Last updated: August 2024

Cart abandonment costs UK ecommerce merchants millions every year. Learn why customers drop off at checkout and the specific changes that recover lost sales — including how Pay-by-Bank via Fena removes one of the biggest friction points entirely.

The checkout page is where most ecommerce revenue is lost

Your product pages convinced them. Your pricing was right. They added items to the basket. And then they left.

For UK ecommerce merchants, cart abandonment is the most expensive problem that rarely gets fixed properly. Industry data consistently puts the average abandonment rate at around 70% — meaning roughly seven in ten customers who reach checkout never complete a purchase.

That's not a minor conversion problem. For a merchant generating £1M in revenue, it suggests the checkout alone may be blocking several times that in potential sales. And unlike traffic or product issues, checkout abandonment is fixable — often without major development work.

This guide covers why customers abandon checkout, which fixes move the needle, and how payment method choice — including Pay-by-Bank via Fena — plays a bigger role than most merchants realise.

Quick summary

• The average UK ecommerce cart abandonment rate sits around 70%, representing substantial recoverable revenue for most merchants

• The most common causes are checkout friction, lack of trust, surprise costs, and limited payment options

• Simplifying the checkout flow, reducing required fields, and offering guest checkout address the biggest friction points

• Trust signals — security badges, reviews, clear policies — have a measurable impact on conversion, particularly for new customers

• Payment method breadth matters: customers who can't pay how they prefer will leave

• Pay-by-Bank via Fena removes a specific and significant barrier — customers who distrust card forms or want a faster, bank-authenticated option

• Recovery tools like exit-intent prompts and abandoned cart emails can recapture a meaningful share of lost sales

• Continuous measurement is what separates merchants who improve steadily from those who make one-off changes and hope for the best

What checkout conversion rate actually tells you

Your checkout conversion rate is the percentage of customers who reach the checkout and complete a purchase. It's calculated simply: completed transactions divided by total checkout initiations.

A high rate means your checkout is doing its job — customers trust the process, find it straightforward, and don't hit obstacles that make them reconsider. A low rate is the checkout telling you something is wrong, even if it's not immediately obvious what.

Most merchants track overall site conversion (visits to purchases) but pay less attention to the checkout-specific rate. This is a missed opportunity. A customer who reaches checkout has already shown intent — they're not a cold visitor who needs persuading. Something in the checkout itself is causing them to leave. That's a much more tractable problem than top-of-funnel drop-off.

Monitoring this rate separately, and breaking it down by step, reveals exactly where customers are falling out of the process.

Why customers abandon checkout: the real reasons

Understanding abandonment requires being honest about what customers actually experience — not what the checkout looks like from the inside.

The checkout asks too much of them

Long forms, multiple pages, required account creation, and fields that seem unnecessary all increase what's called cognitive load — the mental effort required to complete a task. When that effort crosses a threshold, customers stop. They don't write a complaint; they just close the tab.

This is particularly common on mobile, where typing is harder and patience thinner. A checkout that works adequately on desktop can feel genuinely unusable on a phone.

They don't feel confident about security

A customer handing over card details and a billing address is doing something that feels risky. If the page looks outdated, doesn't display recognisable trust indicators, or lacks visible security signals, some proportion of customers — particularly those who haven't bought from you before — will decide the risk isn't worth it.

This isn't irrational behaviour. It's the correct response to a checkout that hasn't earned their confidence.

The final price was higher than expected

Surprise costs at checkout — shipping fees that weren't mentioned earlier, processing charges, VAT that wasn't factored into displayed prices — cause abandonment at a rate that's disproportionate to the amounts involved. Customers feel misled, and that feeling overrides the purchase intent they arrived with.

Transparent pricing throughout the journey removes this entirely. If there are shipping costs, show them early. If VAT is included, say so. The sale you preserve by being upfront is worth far more than the psychological advantage of a lower-looking initial price.

Their preferred payment method isn't available

Payment preference is more personal than most merchants appreciate. Some customers won't use credit cards online. Some prefer to avoid entering card details on unfamiliar sites. Some want to pay by bank transfer. Some are actively looking for Pay-by-Bank options because they've learned it's faster and more secure.

