Baymard's current list puts the average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate at 70.22%. That is a useful market reference, not a target your store should accept. The number averages 50 studies with different audiences, devices, products, and definitions.
The benchmark and what it means
| Measure | Result | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Average documented cart abandonment rate | 70.22% | External context, not a universal target |
| Uptain study listed by Baymard | 71.72% | Recent comparison point from 2025 |
| Baymard checkout research | 11,777 participants | Usability evidence across nine quantitative studies |
| Baymard usability sessions | 272 sessions | Qualitative evidence about checkout problems |
Source: Baymard's cart abandonment list, updated September 22, 2025, and checkout benchmark, updated February 2, 2025.
The average mixes cart creation with purchase intent. Some visitors save products, compare prices, or leave to find a payment method. Your first job is to define the denominator: carts created, checkout sessions started, or customers who reached payment.
Measure the leak in your own store
Create a weekly table with sessions, carts, checkout starts, payments initiated, and orders. Split each stage by device, landing page, channel, new versus returning customer, and product category. A store can have a market-level cart rate while losing most revenue at one payment step.
Review the highest-loss step before changing the whole site. Check delivery cost visibility, guest checkout, form errors, payment failures, mobile keyboard behavior, coupon handling, and stock messages. Baymard's research is especially useful for turning a broad abandonment number into specific usability questions.
For a reporting routine, use the marketing analytics guide. For the daily operating cadence behind the measurements, see the daily SEO publishing routine.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average cart abandonment rate in 2026?
Baymard lists a 70.22% average from 50 documented studies. It is an average of studies, not a universal ecommerce benchmark.
Is a 70% abandonment rate normal?
It is common in published studies, but it does not tell you whether your checkout is healthy. Compare the same funnel definition over time and find the step where qualified buyers leave.
What should an ecommerce team fix first?
Fix the largest measured checkout leak. Confirm the change with device and channel-level data before rolling it out broadly.
Related research
If checkout reporting keeps slipping behind daily operations, marketing analytics VA support can maintain the review queue and document exceptions.
Sources
- Baymard, 50 Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics 2026, updated September 22, 2025: https://baymard.com/lists/cart-abandonment-rate
- Baymard, Reasons for Cart Abandonment, updated February 2, 2025: https://baymard.com/blog/ecommerce-checkout-usability-report-and-benchmark