How to Avoid Abandoned Cart Syndrome

Tons of traffic to your site won’t do much for your conversion rates if users abandon the shopping cart before making a purchase. Shopping cart abandonment can happen at any point during the buyer’s journey. Some people add an item they like but get distracted. Others might dislike the shipping costs or how long it takes an item to arrive.

Knowing what to fix takes a bit of focus and an understanding of why people bounce away in the first place.

You have the burden of figuring out what makes people place an item in the shopping cart and not complete the sale. If you’re lucky, you may have an abandoned cart email to market to them and remind them of things they left behind, but you won’t always have that luxury. 

Abandoned cart syndrome is a common challenge in e-commerce, with 7 out of 10 online shoppers leaving their carts without completing a purchase - a trend seen across industries. This statistic alarms many store owners, making it crucial to understand and address this behavior to create a seamless shopping experience.

In this article, we’ll discuss abandoned cart syndrome, explore the underlying issues, and most importantly, identify strategies to bridge the gap between intention and completion in online shopping.

Understanding Abandoned Cart Syndrome (Lazy Cart Syndrome)

In the ecommerce industry, abandoned cart syndrome and lazy cart syndrome describe the same problem where customers add products to their shopping carts but abandon the page before making a purchase. These terms are used interchangeably across different platforms and articles to describe the phenomenon of cart abandonment in online shopping.

Many factors contribute to the cause of the problem, including hidden costs, website glitches, complicated checkout processes, or unexpected shipping costs that discourage buyers from completing their purchases. 

Both terms highlight the phenomenon that occurs frequently to online retailers: potential customers putting items into their carts but then abandoning them before completing the transaction. 

Addressing Lazy Cart or Abandoned Cart Syndrome involves implementing strategies like simplifying the checkout process, reducing unexpected costs, offering guest checkout options, retargeting, and enhancing customer service to improve the overall shopping experience and minimize cart abandonment rates. Overcoming this issue can significantly boost conversions and thereby increase revenue for e-commerce businesses.

Common Reasons for Cart Abandonment 

Shopping cart abandonment is a common yet frustrating issue for online merchants. According to recent data, the average cart abandonment rate across all industries as of October 2024 is 74.9%. Understanding the reasons can empower businesses to transform lost sales into opportunities for building loyal customers. 

The following are the common reasons for shopping cart abandonment: 

High Shipping Costs

A 2024 survey revealed that approximately 41% of global online shoppers abandoned their carts due to high delivery fees. High shipping costs often cause customers to abandon their carts because the additional fees push the total cost above what they are willing to pay. Even experienced online shoppers can sometimes overlook additional shipping charges until they appear at checkout.

Complex Checkout Process 

If the checkout process takes longer than 30 seconds, more than 50% of customers may abandon their online shopping carts. A complicated checkout process leads to lost sales. Time-consuming fields that ask for too much information upfront can spoil the user experience, deterring customers from making a purchase.

Lack of Trust

A lack of visible security features, such as an SSL certificate or a padlock symbol, can significantly undermine trust in an online store. Warnings like a red triangle with an exclamation mark, messages about an insecure connection, outdated layouts, and missing images discourage shoppers from completing their purchase, while the absence of customer reviews further diminishes credibility. These factors together increase cart abandonment rates as customers prioritize secure and reliable shopping experiences.

Limited Payment Options

The lack of diverse payment options leads to cart abandonment because customers may not find their preferred or trusted method of payment, creating a barrier to completing the purchase. This can result in frustration, as buyers may perceive the checkout process as inconvenient, prompting them to abandon the transaction. 

Unexpected Additional Costs

Unexpected, or additional costs are among the leading causes of increased cart abandonment rates. Nearly half of U.S. adults (48%) abandon their online carts at checkout due to high extra costs like taxes, fees and shipping. Many customers add items to their cart to check the total price, but the discovery of extra fees discourages them from finalizing the purchase. 

Requirement to Create an Account

Requiring customers to create a new account before finalizing their order can be a significant deterrent. This extra step in the checkout process leads to cart abandonment for 22% of online shoppers. It disrupts the purchase flow and negatively impacts the overall customer experience.

Technical Issues

Slow loading times and broken pages are common website performance issues that frustrate customers and increase the likelihood of abandoned carts. When a site feels unreliable or difficult to navigate, shoppers are less likely to complete their purchases. Technical issues significantly harm the user experience. 

Lack of Discounts and Promotions

A lack of discounts or promotions can lead to cart abandonment. When customers feel they're not getting a good deal they are more likely to navigate away to another site for discounts.

Long Delivery Time

If customers realize they need to wait weeks for their purchase, they are likely to abandon their online carts. The speed of delivery plays a pivotal role in influencing online shopping decisions, making it a critical aspect of the overall ecommerce experience.

