Top eight reasons for cart abandonment in the UK (and how best to avoid losing those shoppers)

A shocking number of online shoppers don’t follow through on a purchase. Each abandoned sale is lost revenue for your business. 

Studies suggest about 70% of browsers don’t buy what they’ve put in their basket.  

It’s what’s known in the trade as cart abandonment. Unlike a bricks and mortar business, you can’t use charm to get the sale over the line. Those shoppers are likely spending their money elsewhere. So what can you do? 

We questioned more than 2,000 adults in an online survey in the UK to find out the most common reasons people pull out of a sale.

“It’s all about removing friction,” says James King, Head of Professional Services Europe. “Remove every barrier possible between the customer and the checkout so it’s as easy as possible to pay.

“Some pain points are necessary – like fraud checks – but removing obstacles to paying can only improve your customers’ experience and drive up sales.” 

Some of these barriers are more obvious than others but we’re here to guide you through to a better world.

1 - Expensive delivery

Delivery has to be paid for but costly couriers are the top reason Irish shoppers pull out of a purchase. A huge 71% said it’s likely to prevent them from checking out. 

You can reduce the cost of delivery by keeping your stock close to where most of your customers are based – but that’s not really an option for smaller businesses and gets complicated if you’ve got a sizeable overseas market.

Consider including delivery charges in the price of your item or offering free delivery when shoppers spend over a certain amount. 

But be clear from the outset what, if anything, shoppers will be expected to pay. Don’t spring the cost of delivery on them at the last moment.

It’s worth noting that, not only is expensive delivery the number one reason for cart abandonment, but our research also shows reliable delivery and free returns are the two top reasons people return to shop at your store.

2 - Security concerns

Number two on our list of reasons to abandon an online shop, is security with 40% of people surveyed saying this was a reason to abandon a shop. If you’re with a reliable payment gateway like Elavon, you will have a secure, encrypted checkout process, protecting both your business and your customer.  

Keep on the right side of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (which at Elavon we can help you with), make sure you have 3-DS features as standard, and keep your hardware and software systems up to date to avoid data breaches.

A decent payments provider will keep the transaction side of things safe and secure. If you’re an Elavon customer, you can make the most of some of our award-winning security products. 

But don’t neglect your website’s security. Get an SSL certificate which will give you an https address and display a little padlock in your customer’s browser. This gives them the confidence that the data they share with you – browsing history, credit card details, passwords etc –  is private. 

Interestingly, our survey also revealed that the older a shopper is, the more they worry about a website’s security. About 32% of under 24s cite it as a reason to abandon a shop which rises to 48% of the over 65s.  

If this is your customer base, consider taking extra steps to reassure them. Get customer testimonials, or subscribe to a review site such as Trustpilot or Google Reviews.

3 – Having to create an account 

It’s incredibly frustrating to get to the point you want to pay and find you’ve got to create an account. And for almost a third (30%) of shoppers it’s enough to make them abandon their shop.

It’s been improved in recent years with browsers offering autofill– though you need to enable that function on your site. 

You can simplify the process further by offering guest check out, saving the bother of creating an account altogether. 

Alternatively, you can let shoppers use their social media, Google or Apple accounts to sign in. 

If you need your customers to create an account, consider an incentive, such as a discount, and point out it saves time in the future.

4 – Preferred payment option unavailable  

More than a quarter (27%) shoppers say this frustration stops them from checking out. It’s all down to picking the right gateway provider. You’ll be familiar with the usual card brands – Visa and Mastercard – but make sure you can accept digital wallets such as ApplePay, Google Pay and Paypal. 

Think about where your customers are based, particularly if you have a global presence. If you have lots of American shoppers , you’ll want to accept the likes of Discover and Amex. East Asian customers may have JCB or China UnionPay cards.  

The bigger the range of paying options, the happier your customers will be. Talk to your provider to find out more.

5  - Not enough delivery options available 

A quarter (25%) of online shoppers said this was reason to abandon a shop and really emphasises what we’ve already said about having a good, reliable delivery scheme.

Don’t neglect your delivery partnership and you’re keeping a quarter of your customers happy.

6 – No option to pay in home currency

Here we see international customers abandoning a purchase because a website is forcing them to pay in a foreign currency.  

It’s an easy fix and with 17% of shoppers saying it’s a reason they abandon a shop, it’s worth doing. With Multi-Currency Conversion your site can display prices in over 100 currencies so customers know exactly how much they will be paying.

There’s no nasty surprises when they reach the end of the process and they don’t have to spend ages working out how much they will be paying. Or more likely, going and buying it from someone who accepts their currency. 

Interestingly, the higher social grades of AB and C1 - those in professional occupations, admin, supervisory and managerial roles -  are even more unlikely to complete their purchase if they can’t pay in their home currency.

If you’re offering a higher end product, you could be missing out on 20% of purchases because you don’t have other currencies enabled.

7 – Forgetting account details

More than one in ten (12%) of consumers say this has prevented them from checking out. If you require your customers to create an account this is always a potential problem. 

To avoid it, consider what we talked about above.

8 – Having to enter card details 

The days of having to manually enter the long card number into a website are mostly behind us. But if 8% of consumers say it’s a reason they abandon an online shop, it’s worth making sure they don’t have to. 

If you haven’t already read point three above, now’s a good time to revisit the ideas we explored earlier. 

As we’ve already said, reducing cart abandonment is about reducing friction. Be up front and transparent with costs, establish a secure, trusted business and ensure your deliveries are fairly priced and reliable. 

If there’s anything you want help with or wish to discuss further, talk to us.

Source: Yonder conducted an online sample of 2,108 adults 18+ in the UK in May 2024. Data is weighted to be representative of the population of the UK. Targets for quotas and weights are taken from the PAMCO survey, a random probability survey conducted annually with 35,000 adults. Yonder is a founding member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

Question: When shopping online, what of the following, if any, are likely to stop you from completing check out?