How To Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment (2026)

The average documented cart abandonment rate is 70.22%, according to Baymard Institute. That means more than 7 in 10 online carts are left with their items unpurchased. 

Shopping cart abandonment affects ecommerce businesses of all sizes, but the lost revenue scales with order volume. 

Let’s say your ecommerce site brings in 125,000 visitors per month, your average order value (AOV) is $100, and your visitor-to-sale conversion rate is 0.92%. If you increased your conversion rate by half a percentage point, from 0.92% to 1.42%, you’d add an extra $62,500 of revenue every month. Cumulatively, that’s an extra $750,000 every year, assuming traffic and order value hold.

Numbers like that are exactly why conversion-rate optimization (CRO) is big business. This guide covers why carts get abandoned, how to benchmark your rate, and 12 ways to prevent and recover abandoned orders.

What is cart abandonment?

Cart abandonment is when a customer adds items to their online shopping cart in an ecommerce store, but then doesn’t complete a purchase. Shopping cart abandonment is common, per the Baymard report, which also shows that abandonment is caused by a variety of factors, including difficult checkout processes and high shipping costs.

Your cart abandonment rate counts every shopper who adds an item and leaves, while a checkout abandonment rate counts only shoppers who start checkout and leave before paying. 

In Shopify, a checkout is recorded as abandoned once the shopper has entered an email address, but hasn’t completed the purchase after more than 10 minutes.

Why does cart abandonment happen?

Baymard Institute’s report found that 42% of shoppers had abandoned a cart because they were just browsing or not ready to buy, putting that reason at the top position by a couple of percentage points.

Among the remaining reasons for cart abandonment, the causes fall into four main areas. Here’s a look at some of the specific causes within those areas, as well as some potential fixes:

Pricing and fulfillment transparency

• Extra costs are too high (40%): Many shoppers abandon their carts due to unexpected additional costs like shipping, taxes, and fees. Transparency in pricing and free-shipping thresholds can help reduce this number.
• Delivery is too slow (20%): Delivery speed is an important factor for many customers. Offering multiple shipping options and clear delivery timeframes can help manage expectations.
• Can’t see or calculate total order cost up front (12%): A running total that includes all fees can prevent this.

Checkout experience

• The site wanted them to create an account (18%): Some users abandon when forced to create an account. Guest checkout (can come with an option to save details afterward) removes this barrier.
• Too-long or complicated checkout (17%): Baymard’s benchmark finds the average US checkout shows 23 form elements by default. Usability testing suggests a flow can work with as few as 12 to 14.
• Website errors or crashes (17%): Load-testing before peak periods and monitoring checkout-error rates can catch these.

Payments and trust

• Didn’t trust the site with credit card information (19%): These concerns can be mitigated with security assurance near the payment fields and recognized payment logos. 
• Credit card declined (10%): Minimize payment declines by implementing clear error messages and providing alternative payment options when declines occur. 
• Not enough payment methods (9%): Offer diverse payment methods, including buy now, pay later (BNPL) options like Shop Pay Installments.

Post-purchase policy

• Returns policy wasn’t satisfactory (13%): A clear, customer-friendly returns policy that’s visible before checkout addresses this.

What’s the average shopping cart abandonment rate?

The average cart abandonment rate is 70.22%, according to Baymard Institute’s running average of 50 studies. Baymard also estimates that $260 billion in lost orders is recoverable in the US and EU through better checkout flow and design alone. Tests suggest that the average large ecommerce retailer’s site can improve conversion rates by 35.26% with better checkout design.

Treat the 70% figure as a baseline to beat, not a target. Your own rate depends on category, device mix, region, and traffic source. Benchmark against businesses similar to yours rather than the global average.

Dynamic Yield’s benchmarks puts the global abandonment rate higher, at around 78%. More specifically, over the 12 months to July 2026:

• By industry: Food and beverage brands had the highest abandonment rate, at about 82%. Pet care and veterinary services had the lowest, at about 51%.
• By device: Mobile carts were abandoned at about 80%, carts on tablets at 73%, and desktop carts at 69%.
• By region: Asia-Pacific saw the most abandoned carts at about 82%, followed by Europe, the Middle East and Africa at 79%, and the Americas at 75%.

