Glossary

Cart Abandonment Rate

Written by trose | May 5, 2026 6:57:53 PM

What is cart abandonment rate?

Cart abandonment rate is the percentage of online shopping sessions in which a consumer adds items to a cart but leaves the site without completing the purchase. It is calculated by dividing the number of incomplete transactions by the total number of cart initiations. High cart abandonment rates indicate friction in the checkout process, price sensitivity, or insufficient purchase intent at the moment of visit.

How does cart abandonment rate work?

It is tracked through ecommerce analytics platforms that monitor cart activity and checkout behavior.

Types of cart abandonment rate:

  • Email-triggered abandonment
  • On-site retargeting
  • Exit intent pop-ups

How to measure cart abandonment rate:

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

Why are cart abandonment rate important to marketers?

Reducing cart abandonment can significantly increase conversions and revenue with minimal additional traffic.

Who needs to know about cart abandonment rate:

  • CRO specialists
  • Digital marketers
  • Ecommerce managers

Post-transaction advertising as a complement to cart abandonment recovery

Cart abandonment retargeting attempts to recover consumers who did not convert. Post-transaction advertising takes the opposite approach — it activates consumers who did convert, reaching them at peak trust and engagement. Brands that invest in post-transaction advertising complement their cart abandonment strategy by capturing value from every conversion, rather than spending additional budget trying to recover unconverted sessions.