Shoppers abandon checkout mainly because the total cost surprises them, the process feels long or untrustworthy, or the site forces steps they did not expect. You reduce abandonment by showing the full cost early, offering guest checkout, trimming the form, giving sensible payment choices and removing technical errors. Fix the cost and trust issues first, because they are the most commonly reported.
What the research says
The Baymard Institute maintains a list of cart abandonment studies. It reports an average abandonment rate of 70.22 per cent, the unweighted mean of 50 studies published between 2006 and 2025, with individual studies ranging from 55 to 84 per cent. Those figures cover shoppers who start but do not complete a purchase, and many of them were only browsing, so not every abandoned cart is a lost sale.
Among shoppers who left for a reason other than just browsing, Baymard lists these reasons (Baymard Institute):
| Reason | Share reporting it |
|---|---|
| Extra costs too high (shipping, tax, fees) | 40% |
| Delivery too slow | 20% |
| Did not trust the site with card details | 19% |
| Site required an account | 18% |
| Checkout too long or complicated | 17% |
| Website errors or crashes | 17% |
| Returns policy unsatisfactory | 13% |
| Could not see total cost up front | 12% |
| Card declined | 10% |
| Not enough payment methods | 9% |
Shoppers could give more than one reason, so the shares do not add to 100 per cent. The pattern is useful: most causes are things a store controls.
A checkout friction checklist
Cost and delivery
- Show shipping, tax and fees as early as possible, ideally on the product page or in the basket. Baymard recommends showing the total cost early.
- State delivery times plainly and offer a realistic range of options.
- Make the returns policy easy to find from the basket.
- Under Australian Consumer Law, price claims must not mislead, and the ACCC lists prices shown without GST or other costs included as a misleading practice (ACCC).
Account and form
- Offer guest checkout. Let people create an account after the purchase if you want one.
- Cut fields to what you need. Baymard reports an average of 23.48 form elements in a typical checkout and suggests an ideal of 12 to 14, with most checkouts able to cut 20 to 60 per cent.
- Use clear labels. web.dev advises plain wording such as “Security code” rather than “CVV”, a single input each for name and card number, and no
type="number"on card fields (web.dev). - Add correct
autocompletevalues such ascc-name,cc-numberandcc-expso browsers can fill details. - Mark required fields and explain errors in place, next to the field.
Payments and trust
- Offer the methods your customers expect. For ideas by region, see payment methods by market.
- Show security signals where they matter: the payment step, not just the footer. Use a recognised hosted payment provider rather than a home-made card form.
- Display contact details, business name and policies so a first-time buyer can check you are real.
- Handle declines gracefully: say what happened and what to try next.
Performance and errors
- Test on mobile first. A slow or broken payment step costs sales regardless of design. See the core web vitals guide and the website launch checklist.
- Test every card type you accept, since formats differ by brand. web.dev notes that card brands use different formats.
How to prioritise
- Watch recordings or run a short moderated test of five or so people completing a purchase.
- List every point of hesitation.
- Rank by how many people hit it and how severe it is.
- Fix the cheapest high-impact items first (cost visibility, guest checkout, labels).
- Measure completion rate before and after, over a long enough period to cover normal variation.
Honest limits
Baymard figures are averages across studies, mostly of larger retail sites; your rate will differ. The 35.26 per cent conversion uplift Baymard says fixing solvable checkout issues could achieve is a modelled average for leading sites, not a promise for any store. Treat all benchmarks as a reason to investigate, not a target. For broader conversion thinking, see business website conversion.
Where Radiance Impact fits
Radiance Impact’s Digital Technology and AI Solutions division builds and improves business websites, including the pages and flows that lead to enquiry or purchase. See the Technology page, or contact us to discuss a checkout review.
Sources
- Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics, Baymard Institute
- Payment forms, web.dev (Google)
- False or misleading claims, ACCC