Not-transparent Return and Exchange Policy

Unclear or complicated return and exchange policies create uncertainty and frustration for buyers, making them hesitant to commit to a purchase. If customers feel they might face challenges or extra costs when returning an item, they may abandon their cart rather than take the risk. This uncertainty undermines trust and can lead to high shopping cart abandonment rates. 

The Impact of Cart Abandonment on Businesses 

Now that we've covered the various reasons customers abandon their shopping carts, it's crucial to understand the impact this can have on your business.

Here’s how it affects your business:

Financial Implications

Cart abandonment directly impacts revenue by leaving potential sales unfinished. When customers add items to their carts but fail to complete the purchase, your business loses income, sees lower conversion rates, and risks reducing customer loyalty and lifetime value. Ecommerce businesses lose an estimated $18 billion in sales each year due to this issue, underscoring the need for effective solutions.

Customer Experience and Loyalty 

Cart abandonment can negatively impact both customer experience and loyalty. It often leads to frustration, particularly when the checkout process is complicated or includes unexpected costs, such as high shipping fees. Additionally, unclear policies or payment options can undermine trust, prompting customers to abandon their carts. From a loyalty perspective, abandoned carts leave a negative impression, increasing the risk of customers turning to competitors who provide a smoother and more seamless experience.

Operational Challenges

High abandonment rates happen when customers leave or stop engaging before completing a purchase or a service request. This can create operational problems like inaccurate demand, leading to stock imbalances such as overstocking products. It also wastes employee time and effort. Furthermore, it can strain systems, such as online platforms or customer service. Over time, high abandonment rates can lead to revenue loss, lower customer satisfaction, and compounding operational challenges. 

Strategies to Reduce Cart Abandonment

Cart abandonment is a silent yet costly challenge for ecommerce businesses. Here are a few proven strategies to help reduce it and boost sales:

Simplify Checkout Forms 

Simplifying checkout forms can significantly reduce cart abandonment by making the purchase process faster and easier for customers. Features such as auto-save ensure that shoppers don't lose their progress if they leave and return later. Additionally, incorporating auto-fill forms can speed up data entry by automatically populating fields with saved information, minimizing frustration. Offering a guest checkout option further simplifies the process, and improves the user experience. Your site’s user experience (UX) can improve conversion rates by 400% and reduce the number of abandoned shopping carts.

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A long checkout process, often due to asking for too many details can be a reason why the users bounce. Your potential customers are more likely to look for alternatives with quicker checkout processes. Go through the process of adding items to the cart and complete the purchase. How many different steps must you go through? Can any be eliminated? By addressing these issues, you can significantly improve the user experience and boost sales conversion rates.

Look for clicks to eliminate. For example, can you add autofill for the contact information to save several steps? Do you really need a summary page and a checkout page? If one can serve two purposes, go for the single rather than double. 

Initiate Cross-Platform Capability

Business intelligence allows you to utilize information across different platforms. For example, if your customer orders something from your website, you should collect data and pull it from the database for an in-store order. You’ll also reduce the risk of errors in shipping addresses and payment information. 

Think about the many different ways consumers interact with your brand. Perhaps you offer shopping via your Facebook page. Is the process similar to what it is on your site? Make everything as quick and simple as possible.

Use Third-Party Platforms or Social Login

Have you ever visited an e-commerce store and used your Google or Facebook information to quickly fill in shipping details? Integrating third-party platforms saves users time and is especially helpful to those who use mobile devices to shop. The sign-up process doesn't have to be a lengthy and dreary process.

Imagine you’re the shopper and using a small screen to try and order a new product. Typing in all your details is time-consuming, and users are likely to bounce away before completing the process. People want instant access when using mobile devices. Thanks to social login, you simplify the user's login process.

For example, if you let them click a single button to use Facebook information and complete the form, you’ve just saved them numerous steps. They are much more likely to complete the sale rather than abandon the shopping cart. 

Cross-Sell Related Items

The power of cross-sells can increase revenue by as much as 30%. Creating these opportunities is simple. If someone adds a pink blouse to their shopping cart, you might suggest a matching scarf or jacket. Base your recommendations on what others buy with the item or on the user’s purchase history.

You can even offer complete looks for clothing, home decor, and more. Show a photo highlighting how items look together. Make adding related products as easy as a single click to add the entire list. 

Amazon is a stellar example to study for figuring out how to cross-sell. When you land on a product page, just under the photos and basic description, you’ll often see a box titled "Buy It With." Inside the box, the site lists things matching the original item. 

You can add everything to the cart or use the checkboxes to select only one or two items. The design is intuitive and easy.