Higher-consideration categories, such as luxury fashion ecommerce, tend to involve longer decision cycles. Test recovery timing for your category rather than assuming one sequence fits all.

Calculating cart abandonment rates

Shopify Analytics will automatically show you cart abandonment rates. But if you want to calculate on your own, here is the formula:

Cart abandonment rate = (Number of abandoned carts / Number of carts created) × 100

For example, if 100 visitors add items to their carts, but only 40 go through with the purchase, the number of abandoned carts is 60. Plugging this into the formula:

Cart abandonment rate = (60 / 100) x 100 = 60%

Use one definition and reporting period consistently when tracking trends. Platforms count carts, checkouts, and bot traffic differently, so your own figure won’t match third-party benchmarks exactly.

Shopify’s AI assistant, Sidekick, can help you make sense of this data. Ask it questions like “Why did my cart abandonment rate spike last month?” or ask “How can I improve my checkout experience?” to find experimentation ideas.

“Before, it was a whole report,” says Steffen Boskma, owner of Olivia & Kate, on the brand’s Sidekick usage. “Now it is a question: How is the promotion going today, and how does that compare with yesterday? We get more information and can make better decisions next time.”

12 ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment

We’ll look at some methods to help prevent shoppers from wanting to leave your site. We’ll also include some tactics for cart recovery, for times when it’s still possible for the sale to be saved.

1. Show total costs and delivery timing early

Extra costs are the most-cited fixable reason for abandonment in Baymard's survey: 40% of shoppers had abandoned because they were too high. Another 12% couldn't work out the total up front.

To prevent this, move every cost signal earlier in the journey:

• Show shipping costs on the product page or in the cart, rather than holding off until the shipping step.
• Disclose tax and customs before checkout for cross-border orders. Shopify Markets can help by calculating duties and import taxes at checkout.
• Use free-shipping thresholds deliberately. A visible “$15 away from free shipping” message gives a reason to add one more item, rather than focusing on the shipping charge.
• Set delivery expectations where the decision is made. Gymshark shows a delivery estimate on the product page and a dated range for each shipping method. Many third-party logistics (3PL) providers that integrate with Shopify can surface estimated delivery dates, depending on carrier and configuration.

2. Simplify checkout and make guest checkout prominent

Baymard’s data shows 18% of shoppers had abandoned checkout because a site demanded an account, and 17% because the process was too long. 

Make guest checkout the default path, and offer account creation as an option after the order confirmation. Cut form fields to what fulfillment needs. One-page checkouts reduce the perceived length of the process.

Shop Pay, Shopify’s accelerated checkout, removes most of the form for recognized shoppers. It’s used by more than 250 million shoppers and is about 2.5 times faster than guest checkout. Toy manufacturer Schleich turned to Shop Pay to cut checkout abandonment rate by 31% and increase orders by 25%.

3. Offer market-specific payment options

Card distrust (19%), card declines (10%), and too few payment methods (9%) all appear on Baymard’s list of cart-abandonment causes, and they are all fixable. The fix depends on where your shoppers are.

Shopify Payments activates without a third-party gateway integration and supports express wallets and local payment methods in one setup. Shop Pay gives recognized shoppers a one-tap path. Average order value (AOV) on Shop Pay runs about 16% higher than guest checkout.

Then add any additional methods your market expects: 

• Digital wallets store a shopper’s card and address details for one-tap payment. Some work across most markets: Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Shop Pay. Local wallets serve one market or region, such as Swish in Sweden, TWINT in Switzerland, or Alipay and WeChat Pay for Chinese shoppers. Worldpay’s Global Payments Report 2026 finds that digital wallets account for more than half of global ecommerce transaction value.
• Local payment methods: If you sell there, include bank-transfer methods like iDEAL in the Netherlands and Bancontact in Belgium. Shopify Payments can process these local methods itself, subject to your store’s eligibility, the country being set up as a market, and the shopper paying in an eligible currency.
• Buy now, pay later (BNPL): BNPL will reach $500 billion of global ecommerce value by 2030.Activate this with Shop Pay Installments, which results in 28% fewer abandoned carts on average for merchants who’ve switched from a third-party BNPL provider.

