Short answer: people leave online carts for reasons that are mostly about clarity and trust, not about the product. Baymard Institute's aggregate of 50 studies puts the average documented abandonment rate at 70.22%, and the top reasons shoppers give are extra costs, slow delivery, and not trusting the site. Your product page can address several of them before the shopper reaches checkout.
What shoppers say stops them
Baymard's page, last updated 22 September 2025, reports these reasons for abandoning at checkout (excluding people who were "just browsing"):
| Reason | Share of those surveyed |
|---|---|
| Extra costs too high (shipping, tax, fees) | 40% |
| Delivery was too slow | 20% |
| Didn't trust the site with credit card information | 19% |
| The site wanted me to create an account | 18% |
| Checkout too long or complicated | 17% |
| Website had errors or crashed | 17% |
| Returns policy wasn't satisfactory | 13% |
| Couldn't see or calculate total order cost up-front | 12% |
These are survey-based and aggregated across studies, mostly of US shoppers, so treat them as a guide to what to check, not a forecast for your store.
The checklist
1. Show the full cost early.
Extra costs are the top reason people leave. Show shipping cost or a clear threshold on the product page, state whether tax is included, and don't make people reach checkout to find out.
2. State delivery times plainly.
"Delivery was too slow" ranks second. Give a realistic delivery window on the page and say what happens if it slips. Don't promise what you can't keep.
3. Put your returns policy where people can see it.
Thirteen percent cited an unsatisfactory returns policy. One clear sentence on the page, linking to the full policy, answers a question before it's asked.
4. Build trust where the decision is made.
Nineteen percent didn't trust the site with card details. Show a real business name and contact details, secure checkout, accepted payment methods and honest reviews. Only show badges and reviews you actually have.
5. Don't force an account.
Eighteen percent left because the site wanted an account. Offer guest checkout.
6. Make the images and details do the job a shop would.
Several clear photos from different angles, scale, materials, care instructions, sizing. Answer the questions customers ask you by email.
7. Keep the page quick and error-free.
Seventeen percent left because of errors or crashes. Test the page on a phone and check its speed; see Your Website Is Slow: What to Fix First.
8. Make one next step obvious.
One clear button, in view without hunting, with the price next to it.
Mark up the page honestly
Google says product structured data lets your product information "appear in richer ways in Google Search results," including price, availability, ratings and shipping details. It distinguishes product snippets, for pages where people can't directly buy, from merchant listings, for pages where customers can buy from you.
The rule that matters: keep structured data in line with what's visible on the page. Google's guidance is that standard fundamentals include matching structured data to visible text. Don't mark up reviews, prices or stock you don't show.
A 30-minute audit
- Open your best-selling product on a phone and look at it as a stranger.
- Find the total cost, delivery time and returns policy without scrolling more than twice.
- Count the clicks to buy as a guest.
- Check every price, availability and review claim matches your markup.
- Ask three customers what nearly stopped them from buying.
What this won't tell you
A checklist can't tell you whether the product, price or traffic is right. If visitors aren't the right people, a perfect page won't help. Measure enquiries or orders, and cost per order, before and after changes; track the same numbers each month, as set out in Five Numbers That Tell You Whether Your Marketing Is Working.
Common questions
Should I show shipping costs on the product page?
Extra costs are the most common reason for abandonment in Baymard's aggregate, so showing them early removes a surprise.
Do reviews help?
They can build trust, but only real ones. Google's product markup supports ratings and reviews, which should match what's visible on the page.
Is guest checkout really necessary?
Eighteen percent in the survey left because they were asked to create an account. It's a low-cost change to offer an alternative.
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