Ecommerce Checkout Audit: The 14 Friction Points Killing Conversion

Nearly 7 in 10 carts never make it to a completed order. The average documented cart abandonment rate sits around 70%, and most of those exits are not buyers who changed their minds — they are people who hit friction your checkout put in front of them. An ecommerce checkout audit finds those friction points and removes them, and it is almost always the highest-ROI work a store can do, because you are recovering revenue you already earned.

Cost transparency: the number one killer

Unexpected costs are the single most cited reason for abandonment. Baymard Institute’s research found 48% of people who abandon do so because of extra costs — shipping, taxes, fees — appearing too late. Shoppers want the real total before they invest effort, not as a surprise on the final step.

The 14 friction points at a glance

Account and form friction

After cost, the biggest self-inflicted wound is forcing people to create an account — Baymard found 24% abandon over it. Guest checkout is the default expectation; offer the account after purchase. Form length compounds it.

• Forced registration before purchase — make guest checkout the obvious path.
• Too many form fields — request only what you need to ship and charge.
• No address autocomplete — add it to cut typing and errors.
• Asking for the same info twice — auto-fill billing from shipping.

Payment, trust, and technical friction

• Limited payment methods — add wallets and BNPL; 11% abandon over missing options.
• No visible trust signals — badges, SSL, guarantees near the pay button.
• Unclear return policy — link it at checkout.
• Slow or clunky mobile checkout — most traffic is mobile; test relentlessly.
• Mandatory coupon field — an empty promo box sends shoppers off-site hunting codes.
• No order summary — show items, quantities, and full total before the final click.
• Checkout errors and crashes — validate inline; test payment edge cases.
• No progress indicator — a multi-step checkout without one feels endless.

How to run your own checkout audit

Don’t guess — buy from your own store. Complete a real purchase on mobile, as a new visitor, paying full price, and note every hesitation. Then check analytics for the exact step where the funnel leaks. An ecommerce checkout audit is not a one-time project: run it quarterly and after any checkout change, because a single new app can reintroduce friction you already removed.

Frequently Asked Questions

If your checkout is leaking orders and you want a precise read on which friction points cost you most, book a call with The Reach Bureau and we’ll map the fixes to revenue.