Cart abandonment

Cart abandonment occurs when a shopper adds an item to their online shopping cart, or selects a plan on a subscription signup page, but leaves the site without completing the purchase. It is measured as a rate: the share of started carts that never convert into a completed order.

Cart abandonment is one of the most closely watched metrics in ecommerce and online subscription signup because it sits at the last, highest-intent step of the buying journey. A shopper who abandons a cart has already shown enough interest to select a product or plan, which makes recovering that intent more valuable than trying to attract a brand-new visitor. For a subscription business, abandonment can happen either at plan selection or at the payment step of signup, and a checkout and billing platform such as Recurly can help reduce it through features like flexible payment options (cards, direct debits, and digital wallets), a quick-to-deploy and customizable checkout flow, and configuration settings that surface full pricing and recurring-charge details before purchase

Why cart abandonment matters for subscription businesses

Cart abandonment matters because every abandoned cart represents demand that was generated, often at real marketing cost, but never converted into revenue. Reducing the abandonment rate even modestly can have an outsized effect on revenue compared with generating the same amount of additional new traffic, because the shopper has already cleared the harder steps of discovering the product and deciding to buy. For subscription businesses, abandonment at signup is particularly costly because it does not just cost one sale, it costs every future renewal that customer would have generated. Understanding where in the flow shoppers abandon, whether at plan selection, account creation, or payment entry, helps a business target fixes at the specific point of friction rather than guessing.

How to reduce cart abandonment

• Show the full price, including tax, fees, and any renewal terms, as early in the flow as possible so shoppers are not surprised at the final step.

• Offer guest checkout or minimal account creation requirements rather than forcing a full registration before purchase.

• Reduce the number of checkout steps and form fields to the minimum needed to complete the transaction.

• Offer multiple payment methods so shoppers are not blocked by a lack of their preferred option.

• Send cart or checkout abandonment reminder emails or messages to shoppers who leave before completing the purchase.

• Use exit-intent messaging to catch a shopper's attention at the moment they are about to leave.

• Test and fix technical errors in the checkout flow, since failed submissions and broken forms are a direct cause of abandonment.

How to calculate cart abandonment rate

Cart abandonment rate = (1 - (Completed purchases / Carts created)) x 100

As a hypothetical illustration: imagine a subscription signup flow where 1,000 visitors start a cart or begin plan selection in a given month, and 260 of them complete the purchase or signup.

• Carts created: 1,000

• Completed purchases: 260

• Completed purchase rate: 260 / 1,000 = 0.26

• Cart abandonment rate: (1 - 0.26) x 100 = 74 percent

In this example, 74 percent of shoppers who started the process left without completing it, meaning 740 of the 1,000 started carts were abandoned.

Cart abandonment vs checkout abandonment

Cart abandonment is the broader term. It includes anyone who added an item or selected a plan and then left, whether or not they ever started the checkout process. Checkout abandonment is narrower and refers specifically to shoppers who began entering checkout details, such as shipping or payment information, but did not finish. The distinction matters for diagnosis: a high cart abandonment rate but a low checkout abandonment rate suggests the problem is earlier in the funnel, such as pricing surprise or hesitation before checkout even begins, while a high checkout abandonment rate points to friction inside the checkout flow itself, such as too many form fields, limited payment options, or a confusing final step.

Benefits and examples

• Recovering even a modest share of abandoned carts often costs less than acquiring an equivalent number of new visitors, since the shopper has already expressed intent.

• Reducing friction at checkout, such as showing full pricing earlier, tends to reduce abandonment across shopper segments, not just price-sensitive ones.

• Abandonment recovery messaging, whether email, SMS, or on-site reminders, gives a business a second chance to convert a shopper who was interested but did not finish.

• Tracking abandonment separately at each funnel step, cart, checkout start, and payment entry, helps identify exactly where to focus improvement efforts.

Common mistakes with cart abandonment

• Revealing shipping costs, fees, or taxes only at the final step of checkout, which creates a late, unpleasant surprise that drives shoppers away.

• Requiring full account creation before a shopper can complete a purchase.

• Making the checkout flow too long or asking for information that is not necessary to complete the transaction.

• Offering too few payment methods, which excludes shoppers who do not have or do not want to use the available options.

• Not sending any abandonment recovery messaging, which forfeits an inexpensive opportunity to recover lost sales.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between cart abandonment and checkout abandonment? Cart abandonment includes anyone who added an item or selected a plan and left, whether or not they started checkout. Checkout abandonment refers specifically to shoppers who began entering checkout details, such as payment or shipping information, but did not finish.

What causes most cart abandonment? Commonly cited causes include unexpected extra costs revealed late in checkout, a requirement to create an account, an overly long or complicated checkout process, limited payment method options, and technical errors during checkout.

How is cart abandonment rate calculated? It is calculated as one minus the ratio of completed purchases to carts created, expressed as a percentage: (1 minus (Completed purchases divided by Carts created)) multiplied by 100.

Can cart abandonment be recovered after a shopper leaves? Yes. Common recovery tactics include abandonment reminder emails or SMS messages, exit-intent popups shown before the shopper leaves, and simplifying the return path back into checkout.

Does cart abandonment apply to subscription signups, not just retail carts? Yes. A shopper can abandon a subscription signup at plan selection or at the payment step, and the same underlying causes and mitigation tactics apply, along with clearly disclosing renewal terms and price upfront.