How to Reduce Abandoned Cart, Checkouts, Orders on Shopify and eCommerce Using BNPL

Key Takeaways:

• Over 70% of online shoppers abandon carts, highlighting the importance of recovery strategies.
• BNPL reduces friction by lowering upfront costs, enabling faster checkout, and building trust with customers.
• Flexible payments encourage higher-value purchases, increasing revenue per customer.
• Automated emails, push notifications, and retargeting improve Shopify abandoned cart recovery.
• Combining BNPL with proven recovery strategies ensures consistent ecommerce cart recovery and higher conversions.

Introduction

Cart abandonment remains one of the biggest challenges for e-commerce businesses worldwide. On average, over 70% of online shoppers leave their carts without completing a purchase, with rates soaring as high as 80% in the Asia-Pacific region. Businesses lose not just revenue, but also potential long-term customers due to friction at checkout.

Many shoppers leave their carts behind because of unexpected fees, mandatory account sign-ups, limited payment methods, or slow shipping. Even well-intentioned customers often abandon their carts when faced with these barriers, leaving retailers with unconverted traffic.

This is where Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) solutions like Snapmint come in. By offering flexible, instant, and secure payment options, BNPL can significantly reduce abandonment rates, helping businesses recover lost sales, increase average order value, and enhance customer satisfaction.

What is Cart Abandonment in eCommerce?

Cart abandonment, in simple terms, means when your shopper adds products to the cart but does not proceed with checkout. It’s a common challenge for online stores, D2C brands, and e-commerce platforms.

How to Calculate Cart Abandonment Rate

Cart Abandonment Rate Meaning:

The cart abandonment rate is the percentage of completed transactions and the initiated transactions where the customer added the product to their carts.

Cart Abandonment Rate = 1 - (completed transactions/initiated carts) x 100

For example, if 100 users added items to their carts, but only 30 completed the purchase, your cart abandonment rate is 70%

1-(30/100) = 0.7

0.7 x 100 =70

What is BNPL?

BNPL or Buy Now, Pay Later, is a flexible payment solution that allows customers to purchase products immediately and pay later, instead of paying the full amount upfront.

For e-commerce businesses, BNPL is more than just a convenience; it’s a powerful tool to reduce cart abandonment, increase conversions, and boost average order value. By offering instant approvals and multiple instalment options, BNPL removes one of the biggest barriers for customers: the upfront cost.

BNPL Benefits for Shoppers

For shoppers, BNPL is beneficial because:

• You can buy more without worrying about the upfront cost.
• You can upgrade the quality/quantity of your purchase without burdening your pocket.
• Simplified checkout process
• More purchase confidence

BNPL Benefits for Merchants

For merchants, offering BNPL can be a growth driver. BNPL providing companies can help D2C brands in many ways:

• You will get higher conversion rates, increased average order value (AOV), and improved GMV.
• Offering BNPL builds trust and repeat purchases by aligning with shoppers’ financial comfort.
• By offering BNPL, your brand gets a competitive advantage by providing affordability. 

Why Cart Abandonment Happens?

Even the most interested shoppers sometimes leave without completing a purchase. For e-commerce businesses, understanding the why behind these abandoned carts is key to improving conversions. Here are the main reasons:

1. Unexpected Costs at Checkout

Extra shipping fees, taxes, or handling charges often catch customers by surprise, prompting them to rethink their purchase.

2. Mandatory Account Creation

Forcing shoppers to create an account adds friction. Many prefer guest checkout, and not offering it can lead to drop-offs.

3. Lack of Trust

Concerns about payment security, website credibility, or data privacy can make customers hesitate to complete their purchase.

4. Slow or Limited Delivery Options (Slow Delivery or Limited Shipping Options)

Long delivery times or restrictive shipping choices can frustrate customers, leading them to abandon their carts for more convenient options.

5. Complicated Checkout Process (Complicated or Slow Checkout Process)

Lengthy forms, confusing navigation, or technical glitches disrupt the buying process, especially on mobile devices.

