is cumbersome, some should be fired. There is no excuse for technology that doesn’t work smoothly.
Policy issues are something differnet, and they border on stupid. The company person says, “Let’s make them open an account, and then we can send them all kinds of information. But, don’t make them do it until after they intend to buy, because they will leave they won’t shop the site otherwise. And don’t give them any information which will discourage them from buying. Once they are committed to an item in thier cart, they will click ‘order’”.
Forgive my cynicism. I have heard similar discussions. As in today’s poll, that 70% could drop significantly. Almost all the friction smoothing is in the retailer’s hands. That leads me to beleive retailers don’t want to fix it.
Based on my work on this topic previously, all of the topics raised in the article are potential causes of cart abandonment based on the specific site/app and retailer. The real question should be…”what can we do about it?”
The automated and personalized cart abandonment email has been proven to be the most effective first line of defense against cart abandonment. Reminding a shopper of what they have left in their cart, and potentially offering them an incentive to complete a purchase, are highly effective tools in resolving cart abandonment. Beyond that, moving an abandoned item into a shopping list for purchase later, once again with an automated “prompt” to remind the customer of the item, would be the next best action to take.
Cart abandonment is a billion-dollar issue in our industry, yet the fundamental solutions have been around for years. Implementing an automated solution will resolve the low-hanging fruit of conversion rate improvement, followed by a thoughtful review of any tech issues with checkout or issues with your offer (costs and shipping time).
If cart abandonment is a billion-dollar issue in our industry, yet the fundamental solutions have been around for years, can we conclude retailers don’t really want to fix it?
I think the concept of the ‘cart’ is likely to evolve over time as the definition of what Omni means evolves and retailers get a clearer idea where customers are converting. Cart abandonment may simply mean the customer instead opted to visit in store. Further, there is likely an opportunity to reframe this statistic. What would have been the cost had those customers not in fact abandoned their carts, yet instead purchased but then had buyers remorse and returned those goods.
In the world of online shopping, a whopping 70% of carts get abandoned, uncovering missed chances and shopper annoyances. Whether it’s surprise fees or a tricky checkout, there’s a $260 billion opportunity waiting in the wings for e-commerce sites to improve user experience and capture those lost sales.
The top reasons for online cart abandonment include high additional costs such as shipping, tax, and fees, cited by 47% of shoppers. A cumbersome checkout process, slow delivery, and distrust in website security also contribute, with 22% abandoning carts due to a lengthy checkout. Lack of upfront total order cost visibility, unsatisfactory returns policies, website errors, and limited payment methods are additional factors, emphasizing the need for design changes to address these issues and improve user experience.
Easy fixes, or “low-hanging fruit,” to reduce cart abandonment include clear pricing, shorter checkouts, and transparent policies, addressing design flaws. These adjustments enhance user experience, tackling issues like surprise fees and lengthy processes, significantly boosting conversion rates and improving the overall online shopping journey.
The study and the BT posts make clear what many of the issues are. We fix the prblem in two ways for our brands and retailers.
Better site design, architecture, communicationSelling through formats and channels that have very low to no cart abandnment rates. Examples include livestream shopping, creator retail and shoppable blogs and video. All of these enable fast, frictionless see/buy moments.But what REALLY WORKS. Deviating from boring, predictable, scroll, click, look, scroll click websites. Interactive, immersive, 3D sites convert at 3x to 6x better,
This just shows that “window shopping” happens online as well. I’m not sure I see cart abandonment as a bad thing necessarily, I think retailers just need to adjust their metrics and understand that an item in the cart is not automatically an item sold. The assumption that putting an item in the cart means conversion just isn’t accurate.
Hey Melissa, the problem with “window shopping” and high cart abandonment rates in eCommerce is the extraordinarily high cost of getting a consumer to your site. Exponentially higher tan the costs of getting someone to walk into a fixed asset physical store. Low conversion rates kill margin and profit for ecom.
Consumers will always use the online shopping process the way THEY want to use it, not the way sellers want them to use it. Good experience design demands that we ask shoppers how they want to shop and study their actual behaviors. If you design the experience so that your shopping cart is the only place they can discern total net price and delivery times for an item, then they will use it for comparative research and your “abandons” stat will soar.
If digital sellers want to understand why shoppers don’t complete many transactions they need to move the price research functionality out of the cart. Sorry if that makes things easier for your competitors, but the shopper’s needs come first. Always.
Online shopping is the norm. It’s used for virtually you can buy from Amazon to Zappos – and everything in between including meds, cars, groceries, and much more. It’s a way of life – and we don’t think about going online. So, when consumers are shopping with a retailer that causes “friction” in the checkout process, they will be more likely to abandon the process. Friction can include asking for excessive and unnecessary information, not sharing shipping costs (if any) early enough in the process, having pop-ups, and more. My suggestion to clients is to eliminate as many fields as possible. Early in the relationship, you just ask for what is needed. Once the relationship is moving along, gather more information – a little at a time.
Digital retailers need to stop wringing their hands about such dumb questions. “Cart abandonment” doesn’t actually measure the behaviors that count. Many times, shoppers use the shopping cart as a consideration tool, a way to compare total cost and terms versus competing options.
Of course digital shoppers “abandon” those carts a large part of the time. That’s how you designed the interactions. Bad news (junk fees, taxes, policies) are delivered at the very end, and there is no penalty for clicking away other than the waste of time.
Many of the most compelling and obvious reasons for abandoning a cart are noted above. But sometimes it’s a combination of several things, adding up to a feeling on the shopping journey.
An overarching question in the customers mind – Can I find most/all of what I wanted, at a price range I expected, adding enough value for me, all within an allowable amount of time and hassle?
This is why the complete customer experience is key, from start to finish. It’s not enough to have a low price, or wide variety, or low shipping costs. It’s all of these plus seamlessness at every turn and encounter on the customer journey. Companies who focus on threading this, and in consideration for their customers, win.
The consumer does not enjoy paying fees, taxes, and especially shipping costs. Compared to the past, the grocery store has become more consumer-friendly, and it’s more likely to have the products I’m looking for.
No surprise is the best surprise. Providing customers with all costs upfront might help. By asking for the customer’s zip code on the product detail page, shipping cost can be displayed.
A virtual shopping cart that requires users to register or create an account is never a good idea. Some customers will be turned away by adding a step to the purchase cycle.
It is better to offer guest checkout rather than forcing users to create accounts. For remarketing purposes, you should collect emails and other contact information after a purchase has been completed, on the confirmation page. You can ask if the shopper would like email updates.
The checkout process is complicated and time consuming, and glitches that waste your time are frustrating as well. Also, consumers dislike that calculating isn’t usually possible until the end. There are a lot of issues with return policies. Often, deliveries are delayed, without explanation or solutions, and third parties are out of stock. There are often no consumer discount codes available, and oddly enough some sites are difficult to use either on a mobile phone, and some are difficult on a PC. Db
We assume the sale is made when the cart is engaged. Bad idea. Never stop selling or adding value.
The next rule is no surprises or barriers to buying. Every cart should have a buy button. This requires having all the information you need prior to the cart; not during the process.