Picture this: you’ve attracted a customer to your website, they’ve browsed your products, added something to their basket, and maybe started the checkout process - only for them to vanish before hitting ‘buy now’. As a business owner, this can be frustrating, especially when you’ve done the hard work of getting them that far down the funnel.
Sadly, this scenario is all too common. According to the Baymard Institute, around 70% of customers fail to convert. It’s a silent sales killer that’s costing you some serious revenue, but here’s the good news: most shopping cart abandonment isn’t random. There are friction points that repeatedly trip customers up at the last hurdle. But once you know what these issues are, they’re fixable. Here, we break down seven reasons shoppers bail before payment and share simple tweaks to turn those lost sales into conversions.
1) Unexpected Costs at Checkout
Nothing leads to shopping cart abandonment faster than a surprise. Shoppers mentally ‘commit’ to the total they see on the product page, so when extra charges - like shipping, tax, or handling fees - appear during checkout, they feel tricked, not tempted.
Free delivery remains a powerful motivator, with 85.3% of shoppers preferring free delivery over fast delivery. Almost three-quarters of customers (73.1%) would even add extra items to their basket to qualify for this. However, for small businesses with tighter margins, offering free delivery isn’t always financially sustainable, especially when shipping costs continue to rise.
That’s why finding the right balance between customer expectations and commercial reality is crucial. Shoppers value honesty and fairness as much as they value savings. This means being upfront about shipping and taxes early on - ideally before the checkout begins. A shipping calculator or cost estimator could also be added so customers can see total costs in real-time.
And if you can sweeten the deal? Free shipping thresholds (e.g. “Spend £50 for free delivery”) can encourage slightly higher basket totals.
2) Complicated or Long Checkout Process
No-one wants to fill out a form that feels like a job application just to buy a pair of trainers. Yet many eCommerce sites make the checkout process unnecessarily complicated or long, which is a recipe for rage quits.
Having too many steps, mandatory account creation, email verifications, and confusing navigation can all add to this, leading to roughly one in five shoppers abandoning their shopping cart right at the end.
If you’ve ever used Amazon’s one-click checkout, you’ll know what a breeze it is. While you don’t need to replicate this, you can take inspiration from its simplicity, aiming to have customers complete the process in one or two minutes.
Here are some quick wins to maximise conversions:
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Enable guest checkout - you can always ask customers to create an account post-purchase for easier order tracking.
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Trim forms to essentials only - limit fields to what you actually need to fulfil the order (name, email, delivery address, payment).
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Use autofill and address lookup tools - speeds up form-filling and reduces typing errors.
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Add progress indicators - helps users know how close they are to completion - even a simple “Step 2 of 3” can reduce drop-offs.
3) Limited Payment Options
If you're only accepting credit and debit cards in 2025, you're leaving money on the table. Modern shoppers expect choice - particularly when it comes to Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options like Klarna, which has 11 million active customers in the UK.
Younger shoppers - particularly Gen Z - are driving the demand for BNPL services, with a desire for flexibility which allows them to spread costs without the debt sting. Meanwhile, digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Shop Pay are becoming the norm. These one-tap payment options eliminate manual data entry, reducing friction and building trust through secure, familiar systems.
In short, the best thing you can do is make payment easy, fast, and flexible. Offer diverse payment options to accommodate all types of shoppers - whether they’re in a position to pay upfront or prefer to spread the cost (aim for 3-5 different methods). Display these accepted payment options early on too, not just at the checkout.
If you sell internationally, remember that preferred payment methods may vary by country, so research your key markets and offer the options your customers actually use to avoid shopping cart abandonment.
4) Poor Mobile Experience
Recent statistics show that over two-thirds of online traffic now comes from mobile devices, meaning most shoppers are browsing - and often buying - on their phones (perhaps while on the go, making them even more time-poor). Yet mobile conversion rates continue to lag behind desktop because many sites still aren’t optimised for a mobile-first experience.
Common mobile checkout frustrations that lead to shopping cart abandonment include:
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Buttons that are too small or too close together (tap targets should be at least 44x44 pixels)
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Pop-ups that block important content
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Form fields that autocorrect incorrectly or reset data when switching apps
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Drop-down menus that are as fiddly as a Rubik’s Cube
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Pages that require endless zooming and scrolling
Shoppers on mobile expect a seamless experience, and if they can’t complete a purchase with a few taps, they’ll abandon their basket.
