Why the WooCommerce checkout loses orders

Baymard Institute's research puts the average documented cart abandonment rate at about 70%. Some of that is people who were only browsing, but the reasons shoppers give for leaving a checkout they meant to finish are consistent year after year: extra costs that appear late (the top reason, cited by close to half of US shoppers who abandoned), being asked to create an account, a checkout that feels too long, not trusting the site with a card, and too few ways to pay. Baymard also finds that the average checkout shows around 23 form elements when 12 to 14 would do.

On WooCommerce most of these are settings and plugin choices, not design problems. That is good news: the fixes below are mostly switches, field settings and plugin clean-up, and you can check every one of them on your own store in an afternoon.

First, know which checkout you are running

Since WooCommerce 8.3, new stores get the Cart and Checkout blocks by default. Stores set up earlier usually still run the classic shortcode checkout, and some run a mix: the block checkout with plugins that only support the shortcode, or a page builder template on top. Open the Checkout page in the editor. A Checkout block means the block checkout; a [woocommerce_checkout] shortcode means the classic one.

It matters because the fixes differ. The block checkout lets you hide or make optional fields such as Company, Address line 2 and Phone from the editor sidebar, collapses the coupon field by default and supports express payment buttons at the top. The shortcode checkout needs a plugin or code for the same changes. If WooCommerce shows a notice about incompatible extensions on the Checkout page, deal with that before anything else: an incompatible payment or shipping plugin is the most common cause of fields and buttons appearing in the wrong place.

Costs: no surprises at the last step

1. Show the shipping cost before the checkout

The top reason for abandonment is a cost the shopper did not expect. Enable the shipping calculator on the cart page (WooCommerce, Settings, Shipping, Shipping options), state your delivery prices on the product page, and show the free shipping threshold in the cart with how much is left to reach it.

2. Show taxes and fees the way the shopper expects

Decide whether prices are shown with or without tax and keep it the same on the product page, the cart and the checkout. A total that jumps at the last step because tax or a payment surcharge appears reads as a hidden fee, even when it is legal and correct.

3. Keep the coupon field out of the way

A prominent coupon box sends shoppers off to search for a code, and some never come back. The block checkout collapses it into an "Add a coupon" link; on the shortcode checkout keep the default "Have a coupon?" toggle rather than an open field.

Accounts: let people buy first

4. Allow guest checkout

Turn on "Allow customers to place orders without an account" in WooCommerce, Settings, Accounts & Privacy. Forced registration is one of the most common reasons shoppers give for leaving a checkout.

5. Offer the account after the order, not before it

Let returning customers log in if they want to, and offer to create an account on the order confirmation page, where the details are already filled in. A login wall at the start of checkout turns a purchase into a sign-up form.

Fields: ask for less, and make it easy

6. Remove the fields you do not need

Most stores do not need Company, Address line 2 or a mandatory Phone for every order. In the block checkout set them to optional or hidden from the editor; on the shortcode checkout use a field editor plugin. Every field you remove is one fewer reason to stop typing.

7. Put email first and let the browser fill the rest

Email as the first field means an abandoned checkout can still be recovered by email. Keep the standard field names so browser autofill works, and consider an address autocomplete so shoppers pick their address instead of typing it on a phone.

8. Validate as people type and keep what they entered

Show errors next to the field that caused them, in plain words ("Enter a UK postcode like SW1A 1AA"), not a list at the top of the page. Test that an error never clears the fields the shopper already filled in, especially after a failed payment.

Payments: the ways your customers already pay

9. Add express payments at the top

Apple Pay and Google Pay (through WooPayments, Stripe or your gateway) skip most of the form on a phone. In the block checkout they appear above the fields; show them on the cart page too, so a mobile shopper can pay without typing an address.

10. Offer the methods your market uses

Cards are not enough everywhere. Check which methods your buyers expect, such as PayPal, a buy now pay later option or a local bank method, and show their logos before the checkout so nobody reaches the last step to find their method missing.

Trust and focus on the checkout page

11. Keep the order summary in view

Show product images, quantities and the total next to the form on desktop, and a collapsible summary with the total on mobile. Shoppers who cannot see what they are paying for go back to the cart to check, and some do not return.

12. Put reassurance next to the pay button and remove exits

A short line on returns, a link to the returns policy and a contact option belong beside the Place order button. At the same time, remove what pulls people away: full header navigation, footer link lists, banners and exit-intent popups have no job on the checkout page.

Errors and speed: the problems nobody reports

13. Test the failure paths, not just the happy one

Place test orders with a declined card, an invalid postcode, a product that goes out of stock during checkout and a coupon that does not apply. Check what the shopper sees each time. Checkout errors rarely reach the dashboard; shoppers simply leave.

14. Keep the checkout light

Cart and checkout pages are not cached, so every plugin that loads its scripts there slows the page for every buyer. Stop chat widgets, sliders, popups and marketing scripts from loading on the checkout where you can, and test the page on a mid-range phone over a mobile connection, not on office Wi-Fi.

How to check your own checkout in 20 minutes

1. On your phone, add your best-selling product to the cart and go to the checkout as a new customer, without logging in.
2. Note every cost that appears for the first time after the product page: shipping, tax, fees.
3. Count the fields you had to fill and the ones you did not need.
4. Try Apple Pay or Google Pay and see whether it skips the address form.
5. Enter a wrong postcode and a declined test card, and read the error messages as a customer would.
6. Repeat on a laptop and compare where the order summary and the Place order button sit.

Where EyeCaptain fits

The WooCommerce CRO audit runs this kind of check for you on any product, cart or checkout page. For cart and checkout pages it adds a product to the cart first, captures the page on desktop and mobile, measures whether the Place order button wins the attention it needs, which costs and trust signals are visible, and what competes with the button, then ranks the fixes. The e-commerce CRO audit covers the rest of the store, and your first audit is free.