Why shoppers abandon their online carts

There aren’t many things e-commerce retailers hate more than abandoned carts. It’s the part of the transaction that’s most critical and can often most clearly illuminate how consumers feel about the product and/or shopping process.

A YouGov survey commissioned by commercetools found that high shipping costs was the most common reason (19.6%) that shoppers abandoned their carts, but that was closely followed by attempting to find a better deal somewhere else (19.5%).

• At a time when consumers are very conscious about their wallets, 14.9% said they would wait to see if a product went on sale.
• The survey found that 21.5% of high earners—households making $80,000 or more a year—said they look for the best price available, while lower-income households that earn below $40,000 said they wait for a product to eventually be discounted (17.7%).

On a generational breakdown, those aged 55 and above (24%) were more likely to cite shipping costs as the reason to bail on purchases, as opposed to Gen Zers, who said they were looking for a bargain elsewhere (21%).

But the good news for e-commerce brands is that shoppers don’t necessarily need to see a product IRL before making a purchase: 92% of respondents did not mention needing to see a product in-person before following through on a transaction as a reason for abandoning their cart.

“Consumers have more options than they ever did before and you can bet that they will take advantage of that,” Jen Jones, chief marketing officer for commercetools, said in a statement. “The retailers that do well this holiday season will be the ones that don’t solely focus on discounts, but also the experience. That means confidence in data privacy, how discounts and loyalty benefits are communicated and marketed, price matching, shipping options, etc.”