Cart Abandonment Rate
Cart abandonment rate is the percentage of users who add products to a shopping cart but leave without completing the purchase.
In depth
Cart abandonment rate is calculated as one minus completed purchases divided by carts created, expressed as a percentage; if 1,000 carts produce 300 orders, the rate is 70%. Common drivers include unexpected shipping costs, forced account creation, a long checkout, and limited payment options. Because the metric reflects intent that stalled at the final step, even small reductions often translate directly into recovered revenue.
A frequent pitfall is chasing the headline number without segmenting by device, traffic source, or new versus returning buyers, which masks where the problem actually concentrates. While the term originates in e-commerce checkout, the same logic applies to any high-intent multi-step form: in a quiz-funnel and lead-qualification workflow, an analogous "form abandonment" occurs when a respondent finishes the quiz but bails at lead capture, and the same fixes, fewer fields, trust signals, and clear value, recover those leads.
Example in practice
Frequently asked questions
How is cart abandonment rate calculated?
Divide completed purchases by the number of carts created, subtract that from one, and multiply by 100. For example, 300 orders from 1,000 carts gives a 70% abandonment rate.
What is a normal cart abandonment rate?
Industry benchmarks commonly fall in the 60% to 80% range, varying widely by sector and device. Treat benchmarks as context rather than targets and focus on your own trend over time.
What are the fastest ways to reduce it?
Show total costs including shipping early, offer guest checkout, and add trusted payment options like wallets. Recovery emails and exit-intent offers can also win back a meaningful share of abandoned carts.