[2023] Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics

The average cart abandonment rate is 70%.

What’s worse: $18 billion in sales is lost annually to cart abandonment.

The good thing is that it's not extremely difficult to solve this problem.

In this blog, we’ve compiled a list of cart abandonment statistics—to help you uncover problem areas plus ways to fix them. 

Checkout  

1. The average checkout flow is 5.2 steps 

While checkout flow isn’t so much of a problem, it’s the checkout effort that bothers customers and, we second that. You have to make it easier for your customers by sticking to 8 form fields, that’s the golden standard that Baymard recommends.

2. 17% of customers abandoned during checkout because of the lengthy and complicated checkout process 

Frankly, we have been there and the long checkout process is discouraging. Here are simple steps that can reduce your checkout abandonment rates:

• Having a single name field 

• Hide Address line 2 

• Enable autofill 

• Include options to mark the shipping address as the default billing address

3. 24% of customers left the checkout page because they were asked to create an account 

Your shoppers just want to finish the checkout process and asking them to create an account seems too much to ask for. Hold on, we a have solution: 

• Offer free shipping for all registered customers 

• Member-only prices for those who sign up

• Offer one-click checkout 

4. Only 42% of mobile users complete checkout as opposed to 47% of desktop users 

With 58.33% of eCommerce traffic coming from mobile devices, it's shocking to know that most brands don’t prioritize mobile checkout experience. Here’s what you can do:

• Offer a secure checkout option such as Paypal—mobile conversions show a 44% increase when compared to other transactions 

• Offer express checkout options at the beginning 

• Add a progress bar to inform so users of their progress

• Make it easier to edit orders on mobile 

• Optimize for the thumb and one hand type—72 px is ideal 

5. The mobile cart abandonment rate of 85.65% is the highest among all devices 

Surprisingly, the tips we offered in the previous point apply here. We’ve more advice to help improve your checkout rates:

• Show a breakdown of shipping costs 

• Ensure there’s a dynamic keypad layout—for instance, a different keypad for typing credit card information 

• Go for CTAs that are more than 44 pixels 

• Make it interactive—show cues when a user is typing and don’t you forget error cues

6. Millennials (25-34) are the age group who abandon the carts the highest at 21% 

Millennials are a tough nut to crack, but they can be persuaded. Start by: 

• Offering BNPL options—With money being the major concern, BNPL options split the financial obligation into interest-free payments 

• Millennials value feel-good experiences—offer personalized recommendations, offer BOGO deals, offer quizzes

• Millennials love subscriptions—works well if you’re in the retail and healthcare

• Offer Autoship service for subscription at discounted rates 

• Make digital wallets a part of your payment options—65% of millennials love them because of the convenience, faster checkout, and rewards 

7. The average eCommerce store loses 75% of sales due to cart abandonment 

And that’s a third-quarter of your revenue. Don’t let it slip up, here’s what you can do:

• Focus on price anchoring—there’s nothing more compelling than strikethrough pricing 

• Prioritize UX—make it easy to edit, auto-apply coupon field, remove mobile pop-up

• Write product descriptions that solve a problem—aim for a benefit-led approach

• Be transparent—tell your customers why you’re collecting data and what you plan to do with it 

And you know all too well, the reasons for your cart abandonment rate could be anywhere on your site and a CRO solution can help you fix that. 

8. Offering BNPL options can improve checkout conversion by 78% and reduce cart abandonment by 10% 

Thanks to the affordability, convenience, and edge it has over credit cards, BNPL adoption is on the rise. Here’s what you need to know:

• BNPL increases spending—the average amount spent by BNPL users stood at $689

• Not everyone can afford credit cards—14% of BNPL users attest to it 

• Ability to borrow without a credit check—Unlike credit cards, you can get BNPL approvals and 21% of users use them solely for this reason 

• More importantly, eCommerce brands offering BNPL services saw a 2.1% increase in the average conversion rates

9. 46% of customers abandoned their carts because the discount didn’t apply automatically

It sure is disappointing and we’ve been there. We recommend automating your coupon codes. This will reduce manual work and decrease friction. If you’re using Shopify, here’s a step-by-step guide that's easy to follow.

