Short answer
People add to cart but don’t buy for two kinds of reasons. Some were never ready to buy: 42% of US shoppers abandoned because they were just browsing. The rest hit something fixable: extra costs that were too high (40%), slow delivery (20%), not trusting the site with their card (19%), forced account creation (18%), a long checkout (17%) or site errors (17%).
Key takeaways
- The average cart abandonment rate is about 70%, according to Baymard.
- Surprise costs are the biggest fixable reason: show shipping and taxes early.
- Offer guest checkout and cut the checkout to the fields you really need.
- Test your own checkout on a phone, start to finish, regularly.
What the data says
About 7 in 10 online carts are abandoned. Baymard Institute puts the average cart abandonment rate at 70.19%. Some of that is normal: people save items, compare prices or browse. But a large share is caused by problems you can fix.
In Baymard’s 2026 survey of 1,083 US online shoppers, these were the reasons they had abandoned a purchase in the past three months:
| Reason | Shoppers | Fixable? |
|---|---|---|
| Just browsing, not ready to buy | 42% | Mostly not |
| Extra costs too high (shipping, tax, fees) | 40% | Yes |
| Delivery was too slow | 20% | Partly |
| Didn’t trust the site with their card | 19% | Yes |
| Had to create an account | 18% | Yes |
| Too long or complicated checkout | 17% | Yes |
| Website had errors or crashed | 17% | Yes |
| Return policy wasn’t good enough | 13% | Yes |
| Couldn’t see the total cost up front | 12% | Yes |
The fixes that win back the most orders
- Show the full cost early. Shipping, taxes and the free-shipping threshold on the product page and in the cart, not on the last step.
- Say when it arrives. A delivery date or range near the button and in the cart.
- Offer guest checkout. Let people create an account after they pay, if they want to.
- Shorten the checkout. Baymard finds a checkout can work with as few as 12 form elements, while the average US checkout shows about 23. Remove every field you don’t need.
- Add express payment. Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal skip most of the typing on a phone.
- Build trust at the payment step. Clear return policy, recognizable payment logos, a secure-looking form and visible contact details.
- Test for errors. Go through your own checkout on a phone every month, with a real card and a discount code.
I go deeper on mobile in 8 fixes for mobile checkout.
What fixing it is worth
Baymard estimates that the average large online store could raise its conversion rate by 35% through checkout design improvements alone. Even a fraction of that is a lot of money. Put your own numbers into the CRO calculator to see what a 10% or 20% lift would add per year.
Want me to fix your checkout?
I review your cart and checkout, design the fixes and test them, so you know how many more orders they bring. See funnel and checkout design →
FAQ
What is a normal cart abandonment rate?
Baymard puts the average at about 70%. Mobile carts are abandoned more often than desktop ones.
Do abandoned cart emails solve the problem?
They help recover some orders, but they treat the symptom. Fixing surprise costs, forced accounts and long checkouts stops many people from leaving in the first place.
Should I offer free shipping?
Not always, but show shipping costs early and consider a free-shipping threshold. Surprise costs are the biggest fixable reason people abandon.
Sources
I’m George (Djordje) Peric, a CRO designer, CXL certified in Conversion Optimization and Ecommerce Marketing. I design websites, landing pages, funnels and ads, and A/B test them.