If your checkout doesn't offer the payment method a customer wants to use, they leave. It's rarely a considered decision — it's immediate. A checkout that offers cards only is invisible to a growing segment of UK shoppers who've moved on.

Six things that genuinely improve checkout conversion

1. Reduce the steps and the fields

Go through your checkout as a first-time customer and time yourself. Count the fields. Count the pages. Ask whether each one is genuinely required to process the transaction.

Most checkouts ask for more than they need. Every unnecessary field is a small friction point. Collectively, they add up to a process that feels like work rather than a transaction.

One-page checkout — or a clean, clearly-progressed multi-step flow — consistently outperforms long, multi-page processes. The goal is to make completion feel closer than it actually is at every stage.

2. Build trust visibly

Trust isn't something customers extend automatically. It's earned, and at checkout, you have a few seconds to provide the signals that make a first-time buyer feel comfortable.

Effective trust signals include:

• Recognisable security badges (SSL certificates, payment security standards)

• Clear, accessible privacy and returns policies linked directly from the checkout page

• Customer reviews visible at or near the checkout — not just on product pages

• Familiar payment method logos, which function as implicit trust signals

The goal is to make a new customer feel that your checkout is as familiar and safe as the sites they already trust.

3. Offer guest checkout — and make it obvious

Requiring account creation before purchase is one of the most reliable ways to increase abandonment. Many customers are completing a one-off purchase and have no interest in creating another account with another password to manage.

Guest checkout should be the default path or at least equally prominent to account login. The option to save details and create an account can come after purchase, when the customer has had a positive experience and is more likely to want to return.

4. Expand your payment options — including Pay-by-Bank

Payment method breadth is a direct conversion lever. Customers who can't pay how they prefer abandon. It's that straightforward.

For UK merchants, Pay-by-Bank via Fena addresses this in a specific and increasingly important way. Customers authenticate the payment directly through their own banking app — no card details entered, no credentials shared with your site, no intermediary. For a growing segment of UK shoppers, this is simply the preferred way to pay online.

Beyond customer preference, Pay-by-Bank removes a genuine barrier for customers who are hesitant about entering card details on sites they haven't bought from before. The authentication happens in their trusted banking environment. That's a trust transfer that no badge or security seal can fully replicate.

Adding Pay-by-Bank via Fena to a Shopify or WooCommerce checkout is a straightforward integration that makes this option available without replacing existing payment methods — it extends your payment mix to reach customers your current checkout can't convert.

5. Recover abandonment with the right tools at the right moment

Even a well-optimised checkout will see some abandonment. The question is how much of it you recover.

Exit-intent prompts

trigger when a customer's behaviour suggests they're about to leave — moving the cursor to close the tab, extended inactivity, beginning to navigate away. A well-timed prompt offering a modest incentive (free shipping, a small discount) can tip the decision back towards completing the purchase. The key is relevance and timing; a clumsy or intrusive pop-up achieves the opposite effect.

Abandoned cart emails

are one of the highest-ROI tools available to ecommerce merchants. A sequence of automated emails — sent within an hour of abandonment, with a follow-up one to two days later — reminds customers of what they left behind and provides a direct route back to their basket. The first email should be a simple, useful reminder. Subsequent emails can add an incentive if the margin allows.

Both tools work best when they're specific to the basket left behind, not generic. Personalisation — even just showing the actual items — dramatically improves response rates.

6. Use upsell and cross-sell thoughtfully at checkout

Checkout is not just a loss-prevention opportunity — it's also a revenue opportunity. Customers who've committed to a purchase are in a buying mindset. Relevant product suggestions, complementary items, or upgrade options can increase average order value without adding friction.

The critical word is relevant. An irrelevant suggestion at checkout feels like a distraction or a pressure tactic. A genuinely useful one — a compatible accessory, a product that frequently pairs with what's in the basket, a premium version with clear benefits — can increase revenue while making the customer feel better served.

