Common causes of cart-to-checkout abandonment: Fix These 7 Issues [2025]

Here are the most common reasons for the significant drop-off between cart additions and checkout initiation, along with strategies to address them:

Common causes of cart-to-checkout abandonment:

1. Unexpected costs
   • Customers often abandon when they see shipping costs, taxes, or duties for the first time at checkout
2. Complex checkout process
   • Too many form fields or steps can discourage completion
3. Security concerns
   • Lack of trust signals or security badges can make customers hesitant
4. Account creation requirements
   • Forcing customers to create an account before checkout
5. Limited payment options
   • Not offering preferred payment methods
6. Mobile experience issues
   • Poor mobile optimization can frustrate mobile shoppers
7. Slow loading times
   • Performance issues during the checkout process

Strategies to reduce this drop-off:

• Display shipping costs and total pricing earlier in the shopping experience
• Streamline your checkout process and minimize required fields
• Add security badges and trust signals throughout checkout
• Offer guest checkout options
• Provide multiple payment methods including popular options like Shop Pay, Apple Pay, or PayPal
• Optimize your checkout for mobile devices
• Set up abandoned checkout recovery emails to re-engage customers who started but didn't complete checkout