Cart abandonment rate

What is the cart abandonment rate?

Cart abandonment rate measures the percentage of online shoppers who add products to their cart but leave the site without completing the purchase. It’s a key metric for ecommerce businesses that reflects lost sales opportunities.

How to calculate cart abandonment rate

Cart Abandonment Rate = (1 – (Completed Orders ÷ Carts Created)) × 100

For example, if 100 people add items to their carts but only 30 complete checkout, your cart abandonment rate is 70%.

Why does cart abandonment rate matter?

A high cart abandonment rate often points to friction in the buying process, unexpected shipping costs, complex checkouts, or a lack of trust. Tracking this rate helps you identify where users drop off so you can improve conversions and recover potential revenue.

How to improve cart abandonment rate?

Here are a few proven strategies to lower your cart abandonment rate:

• Simplify your checkout process (fewer steps, guest checkout)
• Be transparent with shipping and taxes
• Offer cart recovery emails or SMS reminders
• Add trust signals like secure checkout badges and customer reviews
• Provide live chat or support options during checkout

Example of cart abandonment rate in action

A Shopify store has 500 carts created in a week and 200 successful checkouts. Their cart abandonment rate is 60%. By optimizing the checkout and sending recovery emails, they could reduce that number and boost revenue.

Driftcharge Tip

Use automated cart recovery tools like emails or SMS reminders to re-engage shoppers who leave without purchasing. Test different checkout flows, messaging, and timing to see what drives the highest recovery rates.

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.