Abandoned carts: why shoppers don’t finish checkout and what actually works (WooCommerce and Shopify)
Why shoppers abandon carts on WooCommerce and Shopify: surprise costs, forced sign-up, long checkout, errors. A self-check and the fixes that work.
Short answer: shoppers most often abandon carts because of unexpected costs at the last step, forced account creation, a long checkout, distrust of the payment page and site errors. Start with a test order on your phone as a new customer and a funnel in Google Analytics 4 that shows the step where people leave. Fix whatever drives away the most people first.
An abandoned cart is a person who already chose a product and nearly paid. Winning a new visitor costs more than keeping one who already reached the cart. According to Baymard Institute, the average documented online cart abandonment rate is about 70%. Some of those shoppers were only comparing prices and will not come back. The rest leave because of problems you can fix.
Why shoppers don’t finish checkout
In Baymard’s research, the leading checkout-related reasons are:
- Extra costs: shipping, fees and taxes that appear only at the last step.
- Slow delivery or unclear delivery dates.
- Distrust of handing card details to the site.
- Forced account creation.
- A long or complicated checkout.
- Site errors: something did not load, a button did not respond, payment hung.
Every market adds its own friction: a missing local payment method, no pick-up point or locker option where customers expect one, a phone field that rejects numbers in the “wrong” format, or a total that changes when the country is selected.
Check it yourself: a 15-minute test order
- On your phone, open the store in a private tab over mobile data, as a first-time customer.
- Find a product from an ad or search and add it to the cart. Can you see shipping cost and delivery time on the product page?
- Go to checkout. Count the fields. Does the store force you to register?
- Choose delivery. Is it easy to enter your address or pick a locker or pick-up point?
- Does the total match what you expected from the product page?
- Which payment methods are available, and are they the ones your customers actually use?
- Complete payment (in test mode, or buy something cheap and refund it). Did a confirmation arrive?
- Repeat on another browser and on a desktop. Write down everything that annoyed you.
At the same time, in GA4 go to Explore and create a funnel exploration with view_item, add_to_cart, begin_checkout, add_payment_info and purchase. The step with the biggest drop is your first candidate. If those events are missing or the numbers look odd, fix the analytics first; our tracking guide explains how to make GA4, ad platforms and your store agree.
Cause, how to spot it, what to do
| Cause | How to spot it | WooCommerce | Shopify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surprise shipping cost | Drop between begin_checkout and add_payment_info | Shipping cost and dates on the product page; free-shipping threshold | The same; review shipping zones and rates |
| Forced registration | Test order | Allow orders without an account in the accounts settings | Guest checkout (customer accounts optional) |
| Too many fields | Test order, session recordings | Remove unneeded fields (company, address line 2 where not needed) | Checkout field settings; deeper changes depend on your plan or a custom checkout |
| Awkward delivery | Support questions, drop at the shipping step | A shipping plugin with address lookup or pick-up point search | A shipping app, or a custom checkout with locker selection |
| Too few payment methods | Drop at the payment step | Add the gateways your market expects | Payment providers available in your country; express checkout buttons |
| Distrust | High cart exit on a new store | Reviews, contact details and returns policy next to the pay button | The same; product reviews with a rating |
| Errors and slowness | Browser console, logs, complaints | Caching, plugin conflict checks, optimising cart fragments AJAX | Audit apps and theme; remove unneeded scripts |
How much are you losing?
To decide whether fixing checkout is worth it, run the numbers for last month:
- Take the number of sessions with a
begin_checkoutevent and the number of purchases. - The difference is the people who reached checkout and did not buy.
- Multiply it by your average order value. That is the upper bound of money left on the table at the last step.
- Realistically you will recover only part of it. Even a small share of that sum often exceeds the cost of a checkout audit.
Run it separately for mobile and desktop. If phones reach payment much less often, the problem is almost certainly the mobile checkout.
What actually works
1. No surprises in the total
Show shipping cost and delivery dates on the product page and in the cart. If there is a free-shipping threshold, show how much is left to reach it. Shoppers who see the final amount early are less likely to leave at the last step.
