Why visitors abandon a cart they already filled

Cart abandonment gets discussed as if it were hesitation. It is not. Choosing a product, picking a size and clicking add is a sequence of small commitments. By the time the basket is full, the decision to buy has been made.

So a visitor who leaves at that point did not fail to decide. They changed their mind, and something did the changing. In the audits we run, the same four causes come back again and again.

The total moved

Shipping appears at step three. A handling fee appears at step four. The number the visitor agreed to is not the number in front of them now.

The amount is usually small. That is what makes the reaction hard to predict from a spreadsheet: a nine euro delivery charge on a hundred euro order is not a financial problem, it is a trust problem. The site knew this figure the whole time and chose to reveal it last. Testers say so out loud, in almost those words.

The form asked for something unexpected

A phone number with no explanation. A company field on a personal purchase. A date of birth. Each one is a small demand made at the moment the visitor is most exposed, and each one prompts the same question: why do they need that?

Nothing on the screen answers it, so the visitor answers it themselves, usually badly.

Account creation appeared

Being asked to register before paying converts a two minute task into a chore with a password to invent and remember. Guest checkout exists for exactly this reason, and it is astonishing how often it is either missing or hidden below the account form.

Something broke and said nothing

A promo code that clears the field without a message. A card form that rejects a valid number because of a space. A submit button that does nothing on one browser.

This last category is the cruellest, because the visitor blames themselves first and the site second. They try twice, then leave believing they did something wrong. Your analytics records a bounce and nothing else.

What to do about it

Walk your own checkout on a phone you have never used it on, with a card you have not saved. Most owners have not done this in a year, and it is free.

Then have people who have never seen your site do the same, out loud. The four causes above are common, but the one costing you money is specific to your checkout, and finding it takes an afternoon rather than a redesign.