Seven out of ten people who add items to their cart won’t complete the purchase.
That’s the brutal reality of e-commerce. According to Baymard Institute’s research, the average cart abandonment rate across all industries sits at 70.19%. For Australian e-commerce stores, the number is slightly better at 67% to 69%, but still painfully high.
Think about what that means. For every ten people ready to buy from you, seven change their minds and leave. If you’re running an online store with $500,000 in annual revenue, you’re potentially leaving $1.1 million on the table due to cart abandonment.
But here’s the good news: cart abandonment isn’t random. People leave for specific, fixable reasons. Address those reasons and you’ll recover a significant portion of that lost revenue.
Let’s break down the biggest causes of cart abandonment and exactly how to fix them.
The Number One Killer: Unexpected Costs at Checkout
Baymard’s research found that 49% of cart abandonment happens because of unexpected costs (shipping, taxes, fees) revealed at checkout.
Picture this: a customer finds a product for $89. Sounds great. They add it to cart. At checkout, they discover $15 shipping, $3.50 handling fee, and $9.25 tax. Their $89 purchase is now $116.75. They close the tab.
This is the fastest way to destroy trust and kill conversions.
Australian Shipping Expectations
Australian online shoppers have specific expectations around shipping costs, shaped largely by Amazon and major retailers:
- Orders over $50 to $100 should include free shipping
- Standard shipping should cost $8 to $12 for most items
- Express shipping typically $12 to $20
- Same-day or next-day delivery: $15 to $25 (metro areas only)
If your shipping costs are significantly higher than these ranges, you need to either negotiate better rates with your carrier, absorb some costs, or clearly communicate why your shipping is premium (fragile items, white-glove service, etc.).
How to Handle Shipping Costs Transparently
Option 1: Free shipping threshold
“Free shipping on orders over $75” encourages larger cart values and removes price shock at checkout. A Sydney homewares store implemented a $95 free shipping threshold and saw average order value increase from $68 to $102, while cart abandonment dropped from 71% to 58%.
Option 2: Display shipping cost early
Show estimated shipping on product pages or as soon as items are added to cart. Don’t wait until checkout. Use postcode lookup: “Enter your postcode to see shipping cost” right on the product page.
Option 3: Build shipping into product price
Price your products slightly higher and offer “free shipping on all orders.” Psychologically, customers prefer this to seeing separate shipping charges. A $75 product with $10 shipping feels more expensive than an $85 product with free shipping, even though the total is the same.
Option 4: Flat-rate shipping
“$9.95 shipping on all orders” is simple and predictable. Customers know the cost before they shop. This works best if your products have similar sizes/weights.
What doesn’t work: hiding shipping costs until the final checkout page. Transparency wins.
What About Taxes and Fees?
GST is included in Australian prices, so you don’t have the tax surprise issue that US stores face. But if you charge any additional fees (handling, payment processing, etc.), disclose them early.
Better yet, eliminate them. A $2.50 “payment processing fee” might cover your costs, but it feels petty to customers and increases abandonment by 8% to 12% according to research from CXL.
Guest Checkout: Stop Forcing Account Creation
28% of cart abandonment happens because sites require account creation.
Customers want to buy your product, not join your database. Forcing registration before purchase adds friction, time, and annoyance. Many users simply won’t do it.
The Case for Guest Checkout
Allowing guest checkout can increase conversions by 23% to 45% according to Baymard Institute research.
A Bondi fashion retailer was losing 34% of potential sales at their registration wall. We added a prominent “Checkout as Guest” option. Cart abandonment dropped from 74% to 61%, and sales increased by 31%.
But won’t you lose the customer relationship? Not necessarily. You can still collect email addresses during guest checkout and send post-purchase emails inviting them to create an account for order tracking, faster future checkouts, and exclusive offers.
How to Implement Guest Checkout Properly
Your checkout should present two equally prominent options:
- “Checkout as Guest” (for first-time or hurried customers)
- “Login to Your Account” (for returning customers)
Don’t bury guest checkout in small text below a huge “Create Account” form. Make both options visually equal.
Even better: offer account creation after purchase completion. “Your order is confirmed! Want to create an account to track this order and speed up future purchases?” Post-purchase conversion to account creation runs around 30% to 40%, which is better than forcing it upfront and losing the sale entirely.
