Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools we use to build client stores.
To reduce abandoned checkouts on Shopify, show the full cost (shipping and tax) before checkout, stop forcing shoppers to log in, turn on Shop Pay and other express buttons, cut optional form fields, and make sure your recovery email actually sends. By default it only goes to customers subscribed to email marketing.
Last updated: October 2026
Key takeaways
- Shopify only counts a checkout as abandoned once the shopper has entered their contact details and not paid, so these are your warmest lost sales.
- The most common reason shoppers quit is extra costs they didn't expect. Show shipping and tax before the checkout button.
- Shopify's abandoned checkout email goes only to marketing subscribers by default. If you never turned on the email opt-in at checkout, it may reach almost nobody.
- Forced logins, unneeded form fields and failed payments each cost you checkouts, and each can be fixed in your Shopify settings.
- None of the 9 fixes below needs an app.
What counts as an abandoned checkout on Shopify?
An abandoned checkout is a checkout where the shopper entered their email or phone number but didn't pay. Shopify treats it as abandoned after it has sat incomplete for more than 10 minutes.
That's different from an abandoned cart, where someone adds a product but never starts checkout. Shopify handles those with a separate "abandoned cart" automation. This post is about the checkout: the people who got as far as typing their details.
You'll find them in your admin under Orders > Abandoned checkouts. Shopify keeps them for three months, then deletes them automatically. Recovery emails only work for checkouts from your online store and Buy Button, not from Shopify POS or third-party sales channels.
How do you find out why your checkouts are being abandoned?
Look at your funnel numbers first, then open individual abandoned checkouts to see what went wrong. Ten minutes of looking will tell you which of the fixes below to start with.
- Check the funnel. Go to Analytics > Reports and open the Conversion rate breakdown report. It shows sessions with cart additions, sessions that reached checkout, and sessions that completed checkout. Divide completed by reached to get your checkout conversion rate. If you're not sure what "good" looks like, our guide to a good conversion rate for a new Shopify store has current benchmarks.
- Open your last 10–20 abandoned checkouts. For each one, note the country, the cart value and the shipping method chosen.
- Read the Timeline. Every payment attempt shows up as a payment event. Click one to see the reason, such as a declined card, a failed 3-D Secure check (the extra bank verification step), or a billing ZIP code that didn't match.
- Check the Blocked view. Checkouts that Shopify Payments blocked as high risk are listed separately.
- Look for the pattern. Lots from one country usually points to shipping costs or zones. Lots of payment events points to payment problems. Nonsense email addresses and random carts point to bots, which you can ignore.
If shoppers aren't even reaching checkout, the problem sits earlier in the funnel. Start with our pillar guide on why your Shopify store isn't converting instead.
Why do shoppers abandon checkout?
Mostly because of surprise costs, slow delivery, trust worries and too much effort. Baymard Institute's survey of US online shoppers, which leaves out people who were "just browsing", found these reasons. Each one has a Shopify fix.
| Reason shoppers gave | Share of shoppers | What to fix on Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Extra costs too high (shipping, tax, fees) | 40% | Show shipping and tax before checkout (fix 2) |
| Delivery was too slow | 20% | Show delivery times on product pages (fix 6) |
| Didn't trust the site with card details | 19% | Add policies, contact details and real reviews (fix 6) |
| Had to create an account | 18% | Turn off required login (fix 3) |
| Checkout too long or complicated | 17% | Express buttons and fewer fields (fixes 4 and 5) |
| Site had errors or crashed | 17% | Test your own checkout monthly (fix 9) |
| Returns policy wasn't good enough | 13% | Make returns clear before checkout (fix 6) |
| Couldn't see the total cost up front | 12% | Show shipping thresholds in the cart (fix 2) |
| Card was declined | 10% | Check payment events (fix 7) |
| Not enough payment methods | 9% | Add wallets and local methods (fixes 4 and 7) |
Source: Baymard Institute, cart abandonment statistics. Shoppers could pick more than one reason.
9 ways to reduce abandoned checkouts on Shopify
Do these in order. The first one is a five-minute fix, and many stores have never checked it.
