Key Takeaways
Cart abandonment rate reflects the percentage of users who add to cart but leave before purchasing — and it directly impacts ecommerce revenue.
The average abandonment rate is 70%, but it can be higher on mobile (up to 81%) and in industries like luxury or travel.
Common causes include unexpected fees, slow checkout, forced account creation, and limited payment options.
Improving this rate even slightly can produce a huge revenue uplift with minimal added cost.
The best approach is data-driven: analyse where users drop off in the funnel, segment abandonment by device or geography, and test solutions like reminders or faster checkout.
Tools like Shopify, Klaviyo, Hotjar, and GA4 can help visualise and diagnose abandonment problems.
Treat abandonment as a feedback loop, not a failure — and use it to build smoother, smarter experiences.
What is Cart Abandonment Rate?
Cart abandonment rate is the percentage of online shoppers who add products to their cart but leave the site without completing the purchase.
It’s one of the clearest indicators of lost potential. Not lost traffic — lost intent. They liked what they saw enough to click “Add to Cart”. But something stopped them from going further.
And your job? Figure out what that something was.
How to Calculate Cart Abandonment Rate
Use the formula: (1 - Purchases / Carts Created) × 100 to calculate your cart abandonment rate.
Let’s say 500 people added items to their cart, but only 150 completed the checkout:
→ (1 - 150 / 500) × 100 = 70% cart abandonment rate
If you’re using Shopify, Klaviyo, or Google Analytics, this is usually calculated automatically. But it’s still worth knowing how the sausage is made.
💡Pro Tip: Track abandonment at each step — cart, checkout start, shipping, payment. That’s how you find your real friction points.
Average Cart Abandonment Rate
The average cart abandonment rate ranges between 68–75%, with mobile users abandoning most often.
Here’s a general breakdown:
| Device | Abandonment Rat |
|---|---|
| Desktop | ~67% |
| Mobile | ~81% |
| Tablet | ~70% |
💡Insight: People browse on mobile, but they buy more on desktop. So if your mobile checkout experience isn’t frictionless, expect to bleed potential.
Cart Abandonment Rate by Industry
Cart abandonment varies by industry, with luxury and travel leading in lost sales.
Some products are impulse buys. Others take deliberation. That’s why cart abandonment varies dramatically by niche.
| Industry | Average Abandonment Rate |
|---|---|
| Luxury & Jewelry | ~82.84% |
| Beauty & Personal Care | ~80.92% |
| Home & Furniture | ~80.32% |
| Fashion, Accessories, Apparel | ~78.53% |
| Food & Beverage | ~63.62% |
| Consumer Goods | ~57.37% |
💡Insight: High AOV + high comparison = higher abandonment. But even if your numbers are “normal”, that doesn’t mean they’re acceptable.
Common Reasons for Cart Abandonment
Most carts are abandoned due to unexpected costs, friction, or lack of trust.
Top culprits include:
Unexpected shipping costs → Nothing kills joy faster than a surprise £19.99 fee at checkout.
Forced account creation → “Just let me check out, already!”
Slow loading or buggy checkout → Every extra second = more drop-offs.
Limited payment options → Not everyone wants to use a credit card.
Security concerns → Shady-looking forms, no SSL, or weird UX = red flags.
No clear return policy → Uncertainty is a conversion killer.
Window shopping or price comparison → Especially on mobile or multi-tab browsers.
Lack of urgency or follow-up → No reminders = no conversions.
💡Pro Insight: Every abandoned cart is feedback. Use it.
The Impact of Cart Abandonment on Your Business
High cart abandonment directly reduces revenue, but small improvements deliver big wins.
Let’s say you sell £100 items. You have 10,000 monthly visitors. 5% add to cart. That’s 500 carts. With a 70% abandonment rate, only 150 convert. That’s £15,000 in revenue.
But if you reduce abandonment to 60%? That’s 200 conversions. £20,000.
That’s a £5,000 gain — from optimising one metric.
This is why brands obsess over abandonment flows. It’s the low-hanging fruit with high-stakes payoff.
💡Tip: Track the value of your “saved but unconverted” carts — sometimes marketers ignore it as “just traffic”, but it’s intent.
How to Analyse Cart Abandonment Data
To reduce cart abandonment, you need to understand exactly where and why users drop off.
Start with your funnel:
Cart created → Checkout started → Shipping selected → Payment attempted → Order placed
Where are they dropping off? That’s your clue.
Tools to use:
Google Analytics / GA4: Funnel visualisation, device breakdowns
Shopify / Klaviyo: Abandonment segments, recovery email performance
Session replays (Hotjar, Smartlook, Lucky Orange): Watch users abandon in real time
Exit surveys: Ask “What stopped you from checking out?”
Questions to ask:
Is mobile abandonment higher than desktop?
Are international users abandoning more?
Do users bail when shipping info appears?
Are certain products abandoned more than others?
💡Tip: Use heatmaps to see if CTAs are buried or distractions exist on cart pages.
Don’t Sleep on Your Cart Abandonment Rate
Cart abandonment is your ecommerce health check. If 70% of carts are abandoned, you’re not failing at retail, you’re signalling where your store is leaving money, trust, and opportunity behind.
The path to improvement isn’t glamorous — it’s steady. Clean data, transparent pricing, frictionless checkout, relevant follow‑up. That’s how you chip away at abandonment.
Start small, test something, measure something, improve something. Every percentage point you move matters. Because when you reclaim even a fraction of those carts, you’re strengthening customer loyalty, reducing churn, and turning intent into action.
