What is a normal cart abandonment rate?

Baymard's average across 50 studies is about 70%. Comparing yourself with it says little; what matters is where in your checkout people stop, and why.

Do abandoned cart emails work?

They recover some sales, and nearly every store platform includes them. They do not fix the reason someone left, so we fix the checkout first and then measure reminders against a group that gets none.

How long before we know?

Measurement is usually in place within days. How quickly a change can be proven depends on how many people reach checkout each week.

Full carts, empty checkouts: finding out why

Shoppers add products and leave. A reminder email is the easy answer. Here is how to find the real reasons first, fix them, and only then recover what is left.

The problem

Plenty of visitors, plenty of full carts, not enough orders. The store already sends a reminder email, and it recovers a little.

What was really causing it

Reminder emails are built into every store platform, so they are not the gap. The gap is knowing why people leave: shipping that costs more than a small order is worth, no option to pick up in the shop, a payment that fails on mobile, a forced account, a slow page. Each cause needs a different fix, and an email fixes none of them.

Reminder emails are built into every store platform, so they are not the gap.

What the research says

70.22% average documented online cart abandonment rate, across 50 studies (Baymard Institute, Cart abandonment rate statistics)
40% of shoppers who abandoned left because extra costs (shipping, tax, fees) were too high (Baymard Institute, Cart abandonment rate statistics)
18% left because the site wanted them to create an account (Baymard Institute, Cart abandonment rate statistics)
17% left because checkout was too long or complicated (Baymard Institute, Cart abandonment rate statistics)

Most of these reasons are fixed in the store itself: showing the full cost early, letting people check out as a guest, offering pickup in the shop, and making sure payment works on a phone. A reminder email fixes none of them, which is why we read the checkout before the inbox.

What we built

We look at the checkout funnel step by step, on phones and desktops, and watch where people drop. Then we fix the biggest causes in the store itself, and set up recovery messages that match the reason, measured against a group that gets none.

Measured Every checkout step is tracked so drop-offs show up by device and by step.
Diagnosed The biggest causes are found and ranked, with evidence for each.
Fixed Checkout changes go live: clearer costs, guest checkout, local pickup, better payment options.
Recovered Reminders that fit the reason, measured against a control group.

What stays as it is

Your store platform and your email tool. We work inside them.

Where AI fits, and where it does not

Very little. AI can help group open-ended survey answers. The diagnosis is measurement, and the fixes are design.

What it is worth

What comes next

Post-purchase journeys that bring online shoppers into the shop and back again, and a weekly view of where sales leak.

Questions people ask

What is a normal cart abandonment rate?: Baymard's average across 50 studies is about 70%. Comparing yourself with it says little; what matters is where in your checkout people stop, and why.
Do abandoned cart emails work?: They recover some sales, and nearly every store platform includes them. They do not fix the reason someone left, so we fix the checkout first and then measure reminders against a group that gets none.
How long before we know?: Measurement is usually in place within days. How quickly a change can be proven depends on how many people reach checkout each week.

Cart abandonment rate statistics, Baymard Institute (2025)

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