Why don't visitors buy from your online store?
Why visitors don't buy: four unanswered questions – delivery, price, choice, trust – and a stuck journey. How to spot the cause and what to change.
In short
Visitors usually don't buy for one of two reasons. Either they are left with an unanswered question – when will it arrive, what will it cost with delivery, will it suit me, can I trust this store. Or the journey itself gets stuck – a slow page, forced registration, a long form or a failed payment. The first is fixed with information, the second with technical work, so find out which one applies to you first.
Key takeaways
- The reasons a visitor doesn't buy fall into two kinds: an unanswered question (delivery, price, choice, trust) and a stuck journey (speed, registration, forms, payment, errors).
- In Baymard's survey, checkouts are most often abandoned because of extra costs that are too high (40%), slow delivery (20%) and not trusting the site (19%) – all questions that can be answered before checkout.
- Product pages often don't answer: 67% of sites in Baymard's benchmark don't let shoppers estimate the total order cost there, and 44% don't show or link the returns policy.
- Each symptom in your analytics can be linked to a likely cause – then you know what to check instead of guessing.
- Change what stopped the shopper, not what looks untidy: a new design doesn't answer “when will it arrive?”.
Not all exits are equal
Some visitors only came to look and never meant to buy – no button will win them over. But those who searched for a product, found it and still left stopped for a specific reason. This article is about recognising that reason.
- Conversion rate
- The share of visits that end in an order. The rate alone doesn't say why shoppers don't buy – the step where they leave, and what they lack at that step, does.
62%
Share of mobile ecommerce sites in Baymard's benchmark whose product page experience is “mediocre” or worse (52% on desktop).
Source: Baymard Institute, 20262
Hence the main idea: what's usually missing is not design but answers. On the product page and in the cart, shoppers ask the same four questions, and at checkout they expect nothing to stop them. Below is each question, its symptoms and what to change. For a list of specific mistakes and how to fix them, see 15 online store mistakes that cost you sales.
How to recognise the cause: symptoms and likely causes
Before changing anything, look at where shoppers leave. The same symptom in analytics usually points to several possible causes – the table helps you narrow down what to check first.
| What you see | Likely cause | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Many product views, few add-to-carts | Choice or price | Photos, dimensions, sizes, price including delivery |
| The cart is viewed but checkout isn't started | Delivery or price | Whether the cart shows delivery cost, delivery time and the total |
| Checkout started but no delivery chosen | Delivery | Delivery options, times, costs |
| Payment chosen but no order | Stuck journey | Payment errors, returning from the bank, declined cards |
| Mobile rates far worse than desktop | Stuck journey | Speed, forms, buttons on mobile |
| New shoppers leave more often than returning ones | Trust | Company details, returns policy, reviews |
How to build that funnel and break it down by device or traffic source is covered step by step in our article on purchase journey analysis.
Four unanswered questions
The shopper wants to buy but stops because they don't know something. This is fixed with information, not a redesign.
1. Delivery: “When will I get it, and how?”
20%
Share of shoppers in Baymard's survey who abandoned a checkout because “delivery was too slow”.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20261
48%
Share of sites in Baymard's 2025 checkout benchmark that show delivery speed (for example “2–4 business days”) instead of an actual delivery date.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20263
What to change
- Show an estimated delivery date next to the product and at checkout, not just “2–4 business days”
- If you ship the same day before a cut-off time, say so next to the product
- Show every delivery option with its cost and time in one place
2. Price: “What will I actually pay?”
40%
Share of shoppers in Baymard's survey who abandoned a checkout because extra costs (shipping, tax, fees) were too high; another 12% left because they couldn't see or calculate the total order cost up front.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20261
67%
Share of sites in Baymard's product page benchmark that don't let shoppers estimate the total order cost on the product page; 81% don't show a price per unit (per kilogram or litre, say).
Source: Baymard Institute, 20262
What to change
- Show the delivery cost, or its range, on the product page and in the cart, before an address is needed
- Show the free-delivery threshold with the amount still to go
- If you sell different pack sizes, show the unit price so shoppers don't have to work it out
3. Choice: “Will this really suit me?”
42%
Share of users in Baymard's testing who tried to work out a product's size from its images; 37% of sites have no images showing the product in scale (next to a person or a familiar object).
Source: Baymard Institute, 20262
What to change
- Add at least one photo that shows the product's size
- Put dimensions, material and compatibility next to the buy button, not below the description
- Let shoppers pick sizes and variants with buttons, and mark unavailable ones straight away
- Collect the questions customers email you and answer them on the product page
4. Trust: “Can I trust you?”
19%
Share of shoppers in Baymard's survey who abandoned a checkout because they didn't trust the site with their credit card information.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20261
60% / 44%
In Baymard's testing, 60% of users looked for returns information on the product page, yet 44% of sites don't show or link it there.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20262
What to change
- State the return period and who pays for return shipping next to the product, with the full terms one click away
- Show the company name, registration number, phone and email – not just a contact form
- Use only genuine reviews, and reply to negative ones too
When the journey itself gets stuck
The shopper has decided, but the store won't let them finish. This is fixed with technical work.
