You’ve been searching high and low for statistics on abandoned carts, but they’re just not that easy to find.
We get it—the world of eCommerce is constantly changing, and sometimes it feels like there’s no one out there who knows what they’re doing.
But before you throw in the towel and call it quits, take a look at our list of abandoned cart statistics. We’ve scoured the web to bring you the most up-to-date information on which channels are seeing the most abandoned carts, why they’re getting abandoned, and what percentage of shoppers who abandon their carts actually return to purchase later on in the process (spoiler alert: it’s more than you think!)
Abandoned Cart Statistics (Editor’s Choice)
How often have you added items to your digital cart and didn’t complete the purchase? And what is the reason for it? Unfortunately, you are not the only one with this habit.
Here are the most interesting statistics about the online shopping cart abandonment rate we discovered:
- The average global cart abandonment rate is 71.23%.
- 76.94% of carts are abandoned in the home and furniture sector.
- Only 50.71% of carts are abandoned in the consumer goods industry.
- Shopping cart abandonment lead to estimated losses of $4 trillion in 2021.
- Most abandoned carts (78.58%) happen from mobile devices.
- Spanish online shoppers have the highest online cart abandonment rate (86.15%).
- On average, US online shoppers buy less than 60% of the items added to their online carts.
- After abandoning their cart, a third of UK shoppers return to complete the purchase.
- The most common global reason (48%) for abandoned carts is unexpected fees.
So, how many of these numbers can you also see yourself in? Continue reading if you are curious to discover why and when online shoppers abandon their carts.
General Abandoned Cart Statistics
1. The average global cart abandonment rate is 71.23%.
Consumers have the habit of overfilling their online shopping carts and not buying the placed items. According to the Dynamic Yield data tracker, the average abandoned cart rate globally is 71.23%.
The latest figure from August 2022 sets the percentage at 73.89%, whereas in September 2021, it was 70.56%. Over the past months, the cart abandonment rate has been moving between 67.2% (Dec 2021) and 74.29% (Jul 2022).
(Dynamic Yield)
2. In 2021, $4 trillion in merchandise was expected to be abandoned in online shopping carts.
Many eCommerce businesses are struggling because of high shopping cart abandonment rates. According to Forrester research, all online stores experience a loss of $18 billion in yearly sales revenue.
That is not a number that can be easily ignored. It’s fair to mention that this report is from 2010. But things have only worsened ever since. In fact, cart abandonment losses were expected to reach $4 trillion in 2021.
Cart abandonment is becoming a severe problem, and its increase will only worsen.
(Forrester, Dynamic Yield)
3. In the past year, multi-brand retailers have seen the highest shopping cart abandonment rates—over 80 percent.
In May 2022, the multi-brand retail industry had the highest cart abandonment rate in the past year, reaching nearly 89% (88.98%).
We’re highlighting this industry because it has some vast variations when it comes to abandoned carts. In fact, its latest rate is only 63.83%, or 25.15% better than the one seen only a few months ago.
But how are all the other sectors doing? Well, let’s see the latest stats on cart abandonment rate by industry. The figures below are for the past year and are listed from best to worst.
| Category | Average Cart Abandonment Rate |
|---|---|
| Consumer goods | 47.74% |
| Food & beverage | 56.72% |
| Pet care & veterinary services | 60.05% |
| Beauty & personal care | 71.18% |
| Fashion, accessories, apparel | 74.71% |
| Home & Furniture | 76.94% |
| Luxury & jewelry | 77.09% |
| Multi-brand retail | 80.60% |
As you can see, the consumer goods sector performs the best regarding online shopping and conversions. It’s closely followed by the food and beverage industry.
All the other sectors have a cart abandonment rate of over 60%. The situation is the worst in the home and furniture sector, where more than three-fourths of carts are abandoned. That makes sense, though, as people prefer testing our furniture, which often leads to in-person purchases.
(Dynamic Yield)
4. The travel (87.08%) and automotive (85.97%) industries are not far behind.
With a little less than 89%, the travel industry, and the automotive industry also suffer from high cart abandonment rates.
When it comes to booking cart abandonment, the reasons are pretty obvious. Most people (39%) abandon their bookings because they are looking or want to do more research for their travel. The second most common reason for leaving their bookings is high prices (37%).