10. 30% of shoppers will abandon their carts if they are asked to re-enter their credit card information 

Honestly, that’s what any of us would do. Thankfully, you can fix this by:

• Make UX a priority—offer a numeric keyboard specifically for the credit card field to make it easier 

• Offer an alternative payment method such as Paypal, Apple Pay, or GPay 

11. 66% of customers prefer the checkout process to end in 4 minutes or less while 28% want it to end within two minutes 

That’s a startling revelation and brings back to our original stand—work on making checkout effort easier. We suggest you to:

• Offer social logins—studies show a 20% increase in conversion rates after implementing social login 

• Provide one-click checkout options 

• Reduce unnecessary form fields—do away with address line 2, company, and coupon code

• Detect Zip code automatically—this minimizes spelling mistakes and having to go through a long list of city names resulting in a 13% reduction in form fields and checkout effort 

• Hide the billing address option—let users who want to enter a billing address uncheck and type them and this reduces 37% of the user’s effort 

• Reserve account creation at the checkout page—tell users that they don’t have to create an account to sign in and can do so at the checkout page

12. 66% of online shoppers using Visa Checkout(express payment option) completed the checkout after adding items to cart  

That’s the power of familiarity. The more users are exposed to a brand, they are more likely to develop a positive attitude and trust becomes default. 

Visa is right amongst familiar trust seals such as Norton, Paypal, MasterCard, etc

13. 45% of online buyers use BNPL options to buy products they can’t afford 

BNPL options split the financial burden into interest-free installments. They have an edge over credit cards, thanks to no stringent formalities and low approval rates. A strong reason why 56% of Millennials and 49% of Gen Z people prefer BNPL. 

However, the major downside is that returns are harder in BNPL. 

14. 41% of online sales can be made by using APR financing 

APR financing gives the overall picture including the entire cost of the loan along with the interest rate. This gives you a better understanding. You might be surprised that there are brands that offer 0% APR financing, that’s a deal breaker. 

Read more: eCommerce checkout process

Security 

15. 31% of online buyers value safety over convenience during checkout 

It’s better safe than sorry. With the rise in credit card fraud, customers value security over ease of use. Here’s what you can do: 

• Use SSL certificates to convey that the information shared is encrypted and secure 

• Digicert and Verisign are two of the most popular trust badges in the market

• Use familiar payment methods such as Visa, American Express, PayPal, and Mastercard for quick transactions

16. 18% of customers don’t trust eCommerce sites with their credit card information 

With the rise in phishing attacks, customers want to be assured that your site is secure. Using trust badges and payment badges means your brand is trustworthy.

17. 66% of the major US eCommerce sites don’t visually emphasize the security of their credit card fields 

What that means is your customers lack technical knowledge. This means that they believe a site is secure when they see trust signals, microcopy, and the secured lock. On the other hand, parts of the checkout page lacking these trust signals are perceived as untrustworthy. 

18. 35% of customers will abandon their carts in the absence of trust badges 

This might be a rude shock but you need different trust badges to combat cart abandonment, such as:

• Free shipping trust badge

• Express checkout trust badge 

• SSL checkout trust badge 

• Fast shipping trust badge—40% of carts are abandoned when the shipping takes 8 days or more 

• Returns trust badge—100% money back guarantee or 30-day money back guarantee can increase conversions significantly 

• Payment trust badges—Feature different trust badges such as Visa, Amex, Mastercard, Paypal, and Apple Pay to reduce cart abandonment due to the lack of payment options

19. In a CXL study, McAfee(79%), Verisign(76%), and PayPal(72%) were the most trusted trust badges by customers  

Apart from the above fact, we discovered interesting findings that the results varied according to key demographics:

• Google Trusted Stores was trusted more by Millennials compared to other demographics

• Sitelock found a strong liking by Gen Y

• While PayPal found a strong following among 50+ age group 

We also discovered that preferences changed when it came to men and women.

