How to Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment in WordPress

Most online stores see the majority of carts get abandoned. But you don’t need to accept this as your “normal”. There are clear, practical ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment in WordPress and turn more visitors into paying customers.

Even a small drop in your abandonment rate can mean a big jump in revenue without any extra traffic. Once you understand what causes cart abandonment and how to measure it on your WordPress site, there are specific strategies you can use to reduce it. 

In this guide, I’ll walk you through the most effective options for digital product stores.

What Is Shopping Cart Abandonment?

Shopping cart abandonment happens when someone starts to buy but doesn’t finish.

More exactly: a shopper adds at least one product to their online cart, sometimes even starts the checkout process, but leaves before completing the payment.

It’s helpful to break this idea into three related but different behaviors:

Browsing Abandonment 🔎	Someone views your product pages or pricing pages, maybe even clicks “Add to cart” but never actually adds anything. This is more about product fit, pricing, or messaging.
Cart Abandonment 🛒	A shopper adds at least one item to their cart but never starts the checkout form. They might bounce right away, or come back later and never finish.
Checkout Abandonment 💳	Someone starts filling out the checkout form (billing details, email, payment method, etc.) but leaves before completing payment.

Why does this matter?

• Different problems happen at different stages. If people abandon before clicking “Checkout,” you likely have issues with pricing clarity, shipping/taxes, or the cart experience. If they drop off during checkout, it’s usually form friction, payment issues, or trust.
• Fixing the right stage gets better results. When you know where people leave, you can target your fixes and see faster improvements.

When you understand which stage is leaking, you can focus on the right fixes.

Calculating Cart Abandonment Rate

You can’t improve what you don’t track.

Here’s how to calculate your shopping cart abandonment rate and see where you stand.

Cart Abandonment Rate Formula

First, define two numbers:

• “Completed carts” is the number of shopping sessions where a visitor added at least one item to the cart or started checkout.
• “Completed purchases” is the number of orders actually finished.

The formula is:

Cart Abandonment Rate = (Number of Completed Carts − Number of Completed Purchases) / Number of Completed Carts × 100

In plain language, this tells you: “Out of all the people who started a cart or checkout, how many didn’t end up buying?”

Imagine that, in one week, 200 people started a cart or checkout, and 70 completed their purchase. In that case:

• Completed carts = 200
• Completed purchases = 70

So: 200-70 (130) / 200×100 (2,000) = 0.065. 

A 65% cart abandonment rate means about two‑thirds of started carts are lost.

Tools to Track Shopping Cart Abandonment

You don’t have to calculate this by hand. A few tools make it much easier:

You can use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to track events like product views, add‑to‑cart actions, checkout starts, and purchase completions. Once those are set up, you can build funnels to see where people drop off.

If you prefer a simpler setup, a plugin like MonsterInsights adds eCommerce tracking on top of GA4 with less effort. It gives you reports on cart abandonment, conversion funnels, and average order value inside your WordPress dashboard. You can follow their guide on tracking eCommerce analytics in WordPress.

On the WordPress side, Easy Digital Downloads includes its own reporting tools for revenue, top products, payment methods, and coupon performance. When you combine EDD reports with Google Analytics, you can see both what people do in your store and how that affects your revenue.

The key is to watch these numbers over time. When you make a change to your checkout, you’ll be able to tell if it’s helping.

Average Cart Abandonment Rates (Benchmarks)

So how do you know if your rate is “good”?

Exact numbers vary by source and industry, but most recent studies put the average cart abandonment rate somewhere between 65% and 80%.

A few rough patterns:

• Desktop tends to have lower abandonment (better typing, bigger screen).
• Mobile often has higher abandonment (harder to type, slower connections, more distractions).
• Digital products can be a bit lower than physical goods because there’s no shipping friction, but you still see high rates from:
  • Unclear pricing
  • Confusing licensing or access rules
  • Trust concerns

🔑 The main takeaway: a high abandonment rate is normal, but it’s also a big opportunity. If you can move from, say, 75% abandonment down to 60%, you can dramatically grow revenue without changing anything about your traffic.