Other reasons for booking abandonment based on a SaleCycle study are:
- Need to check with other travelers – 21%
- Too long or complicated checkout process – 13%
- Technical issues or lost connection – 9%
- Payment issues or lack of payment options – 7%
The automotive industry is seeing a bit of an improvement compared to 2020, when we were mid-pandemic. From a 96.88% abandonment purchase rate, the percentage fell to 85.97% in 2022. However, this is still pretty high compared to other industries, such as consumer goods.
(SaleCycle, SaleCycle)
5. The worldwide pandemic unexpectedly positively affected cart abandonment rates.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the world and had many adverse effects on almost everyone. That said, the eCommerce industry thrived during the most challenging months. During the lockdowns, all cart abandonment rates dropped by 9 points in general, and some industries even saw the lowest numbers ever.
The travel industry was the only industry not affected by the pandemic, which stayed with high cart abandonment rates. That shouldn’t be a surprise since traveling was complicated during the lockdowns.
(SaleCycle)
6. Grocery product shopping had the most significant decrease in cart abandonment rate during COVID-19.
While almost all industries saw a drop in cart abandonment rate, the grocery shopping industry was the most affected. With a fall from 83.97% in 2020 to 61.13%, the grocery sector experienced a change of a staggering 22.84% in only a few months.
Interestingly, that number continues to drop while you are reading this. Even though 2022 has not ended, the grocery cart abandonment rates are already down by more than 11%.
(SaleCycle)
7. Most abandoned carts (78.58%) happen from mobile devices.
Mobile users abandon their online shopping carts the most, reaching 78.58% in August 2022. As a comparison, 65.84% of tablet users and 63.03% of desktop users abandoned their carts for the same period.
That can be easily explained by the fact that most internet users shop from desktops and laptops. On the other hand, mobile users are much more impulsive than tablet and desktop users.
As for the cart abandonment rates by device in the past year, let’s see their movement below:
- Desktop – from 56.25% (Dec, 2021) to 64.09% (Jan, 2022)
- Mobile – from 73.34% (Dec, 2021) to 79.04% (Jul, 2022)
- Tablet – from 56.56% (Dec, 2021) to 66.5% (Jul, 2022)
As you can see from the figures below, regardless of the device, card abandonment seems to be the lowest in December and the highest around July.
(Dynamic Yield)
8. Mobile sales are rising, but over half of online retailers are unprepared for it.
Mobile sales made up 56% of the global eCommerce revenue in 2021. Yet, more than half (54%) of online stores do not offer a mobile-friendly website. Furthermore, they neither support any consumer demands for mobile sales.
However, things are slowly changing. The same survey discovered that almost 25% of unprepared businesses are already taking steps to improve. As for those who are entirely ready, 37% of all online stores offer everything that a mobile user could need.
The takeaway here is that unless businesses prepare for mobile shopping, they will see their cart abandonment rates soar. Users want a smooth experience that leads them to purchase without any hassles. Every bump on their road will likely result in an abandoned cart.
(SaleCycle, Quiq)
9. Online shoppers make significantly larger purchases on desktops.
Not only do desktop users have lower cart abandonment rates, but they also tend to make larger purchases than mobile users. Based on the KPI Report from 2020, a desktop has a stronger positive correlation (0.65) with an average order value than a mobile.
This interesting stat tells us that while people prefer to browse products on their mobile phones, they still tend to complete their purchases on a desktop. That is even more true for a more significant purchase since the desktop version of the online store is much easier to navigate and feels safer for the consumers.
This discovery takes us back to the cart abandonment trend analyzed above that highlighted desktops as the favorite device for making online purchases.
(Wolfgang Digital)
10. The PayPal Verified seal is the most trusted security seal on the internet.
Security is a serious topic for all online shoppers. There are many ways to discover trustworthy websites, but there seems to be one universally accepted security seal for all age groups. That is the PayPal Verified seal.
While more people are familiar with the Visa-Mastercard seal, more consumers (25%) trust the PayPal seal. Statistics show that one in four consumers claims they have no security concerns when they see the PayPal seal.
While having more payment options will lead to a lower cart abandonment rate, having the PayPal Verified seal can lead to an even lower rate.
