💬 Quick answer: Across 16 DTC Shopify stores the median checkout abandonment rate is 34.9% (most stores 21.8%–49.8%). This is checkout abandonment — a narrower, later funnel step than the widely cited ~70% cart abandonment figure.
- Median checkout abandonment: 34.9% (IQR 21.8%–49.8%) across 16 DTC Shopify stores.
- This is checkout abandonment (reached checkout, didn’t buy) — not the wider ~70% cart abandonment figure.
- Wide spread (about 4%–85%): checkout abandonment is heavily business-model dependent.
- Window: July 2025–June 2026; 423,978 tracked checkouts.
What is the average checkout abandonment rate in 2026?
Across 16 DTC Shopify stores the median checkout abandonment rate is 34.9%, with most stores between 21.8% and 49.8%. This measures shoppers who reached checkout but did not complete an order.
Is this the same as the 70% cart abandonment figure?
No. The commonly cited ~70% average (e.g. Baymard’s 70.22%) is cart abandonment — anyone who added to cart. Checkout abandonment is a narrower, later funnel step and is typically lower.
What is a good checkout abandonment rate?
Below the 34.9% median is healthy for most one-time-purchase DTC stores. Above ~50% usually signals fixable checkout friction such as surprise shipping costs or forced account creation.
Checkout abandonment measures the share of shoppers who reach a store's checkout and do not complete a purchase. This benchmark reports first-party checkout-to-order data across 16 direct-to-consumer Shopify stores over the twelve months ending June 2026, defined precisely as 1 − (orders ÷ checkouts started).
The headline number
The median checkout abandonment rate is 34.9%, with the middle 50% of stores between 21.8% and 49.8%. Volume-weighted across all tracked checkouts it is 31.0%. The spread is wide — about 4% to 85% — because checkout abandonment is heavily influenced by business model and tracking completeness. Estimate your own with our conversion rate calculator.
Checkout abandonment trend, month by month
To show how abandonment moves over the year without tracking noise, we isolate an 8-store clean-core panel — stores whose monthly checkout-to-order funnel is complete every month (no express-wallet flips, no bot-driven checkout spikes). Pooled across that panel, checkout abandonment stayed in a tight 26%–40% band, easing to a low of 25.7% in October before drifting back toward the ~35% median. Its 34.9% clean-core store median matches the full 16-store panel exactly, so the trend is representative, not cherry-picked.
| Month | Tracked checkouts | Checkout abandonment |
|---|---|---|
| Jul '25 | 17,329 | 37.2% |
| Aug '25 | 18,276 | 33.2% |
| Sep '25 | 17,748 | 36.5% |
| Oct '25 | 17,660 | 25.7% |
| Nov '25 | 20,718 | 29.3% |
| Dec '25 | 20,770 | 28.9% |
| Jan '26 | 16,217 | 32.9% |
| Feb '26 | 15,713 | 35.7% |
| Mar '26 | 18,538 | 39.6% |
| Apr '26 | 18,522 | 28.0% |
| May '26 | 16,144 | 29.3% |
| Jun '26 | 15,429 | 30.0% |
| TTM pooled | 213,064 | 32.1% |
Checkout abandonment vs cart abandonment
These are frequently confused. Cart abandonment counts everyone who added an item and did not buy; the most-cited average is Baymard Institute's 70.22%, aggregated from 50 studies. Checkout abandonment is a narrower, later step — the shopper has already reached checkout — so it is expected to be lower, which is exactly what our 34.9% median shows. When comparing your numbers, make sure you are comparing the same funnel step.
Checkout abandonment by store
Each of the 16 stores, sorted by checkout abandonment, with the median line. The variation is the story: identical benchmarks can be good or bad depending on whether a store is subscription-heavy, uses express wallets, or tracks checkout starts completely.