Progress Indicators: Show People Where They Are
Long checkout processes feel longer when customers don’t know how many steps remain.
A checkout without progress indicators creates anxiety: “How much longer is this going to take? I just want to pay and be done.”
The Psychology of Progress
Research from Joseph Silvia found that progress indicators increase checkout completion by 12% to 15%. Simply showing “Step 2 of 4” or a visual progress bar makes the process feel more manageable.
People are more likely to complete tasks when they can see concrete progress. It’s the same reason fitness apps show progress bars and completion percentages.
How Many Checkout Steps Should You Have?
The optimal number depends on your complexity, but research suggests:
- Single-page checkout: Best for simple purchases (digital products, subscriptions, donations). All information on one page, minimal scrolling.
- Two-step checkout: Works for most e-commerce. Step 1: Shipping/contact info. Step 2: Payment.
- Three-step checkout: For more complex purchases. Step 1: Shipping info. Step 2: Shipping method and gift options. Step 3: Payment.
- Four+ steps: Generally too many. Abandonment increases significantly with each additional step.
A Sydney electronics retailer had a five-step checkout (account creation, shipping, shipping method selection, payment, review order). We condensed it to two steps (shipping info with method selection, then payment). Abandonment rate dropped from 78% to 64%.
Label Your Steps Clearly
Don’t use vague labels like “Step 1, Step 2, Step 3.” Use descriptive labels:
- “Shipping Address”
- “Payment Details”
- “Review and Confirm”
This tells customers exactly what’s coming and helps them mentally prepare the information they’ll need.
Security Badges and Trust Signals
18% of shoppers abandon carts because they don’t trust the site with their credit card information.
This is particularly important for smaller or lesser-known Australian retailers. If customers haven’t heard of your brand, they need reassurance that their payment information is secure.
Trust Signals That Actually Work
SSL certificate (HTTPS): Non-negotiable. The padlock in the browser address bar is the baseline. Sites without HTTPS see 30% to 40% higher cart abandonment.
Payment security badges: Display recognizable logos like:
- Visa, Mastercard, American Express logos
- PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay badges
- SSL/TLS encryption badges
- PCI compliance logos
Position these near your payment fields. Baymard found that security badges displayed near payment entry increase trust and reduce abandonment by 6% to 8%.
Money-back guarantee: “30-day money-back guarantee” or “100% satisfaction guarantee” reduces purchase anxiety. People are more willing to buy if they know they can return it risk-free.
Return policy link: Display a clear link to your return policy right on the checkout page. Customers want to know their options if something goes wrong.
Customer reviews and ratings: Even on checkout pages, showing that your store has 4.7 stars from 2,300+ reviews builds confidence.
What Not to Display
Don’t use unknown or made-up security badges. “Verified by TrustMeShop” means nothing to customers. Stick with recognized brands and certifications.
Don’t overwhelm the checkout with too many badges. Three to five trust signals is optimal. More than that looks desperate and cluttered.
Simplify Your Checkout Form
Every unnecessary form field in your checkout increases abandonment by roughly 2% to 5%.
I see Australian e-commerce sites asking for absurd information at checkout: company name (when selling to consumers), fax numbers (it’s 2026), “how did you hear about us?” (not the time to ask).
Essential Checkout Fields Only
For standard product shipping, you need:
Contact information:
- Email address
- Phone number (for delivery contact)
Shipping address:
- Full name
- Street address (with address lookup for Australian postcodes)
- Suburb/City
- State
- Postcode
Payment information:
- Card number
- Expiry date
- CVV
- Cardholder name
- Billing address (or checkbox for “same as shipping”)
That’s roughly 15 to 18 fields. Anything beyond that needs serious justification.
What You Don’t Need
- Title (Mr/Mrs/Ms): Doesn’t affect shipping or payment
- Company name: Unless you’re B2B only
- Fax number: Seriously?
- Date of birth: Unless legally required (alcohol, age-restricted items)
- “How did you hear about us?”: Ask post-purchase via email
- Account password during checkout: Offer guest checkout instead
A Parramatta supplement retailer had 27 checkout fields. We cut it to 16. Checkout completion increased by 34%.
