According to Baymard Institute, approximately 69.57% of online shopping carts are abandoned before the purchase stage due to customers just wanting to browse, prices being too expensive, and requirements to create an account. We’ve gathered other shopping cart abandonment statistics to help you better understand your online customers’ turn-offs and increase sales.
Here are 20 shopping cart abandonment statistics you need to know.
1. Research shows that 58.6% of United States online shoppers abandoned their shopping carts in the last three months because they were ‘just browsing.’
Source: Baymard Institute, September 2019
More than half of Americans who shop online leave their shopping carts because they were there for window shopping or getting price comparisons. Ultimately, they didn’t intend to buy. A great way to manage this is to employ retargeting ads so that customers who leave your site after browsing receive reminders about their shopping cart even after visiting other webpages. Once they click on the ad, it will return them to the page showing their incomplete order.
2. Apart from window shoppers, 53% of online shoppers cite additional costs as the top reason they abandoned their shopping carts.
Source: Baymard Institute, September 2019
Customers who intend to buy primarily leave their shopping carts due to additional costs that they are not aware of until they reach the checkout page These costs include shipping, price increases for items in larger sizes, and taxes.
Why online shoppers abandon carts
Source: Baymard Institute
3. There are an average of 14.88 form fields in a checkout stage that customers are required to fill in before completing their purchase
Source: Baymard Institute, September 2019
A fully optimized checkout process usually requires as few as seven form fields, which includes basic information such as name, credit card information, and shipping address. Because the average is between 14 and 15 fields, many companies require customers to spend twice the amount of time as necessary in the checkout stage. Some fields you can exclude are ones that ask for optional information such as alternative contact details.
4. Around 55% of online shoppers will abandon their carts if they are asked to re-enter their credit card or shipping details
Source: Sleeknote, 2019
Major redundancies in the checkout forms will scare buyers from continuing their purchase. This is especially the case if they are asked to re-enter their credit card information more than once. People are very wary of security breaches and phishing scams coming from fake web pages that look legitimate. Statista found that 30% of shoppers leave when they are asked to re-enter their credit card information while 25% will leave if they have to re-enter their shipping information.
5. Checkout optimization can help increase conversion rates by 35.26% or recover lost sales amounting to $260 billion
Source: Baymard Institute, September 2019
The combined U.S. and European Union ecommerce sales total $738 billion. By optimizing the checkout flow and design, businesses in both countries can improve their conversion rates by 35.26%, which translates to $260 billion in sales. Using Statista’s report of U.S. ecommerce sales in 2018 at $501 billion, we found that American businesses have the potential of recovering more than $176 billion in lost sales from shopping cart abandonment if they have the right checkout optimization strategy.
6. In 2018, the airline industry had the largest cart abandonment rate at 87.87%, followed by travel at 81.31%
Source: Sales Cycle, May 2019
Most customers who visit airline websites use the booking platform just to get an idea of how much their travel costs will be or to compare pricing against competing airlines. Customers do this in advance of their trip, so they can plan appropriately.
To minimize the number of customers who start the buying process solely to price flights, include features on your booking page that provide a link to third-party platforms offering price comparisons. You can also add filters customers can use to check total pricing for alternative seat classes and dates before they reach the checkout stage.
Cart abandonment by industry
7. For the first half of 2019, the average cart abandonment rate for retail ecommerce sites reached 84.24%
Source: Sales Cycle, September 2019
Jewelry websites experienced the highest loss of sales because their cart abandonment rate was 88.6%. Grocery websites performed a little better than others at 72.06%. Cart abandonment tends to be higher at the beginning of the year vs the end, partly because there are tons of sales and promotions at the end of the year (Black Friday and Cyber Monday) that motivate shoppers to purchase.
One way to lower the cart abandonment rate during the early months is to offer incentives in peak buying seasons that customers can only redeem during the first half of the year. You can offer them in the form of coupons or loyalty discounts valid for the specific period you want to target.
Cart abandonment rates in the retail sector
8. Fashion websites are enjoying a 51.39% conversion rate from online shoppers using their mobile devices
Source: Sales Cycle, September 2019
The majority of sales for fashion websites are now taking place on mobile devices while 48.61% of shoppers still prefer to use desktops for purchasing. Meanwhile, 69.85% of travel website visitors are more comfortable making online payments using their desktops. This statistic is mainly driven by the industry and how well businesses within that industry have managed to improve the features of their mobile apps.
