TL;DR: Cart abandonment significantly increases during Black Friday due to hidden costs, slow checkout, and limited payment options. To reduce Black Friday cart abandonment, we have compiled this guide with efficient strategies and solutions that will help recover lost sales and maximize Black Friday revenue.
The holiday season, especially Black Friday, is a great time for online stores to boost their sales. The Black Friday sales are increasing year by year, especially in the US. But the challenge of people leaving their shopping carts is also concerning with the increasing global Black Friday cart abandonment rates.
According to research by The Baymard Institute, as of 2024, 70.19% of all online shopping carts had been abandoned by customers.
Black Friday cart abandonment affects both small and large e-commerce businesses significantly. This guide will provide you with useful tips on how to reduce cart abandonment on Black Friday and during the rest of the holiday shopping season.
What is Black Friday Cart Abandonment and Why Does it Happen?
When a shopper adds items to their online shopping cart but leaves the store without making the purchase, this is called “shopping cart abandonment.” Online stores have to deal with this problem all year, but it’s even more important to fix cart abandonment during busy times like Black Friday sales. These are some possible reasons for cart abandonment:
- High shipping costs make 48% of people leave their shopping carts.
- 26% of users leave because they don’t want to make an account.
- One in four customers leaves because they don’t trust the site with their credit card information.
- 23% leave their carts because it takes too long for their order to ship.
- 22% quit because the checkout process is too complicated and takes too much time.
- 21% don’t go through with their order if they can’t see the total cost right away.
- 18% leave if they don’t like the policy on returns.
- 17% of users had problems with the website.
Top Ways to Reduce Cart Abandonment During Black Friday
Now, as you know the reasons for cart abandonment, you can opt for these strategies to reduce Black Friday cart abandonment. Here are eight efficient cart abandonment solutions:
1. Be Honest About Extra Costs
When shipping costs, taxes, or other fees are too high, up to 63% of people who shop online leave their carts. To avoid this, make sure that all extra costs are clear throughout the shopping process, especially on the product pages and the checkout page. Customers feel more in control of their purchases, helping you reduce lost revenue.
2. Keep Your Delivery Information Clear
Delivery times are important, as most of the shoppers leave their carts because the order takes too long to ship. To meet these needs, display estimated delivery times clearly on product pages and during the checkout process. This will help people know what to expect and stop them from leaving their carts.
3. Show Live Shipping Rates at Checkout
To minimize cart abandonment on Black Friday, it’s important to avoid surprise fees at checkout. Unexpected costs are one of the main reasons people leave their carts. Provide real-time and clear prices. By combining every charge, you ensure customers are fully aware of shipping fees, including options for faster or cost-effective delivery. This increases conversion rates and makes the checkout process smooth.
4. Keep the Checkout Process Easy
Online shoppers often abandon their carts when the checkout process is too long or complicated. According to 99Firms 30% of people who shop online leave their carts because they have to enter their information more than once.
Make your checkout process easier by allowing guests to check out, reducing the number of form fields, and making sure payments are safe. Provide a variety of payment methods, such as digital wallets like Apple Pay.
5. Send Emails About Cart Abandonment
A simple reminder can help you recover lost sales. People who get cart abandonment recovery emails open them 39.07% of the time and click on them 23.33% of the time. Sending two or three personalized emails with limited-time discounts to people who have left their carts can get them back and finish their purchases. To show how much money they can save on shipping, you could show the average order value in the email.
5. Use Live Chat
Another way to reduce cart abandonment on Black Friday is to use live chat. This can help customers with their orders and provide them with support for their purchase. For instance, if an agent is ready to answer the customer’s questions about the product, this prompt solution will prevent them from leaving the carts and protect your Black Friday profits.
6. Provide Multiple Payment Options
One of the main reasons people leave their carts is that there aren’t enough ways to pay. You can encourage customers to finish their purchase by giving them multiple payment options. For instance, you could offer different payment methods, such as Shop Pay, PayPal, Google Pay, or Meta Pay, or let customers pay with a credit or debit card. Consider the countries where your business is based and where your customers live when you pick a payment provider.
7. Use Exit Intent Pop-Ups
Exit popups encourage people not to leave your site. You can use these pop-ups to show in their carts with a discount code or free shipping offer. OptiMonk says that cart abandonment popups have a conversion rate of 17.12% on average.
8. Send Notifications to Your Phone
Push notifications let you turn anonymous visitors to your website into subscribers without needing their email address or phone number. You can send them a follow-up push notification to get them to come back and buy if they leave their cart. Also, tell customers about new products, special releases, or limited collections as soon as they go live. This makes people more excited and urgent about your brand.
Final Thoughts
To achieve maximum sales from holiday sales, it’s important to reduce cart abandonment on Black Friday. E-commerce stores can encourage more people to finish their purchases by being honest about prices, making the checkout process easier, and showing live shipping rates.
As cart abandonment stats continue to rise, addressing these challenges will help you recover lost revenue and boost your holiday season sales.
FAQs
Q1. Why do people leave their shopping carts more often on Black Friday?
Q2. How can I reduce cart abandonments on Black Friday?
Q3. What are the best ways to stop people from leaving their carts on Black Friday?
The best ways to stop people from leaving their carts are:
- Clear mention of Shipping costs and delivery times.
- Pop-ups that offer discounts when you leave
- Emails to recover carts that are personalised
- Checkout flow that works well on mobile devices
- Offering guests checkout options.
Q4. How effective are abandoned cart recovery emails?
Q5: Can live chat really help people not leave their carts on Black Friday?
September 11, 2025
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Ishan Makkar
Ishan Makkar is the Founder of Website Speedy, a performance optimization platform dedicated to making websites faster, more user-friendly, and SEO-ready. With deep expertise in technical SEO and Core Web Vitals, Ishan helps businesses reduce bounce rates and deliver lightning-fast digital experiences.
