Shopping Cart Abandonment Statistics (What’s The Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate?)
Do you want to discover the latest shopping cart abandonment statistics?
There’s no secret that shopping cart abandonment is a serious issue for online retailers.
Why? Because the cart abandonment rate is nearly 80% (!). That’s potential customers leaving items in their carts without completing the purchase.
All this translates into huge losses in revenue and decreased customer satisfaction.
But you can recover the cart abandonment with a clever strategy (discussed below) – and bring all those losses back + more.
But first, learn about the shopping cart abandonment rates in different sectors, reasons for cart abandonment, and more.
This post covers:
- What’s The Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate?
- Reasons For Shopping Cart Abandonment Statistics
- Cart Abandonment Recovery Statistics
- Lost Revenue Due To Cart Abandonment
- Other Interesting Shopping Cart Abandonment Statistics
Shopping Cart Abandonment Statistics (Our Top Picks)
- 78.1% was the average shopping cart abandonment rate in 2022
- If it takes 3 seconds to load, 57% will abandon a site
- Nearly 50% say the number one reason for cart abandonment is the extra cost
- Over 58% of US online shoppers abandoned their cart because “they were just browsing”
- 1/3 of customers abandon carts because of forgotten password
- 3 emails after the cart abandonment generate the most revenue
- 77% of recovered abandoned carts happen within the 1st hour of receiving the notification
- There’s $4 trillion worth of products in abandoned carts
- Desktop has the lowest shopping cart abandonment rate
What’s The Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate?
1. 78.1% was the average shopping cart abandonment rate in 2022
According to a Statista report, the average shopping cart abandonment rate across eighteen industries is 78.1%.
The highest abandonment rate experience industries like cruise and ferry, mobile providers, airline, luxury and fashion. And the lowest rate have consumer electronics and groceries.
Industry | Shopping cart abandonment rate |
Cruise and ferry | 98% |
Mobile providers | 90.76% |
Airline | 90% |
Luxury | 87.93% |
Fashion | 87.79% |
Automotive | 85.97% |
Baby and child | 84.86% |
Travel | 82% |
Car rental | 82% |
Hotel | 80% |
Gardening and DIY | 79.23% |
Department store | 76.63% |
Retail | 71.24% |
Sports and outdoor | 70.3% |
Cosmetics | 70.11% |
Pharmaceutical | 70.06% |
Consumer electronics | 50.03% |
Groceries | 50.03% |
Source: Statista
2. Worldwide shopping cart abandonment rate over the years
Ever since 2006, the shopping cart abandonment rate has been increasing, showing that online retailers find it harder to convert website visitors into customers now than they did in the past.
There was a significant spike in shopping cart abandonment in 2012, at nearly 72%. Even though it dropped in 2013 and 2014, it then started to pick up slowly.
Year | Average shopping cart abandonment rate |
2021 | 69.82% |
2020 | 69.8% |
2019 | 69.57% |
2017 | 69.23% |
2016 | 68.63% |
2015 | 68.53% |
2014 | 68.07% |
Source: Statista
3. The US experienced more than 3/4 of non-completed orders in Q4 2022
In the last quarter of 2022, more than three-quarters of potential online shoppers abandoned their carts, leaving the retailer’s website with an incomplete order.
Moreover, when it comes to device usage, 84% of cart abandonment was by shoppers using mobile devices.
Source: Statista
4. 91% of Canadian mobile online shoppers abandon their shopping carts
In the first quarter of 2023, more than 90% of Canadian mobile online shoppers abandoned their carts, which is 7% more compared to the abandonment cart rate amongst desktop users.
Fun fact: The main reason Canadians stop buying from a brand is dissatisfaction with the product quality. (Some other reasons are high prices, poor shipping/delivery experiences and poor customer service.)
Source: Statista
5. UK’s mobile shopping abandonment rate is higher than desktop
According to statistically significant data, we can see a similar pattern across all countries – mobile users are likelier to abandon their carts than desktop users.
In the UK, around 80% of mobile online shoppers in the Q4 2022 abandoned their shopping carts, whereas approximately 70% of desktop users did.
Source: Statista
6. Regional average shopping cart abandonment rate
The three regions with the highest average shopping cart abandonment rate in 2022 were the Caribbean, Middle East and Arab States. Asia and Pacific ranked the lowest.