6. Unclear or Restrictive Return Policies

If customers aren’t confident they can return or exchange items easily, they may abandon the purchase altogether.

7. Website Issues (Technical Glitches and Page Load Time)

Slow load times, errors, or crashes during checkout create friction and push shoppers away.

8. Limited Payment Methods

Not offering multiple payment options, credit/debit cards, wallets, UPI, or BNPL, can prevent some customers from completing the transaction.

9. Difficult Coupon or Discount Usage

Hidden or hard-to-apply discounts frustrate customers and can lead to abandoned carts.

10. No Follow-Up on Abandoned Carts

Without reminders via email, SMS, or push notifications, many potential buyers slip away unnoticed.

How BNPL Reduces Cart Abandonment

BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) helps e-commerce businesses recover abandoned carts by making checkout faster, easier, and more flexible.

• Lower upfront costs: Splitting payments makes it easier for customers to complete purchases, boosting Shopify's abandoned cart recovery.
• Faster checkout: Instant approvals reduce friction, improving ecommerce cart recovery.
• Builds trust: Secure, transparent payments reassure shoppers and encourage completion.
• Higher-value purchases: Flexible payments motivate customers to buy more, increasing revenue.

Integrating BNPL into your checkout isn’t just convenient; it actively reduces cart abandonment and drives ecommerce cart recovery.

Shopify Abandoned Cart Recovery: Proven Methods to Recover Abandoned Carts

Recovering abandoned carts is critical for any e-commerce business, and Shopify stores have multiple tools to help. Here are proven methods to boost Shopify abandoned cart recovery:

1. Automated Cart Recovery Emails

Send timely, personalized emails to remind customers of their abandoned items. Include product images, clear CTAs, and urgency cues to encourage completion.

2. Offer Pay-in-Parts Options

Integrating BNPL or EMI methods reduces friction at checkout, improving ecommerce cart recovery rates.

3. Push Notifications & SMS Alerts

Reach mobile shoppers instantly with reminders and special offers to recover abandoned carts.

4. Simplify the Checkout Process

Allow guest checkout, reduce steps, and fix technical glitches to minimize drop-offs.

5. Incentivise Completion

Offer discounts, free shipping, or limited-time promotions to motivate hesitant shoppers.

6. Retargeting Campaigns

Use social media and display ads to remind visitors about abandoned items, driving them back to your store.

By combining these strategies with BNPL, Shopify merchants can recover more carts, increase conversions, and maximise revenue.

Shopify Abandoned Cart Recovery with BNPL

Reduce shopping cart abandonment by using BNPL and EMI to offer affordability to your customers. Here are some ways BNPL can aid your Shopify abandoned cart recovery:

1. Highlight BNPL During Checkout

Show easy EMI options clearly at the Shopify abandoned cart or WooCommerce abandoned cart stage to remind shoppers they can pay later, helping reduce shopping cart abandonment.

2. Promote Trust with Snapmint’s BNPL Badges

Add Snapmint’s secure payment badges to your checkout page. This boosts confidence in abandoned carts for Shopify and abandoned cart for WooCommerce, making buyers more likely to complete payment. Snapmint is an RBI-licensed NBFC building trust with shoppers.

3. Combine BNPL with Free Shipping or Discounts

Encourage hesitant shoppers to return to their abandoned checkout by pairing BNPL with small perks like free delivery or limited-time offers, an effective way to reduce cart abandonment.

4. Measure Impact Using Analytics

Track how BNPL influences recovery rates in your Shopify abandoned cart and WooCommerce abandoned cart data. Use insights to refine your strategy and recover more lost sales.

Why Snapmint Drives ecommerce Cart Recovery?

Integrating BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) solutions like Snapmint provides a proven way to boost ecommerce cart recovery, increase average order value, and enhance the overall customer experience. When combined with strategies such as automated recovery emails, push notifications, simplified checkout, and retargeting campaigns, Shopify merchants can significantly reduce cart abandonment and maximise revenue.

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