Use Address Autocomplete
Manually typing full Australian addresses is tedious and error-prone. Use address lookup APIs (Australia Post or Google Places) that let customers start typing their address and select from a dropdown.
Benefits: faster checkout (30 to 45 seconds saved), fewer shipping errors, better user experience.
Multiple Payment Options
9% of shoppers abandon because their preferred payment method isn’t available.
For Australian e-commerce, you should offer at minimum:
- Credit/debit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express
- PayPal: Still widely used and trusted, especially among older demographics
- Buy Now, Pay Later: Afterpay, Zip, or Klarna (increasingly expected, especially for purchases over $100)
Consider adding:
- Apple Pay and Google Pay: For faster mobile checkout
- Direct debit/bank transfer: For high-value purchases
Buy Now, Pay Later Impact
Afterpay and similar services have become table stakes for many Australian retailers, particularly in fashion, homewares, and electronics.
Research from Afterpay found that merchants offering BNPL see:
- 20% to 30% increase in conversion rates
- 15% to 25% increase in average order value
- Younger demographics (18 to 35) especially responsive
A Sydney fashion retailer added Afterpay and saw their average order value increase from $127 to $164, with conversion rate improving from 2.1% to 2.8%.
The downside? BNPL providers charge merchants 4% to 6% per transaction. But if it increases conversions and order values by 20%+, the ROI is clearly positive.
Exit-Intent Strategies: Recovering Abandoning Shoppers
Exit-intent technology detects when a user is about to leave (cursor moving toward the browser close button, for example) and triggers a last-ditch offer.
What Works in Exit-Intent Popups
Discount offers: “Wait! Get 10% off your order. Use code SAVE10 at checkout.” This works but can train customers to always wait for the popup discount. Use sparingly.
Free shipping offer: “Before you go: Free shipping on your order today only.” Less margin-damaging than percentage discounts.
Address concerns: “Still deciding? We offer 30-day returns, free shipping over $75, and secure checkout.” Reminds hesitant shoppers of your value props.
Email capture: “Not ready to buy? Get 10% off when you subscribe to our email list.” Converts abandonment into a lead you can nurture.
Exit-Intent Performance Data
Average exit-intent popup conversion rates range from 2% to 5%. That means for every 100 people about to abandon, you’ll recover 2 to 5 sales.
On a site with 1,000 monthly cart abandonments, that’s 20 to 50 recovered sales. If your average order value is $120, that’s $2,400 to $6,000 in recovered revenue per month.
Don’t Be Annoying
Exit-intent popups should only trigger once per session and only when there’s actually something in the cart. Don’t bombard every visitor on every page with popups. That’s how you get blocked by ad blockers and hated by users.
Cart Abandonment Emails: Your Biggest Recovery Opportunity
Here’s where you can recover the most lost revenue: automated cart abandonment email sequences.
When someone adds items to their cart but doesn’t complete purchase, you send them a series of emails reminding them about their abandoned cart and encouraging them to complete the purchase.
Cart Abandonment Email Performance
According to Moosend research:
- Average open rate: 40% to 45%
- Average click rate: 20% to 25%
- Average conversion rate: 8% to 11%
That’s significantly higher than standard promotional emails (which see 15% to 20% open rates and 2% to 3% conversion).
The Three-Email Sequence
Best practice is a sequence of three emails:
Email 1: Sent 1 to 3 hours after abandonment
Subject: “You left something behind”
Content: Gentle reminder showing items in cart, link back to checkout
No discount offer yet (many people will return without needing incentive)
Email 2: Sent 24 hours after abandonment
Subject: “Still interested in [product name]?”
Content: Restate benefits, add urgency (“Limited stock” or “Sale ends soon”), include customer reviews
Consider small discount (5% to 10%) if item is still in stock
Email 3: Sent 48 to 72 hours after abandonment
Subject: “Last chance: 15% off your order”
Content: Final opportunity, stronger discount (10% to 15%), emphasize scarcity or time limit
Include customer service contact info for questions
What to Include in Abandonment Emails
- Clear image of the abandoned product(s)
- Product name and price
- Prominent “Complete Your Purchase” button
- Trust signals (free shipping, easy returns, secure checkout)
- Customer support contact (in case they have questions)
- Mobile-optimized design (50%+ of emails are opened on mobile)
Legal Requirements for Australian Businesses
You can only send cart abandonment emails to customers who’ve provided their email address and haven’t explicitly opted out. If they checked out as a guest and provided an email, that’s sufficient implied consent for transactional emails about their cart.