Region | Online shopping cart abandonment rate |
Caribbean | 92.18% |
Middle East | 88.1% |
Arab States | 87.88% |
Africa | 85.15% |
Latin America | 83.43% |
Europe | 79.28% |
North America | 79.14% |
Asia and Pacific | 76.32% |
Source: Statista
7. More mobile users abandon their shopping carts compared to desktop on Black Friday
On 2022 Black Friday, over 80% of mobile online shoppers abandoned their shopping carts, compared to 74% of desktop users.
Source: Black Friday
Reasons For Shopping Cart Abandonment Statistics
8. Nearly 50% say the number one reason for cart abandonment is the extra cost
A 2022 Baymard Institute research found that extra costs are the number one reason for abandonment during checkout.
48% of US respondents reported they don’t like the high cost of shipping, additional fees and tax, so they leave the website without completing the purchase.
Many merchants try to trick visitors with lower initial item prices but end up charging all these extras or too high handling prices that don’t make sense. Don’t be those guys!
Source: Baymard Institute
9. Other reasons why online shoppers in the US ditch their shopping carts
Besides the too-high extra costs, there are many other reasons that cause shoppers to abandon their carts and leave without a purchase.
Reasons for shopping cart abandonment | Share of respondents |
The site wanted me to create an account | 24% |
Delivery was too slow | 22% |
I didn’t trust the site with my credit cart | 18% |
Complicated checkout process | 17% |
Couldn’t calculate total order cost up-front | 16% |
Website errors | 13% |
Return policy wasn’t satisfactory | 12% |
The return policy wasn’t satisfactory | 9% |
Declined credit cart | 4% |
Friendly tip: Baymard’s testing shows that the ideal checkout should include 12-14 form elements.
Source: Baymard Institute
10. Over 58% of US online shoppers abandoned their cart because “they were just browsing”
58.6% of US online shoppers leave the website without a purchase (they don’t even get to the checkout process) because they are just browsing or not ready to buy yet. We could call these “digital window shoppers.”
Source: Baymard Institute
11. Globally, high delivery costs and long waiting times are the main reasons for cart abandonment
In a 2022 survey, half of the respondents said the main reason for abandoning their shopping cart was the expensive delivery costs. I’m one of those, too! But only because the shipping costs are sometimes absurd (according to today’s standards).
Besides the high delivery price, 42% said that the reason for their abandonment was due to long shipping time.
Source: Statista
12. French people also don’t like expensive delivery fees
Whether looking globally or regionally, the main reason for shopping cart abandonment is the same – high shipping costs.
Almost three-quarters of French online shoppers reported this as the main reason for abandoning their carts, followed by 49% who said estimated delivery times are too long.
Source: Statista
13. One-third of customers abandon carts because of forgotten password
It turns out that millions are lost for one simple reason: Customers forget their account passwords, so they abandon their carts because they cannot confirm the order. Hey, we’ve all been there.
You may also be interested in our extensive password statistics.
Source: SecurityBrief
Cart Abandonment Recovery Statistics
14. Three emails after the cart abandonment generate the most revenue
With millions of emails, Klaviyo found that cart abandonment email campaigns with multiple emails outperform single email campaigns. Even though the open rate is much higher on the first email, the most revenue is generated after three sent emails.
Single email campaigns generated $3.8 million, and three-email campaigns $24.9 million – now that’s a massive difference. As a reference, two-email campaigns generated $16.4 million.
In short, avoid sending only one or above five emails – but thoroughly test sending two or three emails to maximize revenue.
Source: Klaviyo
15. Coupon codes and discounts work really well in cart abandonment emails
While notifying the customers about their abandoned cart with a simple email can do you well; include a coupon, and they’ll convert even likelier. Klaviyo’s data shows that emails with a coupon code had an average open rate of 44% and a click-through rate of nearly 11%.
One of the best discount types is to offer free shipping; the second and third are dollar-based and percentage-based discounts.
Source: Klaviyo
16. Cart abandonment emails have a 60%+ open rate and 14.5% click-through rate
According to Klaviyo, the first email the potential customer receives after they abandon their shopping cart has a whopping 63% open rate. However, SaleCycle reports that the cart abandonment emails have an open rate of almost 40%. In either case, the rate is high, showing that the notification we receive is important to us.
Moreover, Klaviyo reports a slightly lower click-through rate of the first email sent, at 14.%%, while SaleCycle says it’s 23.3%.
Source: Klaviyo, SaleCycle
17. Retargeting can reduce cart abandonment by 6.5%
When running a business, every percent counts. And one of the ways to reduce the massive percentage of abandoned shopping carts is by using retargeting campaigns. This type of ads follow the user, showing them the products they recently viewed or added to the shopping cart.
