If you have spent any time trying to improve your conversion rates, you have almost certainly come across the term cart abandonment. But cart abandonment vs checkout abandonment is a distinction most guides skip over, and getting it wrong means applying the wrong fix in the wrong place.
We work with sellers of digital products, event tickets, and subscriptions every day, and we understand checkout abandonment closely. The causes are specific; they differ from what drives cart abandonment, and so are the solutions.
Here is what each term means, why the distinction matters, and how to reduce both.
Quick summary |
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Cart abandonment and checkout abandonment are often treated as the same thing, but they happen at different stages of the buying journey. |
Cart abandonment is when a shopper adds items but never starts checkout. Checkout abandonment is when a buyer begins entering their details but does not complete payment. |
The distinction matters because intent is different at each stage. Cart behaviour can be casual. Starting checkout is a deliberate step. That difference determines both the cause of drop-off and the fixes that will actually work. Applying checkout optimisation to a cart problem misses the root cause. |
Checkout abandonment is lower in volume but much higher in intent. Someone who has started entering their name and email is far closer to buying than someone who added a product to a cart days earlier. |
It is also worth noting that not every business has a cart. For sellers of digital products, subscriptions, or events, users often go straight to checkout. In these cases, all abandonment happens during checkout, even if the term “cart abandonment” is still used loosely. |
What is cart abandonment?
Cart abandonment is when a shopper adds products to their cart but leaves the site without starting the checkout process. They browsed, showed enough interest to collect items, but never reached the payment stage.
This is the earlier of the two abandonment events. Because more people reach the cart stage than the checkout stage, cart abandonment rates are almost always higher than checkout abandonment rates.
How to calculate cart abandonment rate
Cart Abandonment Rate is calculated as:
Abandoned carts are divided by the total number of carts created.
Example:
- Total carts: 100
- Completed purchases: 30
- Abandoned carts: 70
Cart abandonment rate = 70 divided by 100 = 70%
This gives you a high-level view of how many users fail to progress from browsing to initiating a purchase.
What is checkout abandonment?
The simplest way to think about the difference between checkout abandonment and cart abandonment is intent.
Cart behaviour can be exploratory. Checkout behaviour is deliberate.
A user might add five items to a cart while comparing options across multiple tabs. That same user starting checkout is making a decision to buy, at least in that moment.
This difference in intent drives three important consequences.
First: the causes of abandonment are different. Early-stage drop-off is often about uncertainty or distraction. Late-stage drop-off is about friction or barriers.
Second: the value of recovery is different. Recovering a checkout abandonment is significantly more likely to result in revenue than recovering a cart that was never going to convert in the first place.
Third: the tactics that work are different. What nudges a browser will not necessarily convince someone who has already tried to pay.
Cart abandonment vs checkout abandonment: key differences
Use this table to understand how the two types of abandonment differ across the dimensions that matter most for recovery and prevention.
Factor | Cart abandonment | Checkout abandonment |
|---|---|---|
Stage in the journey | Before checkout begins, after adding to cart | After checkout starts, before payment completes |
Buyer intent signal | Moderate: product interest shown, not yet commitment | High: buyer has started providing personal or payment details |
Typical abandonment rate | 70-80% across most ecommerce sectors | 20-50% of those who start checkout |
Primary causes | Unexpected costs, browsing behaviour, no urgency, forced account creation | Long forms, payment friction, security concerns, surprise fees at payment |
Recovery approach | Retargeting ads, cart reminder emails if email was captured earlier | Automated checkout recovery emails triggered by entered email address |
Applies to sellers without a cart? | No: if there is no shopping cart stage, this type of abandonment does not occur | Yes: any seller taking payment online can experience checkout abandonment |
Impact per recovered sale | Moderate, depending on cart value and time since abandonment | High: the buyer was seconds away from completing payment |
The core distinction is intent. A cart can be filled on a whim; starting checkout is a deliberate act. That difference determines which recovery tactics are worth prior
Why the distinction matters
The reason this distinction matters is that the causes of each are different; therefore, the fixes are different as well. Applying checkout optimisation tactics to a cart problem will not move the needle.
Retargeting someone who abandoned during payment with a generic ad is far less effective than a direct recovery email triggered by their half-completed checkout.
The other reason is measurement. If you conflate the two in your analytics, you end up with a blended number that makes it hard to tell where buyers are actually dropping off. Separating them gives you two distinct conversion problems to diagnose and solve.
What causes cart abandonment?
Understanding why cart abandonment happens helps you address it at the right point in the journey.
1. Unexpected costs
Shipping fees, taxes, or handling charges that appear for the first time at the cart stage are one of the most consistently cited reasons for abandonment. The buyer evaluated the product at its listed price; the total cost at checkout changes that calculation. Surfacing the full cost earlier, on the product page or through a shipping calculator, removes the surprise.
