15 online store mistakes that cost you sales
15 common online store mistakes – slow mobile pages, weak search, hidden shipping costs, long checkouts – why they cost sales and how to fix each one.
In short
Sales are rarely lost to one big mistake – it is usually several small ones along the purchase journey: a slow mobile experience, search that can't find products, an unclear product page, hidden shipping costs, forced account creation and an overlong checkout. According to Baymard, the most common reason for abandoning a checkout is extra costs that are too high. Start with where shoppers actually drop off, not with what looks untidy.
Key takeaways
- In Baymard's survey, checkouts are most often abandoned because of extra costs revealed only at checkout (40%), forced account creation (18%) and a long or complicated checkout (17%).
- Mobile speed is not a technical detail: in one study, a 0.1s improvement lifted retail conversion rates by 8.4%.
- Search and filters matter: roughly half of shoppers use search as their main way to find products.
- Mistakes come in two kinds: the shopper is left with an unanswered question (delivery, price, choice, trust), or the journey itself breaks (speed, forms, payment, errors). Each is fixed differently.
- You rarely need a new store – most of these mistakes can be fixed in the one you have.
Why small mistakes are expensive
In an online store there is no sales assistant to ask. Every unanswered question – “when will it arrive?”, “what will it cost with delivery?”, “can I send it back?” – is a reason to put the purchase off. Often for good.
- Purchase journey
- Every step from the first visit to a paid order: finding the product, the category, the product page, the cart and the checkout. Conversion drops wherever friction appears along the way.
70.22%
The average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate, calculated from 50 different studies.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20261
Some of those shoppers were just browsing and never meant to buy. The rest left for reasons that can be fixed. Below are the 15 most common, grouped by step in the purchase journey. For each one: why it costs sales, how to spot it and what to do. At the end: 15 self-check questions and the order in which to fix things.
The buying journey
Whether shoppers find the product and trust the store – before they even open a product page.
1. Search that can't find products
56%
Share of ecommerce sites in Baymard's benchmark that fail to adequately support users' search needs; roughly half of test participants rely on search as their primary way to find products.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20263
How to spot it: review searches that return no results (in GA4 or your store's reports), and test searches by attribute, by use case and with a typo.
What to change
- Add synonyms and common misspellings
- Index product attributes
- Instead of an empty page, suggest related products or categories
2. Categories and filters that don't match how people choose
Categories organised around suppliers or warehouse logic mean nothing to a shopper. Without filters for size, price, colour or purpose, a long list becomes too much to browse.
How to spot it: look at which filters shoppers use most, and which categories they leave without opening a single product.
What to change
- Name categories in your customers' words
- Base filters on how products actually differ
- Show the product count next to each filter
3. Weak trust signals
19%
Share of checkout abandoners in Baymard's survey who didn't trust the site with their credit card information.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20261
How to spot it: are the company details, contacts and a real phone number easy to find? Does the payment step look consistent with the rest of the site?
What to change
- Show the company name, registration number and contacts
- Make the payment provider clearly visible
- Only ever use genuine reviews
The product page
The information shoppers look for before adding to cart: the product itself, delivery cost and time, returns.
4. A product page that leaves questions unanswered
In a shop you can pick the product up. Online, photos, dimensions, materials, care instructions and answers to common questions do that job. When they're missing, shoppers look elsewhere – often at a competitor.
How to spot it: collect the questions customers ask by email or phone. Every recurring question is information missing from the product page.
What to change
- Several photos from different angles and in use
- Clear dimensions and a short list of features
- Answers to the 3–5 most common questions right next to the product
6. No clear answer to “when will it arrive?”
“When will I get it?” is one of the most common questions before buying. If the answer is vague or the wait too long, some shoppers go to a store that answers clearly.
20%
Share of checkout abandoners in Baymard's survey who said delivery was too slow.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20261
How to spot it: does the product page say when the item ships and when it will arrive – or is there only “2–10 business days” somewhere in the terms?