Luckily, all of the above are small tweaks that can make a big difference to conversions.
Bonus tip: Test your checkout on multiple devices - iPhones, Androids, tablets - and across different browsers to get a real sense of how customers are finding the user journey.
5) Website Performance Issues
You’ve nailed your checkout design, but if your site runs slowly or glitches out, it’s all for nothing. Excitement soon turns into exasperation when you get a spinning wheel, unresponsive button, or a “session timed out” message pop up just as you’re about to pay. Worse still are crashes on submission, leaving buyers unsure whether their payment even went through.
Speed matters, and if your page doesn’t load within three seconds, around 40% of your customers will tap out. Heavy images and graphics, too many third-party scripts (payment processors, analytics tools, chat widgets, marketing pixels), unoptimised code, poor server performance during peak times, and real-time shipping calculations that take too long all contribute to sluggish performance.
Some quick fixes:
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Audit site speed regularly - tools like Google PageSpeed Insights give actionable recommendations.
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Optimise images and code - compress visuals, minify scripts, and remove anything non-essential on checkout pages.
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Use caching and CDNs - serve content faster to repeat visitors and international shoppers.
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Enable auto-save for carts - protect shoppers from losing progress if a page reloads or crashes.
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Show loading indicators - when a process takes time (like payment or shipping calculations), reassure users that something is happening.
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Test under real conditions - monitor performance during high-traffic periods to catch bottlenecks before they cost conversions.
6) No Clear Returns or Refunds Policy
Trust is everything in online shopping. Unlike in-store purchases, customers can’t touch, try, or compare products before buying. That uncertainty makes a clear and fair returns and refunds policy essential and acts as a safety net. Without it, the perceived risk of buying feels too high, hesitation creeps in, and shoppers may abandon their carts altogether.
The most effective return policies are written in plain, friendly language, avoiding legal jargon or hidden terms. Phrases like “30-day hassle-free returns” or “refunds processed within 48 hours” will reassure shoppers.
Your policy should also be easy to find. Link to it from product pages, the cart, and the checkout, supported with short FAQ snippets where possible. If returns aren’t free, be upfront about costs and keep them reasonable; transparency reduces frustration and builds credibility.
A strong returns and refunds policy isn’t just good customer service, it’s a powerful tool for conversion optimisation.
7) Customer Distractions
Sometimes, shopping cart abandonment isn’t your fault at all. Life happens - the baby cries, dinner burns, Wi-Fi drops, or someone simply experiences decision fatigue and needs a moment to think. Even technical hiccups, like a page timing out, can interrupt the purchase.
The good news is these customers have already shown strong intent. They found your site, chose a product, and started the checkout process. They’re warm leads, and many will complete their purchase if gently reminded.
Abandoned cart emails are one of the most effective ways to bring these shoppers back. A friendly reminder sent within one to three hours of abandonment, featuring images of the items in their cart and a clear call-to-action like “return to checkout,” can nudge them toward completing their purchase.
A follow-up message two to three days later, perhaps offering a small incentive such as free shipping or a 10% discount, can further increase recovery rates. Keep the tone light, helpful, and supportive - phrases like “we saved your cart for you!” work far better than pushy language.
Remarketing ads can also be effective for reminding distracted shoppers what they left behind. Since most users check emails and ads on their phones, it’s crucial that all reminders are fully mobile-optimised, with clear visuals and intuitive links back to checkout. Done well, these gentle nudges can recover up to 15% of abandoned sales, giving a valuable second chance to customers who were simply interrupted.
Turning Abandonment Into Opportunity
Most shopping cart abandonment isn’t mysterious - it’s a set of solvable problems hiding in plain sight. From unexpected costs to slow load times, each friction point chips away at customer confidence. Luckily, even the smallest of improvements can have a measurable impact.
Start with the issue causing the biggest drop-off, whether that’s simplifying your checkout, adding flexible payment options, or improving mobile performance. Measure the results, then move on to the next fix. Think of it as fine-tuning your customer experience: the goal isn’t just to reduce abandonment rates, but to make buying feel effortless (though the two go hand-in-hand).
When shoppers feel confident, informed, and supported, they’re not just more likely to hit “buy now” - they’re more likely to come back.
Need help turning cart abandonment into conversions? Get in touch with us today, and let’s optimise your checkout flow together to recover lost sales.