If you sell to other businesses, B2B buyers usually expect payment terms. TreviPay’s 2026 report found 94% of buyers check supplier payment options before purchase, while 72% prefer to pay with flexible terms. B2B on Shopify supports net payment terms per company alongside card and wallet payments.

4. Build trust during checkout

Trust messages aren’t limited to security logos and privacy policies near the “Complete order” button. 

“Trust and consistency go hand in hand,” says Gordon Thieme, director of sales Europe and ecommerce at Lamy. “Consistency starts with how the product is presented at different touchpoints, the message conveyed and extends to how the purchase process is completed.”

Put each these reassurances where it’s most relevant to the decision it supports. Consider placements like:

• Product page: Inventory or back order status, delivery estimate, and a link to the returns policy
• Cart: Accepted payment logos, shipping cost or calculator, and the free-shipping threshold 
• Shipping step: A dated delivery range for every method, not only “Standard shipping”
• Payment step: Visible SSL or security assurance beside the card fields, plus a trusted wallet option such as Shop Pay
• Order review: A return policy link and customer service contact within sight of the “Complete order” button

A side cart keeps this information visible without leaving the product page. Kylie Cosmetics allows browsers to see products, choose free samples, and browse bestsellers from this side cart feature.

5. Make returns easy

The National Retail Federation and Happy Returns surveyed consumers for their”2025 Retail Returns Landscape” report. According to the study, 82% said free returns are a major consideration when buying, and 71% said they’re less likely to shop with a retailer again after a poor ecommerce returns experience.

“Making returns difficult shouldn't be the goal—there's actually a real opportunity to create loyalty through the return experience,” says Alexandria Collis, director of operations at Princess Polly.

Shopify’s self-serve returns and cancellations let customers request a return for delivered items, or cancel unshipped items, from their order status page. You approve or decline each request in the admin and send return labels and instructions from the same screen.

Princess Polly combines this self-serve ability with an instant exchange feature powered by Loop. Since adding these capabilities, they’ve reduced out-of-stock rates by 55%. Alexandria says this feature means “customers tell us first-hand that they appreciate how easy it is.”

If you operate retail stores, clarify whether online shoppers can return online purchases in-store during checkout, an option known as buy online, return in-store (BORIS). Shopify’s unified commerce infrastructure allows retail staff to process these returns from the Shopify POS interface.

6. Use first-party data to personalize shopping experiences

The decline of third-party cookies has made it harder for retailers to track visitors and run marketing campaigns. In response, they’re turning to first-party data, or information shoppers give you intentionally.

Shopify’s unified customer profiles bring purchase and interaction data from your Shopify sales channels into a single record. With that view, your store can recognize returning customers and surface relevant offers. It can also shorten checkout for shoppers whose details are already known. 

Ellana Cosmetics uses Shopify’s Checkout Extensibility to offer personalized upsells and gifts with online purchases. They’ve since increased average order value by 17%.

7. Send abandoned cart emails

Once the prevention basics are in place, email is the first recovery channel to switch on. Checkouts where a shopper entered an email address enable this recovery method.

Klaviyo’s abandoned cart benchmark report found that automated cart-recovery emails average a 50.5% open rate, 6.25% click rate, and 3.33% placed-order rate. Average revenue per recipient was $3.65, the highest of any automated flow, and the top 10% of brands reached $28.89.

Shopify’s native abandoned checkout automation sends a recovery email after a delay you set through Shopify Messaging, with a link back to the shopper’s exact cart. Abandoned checkouts are turned off by default for Shopify B2B; ask Shopify Support to activate them.

Build a short sequence with discounts coming later on. Start with a reminder on the day of the cart abandonment (Shopify’s own automation templates default to a 10-hour delay). Then, follow with a message that answers the most likely objection (shipping cost, delivery date, or returns). Treat the timing as a test, not a rule. 

8. Run retargeting ads

Baymard’s survey found 42% of shoppers had abandoned a cart because they were only browsing. Those shoppers haven’t decided yet.

