If you’re seeing a disconnect between shopping cart fills and completed transactions, it’s time to tackle cart abandonment head-on. Let’s explore a few ways to influence customer decisions, reduce cart abandonment rates, and capture missed e-commerce sales.
Understanding shopping cart abandonment
The shopping cart is where browsing turns into buying, but too often, shoppers leave without completing their purchase. This is a very common challenge for online retailers. According Baymard, the average cart abandonment rate is a staggering 70%. That’s nearly three-quarters of online shoppers retreating at the final hurdle, contributing to an estimated $260 billion in lost sales annually.
Understanding why shoppers abandon their carts is key to winning back lost sales. Common reasons include unexpected shipping costs, forced account creation, and easier price comparisons with competitors. Addressing these underlying causes also helps nurture trust, which is crucial because nearly 9 in 10 customers remain loyal to brands they trust.
8 solutions to tackle abandoned carts
1. Streamline your checkout flow
The less friction your customers encounter, the better. A streamlined journey paves the way for a smoother conversion process, improves the online shopping experience, and nudges the average cart abandonment rate in a favorable direction.
Optimizing the checkout experience is key to removing friction from the buying process—especially for new customers encountering your brand for the first time.
Simplify user information entry
The last thing online shoppers want is a complicated checkout process.
Minimizing form fields to just the essentials—like shipping address and payment details—saves customers time and helps prevent errors that can lead to frustration. Tools like autofill and real-time validation make the checkout process faster and help shoppers move toward purchase.
Offering social sign-in options (like logging in via Facebook or Google) is another great way to streamline checkout and eliminate the need for manual data entry. And for shoppers who don’t want to create an account? A simple, straightforward guest checkout option clears the way for a hassle-free purchase.
Introduce progress indicators
A confusing checkout process can leave customers frustrated and more likely to abandon their cart. In fact, according to , 21% of cart abandonments were due to a checkout process that was “too long/complicated.”
Progress indicators—or progress bars—can help eliminate that frustration and confusion. They clearly show how far shoppers are in the process and what steps remain. They appeal to the idea of “endowed progress”—that people are more likely to complete a task if they are alerted of the progress (real or artificial) towards this task. It’s a simple way to keep them moving toward the finish line.
Optimize for mobile users
Many of today’s shoppers are mobile-first, and if the mobile experience falls short, cart abandonment quickly follows.
Tools like Fullstory give brands a clear view into how users behave on mobile, helping them pinpoint friction and create experiences that convert. Unlike outdated screenshot-based methods, Fullstory uses on-device to keep sensitive information secure while still offering rich behavioral analytics. It’s a smarter, safer way to understand mobile shoppers and improve checkout performance across every device.
→ Learn how to create a five-star app experience with Fullstory's mobile analytics tool.
2. Be transparent about pricing, shipping, and delivery expectations
One of the most off-putting moments for any shopper is the surprise of hidden costs.
Many potential transactions are lost when customers encounter high shipping costs or additional fees. Transparency is key to more conversions. From the outset, presenting a clear breakdown of costs, including taxes and shipping fees, can significantly diminish the shock and subsequent cart abandonment.
You can also build confidence and help prevent drop-offs by offering promotions like free shipping thresholds or limited-time discounts tied to cart totals.
3. Offer guest checkout options
A surprising number of shoppers abandon their carts when they’re forced to create an account. Offering a guest checkout option accelerates the purchase process and respects the privacy of customers who may be reluctant to share personal information.
Streamlining the process to include only the most crucial details enables retailers to cater to a broader audience and reduce cart abandonment rates.
4. Emphasize secure and diverse payment options
Payment should be the easiest part of the customer’s journey. Yet, many cart abandonments are attributed to a lack of diverse payment methods. Providing a range of secure payment solutions accommodates different preferences and sends a message of inclusivity and flexibility.
From digital wallets to traditional credit cards, the goal is to ensure customers can pay how they want, confidently and conveniently.
Highlight preferred payment methods
Offering flexible payment options can make or break a sale. When customers see their preferred payment method during checkout, they’re more likely to follow through. Offering a variety of options—like Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit cards, and even buy now, pay later—personalizes the experience, reduces friction, and helps prevent or reduce cart abandonment.
It’s a strategy that recognizes individuality and caters to it, thereby reducing the likelihood of cart abandonment.
Emphasize payment security
Customers need to know that their payment information is secure when making online purchases—if they don’t, they’ll leave. Security concerns are one of the biggest deal-breakers in ecommerce, so building trust at checkout is critical.
Reinforce your site’s credibility by:
Displaying security badges
Obtaining SSL certificates
Adhering to standards such as PCI DSS
Using secure payment gateways
Requiring credit card security codes
Clear messaging and calls to action during checkout can also reduce hesitation and guide shoppers through a safe, confident purchase. On the backend, businesses should avoid storing sensitive payment details and consider cyber liability insurance to stay protected. Together, these efforts create a safer shopping experience for both your customers and your business.