Checkout abandonment by store size
Smaller-funnel stores abandon the most. Stores with fewer than 10,000 tracked checkouts a year had a median checkout abandonment of 48.4% — nearly double the ~26% of higher-volume stores. Larger stores tend to have more mature checkouts (wallets, express pay, tighter mobile flows) and more repeat buyers, both of which lift completion. If you are a smaller store above the median, checkout UX is usually the highest-leverage fix.
| Store tier (annual checkouts) | Stores | Median checkout abandonment |
|---|---|---|
| Higher-volume (≥30K checkouts) | 6 | 27.1% |
| Mid-volume (10K–30K) | 5 | 25.5% |
| Lower-volume (<10K) | 5 | 48.4% |
What drives checkout abandonment
Independent research is consistent on the causes. Baymard's survey work attributes the largest addressable reasons to unexpected extra costs (~40%), being required to create an account (~18%), a checkout that is too long or complex (~17%), and concerns about payment security (~19%). Slow or unclear delivery and limited payment options round out the list.
How to reduce checkout abandonment
- Show total cost early — surface shipping and taxes before the final step; a free-shipping threshold can offset surprise costs.
- Offer guest checkout — never force account creation to buy.
- Expand payment options — add wallets (Apple Pay, Shop Pay) and buy-now-pay-later.
- Shorten the mobile checkout — most abandonment happens on mobile; reduce fields and enable autofill.
- Run recovery flows — email and SMS abandoned-checkout sequences recover a meaningful share of otherwise-lost orders.
Methodology and limits
- Definition: abandonment = 1 − (Shopify orders ÷ Shopify checkouts started), per store; median and IQR across stores (equal weight).
- Window: July 2025 – June 2026. Sample: 16 valid-funnel DTC Shopify stores (423,978 tracked checkouts).
- Exclusions: stores where recorded orders exceeded tracked checkouts (subscription / express-checkout distortion) and non-Shopify tracking were excluded.
- Monthly trend: the month-by-month chart uses an 8-store clean-core subset (funnel complete every month, no express-wallet flips or checkout-tracking spikes) to avoid mistaking tracking artifacts for behaviour; its 34.9% median matches the full panel.
- Caveat: checkout abandonment is business-model sensitive and is not the same as cart abandonment. Store identities removed; only pooled statistics published.
Checkout abandonment percentiles
Where each store sits, from the lowest-abandonment decile to the highest:
| Percentile | Checkout abandonment |
|---|---|
| Best 10% (lowest) | 8.9% |
| 25th percentile | 21.8% |
| Median | 34.9% |
| 75th percentile | 49.9% |
| Highest 10% | 78.3% |
How to benchmark your own checkout
- In Shopify, take orders ÷ checkouts started over the last 12 months; abandonment = 1 − that ratio.
- Exclude subscription re-orders and express-wallet orders that never fire a "checkout started" event, or they will understate abandonment.
- Compare to the 34.9% median and the 21.8% / 49.9% quartiles above — not to the ~70% cart figure.
- If you are above the 75th percentile (~50%), audit shipping-cost transparency, guest checkout and payment options first.
Sources and methodology
Checkout figures are computed from first-party Shopify checkout and order events across the 16-store panel; external comparison figures are cited to their original publisher.
- Baymard Institute — cart & checkout abandonment (70.22% average)
- Shopify — checkout and analytics
- Top Growth Marketing — DTC Email Performance Benchmark 2026
See also our DTC Email Performance Benchmark 2026. Suggested citation: Top Growth Marketing (2026). DTC Checkout Abandonment Benchmark 2026. Last updated August 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average checkout abandonment rate?
Across 16 DTC Shopify stores, the median checkout abandonment rate — the share of shoppers who reached checkout but did not complete an order — was 34.9%, with the middle 50% of stores between 21.8% and 49.8%.
Is checkout abandonment the same as cart abandonment?
No. Checkout abandonment measures shoppers who reached checkout and did not buy. Cart abandonment measures anyone who added to cart and did not buy — a wider funnel. Baymard's widely cited ~70% figure is a cart-abandonment average, so it is expected to be higher.
Why is checkout abandonment so variable?
It is strongly business-model dependent. Subscription and high-repeat brands, express-checkout usage, and how completely a store tracks the checkout step all shift the number, which is why the range here spans about 4% to 85%.
What is a good checkout abandonment rate?
Lower is better, but context matters. Below the 34.9% median is healthy for most one-time-purchase DTC stores; rates above ~50% warrant a checkout audit for extra costs, forced account creation and payment friction.
How can I reduce checkout abandonment?
The highest-leverage fixes are transparent shipping costs shown early, guest checkout, more payment and wallet options, and a short mobile-optimised checkout. Recovery flows over email and SMS capture a portion of the rest.