There are quite a number of retail apps that makes shopping for clothing and accessories easy for customers on their mobile device. Other businesses from different industries should follow the same strategy. Create user-friendly mobile apps or ensure that your website is designed with mobile functionality.
9. While mobile traffic dominates overall at 53%, ecommerce businesses still experience the highest sales conversion rate—56%—through desktop
Source: Wolfgang Digital, KPI 2019
Research shows that online shoppers prefer to use their mobile devices to browse products but still use their desktops to complete purchases. This could be due to security concerns about how websites process payments, as well as customers, feeling more secure sharing their credit card details on a computer rather than on a mobile device.
Comparison of overall traffic versus revenue by device
10. Mobile device sales showed the biggest improvement and have grown by 23%
Source: Wolfgang Digital, KPI 2019
While still behind desktop devices in total sales, mobile devices have seen a big leap in sales conversion rates, from 9% to 32% in 2019 alone. This shows that consumers are becoming more accustomed to purchasing online using their smartphones.
11. Retailers are still struggling to keep up with mobile technology, and 52% admit they are still ill-prepared to support consumer demands for mobile sales
Source: Retail Drive, August 2019
Per WBR Insights, more than half of the surveyed retailers shared that they are not prepared to support the more advanced technologies to engage mobile shoppers. This includes artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots, and augmented or virtual reality. However, it will only be a matter of time until experts develop tools that will make this advanced technology affordable.
It’s a good idea to start developing long-term plans to analyze how you can innovate your sales process and stand out from competitors. Businesses should consider learning how to build their own mobile app with tools like BuildFire and iBuildApp that don’t require coding skills.
12. Data security is cited as the major concern of the 59.5% of mobile users who won’t download mobile retail apps.
Source: Retail Drive, August 2019
Mobile retail apps were created to provide convenience to consumers who prefer shopping on their smartphones. However, more than half of online shoppers are still wary of using these apps to make purchases. Approximately 37% of the respondents cited mobile storage as an issue, saying they already have too many apps on their phones.
To combat this, companies can add security badges to mobile platform showing their app is secure. They can also give their app designer reasonable size limits to minimize issues with storage space.
13. The PayPal Verified Seal is recognized as the most trustworthy security seal by 63% of online shoppers.
Source: Conversion XL October 2018
Research shows that the more familiar a trust symbol is, the higher it is rated in terms of perceived security. However, while 42% of the respondents say that they are most familiar with the Visa-Mastercard seal, 63% of them would be more inclined to purchase if they find the PayPal Verified seal on the website from which they’re shopping.
Survey showing which security seal is most trusted by online shoppers
Source: Conversion XL October 2018
14. More Than 7.57% of shoppers will abandon their cart if they have to wait for more than three seconds for pages to load.
Source: Sleeknote 2019
Website speed is a significant factor in shopping cart abandonment. Statistics show that 7.57% of online shoppers will leave their carts if they have to wait more than three seconds for a web page to load. Additionally, 80% of these shoppers will never return due to the sluggishness of the website.
As businesses grow, it’s important to perform regular tests to ensure that what worked yesterday still works today. The more customers visiting a site can boost the bandwidth needed to run smoothly. You’ll need to evaluate your internet service providers’ capabilities, website host’s storage capacity, and so on to ensure website visitors can maneuver around the site without issues.
15. Out of all the cart abandonment emails sent, only 45% of those are opened, on average.
Source: Barilliance, May 2019
According to a research study performed by MooSend, 45% of cart abandonment emails are opened. Out of these opened emails, customers only engage with half of them, or 21%. Out of the half with which users engage, only 50% (10.27%) end with customers purchasing items from their abandoned carts.
16. Sending three abandoned cart emails results in 69% more conversions than just sending one without any follow-ups.
Source: Omnisend, September 2018
Abandoned cart email campaigns are more effective when planned as a series. Three follow-up emails result in 69% more sales compared to just one email. For businesses, this insight is useful when planning an effective email marketing strategy.
17. Although companies send the most abandoned cart marketing emails in November, February has the best open rates (17.9%) and June the best click rates (3.6%).
Source: Omnisend, September 2018
While most abandoned cart marketing emails are sent out in November, gearing up for the holidays, consumers are more responsive during February and June. This indicates that businesses should reconsider their email marketing strategy and not rely on recovering lost sales during big holidays like Black Friday and Christmas.