2. Browsing behaviour rather than buying intent
Many shoppers use the cart as a wishlist or comparison tool. They add items to remember them, to see the total, or to compare across multiple sites. There was never a strong intention to buy in that session. This type of abandonment is harder to address with a single fix; it is a pattern built into how people shop online.
3. Forced account creation
Requiring buyers to register before they can see cart totals or proceed to checkout creates friction at exactly the wrong moment. Buyers who were ready to pay are suddenly asked to do administrative work first. Offering guest checkout as the default, with account creation as an optional step after purchase, consistently improves this.
4. Site performance and trust signals
Slow page loads, visual bugs, or a checkout interface that looks outdated can create enough doubt to send buyers elsewhere. At the cart stage, a buyer who is not yet fully committed will find reasons to leave. Speed and design are part of the trust signal.
5. No urgency
Carts can sit for days. Without any nudge to complete the purchase, a buyer who was warm at the moment of adding often goes cold by the time they come back. Limited-time offers, low-stock signals, or simple reminder emails can help here, though they should be used proportionally.
What causes checkout abandonment?
Checkout abandonment occurs later in the journey, and the causes reflect the proximity to payment.
1. Long or complicated forms
Every additional field adds friction. If buyers are asked for information that seems unnecessary for what they are buying, they will either question the process or give up. For digital product sellers, requesting a physical address when there is nothing to ship is a common misstep. Shorter forms perform better; collect only what you genuinely need.
2. Payment method limitations
A buyer who does not see their preferred payment method at checkout, whether that is Apple Pay, a specific card type, or a Buy Now Pay Later option, will frequently abandon rather than use an alternative they are less comfortable with. Offering multiple payment methods at checkout is one of the simplest ways to reduce checkout abandonment.
3. Mandatory account creation at checkout
Like at the cart stage, requiring registration just before payment is a known conversion killer. Guest checkout as the default, with the option to save details after purchase, removes this barrier without losing the ability to capture customer information.
4. Unexpected charges at checkout
Similar to cart-stage surprises, but more damaging here because the buyer was actively completing a transaction. A fee that appears for the first time at the payment step feels like a last-minute ambush, even if it is technically disclosed elsewhere. Transparency earlier in the funnel prevents this.
5. Security concerns
An unfamiliar checkout interface, missing trust signals, or a URL that does not look right can be enough to stop a buyer who was ready to pay. Research by Baymard Institute found that 25% of checkout abandoners cited security concerns as a factor. For more on how to address this, see the secure checkout guide.
6. Technical errors and declined cards
An error at the payment step is especially costly because the buyer was ready to complete the purchase. Card declines, timeout errors, or confusing error messages with no clear path to resolution all contribute to abandonment that did not need to happen. Real-time field validation catches problems earlier and keeps the process moving.
How to reduce abandonment for carts and checkouts
As we’ve seen, cart and checkout abandonment don’t happen for the same reasons, and fixing them requires different approaches. The table below breaks down the most effective tactics at each stage, along with why they work and where they have the biggest impact.
Tactics for reducing cart abandonment
Tactic | What to do | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
Show full cost early | Display shipping, taxes, or use a calculator on the product page | Prevents surprise costs that cause drop-off at cart |
Guest checkout | Allow purchases without forcing account creation | Reduces friction for first-time buyers |
Exit-intent prompts | Show offers when users are about to leave | Recovers abandoning users without needing email capture |
Save carts | Keep items stored for returning visitors | Makes it easy for users to resume purchase later |
Specific retargeting | Show ads with exact abandoned products | More relevant ads increase return and conversion rates |
Tactics for reducing checkout abandonment
Tactic | What to do | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
Short checkout | Remove unnecessary fields | Less friction = higher completion rates |
Multiple payment methods | Offer cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, BNPL & manual payments | Meets buyer preferences and speeds up checkout |
Trust signals | Show SSL, payment logos, refund policy | Reduces security concerns at critical moment |
Simple flow | Use single-page or minimal steps | Fewer steps reduce drop-off points |
Mobile optimisation | Ensure fast, easy mobile experience | Captures growing mobile buyer segment |
Real-time validation | Show errors as users type | Prevents frustration and form abandonment |
For a comprehensive list of tactics, see 10 proven ways to prevent checkout
How to recover abandoned checkouts
Prevention reduces abandonment, and effective recovery addresses what gets through the net anyway. For checkout abandonment, recovery is unusually effective because the buyer was already very close to completing the purchase.
Automated checkout recovery emails
When a buyer enters their email address during checkout but does not complete the purchase, that email becomes the basis for a recovery sequence.
