Retailers miss out on 39.4 billion pounds from abandoned online baskets

UK retailers are missing out on tens of billions of pounds in sales because over-complicated online checkouts are causing shoppers to ditch their baskets, new data reveals.

Retailers have missed out on more than 39.4 billion pounds in potential sales over the last 12 months as a boom in online shopping during lockdowns saw the value of online abandoned baskets more than double since 2018.

That’s according to new research from Barclaycard Payments, which processes nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions.

High delivery costs added at the last minute are the key deterrents for buyers, resulting in 37 percent of abandoned purchases, followed by cyber window shopping (26 percent) and lengthy payment authentication processes (24 percent).

However, with better understanding of basket abandonment rates, many retailers are now working to tackle the issue, with almost half (49 percent) having reduced the number of steps to checkout, and 48 percent sending automated emails to remind customers about abandoned items.

The data also revealed consumers are less likely to abandon a basket on an app (5 percent compared to 31 percent on a laptop).

The UK’s ‘most abandoned’ online items

The research revealed that homeware (34 percent) and smart clothing such as suits and dresses (31 percent) were the most commonly-abandoned items, followed by gadgets (29 percent), party outfits (23 percent) and holiday wardrobes (23 percent).

“Ensuring payment processes are as streamlined as possible should be a major priority for all online businesses, because every extra second it takes customers to checkout increases the risk of lost revenue,” said independent retail expert Claire Bailey in a statement.

“Having a dedicated app also has a significant impact on decreasing the number of items abandoned in baskets. With the increased volume of online traffic, retailers should ensure they are set up to reap the benefits, not the empty baskets.”