5. Build brand trust and credibility
Trust is the foundation of any enduring customer relationship, and in the digital marketplace, website credibility is the bedrock of trust.
Strategically placing trust badges, such as security measures or certifications, on key areas of a website—the homepage, product pages, and checkout page—can significantly boost a customer’s confidence in a brand. Likewise, displaying business verification badges like BBB accreditation can solidify a website’s reputation and convey legitimacy.
Some ways to create a safe and credible online space for customers include:
Using SSL certificates to encrypt communication and protect sensitive information
Adhering to PCI DSS standards to demonstrate a commitment to secure online shopping
Harnessing the power of social proof through customer reviews and testimonials to showcase the value of products and services
6. Combat window shopping with engagement strategies
While window shopping might not be a problem in physical stores, it can be a real challenge online. The key is turning casual browsers into buyers by keeping them engaged.
Exit-intent popups offering discounts, free shipping, or limited-time promo codes create urgency and can give hesitant browsers the nudge they need to complete a purchase. Offering recommendations tailored to the shopper’s interests, or free product trials and samples, can also provide that extra nudge towards a purchase decision.
7. Run retargeting campaigns
Retargeting strategies are an easy way to reconnect with shoppers who have abandoned their shopping carts. Email campaigns tailored to the contents of the abandoned cart, complete with eye-catching, high-quality product images and copy, can be very effective.
Research shows that sending a series of two or three emails can enhance engagement and reclaim lost sales, with such campaigns boasting an open rate exceeding 40%.
Retargeting isn’t confined to email alone; dynamic product ads on both web and social platforms can remind cart abandoners of the items they left behind, increasing the likelihood of purchase completion. With the phase-out of third-party cookies, marketers are turning to first-party data and segmentation to tailor their retargeting campaigns more effectively.
Additionally, SMS and MMS retargeting are popular and effective, thanks to their high open rates and real-time delivery.
The key is sending the right message at the right time—whether it's through email, social ads, or text—to remind shoppers what they left behind and why they wanted it in the first place.
8. Improve user experience
A seamless user experience (UX) is one of the best ways to reduce cart abandonment. Fixing common pain points—like clunky navigation, slow load times, or lack of incentives—creates a more enjoyable and efficient shopping journey.
Including product details and images on the checkout page of your ecommerce site can give customers the reassurance they need to complete their purchase. Offering features like a favorites list can prevent decision fatigue and aid in retention.
Analyze user behavior
User behavior offers invaluable insights that can transform the online shopping experience.
Analyzing the conversion funnel allows retailers to distinguish between casual browsers and serious buyers, pinpointing where and why potential customers drop off due to website friction. Session analysis tools like allow for a behind-the-scenes look at the customer journey, revealing pain points and areas for improvement that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Behavioral data provides a narrative of user interactions, preferences, and habits that are critical for personalizing marketing campaigns and optimizing the customer journey.
Using customer data, you can:
Customize your strategies to meet the unique needs and expectations of customers
Make website navigation adjustments
Enhance content
Resolve technical glitches that obstruct the user experience
A/B testing for checkout optimization
A/B testing is one of the most effective ways to optimize your checkout flow. By testing different versions of the experience, you can see what resonates with customers and what drives better conversion rates. It’s a smart, data-driven approach that goes beyond guesswork.
To get the most out of A/B testing, start with a clear, data-backed hypothesis—whether it’s based on user behavior, feedback, or trends. These tests make it easy to quickly try out big changes and see how they impact conversion rates and customer satisfaction. The insights you gain help fine-tune the checkout process, making it smoother, more effective, and less likely to result in cart abandonment.
Use AI to personalize and optimize buying experiences
From real-time personalization to predictive analytics, AI helps retailers deliver smarter, more relevant experiences that keep shoppers engaged.
AI-powered tools can:
Recommend products based on behavioral patterns and past interactions
Trigger automated emails or SMS when cart abandonment is likely
Personalize promotions based on user intent and purchase history
Analyze large-scale customer data to identify friction points in the checkout process
Predict when shoppers are likely to return and surface the right offers at the right time
Plus, AI can enhance testing and optimization, helping you not just run A/B tests, but prioritize which changes are likely to have the biggest impact, based on behavioral and segment data.
→ Learn how StoryAI helps brands like yours make smarter decisions and fix checkout flow issues faster.
Turn browsers into buyers
Reducing cart abandonment isn’t just about saving a sale—it’s about building a frictionless, trustworthy shopping experience that keeps both loyal and new customers coming back.
Streamlining the checkout experience, addressing high shipping costs, and offering promotions or discount codes all reduce friction in the buying process. Add mobile-first design, retargeting strategies that deliver the right message at the right time, and the smart use of customer data—and watch more browsers turn into loyal buyers.
Ready to learn how brands like yours use Fullstory’s behavioral insights to identify friction and fix key experience blockers that cost revenue? Download our Retail & Ecommerce Guide to Behavioral Data.