Retargeting ads can be displayed to people who added items but didn’t check out, showing them the products they left behind.

Combine this with Shopify Audiences, which builds retargeting lists from commerce data across the Shopify network. Pura doubled new customer growth with Shopify Audiences, and campaigns using the latest Retargeting Boost lists have driven as much as two times more orders per retargeting dollar, compared with the next-best available tactic.

9. Send push notifications

Push notifications are one recovery channel alongside email, SMS, and retargeting. They reach shoppers who haven't shared an email address. A shopper who allows notifications can be brought back to a cart or product they viewed.

The Shop app supports push notifications and in-app messaging. Use them narrowly for abandonment: a reminder of the items left in the cart, or a nudge toward a product they viewed repeatedly but never added.

Combine this with Shop Campaigns that improve discoverability inside the Shop app. The pay-per-conversion model means you only pay for ads when customers purchase. David Segal, cofounder of Firebelly Tea, calls it “the best thing going in commerce acquisition.” 

“There's no comparison,” he adds. “We've basically stopped using all other acquisition channels since joining Shop Campaigns because it's so effective.”

10. Use live chat

Live chat can answer pre-purchase objections that would otherwise end a customer’s shopping session. Use it to address common reasons for abandonment, like:

• Providing estimated delivery timeframes 
• Clarifying returns policies 
• Verifying payment options

Shopify Inbox covers online store chat, the Shop app, Instagram, and Messenger. Some 70% of Shopify Inbox conversations are with shoppers making a purchase decision. While you chat, you can see what’s in the cart and share a discount.

CarBahn turned to Shopify Inbox as part of their digital transformation with Shopify. Their B2B site now generates 15 times more leads, while returns and cancellations have dropped by 43%.

11. Use exit-intent pop-ups

Exit pop-ups prompt visitors to act before leaving, whether that’s saving their cart, claiming free shipping, or joining your list. Wisepop’s research found they convert roughly 2.81% of visitors, while the top campaigns can recoup almost 20%.

Shopify Forms is a free app for pop-up and inline capture. Shop users can log in on a form with their account. Any discount you offer is saved and applied at checkout for Shop Pay users. 

If you need exit-intent detection, which fires a pop-up as the cursor moves toward the browser bar, an app such as Privy can add that trigger.

12. Use rewards and social proof to answer comparison shopping

Comparison shopping sits inside that 42% “just browsing” segment. Two things help a shopper stop comparing: evidence from other buyers, and a reason to buy here rather than elsewhere.

For social proof, put reviews and ratings on product pages with apps like Judge.me and Loox. Salsify’s 2026 research found these are two of the most influential product page elements. 

AI agents that use social proof present a growing opportunity: AI-referred sessions to Shopify stores grew 197% year-on-year. Those shoppers convert at nearly double the rate of organic search for spec-led product categories.

Combine this with a rewards program that offers points or member pricing which a competitor doesn’t have. Smile and LoyaltyLion run points and referral programs and integrate with Klaviyo. Original’s show discounted member pricing beside the regular price on product pages.

“By clearly presenting exclusive member pricing throughout the shopping journey, we've seen a significant increase in membership, benefit redemptions, and conversion rates, while building a stronger long-term relationship with our customers,” says Original’s CEO Ayelet Eliav.

Say goodbye to abandoned checkouts in your Shopify store

Shopify’s tools for reducing with cart abandonment cover three main jobs:

• Prevent abandonment. Shop Pay and Shopify Payments cut checkout length and add the wallet and local payment methods each market expects. Shopify Markets shows duties and taxes at checkout. Self-serve returns and cancellations give shoppers the confidence to complete the order.
• Recover abandoned carts. Turn on the abandoned checkout automation in Shopify Messaging, or send a recovery link manually from any abandoned checkout in the admin. Layer Shopify Audiences retargeting and Shopify Inbox on top.
• Measure what changes. Track your cart abandonment rate with the formula mentioned above, before and after each change. The abandoned checkouts email report shows sessions, completed orders, conversion rate, and sales attributed to recovery emails. Segment results by device and market, since abandonment rates differ by both.