The placement matters too. Surface suggestions before the final confirmation step, not during payment entry, where the customer's focus should be on completing the transaction.

The metrics worth tracking

Optimising checkout is an ongoing process, not a one-time project. These are the numbers that tell you whether changes are working:

Checkout conversion rate

— the percentage of customers who complete a purchase after reaching checkout. This is your primary indicator of checkout health and the number everything else feeds into.

Cart abandonment rate

— the percentage of customers who reach checkout but don't complete. Tracking this over time shows whether changes are making a difference.

Abandonment rate by step

— breaking down where in the flow customers drop off. This is what tells you whether the problem is at payment entry, shipping costs, account creation, or somewhere else entirely.

Average order value (AOV)

— the average amount spent per completed transaction. Movement here reflects the effectiveness of upsell and cross-sell placements.

Cart recovery rate

— the percentage of abandoned carts recovered through email sequences or exit-intent prompts. This tells you how well your re-engagement tools are performing.

Payment method split

— the proportion of completed transactions by payment method. If a payment option you've added — such as Pay-by-Bank — isn't being used, it may not be prominent enough at checkout, or customers may need clearer signposting.

Review these metrics regularly. Set a baseline, make one change at a time where possible, and measure the effect. A/B testing different checkout layouts, form sequences, or trust signal placements gives you real data rather than assumptions about what customers respond to.

FAQ

What is a good checkout conversion rate for UK ecommerce?

Checkout conversion rates vary significantly by category, price point, and traffic source, but a reasonable benchmark for UK ecommerce is 60–80% of customers who initiate checkout completing a purchase. Below 50% is a strong signal that checkout friction or trust issues need addressing.

What is the average cart abandonment rate in the UK?

Industry data consistently puts average cart abandonment across ecommerce at around 70%. This figure varies by sector — fashion and home goods tend to run higher, while merchants with strong repeat customer bases often see lower rates.

Why do customers abandon checkout even when they've added items to their basket?

The most common causes are unexpected costs appearing at checkout, a process that feels too long or asks for too much information, lack of visible trust signals, and the absence of their preferred payment method. Each of these is addressable without a complete checkout rebuild.

Does offering more payment methods actually increase conversion?

Yes, and the effect is most pronounced for customers using unfamiliar merchants for the first time. A customer who reaches your checkout expecting to use a particular payment method — including Pay-by-Bank — and doesn't find it, will leave. Adding Pay-by-Bank via Fena captures this segment specifically, alongside customers who prefer not to enter card details online.

How does Pay-by-Bank affect checkout conversion?

Pay-by-Bank removes a specific friction point for customers who are hesitant about sharing card details on unfamiliar sites. Authentication happens within the customer's own banking app, which carries a level of inherent trust no checkout page badge can fully match. For UK merchants, adding Pay-by-Bank via Fena expands the range of customers the checkout can successfully convert.

What is the most effective way to recover abandoned carts?

Automated cart recovery emails sent within an hour of abandonment are consistently the highest-performing recovery tool. A two to three email sequence — a reminder, followed by a modest incentive — recovers a meaningful share of abandonment at low operational cost. Exit-intent prompts can capture some abandonment before it happens.

Should I require account creation at checkout?

No — or at least, not as the primary path. Requiring account creation before purchase is one of the most reliably documented causes of checkout abandonment. Offer guest checkout prominently, and give customers the option to save their details and create an account after a successful purchase.

The bottom line

Cart abandonment is not a fixed cost of doing business online. Most of it is recoverable — through a simpler process, clearer trust signals, honest pricing, better payment options, and the right recovery tools.

The merchants who make consistent gains on checkout conversion treat it as an ongoing discipline rather than a one-time project. They track the metrics, make targeted changes, measure the results, and keep going.

For UK Shopify and WooCommerce merchants, adding Pay-by-Bank via Fena is one of the more direct improvements available — it expands payment choice, removes a category of customer hesitation, and addresses abandonment caused by payment method mismatch without changing anything else about your checkout experience.