2. Guest checkout and the fewest possible fields
Ask only for what you need to deliver and get paid. Everything else is up for debate. Offer account creation after the purchase, in one click.
3. Delivery and payment your customers expect
Use the payment methods and delivery options that are normal in your market: cards and wallets, local gateways, pick-up points or lockers where they are common. One-click purchase for returning customers shortens the path further.
4. Trust on the payment page
Contact details, a returns policy, real reviews with a rating, payment method logos and a secure connection. No fake “only 2 left” counters; shoppers see through them.
5. Abandoned checkout reminders
If the shopper left an email or phone number, a reminder an hour or two later and again the next day recovers some orders. Shopify includes abandoned checkout emails; WooCommerce needs a plugin or a CRM. Use discount codes in reminders carefully: shoppers quickly learn to abandon carts to get a discount.
Note the difference: an abandoned cart means the shopper added a product and left, while an abandoned checkout means they started entering details. You can only remind someone who left contact details, so put the email or phone field first in checkout.
6. A fast, stable cart
The cart and checkout are the most important pages in the store, and they often carry the most scripts. How to measure and speed them up is covered in slow websites and Core Web Vitals.
7. Answers at the moment of purchase
Some shoppers stall on a single question: will the size fit, when will it arrive, can I return it. A messenger button or live chat on the cart and checkout pages, with fast replies, keeps those people from leaving. Just make sure the chat does not cover the pay button on mobile or slow the page down.
From our own work
A Ukrainian supplements brand sells on Shopify, but the standard checkout did not cover what its market needed: choosing a Nova Poshta branch or parcel locker, paying through the local WayForPay gateway and passing orders to KeyCRM. We built a custom checkout on a separate serverless back end. Customers pick a locker and pay online in a few taps without calling a manager, and each order lands in the CRM, the team’s Telegram and email automatically. We also added one-click purchase, promo codes through a pop-up, a free gift with orders and reviews with an overall rating.
In the building materials store on WooCommerce, Nova Poshta branch selection is built into checkout, and the catalogue syncs from the accounting system without manual entry, so shoppers see current stock and prices.
When to bring in a specialist
- GA4 has no e-commerce events, or order counts do not match the store admin;
- the funnel shows a big drop and the test order does not explain it;
- you need a delivery or payment option the platform’s standard checkout does not offer;
- the cart or checkout is slow or throws errors;
- you are planning to move from one platform to another.
More on the problem is on the cart abandonment page. If few visitors reach the cart in the first place, the issue sits earlier in the funnel: see why your website isn’t bringing in customers. Choosing or switching platforms? Read Shopify vs WooCommerce first. Start with a technical store audit (from €300) and end-to-end analytics (from €500) so you can see exactly where shoppers drop off. If you need a rebuilt checkout or a new store, see online stores on WooCommerce or Shopify (from €2,000). Send us your store URL and we will suggest where to start.
FAQ
What cart abandonment rate is normal?
Baymard Institute puts the average documented cart abandonment rate at about 70%. Some shoppers are only comparing prices, so zero is impossible. What matters is your own trend and the step where people drop off.
How do I see which checkout step shoppers abandon?
In Google Analytics 4, build a funnel exploration with view_item, add_to_cart, begin_checkout, add_payment_info and purchase. The biggest drop between steps is your first candidate. The events must be set up correctly.
Do abandoned cart emails work?
Yes, when the shopper left an email address or phone number. Shopify has abandoned checkout emails built in; WooCommerce needs a plugin or a CRM. A reminder does not replace fixing whatever made the shopper leave.
Should customers have to create an account to order?
No. Forced account creation is one of the common reasons for abandoned carts. Allow guest checkout and offer an account after the purchase.
How much does it cost to tackle cart abandonment?
A technical store audit starts at €300 and end-to-end analytics with e-commerce events at €500. If you need a new store or a rebuilt checkout, that starts at €2,000.