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Abandoned Cart Defined

An abandoned cart occurs when an eCommerce shopper adds products to their cart but does not complete their purchase.

Customers abandon their carts for a variety of reasons, many of which are simply due to natural shopping habits. It is in every business’s best interest to track their abandoned cart rate and leverage multichannel messaging to re-engage these customers, as they have demonstrated a high purchase intent.

Abandoned carts are effectively money left on the table. Between the US and the EU, there is $260 billion worth of lost orders. These orders are completely recoverable through the right checkout flow and purposeful follow-up marketing.

How to Use it in a Sentence

Abandoned carts are largely unavoidable, however when addressed with an improved checkout design, the average e-commerce site can see up to a 35.26% increase in conversion rate.

Common Abandoned Cart FAQs

The average online shopping cart abandonment rate currently sits at (an astounding) 69.99%.

Some cart abandonments are completely natural and to be expected with any business. For example, many online shoppers use their cart as a wishlist or temporary holding place for items they are interested in but not ready to buy.

Below are the top reasons users abandon their carts.

  • 48% Extra costs too high (such as shipping or fees)

  • 24% Unwanted prompts for account creation

  • 22% Delivery was too slow

  • 18% Untrustworthy business in regard to credit card information

  • 17% Checkout process was too long or complicated

  • 16% Could not see or calculate total order cost up-front

  • 13% Website errors or crashing

  • 12% Returns policy wasn't satisfactory

  • 9% Not enough payment methods

  • 4% Declined credit card

Keep in mind, the majority of these reasons are resolvable by making changes to your checkout process and leveraging re-engagement messages.

First, understand your audience. Do your users prefer a conversational tone or a more professional approach? Is your brand known for quick-witted copy or a transactional voice? Before writing your first subject line or notification title, make sure you’re framing your reminder in a way that is consistent with your brand identity. Regardless, cart abandonment messaging should be friendly in nature and not come off as aggressive or spammy.

Time your notifications or emails carefully. Cart abandonment reminders are often more effective while the user’s shopping experience is still fresh in their mind. Automate your abandoned cart notifications to be sent out within a few hours of the abandoned cart and make sure you have a follow-up message automated for the next day, should the first prove ineffective.

Make sure your notification uses personalized information like the shopper’s name, number of items in their cart, and even which specific items they left in their cart. Create a sense of urgency by reminding shoppers exactly what they might miss out on.

To read more about email segmentation strategies that target high conversion potential audiences, explore the OneSignal Email Optimization Guide.