Getting a shopper to add a product to their cart takes work. They've found your store, looked through your products and chosen something they want. When they leave without buying, it's frustrating to lose the sale so close to the finish.
Cart abandonment is common, but understanding how your store compares can help you work out where there's room to improve. The numbers also give you a clearer picture of why people leave and what might bring them back.
Below, we'll look at the average cart abandonment rate, how it varies by device and industry, and what the research tells us about reducing it.
What's the average cart abandonment rate?
Most online shopping carts never become orders. According to Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate is 70.22%, based on 50 studies. In other words, roughly seven out of ten carts are left behind without a purchase.
Dynamic Yield's ecommerce benchmark puts the figure higher, at 77.55%. The average varies depending on the businesses included, but both sources show how often shoppers get partway through a purchase and leave.
For your store, these figures provide a useful starting point. A closer comparison comes from looking at the products you sell, the customers you attract and how they shop.
Cart abandonment by device, region and industry
A customer reordering a familiar product on their laptop has a different shopping journey from someone discovering your brand on their phone. Breaking down the average helps you see where those differences show up.
Mobile shoppers abandon more carts
In Dynamic Yield's data, mobile has the highest abandonment rate, with almost eight in ten carts left without a purchase.
| Device | Cart abandonment rate |
|---|---|
| Mobile | 79.84% |
| Tablet | 72.67% |
| Desktop | 69.48% |
That gap makes mobile checkout worth a close look. Small form fields, awkward payment steps and interruptions can all make buying on a phone harder. If your own numbers show a similar pattern, try completing an order on the devices your customers use and see where the experience gets difficult.
Rates also vary between regions
Shipping costs, delivery times and payment preferences can change considerably between markets. Dynamic Yield reports the following regional rates:
| Region | Cart abandonment rate |
|---|---|
| Asia-Pacific | 81.53% |
| Europe, Middle East and Africa | 79.09% |
| Americas | 74.50% |
For a store selling internationally, this is a reason to look beyond the overall average. Your checkout may work well for local shoppers while customers overseas encounter expensive shipping or find they can't use their preferred payment method.
Product category makes a difference
Dynamic Yield's industry figures range from 50.89% for pet care and veterinary services to 79.94% for beauty and personal care.
The type of purchase matters when you're comparing your store with others. Replenishing something a customer already uses is a different decision from trying an unfamiliar product, choosing a gift or comparing several brands.
Source for these breakdowns: Dynamic Yield's rolling 12-month benchmarks.
Why do shoppers abandon their carts?
Some shoppers add products to their cart while they're still deciding. Baymard's research found that 42% of US online shoppers had abandoned a cart because they were browsing or weren't ready to buy.
Other customers want to purchase but encounter something that puts them off. Additional costs stand out in Baymard's survey, followed by delivery, trust and account requirements:
| Reason | Shoppers citing it |
|---|---|
| High additional costs | 40% |
| Slow delivery | 20% |
| Payment security concerns | 19% |
| Required registration | 18% |
These are useful places to start looking for improvements. A shopper who discovers an unexpected shipping charge may reconsider an otherwise affordable order. Someone buying a birthday gift may leave if they can't tell whether it will arrive in time.
Making costs and delivery expectations clear earlier in the journey gives customers fewer unwelcome surprises at checkout. If you want to explore the other causes, we've covered eleven common reasons shoppers abandon their carts and how to address them.
Can you bring shoppers back after they leave?
An abandoned cart doesn't have to be the end of the purchase. A well-timed email can remind someone about a product they wanted, answer a question or make it easier to pick up where they left off.
In Omnisend's 2026 ecommerce marketing report, abandoned-cart and welcome messages together generated 76% of automation-driven orders during 2025. Email automations as a whole accounted for just 2% of sends but 30% of email-driven revenue.
That makes recovery a worthwhile part of your email program. The opportunity comes from reaching someone while the purchase is still relevant, with a message that helps them take the next step.
A reminder can include the products they selected, an answer to a common question and a link back to their order. It doesn't have to open with a discount. Our guide to setting up a useful recovery sequence goes into timing, message content and channel choice in more detail.
How to calculate your cart abandonment rate
To compare your store with these benchmarks, you'll need to know how many carts turn into orders. The calculation is:
Cart abandonment rate = (1 − carts that became purchases ÷ carts created) × 100
For example, if customers create 1,000 carts and 300 become purchases, your abandonment rate is 70%. Follow the same group of carts through to purchase so you're comparing matching figures.
You can also measure checkout abandonment, which looks specifically at shoppers who reached checkout:
Checkout abandonment rate = (1 − completed checkouts ÷ started checkouts) × 100
Tracking both helps you find where people leave. If shoppers add products but never start checkout, the cart or offer may need attention. If they reach payment and drop out, the checkout itself is a better place to investigate.
What can you do about abandoned carts?
The most useful improvements address the reason a customer left. Start with the questions your support team hears and the problems you can reproduce in your own shopping journey, whether that's unclear shipping information, a missing payment option or a form that keeps resetting.
Optimizing your checkout can go a long way toward reducing those avoidable drop-offs. Recovery messages can then help interested shoppers return when they get distracted or need more time to decide.
Final thoughts
Most online carts never become orders, which makes the experience between choosing a product and paying worth getting right. The research points to plenty of avoidable obstacles, including unexpected costs, unclear delivery information and difficult checkout forms.
Addressing those problems gives interested shoppers an easier path to buying. Helpful recovery messages can then bring people back when they need more time or get interrupted. Together, a clear checkout and thoughtful follow-up can help more of the interest you've already earned become completed orders.