However, ongoing marketing emails require explicit opt-in under Australian spam laws. Include an unsubscribe link and respect opt-outs immediately.
Mobile Checkout Optimization
Mobile commerce accounts for 40% to 45% of Australian e-commerce transactions, but mobile cart abandonment is typically 15% to 20% higher than desktop.
Why? Because most mobile checkouts are terrible.
Mobile Checkout Must-Haves
Large form fields: Minimum 48px tall for easy tapping and typing
Appropriate keyboard types: Use type=”email” for email, type=”tel” for phone numbers, type=”number” for card numbers
Autofill support: Enable browser autofill with proper HTML attributes
Minimal typing: Use dropdowns, checkboxes, and address lookup instead of manual typing wherever possible
Mobile payment options: Apple Pay and Google Pay allow one-tap checkout on mobile. Conversion rates for mobile wallet payments are 30% to 40% higher than manual card entry.
Single-column layout: Don’t try to cram side-by-side fields on mobile. Stack everything vertically.
Progress indicator: Even more important on mobile where users can’t see as much context
A Bondi surf shop optimized their mobile checkout using these principles. Mobile cart abandonment dropped from 79% to 67%, and mobile revenue increased by 28%.
Clear Return and Refund Policies
Unclear or overly strict return policies cause 11% of cart abandonment.
Australian consumers have strong protections under Consumer Law, and they know it. They expect reasonable return windows and straightforward processes.
What Australian Shoppers Expect
- 30-day return window (minimum)
- Full refund for change of mind (though you can require unused/unopened condition)
- Free return shipping (ideal but not always expected for lower-priced items)
- Clear process explained upfront
Display your return policy clearly on product pages and checkout. A simple statement like “30-day returns, no questions asked” builds confidence.
If your return policy has restrictions (final sale items, opened software, custom products), state those clearly on the product page before people add to cart.
Your Cart Abandonment Action Plan
You can’t fix everything overnight. Prioritize based on impact:
Quick wins (implement this week):
- Add guest checkout option if you don’t have it
- Display shipping costs early (on product pages or cart page)
- Add security badges near payment fields
- Set up basic cart abandonment email (at minimum, one email 24 hours after abandonment)
Medium-term improvements (implement this month):
- Audit and reduce checkout form fields
- Add progress indicator to multi-step checkout
- Implement address autocomplete
- Add Buy Now, Pay Later option (Afterpay or Zip)
- Optimize mobile checkout (form field sizes, input types, layout)
Long-term optimization (next quarter):
- A/B test free shipping thresholds
- Test single-page vs multi-step checkout
- Implement exit-intent offers
- Add Apple Pay and Google Pay
- Develop three-email abandonment sequence with testing
Measure Your Progress
Track these metrics before and after implementing changes:
- Cart abandonment rate: (Carts created – Completed purchases) / Carts created
- Checkout abandonment rate: (Checkouts started – Completed purchases) / Checkouts started
- Average order value: Total revenue / Number of orders
- Mobile vs desktop conversion: Compare completion rates between devices
- Recovery rate from abandonment emails: Purchases from abandonment emails / Total abandonment emails sent
Small improvements compound. Reducing cart abandonment from 70% to 65% doesn’t sound dramatic, but it’s a 17% increase in completed sales. On a store doing $400,000 annually, that’s an extra $68,000 in revenue.
The Bottom Line
Cart abandonment is expensive, but it’s not inevitable. People don’t abandon randomly. They abandon because of friction, surprise costs, lack of trust, or poor user experience.
Fix the friction points, be transparent about costs, make checkout fast and simple, and follow up with people who leave. Your cart abandonment rate will drop, and your revenue will climb.
Need Help Optimizing Your E-commerce Store?
Sites By Design builds and optimizes e-commerce websites for Australian businesses. We audit your checkout process, identify abandonment causes, and implement proven solutions that recover lost revenue.
Get in touch for a free e-commerce audit and specific recommendations to reduce cart abandonment and increase sales.