(CXL)
Cart Abandonment Trends Worldwide
11. The Asia-Pacific area has the highest cart abandonment, reaching 82.84%.
It seems that consumers in Asia-Pacific have the highest tendency to leave behind their online shopping carts full. With an average 81.66% cart abandonment rate, they have the most chances of not completing their online purchase. On the other hand, EMEA has the lowest cart abandonment rate, with 73.87%. The Americas are in the middle, reaching an average 72.64% cart abandonment rate.
All these figures apply to August 2022.
As for the data focused on the past 12 months, these are the minimum and maximum abandoned cart rates for each region.
- Americas – from 66.6% (Dec 2021) to 74.1% (Jul 2022)
- APAC – from 79.46% (Sept, 2021) to 83.01% (Jul, 2022)
- EMEA – from 66.34% (Dec, 2021) to 73.87% (Aug, 2022)
(Dynamic Yield)
12. Spanish online shoppers have the highest online cart abandonment rate (86.15%).
Not all consumers have the same habits, and location also plays a significant role in this tendency. Spanish consumers have the lead on the highest shopping cart abandonment rate. With an average of 86.15% of abandoned digital carts, they are way ahead of every other country.
But what about the country with the lowest cart abandonment rate? According to Barilliance data, The Netherlands has the slightest chance to abandon digital carts. The same research showed us that only 65.49% of consumers abandoned carts annually.
(Barilliance)
13. On average, US online shoppers buy less than 60% of the items added to their online carts.
Another exciting statistic discovered by Forter is that US consumers tend to buy only 58% of everything they add to their shopping carts. The average American leaves behind eleven digital carts every year.
Moreover, if the reason for abandoning the cart were a bad experience with the online store, 76% of them would never return to complete the purchase.
(Forter, OnePoll)
14. After abandoning their cart, a third of UK shoppers return to complete the purchase.
The UK’s cart abandonment rate continuously increases by a few percent per year. In 2020, barely 31% of UK consumers returned to the online store to complete their purchase. Moreover, the same data suggest that about 26% of UK consumers who abandoned their cart bought it from a different online store.
Additional data showed us that 23% did not make a purchase because they were not planning to buy, and 8% decided to visit a physical store to complete the purchase.
(Statista)
15. Women’s knitwear is the UK’s most abandoned item from a digital cart.
Online shoppers from the United Kingdom will likely leave women’s clothing in their digital cart. Almost 30% of the abandoned items in a shopping cart are women’s clothing. Other abandoned items include men’s clothing and entertainment items, with a 26% cart abandonment rate.
Here is the complete list of the top ten most often unpurchased items from an online store by UK online shoppers:
- Women’s knitwear
- Leather goods
- Women’s lingerie and hosiery
- Headphones
- Watches
- Women’s sportswear
- Women’s skirts
- Books
- Men’s trousers and jeans
- Women’s tops and shirts
(Barclaycard)
16. The highest online cart abandonment rates are in December.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that December is the month of cart abandonment, and November and January are also high on the list.
People tend to overfill their digital carts with all the holiday hype and discounted events such as Black Friday. Since more people are shopping, more carts are being automatically abandoned. On the other hand, consumers seem to love browsing Christmas ideas by making a list of potential presents in their carts.
Interestingly, women are more likely to abandon their shopping carts than men. Furthermore, millennial shoppers between the ages of 25 and 34 are more likely to leave their digital carts than any other age group.
(Barclaycard)
Reasons and Solutions for High Online Cart Abandonment Rates
17. The most common global reason (48%) for abandoned carts is unexpected fees.
According to Baymard’s research, the most often seen reason for abandoning online purchases is high unexpected costs. The unexpected costs include shipping, fees, and taxes. Almost half of all consumers left their cart after learning about these random fees.
Other common reasons include:
- Creating an account to purchase items – 24%
- Slow delivery – 22%
- Untrustworthy website – 18%
- Over complicated and lengthy checkout process – 17%
- Unable to see or calculate all costs before the purchase – 16%
- Website crashes and errors – 13%
- Unsatisfactory returns policy – 12%
- Unavailable payment methods 9%
- Declined credit card – 4%
(Baymard)
18. A staggering 90% of consumers abandon their carts on a slow website.
A survey of 1,100 consumers in 2020 discovered that almost all online shoppers would abandon their purchase without thinking twice if the website loads slowly.
