Abandoned Carts: Why Customers Don't Finish Checkout and How to Win Them Back

A customer picked a product, added it to the cart… and closed the tab. It happens far more often than you'd think: on average about 70% of online carts are abandoned, according to Baymard Institute's aggregated data. Some are just browsing – but many leave because of problems you can fix.

Why customers abandon carts

According to Baymard's research, the most common reasons (after "just browsing") are:

Data from Baymard Institute surveys of US online shoppers; trends are similar in Europe.

10 ways to reduce abandoned carts

1. Show shipping costs early – on the product page or in the cart, not at the last step.
2. A free-shipping threshold – "€8 more for free shipping" also increases average order value.
3. Guest checkout – make accounts optional, offered after the order.
4. A short checkout – remove unnecessary fields; auto-complete city and courier office.
5. Cash on delivery – in Bulgaria many customers prefer to pay on receipt.
6. Familiar payment methods – card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ePay. See ePay, myPOS or Stripe.
7. Trust – visible contacts, the 14-day return right, reviews, SSL, clear return rules.
8. Speed – a slow checkout loses customers. See 10 reasons your store is slow.
9. Mobile checkout – big buttons, the right keyboard for phone and email fields, no zooming.
10. Abandoned cart emails – 1–2 reminders with a direct link back to the cart. Mind GDPR and consent.

How to measure the problem

In Google Analytics 4, set up ecommerce events (add to cart, begin checkout, purchase). You'll see at which step you're losing customers – cart, shipping or payment – and know what to fix first.

Losing customers at checkout? Get in touch – I'll review your order flow and tell you which changes will recover the most sales.