Why Cart Abandonment Might Be Happening and How to Fix It
It’s time to meet with the web and marketing team, and you’re faced with the same awful question. It’s positive that you don’t want to know the answer, but you ask it anyway: “How many abandoned checkouts this week?”
Website traffic is high, the design feels right, and the product descriptions have even been fine-tuned. So why is shopping cart abandonment at an all-time high? As an eCommerce retailer or manufacturer, we must accept some truths about consumers. The decision to purchase furniture is not an easy or quick one.
According to the American Medical Association, the average person makes 35,000 daily decisions, leading to decision fatigue. While websites are seemingly dressed to impress with product pages ready for purchase, the abundance of choice and information alone can mean multiple decisions for a single purchase, leaving consumers hesitant and shopping carts full.
Are You Losing Sales to Abandoned Carts?
The short answer is yes!
Shopping cart abandonment, also called abandoned checkouts, happens when a consumer places products from an eCommerce website into an online shopping cart. Then, faced with indecision for various reasons, they navigate away from the website without completing the purchase and, more importantly, without a way to indicate why consumers abandon carts. Some plan to return but forget. Others are not as intrigued by the products as they could be or have been deterred by long content and clunky design. However, there are ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment.
The current economy may also be to blame. Online retailer Wayfair reported unexpected losses, attributing this to consumers’ need to prioritize essential goods over home furnishings due to inflation and housing market trends.
According to recent studies, the average shopping cart abandonment rate across industries is around 70%, though it’s been estimated that this number is even higher within the home furnishings industry. Though some are a natural consequence of curiosity or casual browsing, eCommerce leaders still ask themselves why consumers abandon carts without reasons to account for.
Why Shoppers Abandon Carts
Cost-Related Concerns
In 2025, even for higher earners, every dollar counts. Given factors like inflation and supply chain disruptions, the average consumer finds it difficult to afford larger, less essential purchases like home furnishings, creating price-sensitive or no decision at all.
Unexpected extra costs and the lack of available discounts or sales are also factors that lead to abandoned carts. The quick and convenient availability of price comparisons from brand to brand and site to site also influences the purchase decision. If a consumer on your site spent time making a decision but was discouraged by a hidden fee, they can immediately browse your competitor’s product options. Having decided what they’re looking for, they can find something similar on a competitor’s website and purchase without extra fees, leaving a cart on your website abandoned.
Not only will transparency be a key helper in cost-related concerns, but adding convenience to the checkout process should also decrease the chances of abandoned carts. Major eCommerce sites have enabled one-click payment through third parties such as Apple Pay and PayPal. Some offer finance estimators on product pages and at checkout.
How to Fix It:
- Remove unexpected or hidden charges at checkout. Adding a shipping cost estimator or some visibility into shopping pricing on product pages should also mitigate the idea of ‘extra’ charges at checkout. Be sure to highlight return policies and guarantees as well.
- Emphasizing affordability and quality-to-price ratio can also increase the value of your products in a consumer’s mind. Quality of materials, longevity, and craftsmanship should also be emphasized to combat pricing. To reassure customers, sites should also display security badges on page footers and at checkout.
- Many buyers check prices online but may prefer to see, touch, or even sit on furniture in person. If an item is in your showroom, be sure to bridge the gap between in-store and online pricing.
Website Performance Issues & Mobile Optimization
Aside from the cost, another factor in increased shopping cart abandonment is inefficient website performance. Once a consumer has decided on a purchase, they want instant gratification. Imagine a frustratingly slow checkout experience. If another brand has similar styles and pricing, and the consumer has already browsed around, they’ll probably abandon the slower site altogether. Google’s The Need for Mobile Speed study 2016 found that 53% of users abandon a site completely if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Fast-loading websites convert better.
Mobile commerce, or m-commerce, has significantly increased in recent years. In fact, over three-quarters of website visits and over half of sales on Cyber Monday of 2024 were from mobile phones. From websites to social media, purchases are made from mobile devices, so eCommerce websites must be optimized for mobile to keep up. Without this, consumers are subject to unresponsive and clunky designs, hard-to-use navigation and checkout processes, and overlapping elements. These frustrations are more likely to push consumers to abandon their efforts on a site rather than look for a desktop option, which they may not readily have.
Though not all teams have in-house marketing or web professionals with the required capabilities, many partner agencies offer cost-effective solutions. They may even specialize in the home furnishings industry.
How to Fix It:
- Optimize all website pages for mobile devices. Be sure there are no overlapping elements and that sizing of images is correct. Most site traffic comes from mobile, and users seek a flawless experience.
- Prioritize page load speed, as well as fixing site errors and bugs.
Website User Experience (UX) & Convenience
Furniture shopping is a longer, more decision-packed process than quick, impulsive eCommerce purchases, so if a consumer spends time on a site, they need it to be a convenient experience. Any feature that can increase convenience makes for a desired user experience. Anyone that makes things difficult to understand or to find will likely push a consumer to another site.
Complicated navigation menus, product searches, and a lack of eCommerce checkout optimization are part of the problem. A 2024 benchmark study revealed that over 75% of leading e-commerce sites have “mediocre” to “poor” performance in homepage and category navigation. Imagine a consumer planning to purchase three to four pieces to complete a living room setup. They find a sofa and loveseat they like but cannot find accent chairs anywhere. To them, the accent chair is essential. Without an easy and convenient experience, that consumer will likely leave the sofa and loveseat in search of a brand that can satisfy all of their needs.
Call-to-action buttons shouldn’t just look inviting; they should be strategically placed and easy to find. They should lead to pages consumers expect them to lead to with information they need to nurture their purchase. When consumers are tasked with navigating through multiple pages, unnecessary form fields, or confusing navigation, they may drop off.
The impact of poorly created or curated content—product descriptions, images, videos—is also a factor in shopping cart abandonment. Weak or confusing product descriptions, return or refund policies, and the lack of inviting images, videos, or customization features may deter a purchase.
How to Fix It:
- A clear and concise website menu layout and navigation are a must.
- Progress indicators through the purchase to help consumers understand the process ahead of them is helpful.
- Offer guest checkout and simplify the steps required to complete the checkout.
- Some retailers and manufacturers have added wishlist pages where consumers can add items they are even mildly interested in to a list, helping them organize their ideas and plans for overall room design.
- Optimized content like photorealistic images, 3D configurators for customizable products, and view-in-room technology set an experience apart.
Nurture the Purchase to Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment
The key to reducing shopping cart abandonment is understanding that furniture shopping is a longer, research-heavy process in which the consumer is spoiled for choice and looking for convenience. By addressing common pain points—cost concerns, website performance and design, and trust issues—and prioritizing convenience, retailers, and manufacturers can keep consumers engaged and guide them toward the checkout.
If you’re looking to make changes or upgrades to your website to avoid the pitfalls of shopping cart abandonment, it’s important to partner with a digital agency that can fully understand the needs of consumers in the home furnishings industry. A digital marketing partner should be able to efficiently address the scope of work to optimize a website, create great content and photorealistic images, and guide you in building a great eCommerce experience, decreasing shopping cart abandon
