Websites · Glossary
What is an abandoned cart?
An abandoned cart is a shopping cart or checkout that a visitor started but left without paying. Industry studies put average cart abandonment around seven in ten carts, mostly from people browsing, comparing prices or put off by surprise costs such as shipping. Stores reduce it with clear pricing and simple checkout, and some send reminder emails.
Most abandoned carts were never going to be sales: people save items, compare, or get distracted. The ones worth fixing are those lost to friction you can remove.
Nuwan Madhusanka · Co-founder
3 min read · Published
Cart versus checkout abandonment
Cart abandonment covers anyone who added items and left. Checkout abandonment is narrower: the buyer started paying, entered an email or reached the payment page, then stopped. Checkout abandonment is more actionable, because those buyers were close and often left over a specific problem.
Why people leave
Large surveys of shoppers point to extra costs such as shipping and taxes as the top reason, followed by being forced to create an account, a long or confusing checkout, not trusting the site with card details, slow delivery and unclear returns. Many simply were not ready to buy.
What small stores can do
State shipping costs and free shipping thresholds before checkout, allow guest checkout, use a trusted hosted payment page, show delivery times and returns plainly, and keep the cart short and fast on phones. These help every buyer, not just those who would have left.
Common mistakes
Revealing shipping only on the last step, requiring an account, sending aggressive reminder emails without consent, and treating every abandoned checkout as a lost sale, which leads to discounting for people who would have paid full price later.
Where it shows up in OneCraft
Checkouts that never pay expire, their stock holds are released after 35 minutes, and the orders are kept under the Abandoned view in the Orders screen, hidden from the main list, with the email the buyer typed. There are no automatic reminder emails. Shipping options and the free over amount show in the cart before checkout.
Questions people ask
What is a normal cart abandonment rate?
Published studies average around 70 percent across online stores, varying by industry and device, with phones higher than desktops. Compare your store with itself over time rather than chasing a benchmark, and focus on checkout abandonment, where buyers were closest to paying.
Should I email people who abandon their cart?
Only if you have their consent to email for that purpose and your privacy policy says so. A single helpful message, such as answering a question about delivery, works better than a series of discounts. Check spam laws in your country before sending automated reminders.
Does free shipping reduce abandonment?
It often helps, because unexpected shipping costs are the most cited reason for leaving. A free shipping threshold also encourages bigger orders. If free shipping is not affordable, show the exact rate early, on product pages or in a banner, so it is not a surprise at checkout.
Does guest checkout matter?
Yes. Being forced to create an account is a leading reason buyers abandon. Letting people pay with just an email and their card, then offering an account afterwards if you have one, removes that barrier for first time buyers in a hurry.
Can I see who abandoned their cart?
Many stores keep abandoned checkouts with the email the buyer entered. Use that information carefully and only within your privacy policy and the law. Patterns, such as many abandons at the shipping step, are often more useful than chasing individuals.
Make one with websites
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Create a website with OneCraftRelated questions
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- Stripe Checkout vs Payment LinksStripe Checkout vs Payment Links: a checkout page built per order by your site versus a reusable link made in the dashboard. Carts, stock and shipping compared.
- What is Stripe Connect?What is Stripe Connect? The Stripe product that lets a platform take payments for sellers into their own Stripe accounts. Connected accounts, fees and refunds.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .