Top Reasons Why Shoppers Abandon Their Carts [Infographic]

As part of developing our own abandoned cart email program, I’ve been researching examples from other retailers — looking both at the copy of the emails and their overall design.

This work has also led me to further review the causes of shopping cart abandonment and how I can reduce it on my own sites. I thought this infographic from Milo provides a good overview of the root causes:

Click to view a larger version of the infographic.

Key Facts and Takeaways

67% of shopping carts are abandoned right before the transaction is completed.

Why shoppers abandon their carts:

• 57% = Window shopping / not ready to purchase


• 56% = Saving items for later


• 55% = Shipping cost was too much


• 51% = Cart did not qualify for free shipping


• 40% = Shipping costs were listed too late

Lack of or long delivery times caused shoppers to abandon their carts:

• 38% = 8 days or more


• 24% = No delivery date


• 16% = 6-7 days


• 15% = 4-5 days


• 8% = 3 days or less

Options that encourage shoppers to check out:

• 73% = Free shipping


• 60% = Estimated or guaranteed shipping date


• 56% = Variety of payment options


• 50% = Ability to save purchasing preferences


• 47% = View order history


• 38% = Expedited shipping options


• 32% = Other product recommendations

Top Reasons Why Shoppers Abandon Their Carts [Infographic]