What to change
- Show a specific delivery estimate next to the product and at checkout
- If you can, offer several delivery options with different times and prices
7. Returns terms that are unclear or hard to find
Especially for clothing, footwear or gifts, shoppers want to know what happens if the item doesn't suit. Hidden or confusing terms feel like risk, and risk stops purchases.
13%
Share of checkout abandoners in Baymard's survey who found the returns policy unsatisfactory.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20261
34%
Share of participants in Baymard's search research who used the search field to find non-product content, such as return policies.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20263
How to spot it: starting from a product page, can you find within ten seconds how many days you have to return an item and how?
What to change
- Show a short returns summary (time limit, who pays for return shipping) next to the product and in the cart
- Keep the full terms one click away
Checkout
Registration, form fields, error messages and payment methods – the last step before the order.
Common mistake
- An account must be created before paying
- Separate first name, last name, second address line, company and repeat-email fields
- “Invalid data” after submitting, fields wiped clean
- After a failed payment there is no way to pick another method
Better
- Guest checkout, account offered after payment
- Only the fields needed; company details behind a link, billing address defaults to delivery
- Each error next to its field, and what was typed stays
- After a failed payment – another method straight away
8. Forced account creation
18%
Share of checkout abandoners in Baymard's survey who left because the site required them to create an account.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20261
How to spot it: can someone buy without registering – and is that option visible straight away rather than hidden under a login form?
What to change
- Allow guest checkout
- Offer to create an account after payment, when only a password is needed
9. A long checkout with too many fields
Every field is one more decision and one more chance to make a mistake. Separate first name, last name, second address line, company and repeat-email fields quickly add up to a long form.
11.3 → 8
The average checkout in 2024 had 11.3 form fields, while most sites need only 8, according to Baymard.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20262
17%
Share of checkout abandoners in Baymard's survey who cited a too long or complicated checkout process.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20261
How to spot it: count the fields from cart to order confirmation and ask of each one: could the order be fulfilled without it?
What to change
- Merge or remove non-essential fields
- Tuck optional ones behind a link (“Add company details”)
- Default the billing address to the delivery address
10. Error messages that don't say what's wrong
“Invalid data” after submitting, fields wiped clean, or an error at the top of the page that can't be seen on a phone – common reasons shoppers give up at the very last step.
How to spot it: fill in the form wrongly on purpose – a phone number in the wrong format, a missing postcode, a declined card.
What to change
- Show each error next to its field and say how to fix it
- Never clear what the shopper has typed
- Accept phone numbers and postcodes in different formats
11. The shopper's usual payment method isn't there
If shoppers are used to paying by bank link and the store only takes cards – or the other way round – some of them simply have no way to finish the purchase.
9%
Share of checkout abandoners in Baymard's survey who cited insufficient payment methods; another 10% left because their card was declined.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20261
How to spot it: compare your payment methods with how customers in your markets actually pay, and review your failed-payment statistics.
What to change
- Offer the main local methods: bank links, cards and, where it fits, pay-later options
- After a failed payment, let shoppers switch to another method immediately
When we build an online store, we integrate payment and delivery providers based on the business's needs and agree the specific ones before work starts.
Mobile, speed and measurement
How the store works on a phone, whether anyone notices when it breaks, and whether changes are based on data.
12. A slow store on mobile
Mobile shoppers are often on the move and on a slower connection. Every second a category or product takes to load is a chance to close the tab.
+8.4%
In a study commissioned by Google and conducted by 55 and Deloitte (37 European and US brand sites, 2019), a 0.1-second improvement in mobile site speed increased conversion rates on retail sites by 8.4%.
Source: web.dev (Google), 20264
How to spot it: test your home, category and product pages in PageSpeed Insights in mobile mode, and check the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console.
What to change
- Compress and correctly size images
- Drop unnecessary plugins and tracking scripts
- Use caching and a CDN
Speed matters for search too, which is why our SEO work checks technical health every month, PageSpeed Insights included.
13. A purchase journey tested only on desktop
A store can look flawless on a laptop while on a phone the “Add to cart” button sits below the fold, the fields are too small and the keyboard covers the form.