Registration, forms and payment
A shopper who reaches checkout has already decided to buy. If they leave here, it's usually not doubt but friction: being made to create an account, too many fields, an unclear error or a failed payment.
18% / 17% / 17%
Share of shoppers in Baymard's survey who abandoned a checkout because the site required an account (18%), the checkout was too long or complicated (17%), or the website had errors or crashed (17%).
Source: Baymard Institute, 20261
10%
Share of shoppers in Baymard's survey who abandoned a checkout because their card was declined; another 9% left because there weren't enough payment methods.
Source: Baymard Institute, 20261
What to change
- Allow guest checkout and offer an account after payment
- Keep only the fields the order needs
- After a failed payment, let shoppers pick another method straight away without wiping what they typed
To check every step from cart to confirmation page, use our checkout UX checklist.
A slow site and mobile
Mobile shoppers don't always say “too slow” – they simply close the tab. So speed problems show up in analytics as “mobile conversion is worse”, not as an error.
+8.4%
In a study commissioned by Google from 55 and Deloitte (37 European and US brand sites, 2019), improving mobile site speed by 0.1 seconds lifted retail conversion rates by 8.4%.
Source: web.dev (Google), 20264
What to measure and where to start is covered in how to speed up a website.
Why a new design often doesn't help
Guesswork
- “The site looks dated” – the design is redone
- Colours, buttons and fonts all change at once
- Delivery time and cost stay where they were – at checkout
- A month later it's unclear whether anything changed
Diagnosis
- The step where most shoppers leave is found
- It's established whether an answer is missing or the journey is stuck
- One thing at that step is changed
- The result is checked with the same measure
A new design can make sense, but it doesn't answer “when will it arrive?” or fix a declined card. If your store genuinely no longer fits what you need, weigh the fixes against what building an online store costs.
Quick check: 12 questions
Does your store answer the shopper?
- Is an estimated delivery date visible next to the product?
- Are all delivery options, with costs and times, visible in one place?
- Can shoppers find the delivery cost and the total in the cart, before entering an address?
- Do you show a unit price when pack sizes differ?
- Does at least one photo show the product's size?
- Are dimensions and compatibility written next to the buy button?
- Does the product page state the return period and who pays for return shipping?
- Can the company details and phone number be found within seconds?
- Can customers buy without registering?
- Does checkout ask only for the fields you need?
- After a failed payment, can shoppers pick another method straight away?
- Does the product page load quickly on mobile?
Where to start
If you're not sure which cause matters most in your case, start with a free purchase journey assessment – that is how our conversion optimisation begins. We'll review your purchase journey and show you the biggest conversion blockers, and if we carry on, the price is based on scope and confirmed in writing before work starts. Request the assessment – we reply within 1 business day.
About the data in this article
Methodology
- Date
- Sample
- Baymard Institute's cart abandonment survey, product page UX benchmark (updated 2026-03-18) and 2025 checkout UX benchmark; a web.dev case study
- Criteria
- Figures only from primary sources, reproduced as published, with a link
- Each figure is placed under the question it illustrates
- The four-question model reflects how Oxtren Labs works (Hesio) and is marked separately
- Limitations
- Baymard's surveys are run in the US, and its benchmarks cover large US and European sites. The percentages in your store will differ; your own data gives the real picture.
Frequently asked questions
What is a normal online store conversion rate?
There is no single right number – it depends on product prices, traffic sources and shoppers. It's more useful to compare your store with itself: each step of the purchase journey, mobile against desktop, this period against a comparable earlier one.
Will a discount help me sell more?
If shoppers stop because of price, perhaps. But if they don't know when the product will arrive, or don't trust the store, a discount doesn't solve the problem. First find out which question is left unanswered.
Visitors add products to the cart but don't buy. Why?
Most often because the delivery cost and time only appear at checkout, because registration is forced, or because the form is too long. Compare how many cart viewers start checkout and how many who start finish it – that tells you which part gets stuck.
Does the same apply to Shopify and WooCommerce stores?
Yes. The causes don't depend on the platform – only what you can change does. Shopify's checkout step extensions, for example, are only available on Shopify Plus; more in our Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison.
Sources and methodology
- Baymard InstituteCart & Checkout Abandonment Rate Statisticsaccessed
- Baymard InstituteProduct Page UX Best Practices (Current State of Ecommerce Product Page UX)accessed
- Baymard InstituteCheckout UX Best Practices (Current State of Checkout UX)accessed
- web.dev (Google)Milliseconds make millionsaccessed