Abandoned cart

What is an abandoned cart?

An abandoned cart happens when a customer adds items to their online shopping cart but leaves the site without completing the purchase. It’s one of the most common issues in ecommerce and can significantly impact a store’s revenue.

Why do customers abandon carts?

Customers abandon carts for all sorts of reasons. High shipping costs, unexpected fees, slow-loading pages, confusing checkout steps, or even just getting distracted can all lead to abandonment. In fact, studies show that the average ecommerce cart abandonment rate is over 65%. And that’s a lot of missed sales.

How can you recover an abandoned cart?

Ecommerce companies frequently utilize abandoned cart recovery techniques, such as the ones below –

• sending a personalized email that includes the items they left behind and a direct link to their cart for easy checkout.
• Create urgency with a small incentive like 10% off or free shipping if they complete the purchase within a specific time frame.
• Just before they leave, trigger a popup offering a deal or asking for their email. This gives you a second chance to engage before they’re gone.
• Remove unnecessary steps, allow guest checkout, and clearly display trust signals to make completing the purchase fast and stress-free.

Example of an abandoned cart in action

Let’s say Emma is shopping for a subscription box and adds it to her cart. Before she checks out, her dog knocks over her coffee and she forgets about the cart. This is an abandoned cart.

A day later, she gets an email, ‘Still thinking it’s over? Here’s 10% off to complete your order!’

That email brings her back to finish the purchase. Now, that’s a classic abandoned cart recovery action.

Driftcharge Tip

Set up your abandoned cart emails early. Keep them friendly, personalize the message, and don’t be afraid to test incentives.

Ganesh Pawar

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Ganesh Pawar is the founder of Driftcharge, a subscription management app designed to help Shopify merchants streamline and scale their subscription businesses. With a deep focus on solving real-world pain points—like legacy account page support, flexible subscription options, and advanced analytics—Ganesh is passionate about building tools that drive growth and retention.