Reasons for Shopping Cart Abandonment

People abandon carts for many reasons. Some are outside your control—like visitors who are only browsing or comparing. Others are problems you can fix.

Some of the most common causes include:

• Unexpected fees & costs. For digital products, this might be unexpected taxes (like EU VAT) or “processing” fees they didn’t see coming.
• Complicated or lengthy checkout. Long forms, too many steps, forced account creation, or unclear progress will cause drop‑offs. Every extra field is a point of friction.
• Lack of trust or security concerns. If your site doesn’t look secure—no SSL lock icon, no familiar payment logos, no visible refund policy or social proof—people hesitate to enter card details.
• Limited or confusing payment options. If you only accept one card type or don’t support common wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, many shoppers will stop right there. The same thing happens if you don’t offer local or regional payment methods where they are common. If discount codes don’t work, totals don’t match what was expected, or pricing is hard to understand, customers lose confidence.
• Slow site or technical issues. Slow‑loading pages, broken “Add to cart” buttons, JavaScript errors, or lost sessions will quickly kill conversions. Tiny buttons, small text, forms that don’t fit the screen, and no mobile wallet options make buying on a phone feel like a chore.

Sometimes, cart abandonment rates can be attributed to something as simple as shoppers forgetting they had items in their cart. 

In the rest of this guide, I’ll focus on changes that directly address these issues.

How to Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment

Let’s look at specific, practical ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment in WordPress, especially if you use Easy Digital Downloads.

You don’t need to do everything at once. Start with a couple of high‑impact changes and expand from there.

1. Make Total Costs Clear Upfront

One of the easiest wins is to remove surprises. People hate seeing their total jump at the last second.

On your product pages, be as clear as you can about pricing. If you offer different license levels, spell out what each one includes and why it costs more. Use simple tables or short descriptions so buyers can quickly see which option fits them best.

Explain taxes and fees early.

If you collect EU VAT or other taxes, tell buyers up front that tax will be calculated based on their location. Let them know when they’ll see the final amount. This is especially important if you sell to EU or UK customers.

Easy Digital Downloads Pro can simplify this with built‑in EU VAT handling.

After you enable EU VAT under Downloads → Settings → Taxes, you can configure everything on a dedicated EU VAT tab. It then:

• Automatically keeps VAT rates up to date for EU countries.
• Adds a VAT number field at checkout and validates numbers in real time.
• Applies the right VAT rate or a reverse charge where required and includes VAT details in orders, invoices, and exportable reports.

This reduces confusion for customers and keeps you compliant without manual work.

For international stores, showing prices in only one currency can also create friction. The EDD Multi Currency extension:

• Supports 20+ currencies.
• Auto-detects their location and shows prices in their local currency using built‑in geolocation.
• Keeps exchange rates updated automatically without extra APIs.

As a result, someone from the UK might see “£47” instead of “$59” right away, which feels more natural and avoids mental currency math.

Finally, use smart multi‑pricing strategies to create clear pricing tiers or product bundles. That way, buyers see the full cost and options up front instead of discovering “add‑ons” at the last minute.

The more you explain before someone reaches checkout, the fewer refunds and abandoned carts you’ll see.

2. Simplify the Checkout Process

Long, complicated checkouts are one of the most common reasons people give up.

For digital products, you usually don’t need a lot of information. In many cases, a name, email address, billing region, and payment details are enough. That means you can safely remove unnecessary fields and shorten the checkout form.

Easy Digital Downloads already gives you a focused checkout page, but you can go further. With the Checkout Fields Manager extension for EDD Pro, you can build interactive checkout forms that only show extra fields when they’re needed.

This kind of dynamic conditional logic keeps the form short and fast for most customers, while still letting you collect extra details from the people who truly need those fields. It’s a good compromise between simplicity and flexibility.

On top of that, you can make small UX tweaks that have a big impact:

• Consider using a simple progress indicator if your checkout has multiple steps, so people know how much is left.
• Remove unnecessary navigation menus or sidebars from the checkout page so there are fewer distractions.
• Keep the order summary and total visible, so no one has to hunt for the information they care about most.