When completing the purchase, it takes them about 22 seconds of waiting time to start second-guessing themselves and change their minds about the purchase. Of those, 57% will purchase from a competitor with faster loading times, while 41% will look for the products they need on Amazon. Lastly, 21% never return to the retailer after making a purchase elsewhere.
The report also included the mobile web load time for 80 retailers. According to the results, the fastest loading times were 2.2 seconds, while the slowest loading times were almost 44 seconds. On average, most of them load in about 7 seconds.
That said, similar research by Google discovered that 57% of online shoppers leave the website if it doesn’t load in 3 seconds. In other words, most websites fail to reach the loading times their consumers find acceptable and experience high shopping cart abandonment rates.
(RSR, Forter, Google)
19. Almost 60% of American online shoppers abandon their carts because they are not ready to buy.
US consumers love adding items to their online shopping carts while browsing. According to a 2022 Baymard study, 58.6% of American shoppers abandoned their carts because they were browsing while not ready to buy yet.
Meaning seeing someone abandon their cart doesn’t always mean a poor customer experience. Sometimes, people just like to browse and look for ideas without intending to complete a purchase.
(Baymard)
20. Almost 40% of mobile consumers abandon online purchases due to difficulty inputting personal information.
Every four of ten mobile users find it frustrating to deal with non-mobile-responsive website designs. If they experience issues filling in their personal information during the checkout process, the chances are that they will abandon their purchase.
Moreover, they will make the same purchase at a competitor with a mobile-responsive design for their online store.
(Loqate)
21. Half of American consumers will abandon their purchase if the checkout process is over 30 seconds.
Slow loading times are not the only cause of frustration for consumers. A lengthy checkout process also triggers them. Surveys have shown that if the checkout process lasts longer than 30 seconds, 50% of online shoppers will not proceed with their purchase.
Moreover, they will probably buy whatever they need at a competitor’s online store with a faster and simpler checkout process.
(Forter, OnePoll)
22. Optimizing the checkout process can reduce cart abandonment to 20%.
As we already mentioned, everything over 30 seconds is too long for your shoppers. According to the report, online shoppers are only willing to wait about nine seconds on average for the next page in the checkout to load, ten seconds to receive a text with a code, and another ten seconds for the website to verify their credit card.
They are also only willing to wait twelve seconds for an email confirmation and eleven seconds for a response from customer service chat considering their purchase.
Optimizing the checkout process to fit these numbers will lead to a much lower cart abandonment rate. In the best-case scenario, you can reach a 20% abandonment rate which is the most desired number in the retail industry.
(Forter, OnePoll)
23. About 75% of online shoppers dislike paying more than the product price.
We already established that unexpected fees, such as high shipping prices, lead to cart abandonment. Over two-thirds of online shoppers do not want to pay for shipping. Instead, they expect to pay for the product’s price and get free shipping.
That is a rapidly growing trend that causes a lot of cart abandonment. If another online retailer offers the same item with free shipping, then online shoppers won’t think twice about where to buy it.
(NRF)
24. Retargeting can lead to reducing cart abandonment rates by 6.5%.
It might not seem like much, but retargeting can do wonders for your eCommerce business. With a simple retargeting campaign, your cart abandonment rates can drop by 6.5%. Moreover, you can increase your online sales by almost 20%.
Similar research from Marketing Land shows that 75% of online shoppers notice retargeting ads. Of those, 26% will click on these ads and return to your online store.
(MotoCMS, Marketing Land)
25. Cart abandonment emails can lead to 11% of people completing online purchases.
Another way to lower cart abandonment emails is to optimize your cart recovery emails. If they are well-made, they can lead to an opening rate of 45% and a purchase completion rate of 11%.
The same research discovered that additional incentives with email could make a significant difference. Some of these incentives are free shipping or a gift.
(Moosend)
Conclusion
So there you have it: the latest statistics on abandoned carts.
But what do all of these cart abandonment stats mean? They’re just numbers, right? Well, no. The numbers are a reflection of your customers’ behavior and intention. The more you know about them, the better you can tailor your marketing strategy to meet their needs—and that’s what it’s all about.
We hope you enjoyed this blog post and found it useful. If so, please share it with your friends and colleagues! (and if not, we’d love to hear why!)
In the meantime, check out our other articles or reach out to us if you want to learn more about how we can help your marketing needs.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article—we know it was long!!
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