Why people leave
The Baymard Institute’s checkout research, which surveys real shoppers, lists the same causes again and again: extra costs that are too high or appear late, slow delivery, not trusting the site with card details, being forced to create an account, a long or confusing checkout and unsatisfactory returns terms. Extra costs come out on top by a clear margin. Slow pages on a phone make every one of them worse.
Store owners in Shopify communities describe the same pattern, which is that the traffic is fine and the drop happens between the cart and the payment.
Fix 1: show the full cost early
Surprise shipping and tax are the classic reason to abandon. Show delivery costs or a clear free-shipping threshold on the product and cart pages, so nothing new appears at the last step. State delivery times as plainly as costs, since slow delivery is the next most common reason people leave.
A free-shipping progress message in the cart also lifts order value, because shoppers add one more item to reach it. Paste this into your cart template or cart drawer snippet and set the threshold, which is in the smallest currency unit, so 7500 means 75.00.
{%- assign threshold = 7500 -%}
{%- assign remaining = threshold | minus: cart.total_price -%}
<p class="ship-bar">
{%- if remaining > 0 -%}
Add {{ remaining | money }} more for free shipping
{%- else -%}
You have free shipping
{%- endif -%}
</p>Fix 2: remove steps and fields
Allow guest checkout, and keep the form to what you truly need to deliver the order. Turn on the express payment buttons your customers already use, such as Shop Pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay, because they fill in the details for the customer.
Fix 3: answer doubts before they are asked
Put the returns policy, delivery times and a contact route where people can see them from the cart. Real reviews and a clear payment badge row do more than a slogan. Keep your policies in plain language.
Fix 4: follow up on the ones who left
Shopify can email shoppers who left with items in their checkout. In your admin, open Apps, then Messaging, then Automations, choose the abandoned checkout automation and edit its settings. Choose who to send to and how long after abandonment the email goes out.
A first message within a few hours that shows the items and makes returning easy is usually worth more than any discount. Save a code for a later message, or for a second attempt. For a longer sequence with reviews and product recommendations, use a dedicated email tool.
Then measure the change
Look at your checkout funnel in Shopify’s reports before you change anything, and again a few weeks later. Change one thing at a time so you know what worked. A store that loads quickly on mobile, as covered in the post on slow stores, gives every fix a head start.
Common questions
What is a normal cart abandonment rate?
Baymard’s collected studies put the average at roughly 70 percent, so most carts are never completed. Judge your own store against your past results, not against a single number.
How do I turn on abandoned cart emails in Shopify?
In your admin, go to Apps, then Messaging, then Automations, open the abandoned checkout automation and choose to send emails automatically, then set who receives them and how long to wait.
Should I put a discount in the first recovery email?
Usually not. Send a plain reminder first, since many shoppers only got distracted, and keep a discount for a later message so you do not train customers to abandon carts on purpose.
How soon should the first abandoned checkout email go out?
Within a few hours is a common starting point. Test a shorter and a longer delay and keep whichever brings back more completed orders.
Sources
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