Every field and every click you remove from checkout makes it more likely that a visitor will finish the purchase.

3. Provide Multiple Payment Methods

Payment friction is another big cause of abandonment. If someone can’t pay the way they want, they often won’t pay at all.

With Easy Digital Downloads, you can offer several payment options and let customers choose what feels most comfortable.

Stripe Payment Gateway is one of the most popular options. It supports major credit and debit cards, Buy Now Pay Later options like Klarna, and digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay. For many shoppers, being able to tap a saved card or use Face ID is far easier than typing a full card number.

There are so many other payment methods available through Stripe that you can usually cover the payment options that matter most to your audience.

If you sell subscriptions or memberships, you can also pair these gateways with EDD Recurring Payments to handle ongoing payments. The more familiar and flexible your payment options are, the less likely a buyer is to bail at the final step.

4. Offer Guest Checkout & Express Options

Forcing visitors to create an account before buying is a classic way to lose sales.

Whenever possible, let people check out as guests. Easy Digital Downloads makes this easy. You can collect just the essential details—typically name and email—and still:

• Send receipts and download links.
• Track the purchase in your reports.
• Let the buyer create an account later if they choose.

If you want to grow your user base, you can always invite people to convert their guest checkout into an account on the thank‑you page or in a follow‑up email, without blocking the initial order.

Express payment methods help here, too. With Stripe and PayPal connected, you can offer Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal Express directly at checkout. These methods let customers pay in just a couple of taps or clicks using saved cards and billing details. This is especially powerful on mobile, where typing out a full billing address and card number is more painful.

Place these express methods in a prominent spot on your checkout page so buyers can quickly spot them. Many people now scan for wallet logos before they consider typing in card details.

The pattern is simple: make it possible for someone to complete their purchase in as few steps as possible, and worry about long‑term account relationships after they’ve bought.

5. Use Clear, Compelling CTAs & UX

Sometimes shoppers don’t complete checkout because they’re not entirely sure what to do next, or the interface feels clumsy.

Start with your calls‑to‑action (CTAs). Your main buttons should say exactly what will happen when someone clicks them. Labels like “Add to cart,” “Go to checkout,” and “Complete purchase” are clear and honest. Vague labels like “Continue” or “Submit” can cause hesitation at key moments.

Make the primary action stand out visually. Use a strong, consistent button color for your checkout actions and avoid using that same style for less important links. This helps guide the eye and keeps people from getting lost.

You can also improve the cart experience by using Cart Preview, which is built into Easy Digital Downloads.

Cart Preview adds a modern slide‑out cart drawer that appears as soon as someone adds a product. Shoppers see confirmation instantly, can review the items in their cart, change quantities, and remove products without leaving the page. A small floating cart icon remains in the corner, so they can reopen the cart at any time.

This smoother flow encourages people to keep shopping and makes it obvious how to proceed to checkout. It removes confusion like “Did that click work?” or “Where did my cart go?”

With EDD Pro, you can also enable Cart Recommendations inside the Cart Preview drawer. This adds a “You might also like” section powered by an AI recommendation engine that learns from your product titles, descriptions, categories, and other data.

This can raise the average order value and sometimes reduce cart abandonment by helping buyers discover the exact add‑ons or upgrades they need.

Finally, make your coupon experience straightforward. Place the coupon code field in a visible spot, show clear messages when a code is applied or invalid, and update the total right away.

6. Build Trust & Reduce Security Concerns

If someone hesitates to type in their card info, there’s usually a trust issue.

You can build trust in several ways.

Start with the basics. Your entire site, and especially your checkout page, should be served over HTTPS. The browser’s lock icon gives a clear visual cue that the connection is encrypted. Most modern WordPress hosting providers make SSL easy to set up.

Show familiar payment logos. Logos for Stripe, PayPal, Square, major cards, etc. signal that you use reputable processors. EDD’s gateways will usually provide these, or you can add small icons near your payment section.

Display social proof near checkout. Customer reviews, ratings, and testimonials go a long way. With add‑ons like EDD Reviews, you can:

• Collect genuine reviews.
• Show them on product pages.
• Highlight key quotes on or near your checkout page.