A simple sequence often performs well:
- First email within one hour
- Second email after 24 hours
- Final email after 72 hours
Across many sellers, these sequences can recover 10% or more of abandoned checkouts.
The first email tends to carry the most weight. Later emails capture users who were interrupted or needed more time.
What to include in a recovery email
Effective recovery emails are simple and direct. They should include:
- A reminder of what was left behind
- A clear link back to checkout
- A straightforward call to action
Incentives can be used selectively, usually in later emails. They are not always necessary and can reduce margins if overused.
The tone should be helpful rather than urgent. Many users abandon for practical reasons rather than because they rejected the purchase.
Recovering cart abandonment
Cart recovery is a less precise art, especially if you do not have the user’s email.
In these cases, your main tools are:
- Retargeting ads
- Dynamic product reminders
- Exit-intent prompts
These approaches are broader and less reliable than checkout recovery, but they can still bring users back, particularly if they had a genuine interest.
Tracking abandonment properly
To act effectively, you need to measure cart and checkout abandonment separately.
Before doing that, it is worth clarifying something that is often assumed but not always true: not every buying journey includes both a cart and a checkout in the same way.
Some businesses have a traditional flow:
- Product page
- Cart
- Checkout
- Purchase
Others skip the cart entirely and send users straight to checkout, especially for single-product offers, services, or payment links.
In those cases, cart abandonment is not a meaningful metric, as all drop-offs occur during checkout.
This distinction matters because it changes what you should measure and optimise.
Measuring the full funnel (when you have both cart and checkout)
In Google Analytics 4, you can use funnel exploration to map a typical ecommerce journey:
- Product view
- Add to cart
- Start checkout
- Purchase
From this, you can derive:
- Cart abandonment rate
- Checkout abandonment rate
- Recovery rate
- Drop-off points within checkout
This gives you a clear view of where users lose momentum, from initial interest through to payment.
Measuring checkout-only flows
If your setup sends users directly to checkout, your funnel is simpler:
- Landing or product page
- Start checkout
- Purchase
In this case, your focus should be on:
- Checkout abandonment rate
- Step-by-step drop-off within checkout
- Payment completion rate
There is no cart-stage problem to solve, so the optimisation effort should be entirely focused on reducing friction during checkout.
Conclusion
Cart abandonment and checkout abandonment are two distinct problems that occur at different stages. Mixing them up leads to applying the wrong fix in the wrong place.
For most sellers of digital products, subscriptions, and services, checkout abandonment is the more pressing issue. There is no cart stage. Buyers either make it through your checkout or they do not.
The good news: the causes are well understood. A form that asks for too much. A missing payment method. A buyer who needed five more minutes. These are all fixable.
Checkout abandonment is recoverable.
The buyers who get that far are your highest-intent customers. They found you, they liked what they saw, and they started typing. Most of the fixes are more straightforward than you'd think: a shorter form, better payment options, visible trust signals, and an automated recovery email for anyone who drops off after entering their details.
If you want a checkout that handles all of that out of the box, that is exactly what Checkout Page does.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between cart abandonment and checkout abandonment?
Cart abandonment happens when a shopper adds items to a cart but leaves before starting the checkout process. Checkout abandonment occurs when a buyer starts the checkout process (entering name, email, or payment details) but does not complete the purchase. The key difference is intent: checkout abandonment occurs closer to payment, making it easier to recover and more commercially significant per incident.
Which has a higher rate: cart abandonment or checkout abandonment?
Cart abandonment rates are almost always higher, typically in the 70-80% range across ecommerce. Checkout abandonment rates are lower, usually 20-50%, because fewer people reach checkout than fill a cart. The buyers who do reach checkout have shown stronger intent, which is why checkout recovery campaigns tend to outperform cart-stage retargeting in conversion rate.
Do I have a shopping cart if I sell digital products?
Not necessarily. Many digital product sellers send buyers directly to a checkout page, with no cart stage. In this model, every abandonment is technically a checkout abandonment. The term “cart abandonment” is still used in this context because it is widely understood, but the mechanics differ from those of a traditional ecommerce shopping cart. For a full breakdown of when each applies, see the guide to shopping cart vs checkout page.
How do you calculate checkout abandonment rate?
Checkout abandonment rate = 1 minus (number of completed purchases divided by number of checkout sessions started). If 500 people started your checkout and 350 completed it, your checkout abandonment rate is 30%. Tracking this accurately requires analytics that record both checkout initiations and completions as distinct events.
What is a good email checkout abandonment recovery rate?
A well-configured recovery email sequence, with a first email sent within an hour of abandonment, typically converts at 10% or higher. This makes checkout recovery one of the highest-ROI automations available, since the audience consists of buyers who were close to completing a purchase. Recovery rates of 15-20% or more are achievable with personalised content and strong email copy.