1. Make sure your abandoned checkout email actually sends
Shopify's abandoned checkout email lives in the Shopify Messaging app, and by default it only goes to customers subscribed to email marketing. On a new store, that can be almost nobody.
- Go to Apps > Messaging > Automations and open the Abandoned checkout automation. Check that it's turned on.
- Look at the To: field in the email. It says subscribers only unless you changed it. Shopify lets you switch it to All customers, but check the consent rules for your customers first (see the UK and EU note below).
- Grow your subscriber list at checkout. Go to Settings > Checkout, and in the marketing opt-in section, turn on Email so shoppers see a sign-up checkbox.
- Check the wait time. If you create a second abandoned checkout automation, it defaults to a 10-hour wait, and you can change the wait time in Shopify Flow. We'd test a shorter delay so the email arrives the same day, then compare results in the automation's reporting.
- Review the email statuses on the Abandoned checkouts page. Tooltips explain why an email wasn't sent.
For a high-value checkout, you can also send the link yourself: open the abandoned checkout and click the customer's email. Only send it to that customer, because anyone with the link can continue the checkout and you can't expire it. Shopify's guide to the abandoned checkout automation covers every setting. If Black Friday is coming up, our Black Friday email ideas for small Shopify stores show where this email fits in your wider plan.
2. Show the full cost before checkout
Surprise costs are the number one reason shoppers leave, so take the surprise out. Shoppers should know roughly what they'll pay before they click the checkout button.
- Put your shipping prices, or a "free shipping over $X" threshold, on product pages and in the cart.
- If tax is added at checkout, say so in the cart ("Tax calculated at checkout").
- Write a short shipping page with costs by region and link to it from the footer and the cart.
- If you use a free shipping threshold, show shoppers in the cart how far they are from it.
3. Stop forcing shoppers to log in
Making first-time buyers create or log in to an account before they can pay adds a step, and 18% of shoppers in Baymard's survey have quit over it. Let people check out as guests.
Go to Settings > Checkout, find the customer contact method section, and untick Require customers to log in to their account before checkout. Returning customers can still log in, and Shop Pay remembers their details anyway.
4. Turn on express checkout buttons
Express buttons let shoppers pay with details they've already saved, with no typing. On a phone, that removes most of the effort.
You can activate accelerated checkout buttons for Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon Pay and PayPal in Settings > Payments. They appear in an Express Checkout section at the top of checkout, ordered to show each shopper their fastest option. Most themes also let you show them on product pages and in the cart, so shoppers can skip a step.
5. Cut checkout fields you don't need
Every field is a small reason to stop. Baymard's testing found an ideal checkout can show 12–14 form elements, while the average US checkout shows over 23.
- In Settings > Checkout, set Company name to "Don't include" unless you sell to businesses. If it's set to Required, Shopify says some express options, such as Apple Pay, won't display.
- Make Address line 2 and the shipping phone number optional unless your carrier needs a phone number.
- Think about the contact method. If you allow phone or email and a shopper gives only a phone number, Shopify can't send them a recovery email.
Shopify's help page on checkout form options explains each setting.
6. Answer trust questions before the Pay button
Shoppers who don't know you yet want to know three things: will it arrive on time, can I send it back, and is this a real business? Answer them before checkout, not after.
- Show delivery times on product pages, not just prices.
- Add your refund, shipping and privacy policies in Settings > Policies, and link the returns policy from product pages.
- Show a real contact email, and a phone number or address if you have one.
- Use real reviews only. Fake trust badges and invented review counts do more harm than good.
Most of this work happens on the product page, which we cover in our guide to Shopify product page best practices. If you'd rather have someone check your store for these gaps, our free store audit covers checkout trust signals.
7. Find and fix failed payments
Some abandoned checkouts aren't abandoned at all: the shopper tried to pay and it failed. These are the easiest sales to win back.
- Open the Timeline on abandoned checkouts and read the payment events. Common reasons include a declined card, a failed 3-D Secure check, an incorrect billing address, out-of-stock items, and a discount code or gift card that could no longer be used.
