Why shoppers abandon checkout and what fixes it

Checkout abandonment happens when a shopper starts to pay and leaves before finishing. The common causes are familiar: costs or delivery times that appear too late, being forced to create an account, missing payment options or doubts about trust, and errors, slow pages or awkward forms on mobile. Each cause can be found in your own data and fixed with a specific change, rather than a guess.

This guide explains how to find where shoppers leave your checkout and what to change for each common cause. It does not quote industry figures, because what matters is what happens in your own store. If you would like help improving your checkout, our e-commerce service page explains how we work.

Finding where checkout abandonment happens

Before changing anything, find the step where most shoppers stop.

1. Map your checkout steps, such as cart, delivery details, delivery method, payment and confirmation.
2. Set up step-by-step tracking in your analytics tool, so you can see how many shoppers reach each step.
3. Compare devices. A step that works on desktop may be where mobile shoppers leave.
4. Watch real sessions or test yourself. Complete the checkout on a phone as a new customer, with a slow connection, and note every moment of doubt.
5. Read support messages and reviews. Customers often say exactly what went wrong.
6. Check payment gateway reports for declined or failed payments, which look like abandonment but have different fixes.

A worked example

A store sees that many shoppers reach the delivery step but few reach payment. Testing on a phone shows that delivery costs appear only at that step, and the cheapest option is not selected by default. Showing an estimate of delivery costs on the product and cart pages, and making the options clearer, addresses the exact point where shoppers were leaving.

Surprise costs and delivery times

Unexpected costs at the last step are one of the most familiar reasons shoppers leave.

1. Show delivery costs early, on product pages or in the cart, even as an estimate or a "from" price.
2. Show delivery times clearly, with a realistic date or range for each option.
3. Explain fees and taxes before the final step, especially for international orders.
4. State the free delivery threshold, if you have one, and show how close the cart is to reaching it.
5. Keep the total consistent from cart to payment, so the number does not jump.

A common mistake and its fix

A common mistake is adding a small handling or payment fee only on the final page. Even a modest amount can feel like a trick at that moment. The fix is to include such fees in product prices or show them clearly in the cart.

Showing prices in a customer's own currency can also reduce surprises, and our guide to multi-currency ecommerce explains how to show and charge them correctly.

Forced account creation

Requiring an account before paying adds a step, a password to invent and a reason to leave.

1. Offer guest checkout, so shoppers can pay with just an email address and delivery details.
2. Offer account creation after the order, on the confirmation page, when the shopper already trusts you.
3. Make login optional and quick for returning customers who want it.
4. Explain the benefit, such as order tracking and faster future checkouts, rather than requiring it.

Decision criteria

Accounts before checkout are worth requiring only when they are essential to the business, such as trade stores with customer-specific prices or subscriptions that must be managed. For most retail stores, guest checkout with an optional account is the better default.

Payment options and trust

Shoppers leave when they cannot pay the way they prefer, or when something makes them doubt the store.

A checklist

• Offer the payment methods your customers use, including local cards and wallets popular in your markets.
• Show accepted payment methods early, not only on the final page.
• Use HTTPS on every page and keep the checkout visually consistent with the rest of the store.
• Show your business name, contact details and returns policy clearly.
• If the payment page is hosted by your gateway, make sure it carries your logo and the transition is clear.
• Explain any extra verification step from the shopper's bank, so it does not look suspicious.

Our guide to what to ask an agency before building your online store includes the payment questions to ask when planning a new checkout.

Errors, slow pages and mobile problems

Technical problems at checkout are often invisible to the store owner but obvious to shoppers.

1. Form errors. Show clear messages next to the field that needs fixing, and keep what the shopper has already typed.
2. Too many fields. Remove fields you do not need, and use address lookup where available.
3. Wrong keyboards on mobile. Email fields should open the email keyboard, and phone fields the number pad.
4. Slow pages. Test checkout speed on mobile data, and remove scripts that are not needed there.
5. Payment errors. Show a helpful message when a payment fails, with a way to try again or choose another method.
6. Buttons out of reach. Make sure the main button is visible and easy to tap on small screens.

Questions to ask after every change

1. Did more shoppers reach the next step after this change?
2. Did the change behave correctly on phones and different browsers?
3. Did payment failures or support messages change?

Changes to the checkout also affect how your catalogue and costs are planned. Our guides on how to plan a product catalogue before building a store and what it costs to build an online store cover those earlier stages.

Summary

• Find the exact step where shoppers leave using step tracking, device comparisons and your own tests.
• Show delivery costs, times and fees early, and keep the total consistent through checkout.
• Offer guest checkout and optional accounts unless an account is truly essential.
• Offer the payment methods your customers use and make trust signals clear.
• Fix form errors, speed and mobile problems, and measure the effect of every change.

Small, targeted fixes at the right step often make a real difference to completed orders. If you'd like your checkout reviewed, you can tell us about your store here.