How to Reduce Cart Abandonment: 10 Fixes That Work

What is cart abandonment?

Cart abandonment covers every shopper who adds something to the cart but doesn't place the order. Checkout abandonment is the narrower part of it: shoppers who start checkout and stop before paying.

Shopify, for example, counts a checkout as abandoned when it stays incomplete for more than ten minutes after the customer has entered their email address (Shopify Help Center). Those are the shoppers you can still remind.

Why do shoppers abandon their carts?

Baymard Institute asked US shoppers who had abandoned a checkout why they left. The most common reasons:

• Extra costs too high (shipping, tax, fees): 40%
• Delivery was too slow: 20%
• Didn't trust the site with credit card information: 19%
• The site wanted them to create an account: 18%
• Checkout was too long or complicated: 17%
• The website had errors or crashed: 17%
• Returns policy wasn't satisfactory: 13%
• Couldn't see or calculate the total order cost up front: 12%
• Credit card was declined: 10%
• Not enough payment methods: 9%

1. Show shipping costs and the total before checkout

Surprise costs are the biggest reason shoppers leave. Show shipping costs, or your free-shipping threshold, on product pages and in the cart, say early if taxes or duties apply, and keep the cart total visible as shoppers change quantities.

2. Let shoppers check out as guests

Almost one in five shoppers left because they were asked to create an account. Make guest checkout the default and offer an account after the order, when the shopper has a reason to want one.

3. Make checkout shorter

Remove every field you don't need to ship the order, and keep the steps few and clearly labeled. Baymard estimates that the average large ecommerce site could increase its conversion rate by 35.26% through better checkout design alone.

4. Build trust at the payment step

Shoppers who don't trust the site won't type in their card details. Use a recognizable, secure checkout, show your returns policy and contact details near the payment step, and make sure the store looks maintained: real product photos, consistent prices, working links.

5. Offer the payment methods shoppers expect

Offer the cards and wallets your shoppers use, including express options such as Shop Pay, Apple Pay and PayPal where they fit. Express wallets also help when a card is declined, because the shopper can try another method without starting over.

6. Be specific about delivery and returns

Instead of "fast shipping", show a delivery date range for the shopper's country. Keep your returns policy short enough to read in two sentences, and link it from the product page and the cart.

7. Fix errors and slow pages

Seventeen percent of shoppers in Baymard's research left because the site had errors or crashed. Test your checkout on a real phone after every theme or app change, remove apps you no longer use, and watch your error logs and payment reports for failures.

8. Answer questions before shoppers leave

Many shoppers abandon because a question goes unanswered: will it fit, will it arrive in time, can I return it. A live chat or an AI shopping assistant can answer on the spot if it uses your real catalog and policies. agenola, for example, puts a talking avatar on your product pages that answers from your live catalog and stock, hands off to your team when it isn't sure, and can send conversation events to email tools such as Klaviyo and Omnisend so you can follow up.

9. Send reminders to shoppers who left

Reminder emails bring back some of the shoppers who left at checkout. In Shopify, the "Abandoned checkout emails by Shopify" automation is managed in the Shopify Messaging app, where you can turn it on and choose when it is sent (Shopify Help Center). Keep the reminder short, link straight back to the cart, and answer the likely objection: shipping cost, delivery date or returns.

10. Measure, then change one thing at a time

Write down your add-to-cart, checkout and order numbers before you change anything, then change one thing and compare the same steps a few weeks later. For a wider view of the whole funnel, see our guide to Shopify conversion rate optimization.

Cart abandonment checklist

Use this list on your best-selling products and your checkout:

• Shipping costs and the total are visible before checkout.
• Guest checkout is the default.
• Every field that isn't needed to ship the order is gone.
• Returns policy and contact details are visible near payment.
• Express payment methods are offered.
• Delivery dates and returns are specific, not vague.
• Checkout is tested on a real phone after every change.
• Shoppers can get an answer without leaving the page.
• Abandoned checkout reminders are on.

Sources

1. Baymard Institute — Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics. Average of 50 studies; US survey of shoppers who abandoned a checkout; checkout design estimate. Updated September 22, 2025.
2. Shopify Help Center — Abandoned checkouts