20. PayPal payments have the highest checkout conversion rate at 88.7%  

The decrease in checkout time is the reason users who used PayPal had an 88.7% conversion rate. Brands that implemented PayPal throughout the site saw a 61% increase in sitewide conversion rate.

21. In a TrustPulse study, forms with trust badges saw a 42% increase in conversion rate than those without 

The badge in question is VeriSign which is known to directly appear in the search results, a sign establishing their credibility. 

22. 60% of customers abandoned their carts simply because there were no trust badges 

This is an open and shut case. Users find sites with no trust badges to be less secure and fear that their data might get stolen. 

23. 75% of customers didn’t complete the checkout process because they couldn’t recognize the trust badges 

You’d want to include popular trust badges because familiarity breeds trust. A Norton trust badge will any day be recognized compared to abcsign. 

24. 54% of customers discontinue the checkout process when the payment options are limited to debit and credit cards 

Limiting your payment options to credit and debit cards means more abandoned carts. Interestingly, 22% of customers don’t complete the purchase if they don’t find their preferred payment methods. 

We advise you to include express payment options such as PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and BNPL options. Make it a priority to advertise BNPL options in your marketing emails.

25. 20% of consumers use BNPL because they don’t want to risk losing their personal data 

With the rise in BNPL adoption, countries like the US and Germany have bought into BNPL under the GDPR laws safeguarding the use of customer data. 

Transparency 

26. 48% of customers cite sudden costs on the checkout page as the reason for abandonment 

Surprise costs are definitely off-putting. You have two solutions to fix this:

• Mention all the fees including shipping costs, unfactored taxes like sales tax, and handling fees on the cart page 

• Use an intuitive calculator that verifies all the costs from the backend and on the checkout page

27. Including a price summary such as the cost of raw materials, construction, duties, and transportation costs marked an increase in daily sales by 44% 

It comes as no surprise when we take a look at the outcome. Customers appreciate transparency and raw honesty. You also might want to note that while customers appreciate the cost of raw materials, they feel shipping costs are an additional cost. 

While we agree that some costs are inevitable and have to be charged, we recommend you include a detailed list of supply chain information covering even the minute expenses. 

28. 29% of customers expect a price match guarantee from eCommerce sites 

A price match guarantee is a promise made by the eCommerce brand offering the best and optimal price in the market. If the claim turns out to be false, the retailer will refund the difference to the customer. 

The practice has its perks, from generating demand to achieving competitive advantage and attracting vendors.

29. Using a 30-day money back guarantee trust badge can increase sales by 32% in under 11 days 

A 30-day money back guarantee trust badge reduces buyer’s remorse. It decreases the level of perceived risk and is ready to hoping to get their money back in case the product does meet their expectations. 

Cart Recovery 

30. Abandoned cart recovery emails have a staggering 40% open rate, 21% CTR, and 50% conversion rate 

While you’re at it, here are best practices you might want to follow:

• Use a compelling copy—use the Curiosity Gap 

• Include an image that evokes a strong sensory appeal—humor or passion 

• Offer a compelling incentive—a promo code, a discount, or a referral link 

• Drive urgency by reserving the cart for 24 to 48 hours 

• A countdown timer works even better 

• Schedule cart abandonment recovery emails—30 minutes, 24 hours, and 48 hours later

31. The AOV of abandoned cart recovery emails is 58% higher than usual purchases 

As shocking as that may seem, simple strategies such as personalization, compelling subject lines, return policy, testimonials, and captivating incentives can help you increase your AOV.

We recommend you avoid sending cart abandonment emails between 8 PM and 9 PM on all days. Thursdays seemed to be the most dry day for cart abandonment emails. 