- If the same reason keeps appearing, act on it. Add PayPal or a local payment method if cards keep failing, and check your discount codes haven't expired before you run a campaign.
- If you know the customer and their payment was blocked, Shopify suggests creating a draft order and sending them an invoice.
8. Close shipping gaps
If a shopper enters an address you don't ship to, they hit a dead end, and Shopify won't send them a recovery email. These losses are silent.
Look at the countries in your abandoned checkouts. If one keeps appearing, either add it to your shipping zones or say clearly on your site where you ship, so people find out before they start checkout.
9. Test your own checkout every month
Seventeen percent of shoppers in Baymard's survey left because the site had errors or crashed. You won't spot this from the admin, so buy from yourself.
- Once a month, and after every new app or theme change, run a test order on your phone. Use Shopify Payments test mode, or buy a cheap item and refund it.
- Try a discount code, an express button and a guest checkout.
- Before big sales, run the full check from our guide on how to prepare your Shopify store for Black Friday.
If you're in the UK or EU
Abandoned checkout emails usually count as marketing, and UK and EU rules are stricter than in the US. The UK regulator says you need specific consent to send marketing emails to individuals, with a limited exception for your own previous customers who were given a clear way to opt out. See the ICO's guidance on email marketing, which is currently under review. For UK and EU shoppers, the safest setup is to keep the email on subscribers only, turn on the checkout opt-in, and leave the checkbox unticked by default. If you're unsure, get advice for your specific case.
Do it yourself or have it done for you
Do it yourself: every fix above is a setting or a content change, so you can work through the list in an afternoon. Start with fixes 1 and 2, then read our guide on fixing a Shopify store that isn't converting for the rest of the funnel. Not on Shopify yet? Every checkout feature in this post comes built in, and you can start a free trial to try it.
Have it done for you: Komrex, a Shopify store design agency, can check your checkout settings, product pages and recovery emails for you. Our team has built 900+ Shopify stores. Start with a free store audit, and if you want ongoing fixes and testing, look at our care plans.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as an abandoned checkout on Shopify?
A checkout counts as abandoned when a shopper has entered their contact details at checkout but still hasn't paid more than 10 minutes later. Shopify lists these under Orders > Abandoned checkouts and keeps them for three months. Shoppers who add to cart but never reach checkout aren't included, which is why Shopify has a separate abandoned cart automation for them.
What is a normal checkout abandonment rate on Shopify?
Shopify doesn't publish an official checkout abandonment benchmark. The widely quoted figure is Baymard Institute's 70.22% average cart abandonment rate, but that covers carts as well as checkouts, across many platforms. A more useful number is your own checkout conversion rate: sessions that completed checkout divided by sessions that reached checkout. Track it monthly and after every change you make.
Why isn't my Shopify abandoned checkout email sending?
The most common reason is that the automation only sends to customers subscribed to email marketing, which is the default setting. Shopify also skips the email when the shopper completed a purchase before it was due, when none of the items can still be bought, or when Shopify Payments blocked the payment as high risk. The Abandoned checkouts page shows why each email wasn't sent.
Should I put a discount in my abandoned checkout email?
You can, because Shopify lets you add a discount to the abandoned checkout email. We'd leave it out of the first reminder, though. Many shoppers only need a nudge, and a code in every reminder teaches regular customers to stop at checkout and wait for one. If you do use a discount, keep it small, give it an expiry date, and compare recovered sales with and without it.
Can I delete abandoned checkouts in Shopify?
No. Shopify doesn't let you delete individual abandoned checkouts, and it removes them automatically after three months. If you want to keep the details of one, such as a large order you're still following up, create a draft order with the same items and customer and leave it open. You can also export abandoned checkouts when you export your orders.
Are some abandoned checkouts just bots?
Yes, some can be. Shopify filters out checkout attempts it identifies as card testing or bot activity, but it says not all automated activity is caught. Signs of a bot checkout include nonsense email addresses, odd names, large or random carts, and many attempts in a short time. Don't chase these with recovery offers, and leave them out when you measure your checkout conversion rate.
Start today with fix 1: open Apps > Messaging > Automations and check who your abandoned checkout email actually reaches.