February and June bring the most click rates throughout the year
Source: Omnisend, September 2018
18. Retargeting ads will increase conversions by 26%.
Source: Sleeknote 2019
Three out of four consumers welcome retargeting ads. This means people still like to be reminded of products they are interested in but have forgotten about. Of those consumers, 26% will click on the retargeted ad and return to the website to complete their purchase.
19. Personalized Retargeted Ads Can Lead to ROIs of More Than 1,300 Percent
Source: Sleeknote 2019
Brands that personalize their retargeted ads based on consumer behavior have seen returns on investment (ROIs) of more than 1,300 percent in their campaigns. This means you should consider sending retargeted ads that showcase the same products customers previously added to their shopping carts but failed to buy. Statistics show it is more likely to turn into sales, compared to displaying a generic retargeted ad that just promotes your company.
20. Reaching site visitors who left their shopping carts via Facebook can provide at least a 3% sales conversion for your ecommerce store.
Source: Wolfgang Digital, KPI 2019
Aside from Google, Facebook is an effective retargeting platform. Shoppers who spend more time engaging with your business on Facebook will be more likely to purchase. 3% of users who “like” your post will convert into paid customers, followed by 4% who share, 4.67% who leave a reaction, and 4.9% who comment. By the time your audience contacts you via Messenger, the conversion rate increases to 9.95%.
This is why ecommerce businesses should make an effort to become more active on social media. Posting pictures of new products and providing updates that keep prospects and customers interested is a great way to start.
Relationship between social engagement and conversion
Source: Wolfgang Digital, KPI 2019
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Shopping Cart Abandonment Statistics
Shopping cart abandonment continues to pose major challenges for online businesses. While we’ve attempted to help you analyze the data that affects this consumer behavior, you might still have questions. We’ve compiled a list of commonly asked questions about shopping cart abandonment statistics. If you have additional questions, please visit our forum, and one of our experts will respond.
What is the fastest way to prevent cart abandonment in terms of incentives?
Since 53% of online shoppers cite extra cost as their top reason for abandoning their carts, offering free shipping can help improve conversion. Another thing you can do is to make sure that there are no hidden costs that customers will only see at the point of payment.
What is the quickest way to prevent cart abandonment in terms of website design?
Allowing for guest checkout is the quickest way to improve your conversion rate. Remember that 31% of online shoppers abandon their carts because they are being forced to create an account.
What are the most effective strategies for recovering lost sales from cart abandonment?
Email and ad retargeting are the best solutions for recovering lost sales from cart abandonment. They leverage customer information to create different strategies to reach out and lead customers back to your site to finalize their purchase. Personalization is also an important factor in these strategies to maximize the chances of recovering lost sales.
How can you add personalization to your cart abandonment emails?
Personalization can be as simple as using the shopper’s name in the subject line and email copy. You can also take advantage of information like birthdays, location, and even the time of day you send the email to improve personalization. These small changes have proven to create a significant impact on recovering lost sales. People tend to buy more if they can connect with the brand or product on a more personal level.
What are some examples of the most effective subject lines for cart abandonment emails?
Omnisend analyzed more than 90,000 cart abandonment emails and have found that simple and short subject lines are the most effective:
- “15% Off purchase” – Open rate: 48%
- “Cart left” – Open rate: 45%
- “$20 Off cart” – Open rate: 44.5%
- “Items left” – Open rate: 40%
- “Still shopping?” – Open rate: 39%
The most common characteristics these subject lines share is that they’re short, simple, and provoke curiosity from its recipients. With these results in mind, ecommerce business owners should consider implementing this strategy into their email campaign.
Bottom Line
Simply put, ecommerce websites that fail to convert visitors into customers will not earn any money. Therefore, it is important to understand what motivates and discourages your prospects from completing a sale. Consider the shopping cart abandonment statistics we discussed in the article when coming up with your online sales strategy.
Do you have other insightful shopping cart abandonment statistics? Feel free to share them in the comments section.
Marina
May 8, 2018 at 7:08 amActually, for most of the shopping carts are abandoned online since the people have the desire to buy, but empty pocket, then have you ever think why the real plastic shopping trolley in mall or supermarket abandoned?
I like this article that analyzed the instantly situation facing mall and supermarkets. such as list.14, this is a bond if buyer will pay the order or place the order.