Cart abandonment reasons: why shopping carts get left behind (and what to do about it)

From hidden shipping costs to an overly complicated checkout process, there are many reasons online shoppers ditch their carts without completing a purchase. By identifying where users drop off, you can smooth out the process and turn abandoned carts into sales. 

This article covers 5 common cart abandonment reasons that drive away potential buyers, and what you can do about them.

1. Extra costs, such as shipping and taxes

According to research by the Baymard Institute, ‘extra costs too high’ (think shipping costs, tax, and fees) is the biggest reason for cart abandonments and was responsible for 48% of abandoned carts in 2024.

It makes sense: getting to the end of a checkout flow only to find that the total amount is more than you expected can be a nasty surprise, so try to ensure customers have all the information they need before they reach that ‘Pay now’ button.

British luxury department store Liberty uses a banner to reassure people that duties are already included in the price, which is especially important to note post-Brexit

Is your cart at risk?

Is information about shipping costs, taxes, and other fees (such as customs and duties) easy to find, or do people have to add items to their cart and start the checkout process to see how much their order is really going to cost?

Here’s what to do about it:

• Make things clear with easy-to-find information: provide shipping rates and any additional costs upfront. To make it super clear for customers, consider mentioning (or linking to) your shipping and customs information on every product page.

• Combine clarity with incentives: offering free delivery over a certain purchase amount can be a good way to increase the average cart value, while also giving potential buyers visibility over how much shipping will cost.

• Flag duties and customs before they buy: you can’t control duties and customs, but you can let customers know whether to expect them. These fees can be especially frustrating for customers (and can lead to a lot of extra hassle for your business if they go unpaid), so it’s worth being as transparent as possible.

 2. Forcing buyers to create an account

Needing to create an account to complete a purchase can be off-putting. Whether it’s because creating an account is a multi-step process that’s overly complicated, the customers don’t have time right now, or you simply haven’t earned their trust yet, the Baymard Institute’s research suggests almost a quarter (26%) of abandoned carts happen because the site wanted customers to create an account.

LEGO offers multiple checkout options so shoppers can create an account or continue as a guest

Is your cart at risk?

Do people need to create an account to check out? And if so, how long is that process? Are customers exiting the checkout page instead of entering their payment details?

Here’s what to do about it:

• Offer an alternative to creating an account: offer a ‘guest checkout’ option to speed up the process, so customers can skip creating an account. You can always let them create an account later, when it’s more convenient for them.

• Analyze your account creation process: use session replays to quickly identify where users are hesitating or bouncing. Are you asking for too much information? Are there too many steps? Do people pull a u-turn when they see the signup? All of these signals can help improve your signup flow.

• Ask why they’re leaving with an exit-intent survey: use an exit-intent survey to find out why people exit your checkout page. By providing a few common options and giving them an opportunity to provide feedback, you can better understand why customers are leaving—and make changes that encourage them to stay.

💡Pro tip: use Contentsquare's Surveys tool to ask targeted questions tailored to the checkout experience, like "What stopped you from completing your purchase?" or "What could we improve?" 

Contentsquare’s Surveys tool lets you get answers about cart abandonment directly from your users

3. Lack of trust

Customers will only give you their credit card details after you've earned their trust. For 25% of respondents in the Baymard Institute’s survey, not trusting the site with their financial information was enough for people to abandon their carts. 

But how can you build trust? Customers are looking for signals like a consistent brand, SSL certificates, multiple payment methods, clear and accessible security information, and upfront information about returns policies. Research by The Good has shown that incorporating social proof throughout your ecommerce store—with customer testimonials, ratings, reviews, and user-generated content—is incredibly impactful, potentially increasing the conversion rate by up to 380%.

Clothing brand Lucy and Yak incorporates social proof on every product page in the form of an aggregated rating calculated from a clear number of customer reviews

Is your cart at risk?

Are your policies clearly stated and easy to find? Do you accept multiple payment methods? Do you have authentic customer reviews and ratings?

Here’s what to do about it:

• Put social proof front and center: add customer reviews or ratings to product pages so people can see other buyers’ first-hand experiences with both the product and your company. Not only does this help reassure potential buyers that other customers had successful experiences, but it also shows transparency, which encourages even more confidence.

• Use heatmaps to see what’s working: pinpoint the most effective spots to place key trust signifiers—like your social proof, returns policy, and payment information—by using heatmaps to understand how they affect users. For example, if your social proof is at the bottom of your page but users aren’t scrolling that far, you might want to consider moving it closer to the top to see if that improves conversion rates.

• Watch how users engage with your website: watch session replays to see how users engage with your page and get fresh insights into where you can make improvements. For example, watch screen recordings of users who read reviews or viewed the returns policy, and see if that segment was more likely to complete their purchase.

💡Pro tip: use Contentsquare's Session Replay tool to zero in on the moments that matter. 

Segment replays by key behaviors, like users abandoning their carts at the checkout page without having made any transaction. These insights reveal hidden friction points—and guide you toward targeted fixes that keep carts converting.

