Websites. Applications. Digital solutions.Michael Oracle’s personal portfolio ↗
Start a project
← All articles

MICHAEL ORACLE’S BLOG

Why do customers abandon checkout, and what should I check?

Ecommerce
Smartphone and notepad on a desk

Photo: Tranmautritam / Pexels. Illustrative photograph. Photo source · Pexels licence

Checkout abandonment can reflect unexpected costs, unsuitable payment options, uncertainty or a technical failure. It does not always mean customers disliked the product. Review the actual order journey before redesigning the store or increasing advertising spend.

Start with observable friction

Test on a phone and record each required step. Look for unclear totals, late delivery charges, unnecessary account creation and fields that are difficult to complete. Check whether errors explain how to recover.

A shopper may also leave because they are comparing options or not ready to buy. Avoid claiming that one design change will recover every abandoned order. Separate technical failures from normal browsing behaviour where the evidence allows.

Verify payments and fulfilment

Check successful, failed and interrupted payment cases in the appropriate test environment. Confirm that order status and customer messaging agree. A payment provider's hosted screen is only one part of the experience.

Review delivery information before the final action. The customer should understand whether the item is available, how the total is calculated and what happens after payment or enquiry.

Make a focused improvement

If testing reveals a confusing field or hidden charge, fix that issue and compare results over a meaningful period. Note changes in traffic source, product availability and promotions so you do not attribute every fluctuation to the design.

If you contact customers about unfinished orders, use an appropriate consent and communication process. Do not assume that entering an email field authorises every type of marketing message.

I can help review ecommerce workflows and application behaviour. Explore my portfolio or describe the checkout problem. Read How should my website confirm that an online payment succeeded? and How do I make delivery costs clearer before checkout? for two important checks.

Follow the task through as a customer and as the person fulfilling the order. A clear, reliable process gives you a better basis for improvement than treating abandonment as a single unexplained percentage.