Real‑time activity notifications from a tool like TrustPulse can add another layer of reassurance. When buyers see small messages like “Jane in Berlin just purchased [Product] 5 minutes ago,” they feel like they’re joining a community of real customers, not taking a risk alone.

Clear policies are also vital. Make sure you link to your refund policy, privacy policy, and terms of use from both your footer and your checkout page. Write them in plain language. Explain how refunds work, what your guarantee covers, and how long buyers will have access to downloads, updates, and support.

When you answer common concerns up front and show that other people trust you, you remove many reasons for last‑second abandonment.

7. Add Exit-Intent Pop-Ups

Even with a great checkout, some people will try to leave. Exit‑intent popups give you one last chance to save the sale—or at least capture a lead.

An exit-intent pop-up appears when a visitor shows signs of leaving your site (for example, moving their mouse toward the browser’s close button, or scrolling up quickly on mobile).

How to use them to reduce shopping cart abandonment:

• Offer a limited‑time discount or coupon.
• Remind them that their cart is saved and they can come back later.
• Offer a small freebie (like a mini guide or template) in exchange for their email.

OptinMonster is a popular choice for creating exit-intent pop-ups in WordPress.

You can design exit‑intent campaigns that only show on cart or checkout URLs, segment by behavior, and integrate with your email marketing tool. The key is to make the offer feel helpful, not desperate. One well‑timed pop-up is effective; constant interruptions tend to do more harm than good.

8. Send Cart Recovery & Reminder Emails

Not every abandoned cart is gone forever. A well‑timed email can bring many of those customers back.

To send good cart recovery emails, try to capture the visitor’s email address early in the checkout flow. A simple approach is to ask for email on the first step before payment details. That way, even if they leave before paying, you can still follow up.

With Easy Digital Downloads, you can handle these follow‑ups in a few ways.

The Conditional Emails extension lets you create automatic emails that go out when certain conditions are met. For example, you can send an email if a cart is left incomplete for a set period of time, or if a user reaches checkout but doesn’t complete a purchase.

You can also use dedicated recovery tools that integrate with EDD, such as Recapture, to send multi‑step sequences and track recovered revenue.

A simple schedule often works well:

• You might send the first reminder within a few hours of abandonment, while the visit is still fresh in the person’s mind.
• A second reminder around 24 hours later can restate the main benefits of the product and include social proof.
• A third message, two or three days later, may introduce a small incentive like a modest discount or bonus file if they complete their purchase.

Each email should include a direct link back to the customer’s cart or checkout page so they can finish in as few clicks as possible. Over time, you can test different subject lines, timing, and incentives to see what gets the best recovery rate.

9. Optimize Page & Mobile Performance

Speed and mobile usability have a huge impact on whether people complete checkout—especially for digital products, where buyers expect instant gratification.

To improve performance, be sure to choose solid hosting. A reliable host tuned for WordPress and eCommerce can cut load times significantly and reduce downtime.

Beyond hosting, use caching and image optimization on your site. Many WordPress caching plugins and CDNs can minimize the work the server has to do, and compressing large images speeds up product and marketing pages.

Focus specifically on your cart and checkout pages. These are critical steps, so avoid loading heavy scripts, sliders, or unnecessary widgets there. Test those pages on different devices and browsers to make sure “Add to cart” buttons and payment fields always work as expected.

On mobile, design with small screens in mind. Keep forms simple and stacked vertically. Use large, easy‑to‑tap buttons. Enable browser autofill so visitors can quickly fill out details like email and billing address.

Offer mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay through your Stripe integration so buyers can complete purchases without typing out full card details.

Remember that mobile visitors are often on slower or less stable connections. Every second you shave off the checkout process makes it more likely they’ll follow through.

10. Offer Live Chat or Quick Support Access

Sometimes a shopper is one question away from buying. If they can’t get a quick answer, they leave.

