IntelliPay is a PCI DSS Level 1 payment processor that helps merchants build checkout experiences that convert. This guide looks at why shoppers abandon carts and what actually moves the needle at checkout. Learn more about IntelliPay's payment solutions.
By Dale Erling, IntelliPay | Payment technology and government payment systems | Updated September 2026
Quick Read
The average online cart abandonment rate has held around 70 percent for years. Some shoppers were never ready to buy, but many abandonments are tied to checkout friction merchants can actually address.
- Unexpected costs at checkout, shipping, tax, and fees added late, are the single most commonly cited reason shoppers abandon a purchase.
- Forced account creation, a checkout that feels too long, and not trusting the site with card information all show up consistently as major drop-off points.
- Mobile checkout abandonment runs meaningfully higher than desktop, so a checkout that works fine on a laptop can still be losing you sales on a phone.
- None of the fixes require rebuilding your store from scratch. Most are checkout configuration and pricing transparency, not a redesign.
Here's a number worth sitting with: the average online shopping cart gets abandoned around 70 percent of the time, according to the Baymard Institute's ongoing aggregation of checkout research, roughly 50 studies collected over nearly two decades. That figure hasn't moved much despite years of better technology, which tells you something important. This isn't primarily a technology problem. It's a checkout design and trust problem, and both of those are fixable.
Why carts actually get abandoned
Baymard's shopper survey asked U.S. consumers why they had abandoned a checkout, and the answers are consistent with what most merchants already suspect, just with numbers attached. Extra costs that appear too late, shipping, tax, or fees, topped the list at 40 percent among shoppers who were not simply browsing. Delivery speed came next at 20 percent. Nineteen percent said they did not trust the site with their card information, 18 percent cited required account creation, and 17 percent said the checkout process was too long or complicated. Returns policy, site errors, difficulty seeing the total cost up front, declined cards, and a lack of payment methods also appeared as meaningful reasons.
What jumps out is how few of these are actually about the product or the price. Most are about the experience of paying, and that's the part a merchant has direct control over.
What actually moves the needle
Show the real total early. Given that extra costs are the single biggest cited reason for abandonment, this is the highest-leverage fix on the list. Display shipping, tax, and any fees as early in the flow as you reasonably can, not as a surprise on the final screen.
Make account creation optional. Required account creation remains a meaningful source of abandonment. Offer a real guest checkout path, and let shoppers create an account after payment if they want one.
Cut steps and fields. Every additional screen or form field is another chance for someone to reconsider or get frustrated. Autofill, address lookup, and saved payment methods all reduce the friction that turns a quick purchase into an abandoned one.
Treat mobile as the primary experience, not an afterthought. Mobile abandonment is commonly higher than desktop, although the exact gap varies by industry, device, and how it's measured. A checkout that's merely functional on a phone, rather than genuinely designed for one, can create unnecessary friction. Use thumb-friendly buttons, minimize typing, support autofill, and consider wallet options such as Apple Pay or Google Pay where they fit your audience.
Make trust visible, not just present. Security matters, but shoppers also look for signals that the business itself is legitimate: a recognizable domain, clear contact information, transparent policies, a stable checkout, and familiar payment options. A clear privacy policy and accessible support can help. If you use security messaging, make sure it's accurate and tied to real payment security practices rather than generic badge clutter.
Offer the payment methods your customers are likely to use. A payment method mismatch can create friction, particularly when shoppers expect a wallet option on mobile or when larger, recurring, B2B, or government payments make ACH a practical choice. Start with your own customer base and transaction type rather than adding every possible payment method.
Handle declines like a normal part of the flow, not a dead end. A declined card doesn't have to mean a lost sale. Give shoppers clear next steps: try another payment method, check billing details, or contact their bank. Keep them in the checkout flow rather than leaving them with a vague error message.
Actually watch your own numbers. Analytics will show you where people drop off. They won't tell you why. Talking to real customers, or watching a handful of actual people attempt your checkout, tends to surface friction points that a funnel report alone never will.
Frequently asked questions
Why do customers abandon their carts at checkout?
Most commonly, surprise costs revealed late in the process, being forced to create an account, not trusting the site with card information, and a checkout that feels too long or complicated. Mobile-specific friction and a lack of preferred payment options are common contributors too.
How do I improve checkout security, or at least the perception of it?
Maintain your actual PCI DSS compliance behind the scenes, and make that security visible on the page itself, security badges, a clear and findable privacy policy, and accessible support. A secure checkout that doesn't look secure to a shopper still loses sales to trust concerns.
Is it worth offering ACH or digital wallets alongside cards?
For a lot of merchants, yes, particularly for larger or recurring transactions where customers often have a strong existing preference. A checkout that only supports one payment type will lose some share of shoppers to that mismatch, though the exact impact depends on your customer base and average order size.
How do I know if my checkout process actually needs work?
Look at your abandonment rate against the general benchmark of around 70 percent, but don't stop there. Analytics will show you where people drop off in the funnel. Talking to actual customers, or watching real people attempt your checkout, will tell you why, which is usually the more useful half of the picture.
What's the fastest way to see improvement?
Showing your full price earlier in the flow and adding a real guest checkout option tend to be the two highest-leverage, lowest-effort changes, since they directly address the two most commonly cited reasons for abandonment. Results will vary by store, but these are the places most merchants should look first.
The bottom line
Not every abandoned cart was a sale waiting to happen, but checkout friction can turn ready-to-buy shoppers into lost orders.
Show total costs early, make account creation optional, design mobile checkout as the primary experience rather than an afterthought, and offer the payment methods your customers actually want to use.
To talk through your current checkout setup, visit IntelliPay.
Sources and further reading
- Baymard Institute, Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics, based on its ongoing aggregation of 49 cart abandonment studies.
- Baymard Institute, How to Reduce Cart Abandonment, including shopper-reported reasons for checkout abandonment and checkout UX guidance.
Disclaimer: This content is for general informational purposes only and reflects general checkout optimization practices and third-party research as of the date of publication. Results from any specific change to a checkout flow vary by business, industry, customer base, and implementation, and are not guaranteed. This is not legal, financial, or compliance advice. Consult your payment processor and a qualified advisor to confirm current standards applicable to your business.