Offer Transparency 

Users have no reason to trust you. It would be best if you allowed them to see you are authentic. Include reviews, testimonials, and clear contact information. According to statistics, 95% of customers read reviews before making a purchase. For example, Growave enables the generation of reviews and user-generated content (UGC) for your Shopify store, helping build strong social proof. You can display these reviews on a dedicated page, product pages, and even in Google search results. This feature not only helps other customers make informed purchasing decisions but also complete the purchase.

List any professional organizations or consumer groups you belong to, such as the Better Business Bureau. 

It would help if you also offered detailed descriptions and upfront pricing. Don’t make the user guess how much the item might cost. One significant reason for shopping cart abandonment is when people see high shipping costs, taxes, and other fees. They may bounce away and decide to buy from their local store rather than pay those costs. 

You may be legally obligated to collect taxes, but you can reduce other expenses for the user. 

Diversify Payment Options

Limited payment options can significantly impact an online store, leading to higher cart abandonment rates. Your customers love flexibility and ease during the checkout process. When they don’t find their preferred payment they may abandon their carts and search for other options. This issue may discourage your global customers who depend on region-specific payment platforms.

That’s why it’s so important to include a variety of payment methods such as credit/debit cards, PayPal, digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Wallet, and region-specific options.

Consider integrating cryptocurrency payment getaways for tech-savvy customers. Make sure to display all available payment options.

Display Trust Badges and SSL Certificates 

Displaying trust badges and SSL certificates helps reassure customers that their personal and payment information is secure. These visual indicators show that your website is safe and follows industry standards for privacy and security. When customers feel confident that their data is protected, they’re more likely to complete the transaction. Trust badges also build credibility, making shoppers more comfortable buying from your store. This can ultimately reduce cart abandonment rates and increase trust in your brand.

Provide Clear Return and Refund Policies 

Clear return and refund policies build trust by showing customers that the business values their satisfaction and stands behind its products. They reassure buyers that they won’t be forced to buy anything they don’t want, which lowers the perceived risk of a purchase. 

A straightforward policy also eases doubts about issues like size, quality, or functionality, making it easier for customers to commit. What’s more, it reflects professionalism and a customer-centric approach, which improves the brand’s reputation and encourages loyalty. Overall, these factors create confidence, leading to more completed orders. 

Email Remarketing Campaigns

To create effective email campaigns for reclaiming abandoned carts, start by sending a reminder email as soon as possible after the cart is abandoned, ideally within an hour. By sending timely, personalized follow-up emails, businesses can remind customers of their abandoned items, create urgency with limited-time offers, or provide incentives like discounts. For example, a simple email with the subject line "Did you forget something?" could say: "Your favorite items are waiting in your cart – complete your purchase now!" As another option, an urgent email could say, "Enjoy 10% off just for you!" and include the message: "Act fast! Claim your cart items now with an exclusive 10% discount – this offer won't last long!" These messages re-engage users, recover lost sales, and improve the overall customer experience, but to ensure your emails reach the right customers, make sure to verify your email addresses and clean your list regularly.

Retargeting Ads

To use retargeting ads, track users who visit your site and abandon their carts with a pixel or tracking code. Then, use social media or other platforms to display personalized advertisements for the items they left behind. These ads remind users of what they are interested in and prompt them to return to complete their purchase. You can also offer special discounts or promotions to make the deal more enticing. Retargeting keeps your brand top-of-mind and increases the chances of converting abandoned carts into sales.

Exit-Intent Popups 

When a user attempts to leave a site, pop-ups offering discounts can help reduce cart abandonment by providing an incentive to complete the purchase. These pop-ups act as a "last chance" reminder, offering immediate value, like a discount or free shipping, which can sway users who were hesitant due to cost. By addressing common concerns at the right moment, such as price or indecision, the pop-up encourages the user to stay and finalize their purchase. This strategy creates a sense of urgency and makes the deal feel exclusive, which can effectively turn an abandoned cart into a sale. 

Time-Limited Discounts 

Time-limited discounts create a sense of urgency, motivating customers to act quickly before the offer expires. This urgency can trigger the fear of missing out (FOMO), prompting shoppers to return and complete their purchases. People love to save money, and from a psychological point of view, it’s deeply satisfying to get a good deal. By offering limited-time discounts, businesses capitalize on this innate desire while subtly reminding customers of the items they left behind. It’s an effective strategy to reignite interest and boost conversions, as customers are reluctant to miss out on potential savings.

Live Chat Support 

Consider adding live chat to your site. Providing support through live chat enables real-time assistance, allowing users to quickly resolve issues without waiting for email responses or phone queues. Users can ask specific questions and receive immediate tailored answers, addressing concerns on the spot. This convenience reduces friction in the customer journey, builds trust, and boosts confidence. As a result, customers are more likely to complete purchases without delays or second-guessing.

By resolving last-minute doubts or obstacles instantly, live chat significantly reduces cart abandonment. You need to feature the live chat button on every page of your website. Additionally, you should ensure easy access to your checkout pages. It’s far better to invest in a live agent to answer a few questions than to lose the sale.