How to spot it: buy something on your own phone, from search to payment. In analytics, compare how many mobile and desktop visitors reach the checkout.
What to change
- Keep the main action visible without scrolling
- Make fields large enough
- Make phone and email fields open the right keyboard
14. Errors nobody notices
17%
Share of checkout abandoners in Baymard's survey who left because the website had errors or crashed.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20261
How to spot it: monitor uptime and checkout errors, and place a test order after every update.
What to change
- Deploy updates with a backup and a check
- Monitor availability and the critical steps
That is exactly what ongoing website maintenance is for: updates, daily backups, monitoring and a monthly report that includes notes on speed.
15. Changing things on guesswork instead of evidence
A new design, new buttons, a new promotion – and conversion doesn't move. Often because what changed was what looked like the problem, not what actually stopped the shopper.
How to spot it: do you know at which step – category, product, cart or checkout – most shoppers leave? If not, changes are being made blind.
What to change
- Set up purchase journey events in analytics (track only shoppers who have given consent)
- Find the single step with the biggest loss and fix that first
- Test important changes with a controlled experiment: only some shoppers see the change, the rest are a control group
A quick check: 15 questions for your store
Each question matches the mistake with the same number. Every “no” is a place worth checking first.
Purchase journey check
- Does search find products by attribute, by use case and with a typo?
- Do categories use your customers' words, and do filters match how products actually differ?
- Can the company name, registration number and phone be found within seconds?
- Does the product page answer the questions customers currently ask by email or phone?
- Can shoppers see the delivery cost and free-delivery threshold in the cart, before entering an address?
- Does the product page say when the item will arrive?
- Can the return period, and who pays for return shipping, be found within ten seconds from a product page?
- Can customers buy without registering – and is that obvious straight away?
- Is every checkout field genuinely needed to fulfil the order?
- Does each error appear next to its field, say how to fix it and keep what was typed?
- Do you offer the methods your customers pay with, and let them switch after a failed payment?
- Do category and product pages load quickly on mobile (PageSpeed Insights, mobile mode)?
- Have you bought a product on your own phone – from search to payment – without getting stuck once?
- Do you place a test order after every update?
- Do you know at which step most shoppers leave?
Where to start
Methodology
- Date
- Criteria
- Mistakes selected from Baymard Institute's public ecommerce UX research and Google (web.dev) speed data
- Numbers only with a source; our own experience is marked separately as an insight
- Ordered along the purchase journey: search and categories, product, checkout, phone and measurement
- Limitations
- Research figures are averages across many stores; your store's data may differ, so the first step is to measure your own.
If you're not sure which mistake to tackle first, that is what our conversion optimisation service is for. It starts with a free assessment: we'll review your purchase journey and show you the biggest conversion blockers. If we carry on, the price is based on scope and confirmed in writing before work starts. Request the review – we reply within 1 business day.
Frequently asked questions
Which mistake should I fix first?
The one that costs you the most shoppers. In analytics, find the step where the largest share of visitors leave and start there. If nothing is being measured yet, setting that up is the first job.
Do I need a new store to fix these mistakes?
Usually not. Delivery information, the number of fields, registration and error messages can all be fixed in your existing store. A new store only makes sense when the current platform won't let you fix what matters most. Then weigh the fix against what building an online store costs, and choose the platform with our Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison.
How quickly will I see results?
It depends on traffic: the more orders you have, the sooner a change can be measured reliably. In a low-traffic store, change one thing at a time and watch over a longer period, so the result reflects the change and not chance.
Do Baymard's figures apply to stores in Lithuania?
Baymard's survey data is not collected in Lithuania, so the exact percentages in your store will differ. But the reasons – extra costs, registration, a long checkout, trust – are universal. Your own purchase journey data gives the real picture.
Sources and methodology
- Baymard InstituteCart & Checkout Abandonment Rate Statisticsaccessed
- Baymard InstituteCheckout Optimization: Reduce the Number of Form Fieldsaccessed
- Baymard InstituteEcommerce Search Query Typesaccessed
- web.dev (Google)Milliseconds make millionsaccessed