Cart abandonment — when a shopper adds items but leaves before completing checkout — is normal for every online store, but there are real, fixable reasons it happens more than it should.
Offer M-Pesa at Checkout
If your only payment option is a card form, you're losing customers who expected — and only trust — M-Pesa. This alone is one of the biggest fixable causes of abandonment for Kenyan stores.
Show Total Cost Early
Surprise delivery fees revealed only at the final checkout step are a leading cause of abandoned carts everywhere. Show shipping costs as early as possible.
Simplify Checkout
Every unnecessary form field or account-creation requirement is a chance for someone to give up. Offer guest checkout, and only ask for what you truly need.
Make Your Store Feel Trustworthy
An SSL certificate (the padlock icon), clear contact information, and real product photos all signal legitimacy. See our guide on building trust on a new store.
Make Sure Your Site Loads Fast
A slow checkout page loses sales, especially on mobile data. This ties directly into your hosting quality.
Follow Up on Abandoned Carts
If your platform supports it, an automated reminder email or message to customers who abandoned a cart can recover a meaningful share of lost sales.
Need Your Store Optimised?
Talk to us about auditing your current checkout flow for friction points.