Contentsquare’s Session Replay tool lets you watch specific sessions to understand the reasons behind cart abandonment

4. Poor user experience or technical errors

There are many factors that contribute to a poor shopping cart user experience. Maybe it’s an overly long or complicated checkout process, which Baymard’s research lists as the fifth most common reason for cart abandonment. Or maybe it’s too many pop-ups, long load times, missing content, photos or descriptions that don’t load correctly…the list can—unfortunately—be endless.  

And then there are website bugs and glitches.

According to Baymard, errors and crashes are responsible for 17% of cart abandonments during checkout. But technical errors don’t just cause a poor user experience and lose you a sale in the moment; they can erode trust and put people off trying again later. Luckily, a few small tweaks to your site can help you get back on track.

Healthy food company Wyldsson used heatmaps and watched session replays to understand where users were having issues, allowing them to quickly fix them and increase sales by 30%

Is your cart at risk?

Is your user experience consistent across both desktop and mobile? When was the last time you did a full technical check on your site—particularly the journey from product page to checkout?

Here’s what to do about it:

• See the user experience from their point of view: try filtering session replays to surface those with errors, so you can quickly identify and troubleshoot problems. You can also use heatmaps to help you catch things that may have slipped past even the most dedicated QA teams, such as unclickable buttons, that may prevent users from completing checkout.

• Create an open feedback channel: seek out user feedback to create an in-the-moment way for customers to flag issues with you directly. Their feedback gives you clearer context on customer problems and blockers, and extra insight into the customer's experience (in their own words). This ensures you’re always providing a way for them to be heard—and identifying new ways to improve.

• Ensure consistency across desktop and mobile: cart abandonment can vary significantly based on how people shop—that is, whether they use a desktop or mobile device. Use heatmaps to understand how user behavior changes and varies by device, so you can quickly spot opportunities to optimize the user experience on every platform.

💡Pro tip: use Contentsquare’s Heatmaps tool to understand mobile user behavior on your checkout page. Look for patterns like unclicked buttons, elements that users try to click on but lead nowhere, and ignored product details. These insights reveal friction points unique to mobile that help you streamline the checkout flow and reduce cart abandonment rates.

Contentsquare’s Heatmaps tool lets you filter sessions by device and user action to uncover reasons behind cart abandonment

5. They’re just browsing

Sometimes, a browse is just a browse, and a full shopping cart can be more of a daydream than an actual commitment.

It’s a natural part of the equation for online retailers, and many customers abandon their carts before they even make it to the checkout flow. But that doesn’t mean you can’t turn at least some of these window (or browser) shoppers into repeat customers with a few clever tactics.

Accessories retailer Chunks sends a cart recovery email highlighting their playful brand while making it easy to return to your cart and complete your purchas

Is your cart at risk?

Yes! Every cart is. Sorry—but it’s not all bad news. This presents an opportunity for you to do some customer analytics, turn your insights into action, and boost your conversion rate optimization.

Here’s what to do about it:

• Send an abandoned cart email: use cart abandonment emails and cart recovery to lure potential buyers back. Adding a coupon code can help to sweeten the deal and encourage people to buy from you, rather than from a competitor.

• Set up wish lists: sometimes people add items to their cart so they don’t lose track of them for later. A wish list or ‘save for later’ option can help prevent people from adding items to their cart when they’re just browsing, so you can reduce your cart abandonment rate while still letting users bookmark items they like.

• Do more customer research: run surveys and user interviews to understand what might be blocking people from buying. Are they just researching the product for now? Comparing brands? Planning to buy from a competitor or an in-person retailer? These insights can help you identify ways to optimize the browsing experience and bridge any gaps.

💡Pro tip: Use Contentsquare’s Interviews tool to directly ask users why they abandoned their cart. 

Recruit users from a diverse pool of over 200,000 participants, including those with specific backgrounds or behaviors, to ensure you're targeting the right potential customers. You can customize your questions to focus on cart abandonment concerns and use the scheduling feature to interview users at critical moments in their shopping journey (then let our built-in AI feature transcribe the interview for you).

Why teams can’t rely on guesswork

Sometimes people can tell you why they abandoned their shopping cart. The delivery times were too long! The shipping costs were too high! But at other times, it’s only through observing their behavior and asking the right questions that you can get to the root cause of your shopping cart abandonment rate.

For luxury retailer Harrods, optimizing their online shopping experience became a top priority, especially during the pandemic when digital interactions dominated. Using Contentsquare’s powerful suite of tools, including Session Replay and Error Analysis to understand user behavior, they pinpointed areas contributing to cart abandonment.

This deep analysis helped Harrods refine their checkout process and address critical friction points. The impact was clear: an 8% decrease in cart abandonment and a 50% reduction in rage clicks.

Understanding cart abandonment is the first step to fixing them

Your customers’ actions speak just as loudly as words, so if they’re bouncing before completing a purchase, it’s probably a sign that there’s room for improvement somewhere along the buyer's journey.

Knowing why people abandon their carts is crucial to reducing your cart abandonment rate and boosting sales. By identifying the top reasons behind abandoned carts and optimizing your UX to address them, you can delight your customers all the way to checkout—again and again.

FAQs about cart abandonment reasons