Offering live chat or quick support links on key pages can make a big difference. Placing a chat widget or a “Need help?” link on your product, pricing, and checkout pages lets buyers ask questions about licenses, updates, refunds, or technical requirements before they commit.

In addition to chat, you can reduce friction by making answers easy to find. Clear links to a concise FAQ page, especially near the checkout form, give shoppers confidence.

That FAQ can cover topics such as:

• What exactly is included in each product or plan.
• How many sites or devices a license covers.
• When they’ll get access after purchase.
• How long updates and support will be available.
• How your refund or guarantee works.

You can also use screenshots, short demo videos, or tooltips to explain any fields or choices that might confuse people. For example, a short line under the email field that says “We’ll send your download link and receipt here” reassures buyers that they’ll get what they paid for right away.

Quick support and clear information don’t just save individual sales; they also build long‑term trust.

11. Use Behavioral Tactics & Consumer Psychology

Beyond technical fixes, there are a few psychological levers you can pull—used ethically—to nudge people toward completing the purchase.

You can use urgency and scarcity when it’s genuine. For example, you might run a time‑limited sale that clearly states when it ends, or offer a bonus resource that is only available for a short window. 

With digital products, it’s also helpful to highlight instant access. Buyers like to know that they’ll get what they paid for right away. Phrases like “Get instant access after checkout” or “Start downloading in minutes” remind them of the immediate payoff for finishing the process.

Discounts and incentives fit into this category, too. Used carefully, they can tip the scales.

You might offer a first‑time buyer discount, a small coupon in an exit‑intent popup, or a bonus template pack in a cart recovery email. Just be sure not to train your regular customers to always wait for discounts.

Reassurance copy around your payment fields also matters. Short statements that explain that payments are handled securely by Stripe, PayPal, or Square, that there are no hidden fees, and that you offer a clear money‑back guarantee can lower anxiety at the exact moment someone decides whether to click “Complete purchase.”

Finally, think about how you package your products. EDD lets you create bundles and order bumps. Bundling related products at a better price can increase the perceived value of the purchase, which makes buyers more comfortable completing checkout. 

12. Measure & Improve Over Time

Reducing shopping cart abandonment isn’t a one‑time project; it’s an ongoing process.

Start by tracking a few key metrics, such as your:

• Cart abandonment rate, using the formula we covered earlier.
• Checkout abandonment rate, which focuses only on visitors who started filling out the checkout form.
• Recovery rate from cart emails and retargeting.
• Average order value, which will tell you whether tactics like Cart Recommendations and bundles are working.

Use funnel analytics in GA4 or a tool like MonsterInsights to map out your path from product view to completed order. Look for the step with the largest drop‑off. That’s usually the best place to focus your next round of changes.

When you make changes, try to test them in a structured way. If you can, run A/B tests on different button labels, form layouts, or checkout designs. Change one significant element at a time so you can see what causes the results you’re seeing.

Set a recurring time—monthly or quarterly—to review your metrics, note any trends, and pick one or two improvements to implement in the next period. Because Easy Digital Downloads lets you configure most of these changes inside WordPress, you can keep iterating without large development projects.

Over time, a series of small improvements can add up to a much smoother checkout and a much lower abandonment rate.

FAQs on Reducing Cart Abandonment in WordPress

Let’s wrap up by answering some common questions about shopping cart abandonment in WordPress.

Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment in WordPress

Cart abandonment is part of running an online store, but it doesn’t have to stay as high as it is today.

By making costs and currencies clear from the start, simplifying your checkout with conditional fields and guest checkout, offering flexible payment methods, building trust with reviews and clear policies, using tools like Cart Preview and AI‑driven Cart Recommendations to keep shoppers engaged, and following up with smart exit‑intent campaigns and recovery emails, you can reduce shopping cart abandonment and increase your revenue without more traffic.

If you sell digital products with WordPress, Easy Digital Downloads gives you most of these tools in one place. EDD Pro and its add‑ons add multi‑currency support with auto‑detection, built‑in EU VAT handling, cart recovery, conditional checkout fields, and AI‑powered product recommendations.

Still using EDD Lite? Upgrade to Pro and unlock access to our advanced, premium features!

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