What is the cart abandonment rate?
The cart abandonment rate measures the proportion of visitors who add at least one product to their cart but leave the site without completing their purchase. It is one of the most important KPIs used to evaluate the efficiency of an e-commerce conversion funnel.
The calculation formula is straightforward: abandonment rate = 1 - (number of orders / number of carts created) x 100. A high rate means you are losing a significant portion of your potential revenue at the final stage of the customer journey.
Cart abandonment rate formula
Abandonment rate (%) = (1 - Number of completed orders / Number of carts created) x 100
The average cart abandonment rate in 2024: 69.8%
According to aggregated data from multiple studies (Baymard Institute, Statista, Salesforce), the global average cart abandonment rate reaches 69.8% in 2024. This means that out of 10 shoppers who add a product to their cart, nearly 7 leave without buying. Globally, this represents trillions of dollars in unconverted revenue every year.
This figure should not be interpreted in isolation. Some users use their cart as a wishlist or to compare prices across multiple sites. Nevertheless, a significant portion of these abandonments is recoverable with the right optimizations.
Industry benchmarks
The abandonment rate varies significantly by industry. Merchants selling high-priced or considered-purchase products show rates well above average, while impulse-buy sectors perform better.
| Industry | Average abandonment rate |
|---|---|
| Travel and tourism | 90.1% |
| Finance and insurance | 83.6% |
| Fashion and apparel | 72.8% |
| Consumer electronics | 74.1% |
| Beauty and cosmetics | 67.3% |
| Food and grocery | 63.2% |
| Sports and leisure | 71.5% |
| Home and decor | 73.9% |
| Health and wellness | 66.8% |
| Video games and entertainment | 58.4% |
The travel sector has the highest rate, largely due to high prices and the reflection time needed for purchasing a flight or holiday. In contrast, digital entertainment benefits from low prices and a simplified purchase process.
Cart abandonment rate by device type
The type of device used by the visitor significantly influences the abandonment rate. Mobile, despite its growing share of traffic, remains the channel with the highest abandonment rate due to the often degraded user experience on small screens.
| Device | Average abandonment rate | Share of e-commerce traffic |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile (smartphone) | 85.7% | 67% |
| Tablet | 80.1% | 8% |
| Desktop (computer) | 69.7% | 25% |
Watch out for mobile traffic
Mobile accounts for more than 67% of global e-commerce traffic but converts far less than desktop. Optimizing the mobile experience is the number one priority to reduce abandonments.
Main causes of cart abandonment
Understanding why visitors abandon their cart is the first step to acting effectively. Behavioral studies identify several recurring causes, often related to friction in the checkout funnel.
- Hidden fees discovered at checkout (shipping costs, taxes): main cause for 49% of abandonments
- Forced account creation before purchasing: 24% of abandonments
- Checkout process too long or complex: 18% of abandonments
- Lack of trust in site security (no HTTPS, trust badges): 17%
- Delivery times too long or unspecified: 16%
- Unclear or restrictive return policy: 11%
- Technical errors or crashes during payment: 9%
- Insufficient payment method options: 7%
The impact of hidden fees
Unexpected shipping fees are by far the leading cause of abandonment. A visitor who discovers $8 in shipping costs on a $25 order feels immediate frustration. Price transparency from the product page onward is essential to avoid this disillusionment at the end of the funnel.
Friction in the checkout funnel
A checkout funnel that requires more than three steps, forces account creation or multiplies form fields will inevitably generate abandonment. Each additional friction point mechanically reduces the conversion rate. Simplifying checkout is one of the most profitable levers in e-commerce optimization.
How to reduce cart abandonment rate: 8 proven solutions
Reducing the cart abandonment rate does not necessarily require massive investments. The most effective solutions are often those that remove existing friction rather than those that add new features.
Display shipping costs from the product page
Never leave the surprise of shipping fees to the last moment. Display the estimated shipping cost on the product page and in the cart. If shipping is free above a certain amount, highlight it with a progress indicator.
