Why Customers Abandon Carts: Looking Beyond Price at Trust, Comparison and Timing

Cart abandonment is often seen as a price problem.

When a shopper puts a product in their cart and then leaves without purchasing, the first thought is that the price must have been too high. The usual reaction is to send a notification, offer a discount, and try to win back the sale.

Price is only one factor in the decision.

According to a recent survey by Zapoll into the behavior of shoppers who abandoned their carts, the reasons given for not completing a purchase were almost equally divided among three factors: 31.8% of respondents wanted to compare the product with those of other brands, 31.8% said the price was too high, and 29.5% wanted more time to think about it. Together, these three reasons made up 93.2% of all the responses.

The more useful question, then, is not simply: “Why didn’t they buy?” It's: What remained unresolved when they left the cart?

That distinction matters because different reasons for abandonment call for different kinds of intervention.

“Too expensive” does not always mean the price is high

Price resistance is one of the most obvious signs that a business can observe, but it is also easy to misinterpret.

Of those who said the product seemed too expensive, 71.4% said a better explanation of the product's value would have made the price seem worth paying; 21.4% chose free shipping or bundle offers, and 7.1% wanted to see more customer reviews.

That shows an important distinction: a customer might think, "This costs too much," when what they really mean is, "I still don't understand why this is worth that much." These are two different commercial problems. The first one might call for a pricing adjustment, while the second might call for more effective value communication.

Before changing the number, businesses should consider what customers know at the point of decision. Are the advantages clear? Does the difference between this product and the alternatives seem obvious? Is there sufficient evidence to warrant the higher price?

A discount can make a product cheaper, but it does not make an unclear value proposition clear.

Some customers aren't rejecting the product; they are comparing it.

31.8% of respondents left because they wanted to compare the product with other brands; this is a different kind of reservation, since the customer might have already accepted the price and could therefore stay within that category.

They haven't yet decided if your product is the right one. A general abandoned-cart message offers little help at this stage.

“Your item is waiting” does not answer:

• Why should I choose this over the alternative?

• What advantage does this product have in my case?

• What do other customers think?

• What would occur if I made the wrong choice?

• Are they offering something I don't have here?

The survey also gives a further indication in this case; the most frequent answer given when people were asked what worried them most about purchasing from a new brand's website was not that there were not enough reviews (34.1%), but that they weren't sure they could trust the brand (22.7%).

For a shopper who is comparing products, evidence plays a role in getting them to make a purchase: product reviews, guarantees, information about returns, comparisons of products, clearer distinctions between them, and reliable evidence from customers all help to reduce the uncertainty that exists between the point at which the item is in the shopping cart and the actual purchase.

The problem doesn't always lie in a lack of intent, but in a lack of confidence in the final decision.

Trust is included in the price.

The survey becomes more interesting when it asks shoppers where they would buy the same product at the same price: 68.2% said they would choose Shopee, Lazada, or TikTok Shop, while only 9.1% preferred the brand's website.

The price stayed the same, but purchase preferences shifted significantly. Why?

For those who preferred the marketplaces, the main reasons were better vouchers or cashback and greater trust in the platform, while convenience through faster delivery or easier checkout came a little later.

This shows something brands may overlook when examining their checkout process. Customers don't assess price alone; they consider the entire transaction. Spending $100 on a marketplace they know feels less risky than spending the same amount on a website they have never used.

The marketplace may offer:

• familiar checkout

• visible customer reviews

• buyer protection

• known return processes

• vouchers or cashback

• stored payment methods

• a platform the customer already trusts

Even if the product price is the same, perceived risk differs, which suggests some abandoned carts aren't lost because of price; instead, they are lost because a more favorable purchasing environment elsewhere wins.

(But what makes that purchasing environment stronger? We explore why shoppers choose Shopee or Lazada over brand websites, even at the same price, and what that means for brands trying to win direct purchases.)

Yet some shoppers are not ready.

29.5 % of the people in the survey belonged to the third main group and said they wanted more time to think. It may be tempting to see this as a weak objection, but time is also part of the buying decision.

A shopper may like the product and still decide:

• I don't need this right now.

• I'll buy it after I get paid.

• I would like to consider it over the course of the night.

• I am hoping for a promotion.

• I want to see whether the price changes.

The second survey supports this behavior.

Without receiving an abandoned-cart reminder, 34.3% said they would return when they needed the item, 25.7% said they would go back and buy it anyway, 20% would check later for a promotion or better price, and 11.4% would return when they got paid.

2.9% said that they would probably forget about the product. This changes how we should interpret abandoned carts: a cart can indicate a temporarily postponed decision, not a final one. For these customers, the business doesn't have to try so hard. It might just need to contact them again at a more appropriate time.

The error is assuming all abandoned carts are the same issue.

Most abandoned-cart systems rely on time. One person leaves; then, after an hour, a notification is sent; the next day, another is sent; and eventually, a voucher is sent.

However the survey shows that the shopper's state of mind may be more important than the amount of time that has elapsed: a person who is questioning the value needs a reason to think that the price is justified; someone who is comparing different brands needs to be certain that they are making the right choice; a person who is concerned about trust needs evidence; and someone who isn't ready may need a better time to come back.

These customers can all produce the same behavioral signal: The product has been added to the cart without a purchase.

The commercial issue behind that signal is different; since the problem is different, the intervention should probably be different too.

Discounts do work, but that doesn't mean they should be the solution.

A finding businesses should not ignore: When people were asked what is most likely to persuade them to return and complete the purchase, 65.9% said they would be tempted by a better discount or voucher.

Discounts clearly matter. However, a significant gap exists between the reason for hesitation and what can eventually lead to a purchase.

A shopper may leave because they are unsure of the item's value, yet return when offered a 15% discount. The discount didn't always deal with the primary problem. It thus made the decision easier.

Commercially, that distinction matters. The business can secure more orders if it gives every shopper who abandons their purchase an immediate discount, even though it will be handing out margin to customers who would have bought later anyway.

The better question is not: “Do discounts recover carts?” They can!

The better question is: Which carts should get an incentive, and which could have been addressed by removing the original friction?

Before it becomes a problem to be recovered from, cart abandonment is a diagnosis problem.

A person who reaches the cart has clearly shown a certain level of interest. What happens next depends on the issues that remain unresolved. That is the cost involved. However, in some cases, the customer is still comparing.

Sometimes there is a lack of evidence. Sometimes the website itself doesn't feel trustworthy enough; Sometimes the product feels expensive because its value isn't clear; and sometimes the customer needs more time.

Viewing cart abandonment only through the lens of recovery would treat all these cases as a single issue. A better starting point is to diagnose the hesitation:

What else did the customer need to believe, understand, or experience before they were ready to finalize the purchase?

Once you understand that, planning the intervention gets simpler.

And sometimes the answer will still be a discount.

But at least then, the business knows what it is actually trying to fix.

Disclaimer: This article is based on findings from a directional consumer survey conducted among respondents in Malaysia via Zapoll. Treat the findings as indicative consumer evidence to inform hypotheses and further testing, not as representative of all online shoppers.

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