Frustration at check-out? What online retailers can learn from their customers' abandoned purchases

You're shopping in a new online store and preparing your shopping cart. But by the time you check out, it's that time again: creating a new customer account, entering your personal details, advertising here and there for a newsletter with a discount code and being asked to enter your payment details again. What rightly sounds like a lot is now demonstrably driving more and more customers to abandon their purchase, because a Survey by payment service provider Mastercard reveals an alarming problem for online retailers: Over 56 million consumers abandoned their online purchase at the checkout in 2024 because they found the payment process too cumbersome. This insight, gained from a survey of 18,000 European online shoppers, underlines the immense importance of a smooth checkout process for your success in e-commerce. For online retailers, this means that a user-unfriendly checkout process can lead to a significant loss of sales. We have summarized what you should pay attention to here.

The rocky road to the checkout: what annoys customers the most

The study shows that German online shoppers on average 56 purchases made last year and spent a total of over two hours filling in address and payment details. Half of those surveyed found it particularly cumbersome to manually enter the 16-digit credit card number (four out of five users) and the full address (90%). This even led to 14% of 25 to 34-year-olds abandoning the purchase because they did not have their card details to hand or were frustrated and abandoned the process.

Security and data protection as hurdles in online retail

In addition to the inconvenience of entering data, concerns about security and data protection also play a major role. 42 percent of respondents only store their credit card details with large providers, while 56 percent only do so for online stores they use regularly. At the same time, four out of ten shoppers fear that companies already hold too much of their data. The fact that many users have lost track of their numerous, sometimes inactive customer accounts poses additional security risks that both retailers and customers should keep in mind.

Impatience and the desire for flexibility: challenges for online retailers

One Further investigation of the software company Uptain on shopping behavior in the second half of 2024 confirms that customers are becoming increasingly impatient and prefer uncomplicated solutions. At the same time, however, the desire for flexibility and a wide range of payment methods is also on the rise.

What can online retailers learn from this?

The results of the studies provide online retailers with valuable insights to optimize checkout processes and reduce abandoned purchases. Here are the most important aspects to consider:

1. Optimize user-friendliness: The payment process must be as simple and intuitive as possible. Fewer input fields and the option to save data securely can help here.
2. Offer a variety of payment methods: Customers expect a wide range of payment options. Online retailers should therefore offer common methods such as credit card, PayPal, instant bank transfer and, if applicable, purchase on account (still popular in Germany) in order to meet their customers' preferences.
3. Ensure mobile optimization: A smooth payment process on mobile devices is essential, as more and more purchases are being made via smartphones and tablets.
4. Create transparency: Customers should be clearly informed about the available payment methods and any fees.
5. Build trust: The integration of well-known and secure payment providers and compliance with strict security standards for credit card payments are crucial to gaining the trust of your customers. Redirecting to the main page of the respective payment service provider is always the safest option, as you neither store your customers' credit cards and payment information nor are you responsible for handling the payment process.

Conclusion: check-out as a decisive factor for success

The studies clearly show that the Check-out process is a critical factor for the success of your online store. A cumbersome or insecure payment process leads to massive purchase abandonment and disgruntled customers. Therefore, try to understand your customers' needs and invest in a variety of user-friendly payment options. This will increase your conversion rate and give you a significant competitive advantage. The motto is: make it as easy, quick and secure as possible for your customers to complete their purchase.