How to Calculate Your Cart Abandonment Rate

Cart abandonment rate is one of the most important e-commerce metrics, but it is frequently miscalculated. Different platforms use different definitions, leading to confusion when benchmarking or tracking improvement.

This guide covers the correct calculation method, where to find the numbers, and how to interpret your results.

The Basic Formula

Cart Abandonment Rate = (Abandoned Carts / Created Carts) × 100

Or equivalently:

Cart Abandonment Rate = 1 - (Completed Purchases / Created Carts) × 100

Example:

• 1,000 shopping carts created this month
• 300 completed purchases
• 700 abandoned carts
• Abandonment rate: 700 / 1,000 = 70%

What Counts as a "Cart"?

This is where calculations diverge. Define what "cart created" means:

Option 1: Any item added to cart Counts every session where at least one item was added to cart.

Option 2: Cart page viewed Counts sessions where the customer actually viewed the cart page.

Option 3: Checkout initiated Counts sessions where checkout was started.

Most industry benchmarks use Option 1 (any item added). Shopify uses this definition. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

The Complete Calculation Method

Step 1: Define Your Time Period

Pick a consistent time period:

• Weekly (for spotting trends)
• Monthly (most common reporting)
• Quarterly (for strategic review)

Step 2: Count Carts Created

In Shopify: Shopify Analytics > Reports > "Behavior" section

Or calculate manually: Sessions with "productaddedto_cart" event in the time period.

Step 3: Count Completed Purchases

In Shopify: Total orders in the same time period.

Important: Count unique orders, not line items. An order with 3 products is 1 completed purchase, not 3.

Step 4: Calculate

Abandonment Rate = (Carts Created - Orders) / Carts Created × 100

Example calculation:

• Week 1: 2,500 carts created
• Week 1: 650 orders completed
• Abandonment: (2,500 - 650) / 2,500 = 74%

Finding Your Numbers in Shopify

Method 1: Shopify Analytics (Easiest)

1. Go to Analytics > Reports
2. Look for "Sessions by checkout steps" or "Checkout conversion"
3. Shopify shows abandonment at each checkout stage

Limitation: Shopify's built-in reporting focuses on checkout abandonment, not total cart abandonment. These are different metrics.

Method 2: Calculate Manually

Carts created:

1. Analytics > Reports > Behavior
2. Look at "Sessions with add to cart"
3. Or count "productaddedto_cart" events if using enhanced tracking

Orders:

1. Orders > Filter by date range
2. Count completed orders (not canceled, not pending payment)

Calculate: (Sessions with add to cart - Completed orders) / Sessions with add to cart × 100

Method 3: Google Analytics 4

If you have GA4 set up with e-commerce tracking:

1. Explore > Funnel exploration
2. Create funnel with steps:

• view_item
• addtocart
• begin_checkout
• purchase

1. GA4 calculates drop-off at each stage

Cart Abandonment vs. Checkout Abandonment

These are different metrics that measure different things:

Cart Abandonment Rate

What it measures: Items added to cart but purchase never completed.

Formula: (Carts - Purchases) / Carts

Includes: Research behavior, comparison shopping, wish-listing, and checkout failures all combined.

Typical rate: 70-75%

Checkout Abandonment Rate

What it measures: Checkout started but not completed.

Formula: (Checkouts Started - Purchases) / Checkouts Started

Includes: Only people who demonstrated purchase intent by starting checkout.

Typical rate: 25-35%

Why Both Matter

Cart abandonment includes low-intent behavior. High rates might mean comparison shopping, not problems.

Checkout abandonment measures conversion at the critical moment. High rates indicate checkout friction.

Example:

• 1,000 carts created
• 400 checkouts started (60% cart-to-checkout abandonment)
• 300 purchases completed (25% checkout abandonment)
• Overall cart abandonment: 70%

If your cart abandonment is high but checkout abandonment is normal, focus on cart-to-checkout conversion. If checkout abandonment is high, focus on checkout optimization.

Industry Benchmarks

Use these benchmarks to contextualize your rate:

Overall E-commerce (Baymard Institute, 2024)

Average cart abandonment: 70.19%

| Industry | Rate | |----------|------| | Travel | 81.7% | | Finance | 79.2% | | Nonprofit | 78.5% | | Electronics | 73.6% | | Home & Garden | 72.1% | | Automotive | 71.8% | | Fashion | 68.3% | | Gaming | 67.4% | | Food & Grocery | 61.4% |

By Device

| Device | Rate | |--------|------| | Mobile | 85.6% | | Tablet | 80.4% | | Desktop | 69.8% |

By Traffic Source

| Source | Rate | |--------|------| | Social media | 80-85% | | Display ads | 75-80% | | Organic search | 70-75% | | Email | 65-70% | | Direct | 65-70% |

Interpreting Your Results

Your Rate Is Lower Than Benchmark

Good sign: You are converting better than average.

Check: Are you measuring correctly? Some calculation methods produce artificially low rates.