Responsive Customer Support 

Fast and effective email and phone support can significantly increase the likelihood of completing a purchase by addressing customer concerns in real-time, reducing friction during the decision-making process. If you want to build trust with your customers, quick responses are a must, as they demonstrate that the company values customer needs. Personalized assistance helps resolve issues, clarify doubts, and provide tailored recommendations, making customers feel more confident in their purchases. You'll need to feature the live chat button

Online shopping is different from in-person shopping. When customers enter a brick-and-mortar store, they can ask the sales clerk questions about a product. If you don’t offer excellent customer service before the sale, the shopper can’t trust you’ll fix any issues they might have.

Make sure you have a frequently-asked-questions page covering topics such as shipping, returns, and damaged products. How do you handle these situations?

Speed up Your Site

Google shared some research on site speed, indicating a mere one-second delay in page load time increases bounce rates by 32%. A five-second delay shoots the number to a 90% bounce rate. 

Numerous things speed up your website. Start by paying for the fastest hosting you can afford. Optimize images, reduce the number of scripts, and eliminate clutter. Watch out for cookies that might slow the process down.

Run a speed analysis on your site using services like PageSpeed Insights, and carefully review the areas where you don’t achieve a passing grade. Address any issues you identify and focus on improving image loading speeds by implementing a content delivery network (CDN) and caching strategies.

How to Calculate Cart Abandonment Rate?

Measuring cart abandonment rates is crucial, as it helps businesses identify barriers in the purchasing process and implement strategies to improve conversion rates. 

The cart abandonment rate measures the percentage of users who add items to their online shopping cart but leave without completing the purchase, and it’s calculated using this formula: 

For example, if 250 shopping carts were created on your ecommerce website in a day and 110 of them result in purchases, the number of abandoned carts is 140 (250-110). Plugging this into the formula: (140/250)x100=56%.

This means 56% of customers left without buying after adding items to their carts. Reducing this rate can increase sales by addressing issues like unclear pricing, complicated checkouts, lack of payment options, or the absence of discounts. 

Real-Life Examples of Successful Cart Abandonment Reduction

Many businesses have faced the challenge of cart abandonment, but some have found effective solutions. Below, we’ll highlight real-life examples of companies that have successfully reduced cart abandonment and boosted their conversions:

Amazon

Amazon simplifies the checkout process by offering various payment options and building customer trust, which helps reduce cart abandonment. By enabling shoppers to use their existing Amazon accounts, customers can avoid creating new accounts on other websites, further streamlining their shopping experience.

Furthermore, Amazon Pay offers a recognizable and secure payment method, addressing concerns about sharing credit card information with unfamiliar sites. 

To further enhance convenience, Amazon offers fast and free shipping options through programs like Amazon Prime, encouraging customers to complete their purchases. By implementing these strategies, Amazon effectively minimizes obstacles that often lead to cart abandonment. 

Zappos

Another great example is Zappos. The ecommerce brand fights cart abandonment by offering a guest checkout option to those who don't have a Zappos account, allowing customers to make purchases without creating an account. This simplifies the buying process and removes potential barriers. Zappos also provides detailed product descriptions so that buyers can make well-informed decisions. They also offer free shipping and returns, eliminating unexpected costs that often deter buyers. Their streamlined, user-friendly checkout process encourages customers to complete their purchases. 

GYMSHARK

GYMSHARK, one of the most successful fitness ecommerce brands on Shopify, combats shopping cart abandonment by implementing several user-friendly strategies. They offer an express checkout option with multiple payment methods for those who don’t want to create an account, including Shop Pay, PayPal, or Google Play. 

Additionally, GYMSHARK highlights all available payment options in the cart, reducing friction during the checkout process. 

By streamlining the checkout experience and providing diverse payment options, GYMSHARK effectively encourages customers to finalize their purchases. 

Conclusion

Lazy cart syndrome is akin to visiting a physical store to buy a new pair of shoes, only to leave empty-handed. It remains one of the most significant challenges in ecommerce, quietly draining revenue and impacting sales, customer loyalty, and retention. Some of the reasons for abandoned shopping carts are obvious. Others may be much more subtle and take detective work to figure out. However, there’s a solution to this problem. By understanding the reasons behind cart abandonment - such as unexpected hidden costs, complicated checkout processes, or lack of trust - you can implement effective strategies to address it. Prioritizing seamless user experiences, transparent pricing, excellent customer service, and personalized engagement can dramatically reduce abandonment rates. Survey your regular customers and ask how you can improve their shopping experience. Ultimately, tackling cart abandonment not only improves sales but also strengthens your brand’s reputation, ensuring long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty. By staying proactive and adaptable, you can turn cart abandonment into an opportunity for growth and innovation.