MotoCMS says retargeting ads can reduce cart abandonment by 6.5% and improve online sales by nearly 20%.
Remember, three in four notice retargeting ads, and 26% of them will click on the ad and return to your website (maybe, they will complete the purchase this time).
Speaking of ads, check the latest advertising statistics and find how many ads we see daily.
18. 77% of recovered abandoned carts happen within the first hour of receiving the notification
While this isn’t the global average stat, it’s a report from White River’s Shopify data. They found that nearly 80% of people who received an abandonment email converted within the first hour. Between the first and sixth hour, only 1.7% converted, but the rate slightly improved between hours six and 24, to 2.1%.
When looking at the bigger picture (thirty days), the majority (almost 81%) of people convert within day one.
Source: Tresl
Lost Revenue Due To Cart Abandonment
19. There’s $4 trillion worth of products in abandoned carts
When users leave an eCommerce website with products in their shopping carts, it means lost business for the company. Have you ever asked yourself what the total worth of abandoned products around the globe is?
They account for a whopping $4 trillion yearly. That’s leaving money on the table if you’re not doing anything about it (like sending abandonment emails).
If you take your abandoned carts lightly, I’m sure this number will make you want to start taking them more seriously.
Source: Dynamic Yield
20. There’s $260 billion recoverable revenue (after optimizing checkout processes)
Poor checkout design (possibly highly complicated) causes people to drop off early without completing the order. And just by improving the checkout process (which could mean simplifying it) can increase conversion rates by more than 35%.
When looking at the total US and EU sales, this translates into approximately $260 billion of recoverable business.
Source: Baymard Institute
21. 1/4 of online shoppers who abandoned their cart go shop elsewhere
In the United Kingdom, roughly 1/4 of online shoppers who abandon their shopping carts visit competitors’ websites to purchase the same item.
This shows how important having an abandonment email campaign set up is, sending users a notification shortly after they leave your website, reminding them to complete the purchase. If you don’t have it, that might mean a potential customer is lost forever.
Source: Statista
Other Interesting Shopping Cart Abandonment Statistics
22. Desktop has the lowest shopping cart abandonment rate
Because the experience is still the best on desktop devices (thanks to larger screens!), the shopping cart abandonment rate is the lowest – but it’s not low. And on mobile, the rate is approximately 12% higher and on tablet is somewhere in between.
Device | Shopping cart abandonment rate |
Desktop | 73% |
Tablet | 80% |
Mobile | 86% |
Source: Brilliance
23. Users agest between 25 and 34 are most likely to abandon their carts
Surprisingly, the older the users, the less likely they will abandon their shopping carts. At the rate of 21%, users aged between 25 and 34 are the ones who are abandoning their shopping carts the most. Age groups 35-44 and 45-54 are second and third, at 20% and 13%.
Source: Contentsquare
24. Clothing is the most common abandoned item category
According to the Contentsquare survey, 40% said clothing is the most common abandoned item category, followed by tech products (18%) and homeware (16%).
Barclaycard research shows that UK consumers abandon women’s clothing items the most (29%). Men’s clothing and entertainment items are both second most common at 26%.
Source: Contentsquare, Barclaycard
25. December is the month with the most cart abandonment
Many people shop online during the winter holiday season, so it makes sense that the shopping cart abandonment rate is the highest during December. The two other months with high rates are November and January.
Source: Barclaycard
26. If it takes 3 seconds to load, 57% will abandon a site
While this doesn’t relate exclusively to shopping carts but to websites as a whole, it’s important to mention that speed matters.
If users need to wait more than three seconds for a website to load, 57% will abandon the site. What’s even worse, 80% of them will never return. Yikes!
Remember not to forget to check our must-see site speed stats.
Source: HubSpot
Conclusion
Understanding the impact of cart abandonment on online retailers shouldn’t be skipped because you might be leaving a lot of money on the table. As we revealed, abandonment emails can recover many of potentially lost sales and build (back) relationships.
But these shopping cart abandonment statistics also listed its main reasons (why people leave without completing the purchase?), which you should be well aware of.
Retailers can increase the chances of customers completing their purchases by implementing strategies such as optimizing the checkout process (keep it simple!), offering incentives and sending targeted follow-up abandonment emails (including free shipping, coupons, etc.).
An eCommerce business must track its shopping cart abandonment rates and continually test and improve the strategies to provide the best customer experience (don’t miss our customer experience statistics).
Reduce cart abandonment to increase revenue – GO!
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