Warning: Very low rates (under 50%) often indicate measurement errors or unusual traffic quality.

Your Rate Is At Benchmark

Normal: You are performing like the average store in your industry.

Action: Look for specific improvement opportunities rather than broad fixes.

Your Rate Is Higher Than Benchmark

Investigate: Something is pushing customers away.

Check:

• Checkout friction (forced accounts, long forms)
• Unexpected costs (shipping revealed late)
• Trust issues (poor design, missing trust signals)
• Technical problems (slow loading, errors)
• Traffic quality (low-intent visitors)

Tracking Abandonment Over Time

Single snapshots are less useful than trends. Track weekly or monthly to see:

Improvement after changes: Did checkout optimization reduce abandonment?

Seasonal patterns: Many stores see higher abandonment during sales events.

Traffic quality shifts: New advertising campaigns may bring different abandonment rates.

Creating a Tracking Dashboard

Track these metrics weekly:

| Metric | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |--------|--------|--------|--------|--------| | Sessions | | | | | | Carts created | | | | | | Checkouts started | | | | | | Purchases completed | | | | | | Cart abandonment rate | | | | | | Checkout abandonment rate | | | | | | Cart-to-checkout rate | | | | |

Segmenting for Deeper Insight

Overall abandonment rate hides important details. Segment by:

Device: Mobile, tablet, desktop (separate rates)

Traffic source: Organic, paid, email, social, direct

Customer type: New vs. returning visitors

Geography: Country or region

Product category: Different products may have different abandonment patterns

Example insight: "Overall abandonment is 72%, but mobile is 85% and desktop is 62%. Mobile checkout is the priority."

Common Calculation Mistakes

Mistake 1: Counting Line Items Instead of Orders

Wrong: 3 products in cart, 3 products purchased = 0% abandonment

Right: 1 cart created, 1 order completed = 0% abandonment

Mistake 2: Using Page Views Instead of Sessions

Wrong: Cart page viewed 500 times = 500 carts

Right: 300 unique sessions with add-to-cart = 300 carts

The same customer viewing their cart 5 times is still one cart, not five.

Mistake 3: Mixing Time Periods

Wrong: Carts from January, orders from January and February

Right: Carts and orders from the same time period

Some orders from January carts complete in February. Either exclude cross-period orders or use cohort analysis.

Mistake 4: Ignoring Canceled Orders

Wrong: 100 orders placed = 100 completed

Right: 100 orders placed, 10 canceled = 90 completed

Canceled orders are not successful conversions.

Mistake 5: Double-Counting Returning Carts

Wrong: Customer adds to cart Monday, returns Wednesday, counted as 2 carts

Right: Depends on your analytics implementation

Understand how your platform handles persistent carts vs. new sessions.

Advanced: Cohort Analysis

For precise abandonment tracking, use cohort analysis:

The problem with simple calculation: A customer who adds to cart on January 31st and purchases on February 1st shows as abandoned in January and not attributed to February carts.

Cohort method:

1. Group carts by creation date
2. Track completion over fixed window (7 days, 30 days)
3. Calculate abandonment within cohort

Example: Carts created January 1-7: 500 Purchases from those carts within 30 days: 140 Cohort abandonment rate: 72%

This is more accurate but more complex to calculate.

Tools for Tracking Abandonment

Built Into Shopify

• Basic checkout analytics
• Abandoned checkout report (email recovery)
• Conversion funnel view

Google Analytics 4

• Funnel exploration
• Segment comparison
• Custom event tracking
• Cross-device tracking

Dedicated E-commerce Analytics

• Triple Whale
• Lifetimely
• Polar Analytics
• Segments

These tools often provide more sophisticated abandonment tracking with segmentation and cohort analysis built in.

Calculating Revenue Impact

Abandonment rate becomes more meaningful when translated to revenue.

Potential revenue lost to abandonment:

Average cart value × Abandoned carts × Recovery rate

Example:

• 700 abandoned carts
• $85 average cart value
• 10% recovery rate (optimistic)
• Potential recovery: 700 × $85 × 10% = $5,950

If you reduced abandonment by 5 percentage points:

• Currently: 70% abandonment (300 purchases from 1,000 carts)
• Improved: 65% abandonment (350 purchases from 1,000 carts)
• Additional purchases: 50
• At $85 average: $4,250 additional revenue

This makes the case for abandonment optimization in business terms.

The Bottom Line

The formula: Cart Abandonment Rate = (Carts Created - Orders) / Carts Created × 100

Where to find data:

• Shopify Analytics
• Google Analytics 4
• Third-party e-commerce analytics tools

What is normal:

• Overall: 70% average
• Mobile: 85%
• Desktop: 70%

How to use it:

• Track weekly trends, not just snapshots
• Segment by device, source, and customer type
• Compare to industry benchmarks
• Calculate revenue impact
• Focus on checkout abandonment for highest-intent optimization

The number itself is just a starting point. What matters is understanding why customers abandon and fixing those specific issues.