Allow guest checkout
Removing the account creation requirement is one of the highest ROI optimizations available. Always offer a guest checkout and suggest account creation after order confirmation.
Reduce the checkout funnel to a single page
One-page checkout significantly reduces abandonment by minimizing the number of steps. Group delivery, billing and payment information on a single screen with a clear visual progress indicator.
Offer multiple payment methods
PayPal, credit card, bank transfer, Apple Pay, Google Pay, buy now pay later: each additional payment method reduces the risk that a customer leaves because their preferred option is unavailable.
Reinforce trust signals
Display SSL certifications, trust labels, money-back guarantees and the return policy clearly throughout the checkout funnel. Trust is a decisive factor when customers enter their payment details.
Set up cart recovery emails
An automated email sequence sent 1 hour, 24 hours and 72 hours after abandonment can recover between 5% and 15% of lost carts. Personalize emails with the abandoned products and consider offering a discount code.
Optimize the mobile experience
With an 85% abandonment rate on mobile, optimizing mobile checkout is critical. Use mobile keyboard-friendly form fields, adequately sized buttons, and enable autofill for addresses and card details.
Use retargeting advertising
Retargeting campaigns on Google, Meta or TikTok allow you to re-engage visitors who abandoned their cart with personalized ads showing the products they left behind. These campaigns typically show very high ROAS.
Measure and analyze cart abandonment with Fullmetrix
Fullmetrix is an e-commerce analytics platform dedicated to PrestaShop, WooCommerce and Shopify merchants. It centralizes all sales, behavioral and conversion data to give you a complete view of your online store's health.
With Fullmetrix, you can track your cart abandonment rate in real time, analyze it by segment (traffic source, device, geography, product category) and pinpoint exactly at which step of the funnel your visitors drop off.
- Real-time cart abandonment tracking by source, device and customer segment
- Conversion funnel step analysis to locate friction points
- Performance comparison against your industry benchmarks
- Automatic alerts in case of a sudden drop in conversion rate
- Unified dashboard compatible with PrestaShop, WooCommerce and Shopify
- Exportable reports to share insights with your team or clients
Fullmetrix tip
Segment your analysis by traffic source. The abandonment rate of a visitor coming from an email campaign is often much lower than one coming from cold paid advertising. This segmentation will help you allocate your marketing budget to the most effective channels.
FAQ: frequently asked questions about cart abandonment rate
What is a good cart abandonment rate?
There is no universally "good" abandonment rate, as it depends heavily on your industry, pricing and customer type. However, if your abandonment rate is below 60%, you are in the top quartile of e-commerce performance. Between 60% and 70%, you are average. Above 75%, urgent optimizations are needed.
How much revenue can I recover by reducing my abandonment rate?
According to the Baymard Institute, approximately 48% of cart abandonments are preventable through UX optimizations. If your store generates $100,000 per month with a 75% abandonment rate, reducing it to 65% theoretically represents a revenue increase of around 40%. The exact calculation depends on your average order value and volume of carts created.
Are cart recovery emails effective?
Yes, cart recovery emails are among the highest ROI actions in e-commerce. The first email, sent within one hour of abandonment, shows open rates of up to 40% and conversion rates of 5 to 10%. A sequence of three emails (1h, 24h, 72h) multiplies these results. Adding a discount code in the third email further improves performance, but should be used sparingly to avoid training customers to wait for a promotion.
Is the cart abandonment rate different on mobile vs desktop?
Yes, very significantly. The abandonment rate on mobile exceeds 85% on average, compared to approximately 70% on desktop. This difference is explained by several factors: more complex entry of payment details on small screens, less fluid navigation, lower user confidence on mobile for financial transactions, and frequent use of mobile in browsing rather than buying mode. Specifically optimizing mobile checkout is therefore an absolute priority.
Analyze your cart abandonment rate with Fullmetrix
Connect your PrestaShop, WooCommerce or Shopify store to Fullmetrix and get a complete view of your conversion funnel in minutes. Identify friction points, compare your performance to industry benchmarks and make decisions based on your real data.
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