32. The engagement rate for push notifications with personalized content stands at 4-7 times higher than for plain notifications 

It’s no secret that push notifications have higher open rates than emails. Here are ways you can personalize:

• Use geo-location data—offer promotional deals on winter or summer collections 

• Offer price-drop alerts and limited-time offers based on their browsing activity

• Use emojis to increase open rates by 20%

33. Push Notifications enjoy a 16% clickthrough rate while re-engagement mobile push notifications have a 13% clickthrough rate 

You can achieve it too by following these best practices:

• Be mindful of time zones—a message saying good morning shouldn't land at night 

• Build urgency—for instance, Ryan, the items in your cart are viewed by 11 people, so get them before they are out of stock 

• Talk about their most recent activity—for instance, Hey Jerome, you seem to have an eye for style, here’re more recommendations you’d love 

• Pique their interest—Lead them by stating something mysterious such as Heather went from XXL to size L in 11 months. Find out what she did 

• Use images in your push notifications for 56% higher open rates 

34. 44% of cart recovery emails mention the offer in the email subject line leading to higher open rates 

The average person receives 121 emails per day. That’s way too many emails to attend to. Hence, it's always better to mention the offer in your subject lines for higher open rates. 

You’d want to follow this practice to increase your email deliverability. 

35. Cart abandonment push notifications offer a 5 times higher reach compared to emails 

The main reason why push notifications have a high ground is thanks to higher subscription rates. The average subscription rate varies between 0.5% to 15% depending on the industry. 

The numbers differ when compared between the two:

• Email open rate: 15-30%

• Push notification open rate: 45-90% 

• Email click rate: 1-3% 

• Push notifications click rate: 5-30% 

Here’s a graph explaining the case for the above statistic 

36. The average open rate and conversion rate of cart recovery SMS are 15.5% and 26% respectively 

Like push notifications, SMS is effective since the cart abandonment rate is high on mobiles at 78%. When used together SMS can reclaim lost sales. 

Here’s why you need to add SMS to your outreach stack:

• A set of 3 SMS messages works well, with the first having the highest conversion rate at 30-45%, followed by the second(20-25%), and third(10-15%) 

• More importantly, sending at the right time is important for conversions—send the 1st message 30-50 mins from the time of activity, the second 8 hours later, and the final message 23 hours later 

From the above study, it was concluded that SMS when used with push notifications can be a critical component in driving omnichannel success.

37. 90% of abandoned cart recovery SMS messages are opened within 3 minutes or sooner 

One advantage SMS holds is that it is mobile-specific which makes 90% of SMS messages opened within 3 minutes or less. It’s best recommended to automate these messages for better results. 

Moreover, Americans on average spend 4 hours and 25 minutes on their phones, which favors the faster response time for SMS.

38. The average conversion rate for cart abandonment popups is 17.12% 

While the percentage is reasonably high, you’d have to implement these best practices to achieve the same:

• Avoid overlays and let the popups trigger only after the user has performed an activity

• Maintain 60:40 for the text and the hero image 

• Write a copy that prompts a strong response such as Unlock $100 off or 10% off your first purchase

• Limit the form fields to two—aim for higher response rates

• Include a countdown timer to drive impulse response 

Overall, cart abandonment popups should hinder your website user experience. 

39. Average conversion rate for pop ups vary by device—Desktop(9.69%) vs Mobile(11.07%) 

As shocking as it may seem, mobile popups, when done well, can convert well. Here’s what you need to do:

• Remove images if they cause hindrance—what works on a desktop will fail on a mobile 

• We recommend keeping your mobile popup width between 510x424 for the best experience 

• Use modal popups to blur the background—this removes all the distractions 

• Use fewer popups—say, if show 4 on desktop, limit to 2 on mobile 

• Use a fly-out popup—you see they appear like a small teaser to the side and expand on kicking 

• Design a large CTA and a negative space to close the pop-ups 

Bottomline

With the above statistics and their fixes, you'll be able resolve your cart abandonment problems.

However, there's still a major problem that brands fail to anticipate

98% of visitors who visit an eCommerce site—drop off without buying anything.

Why: user experience issues that cause friction for visitors.

And this is the problem ConvertCart solves.

We've helped 500+ eCommerce stores (in the US) improve user experience—and 2X their conversions.

How we can help you:

Our conversion experts can audit your site—identify UX issues, and suggest changes to improve conversions.