27 Exit Rate Statistics for eCommerce Stores

Data-driven insights revealing the true cost of website exits and proven strategies to capture, re-engage, and convert high-value shoppers

When seven out of ten potential customers leave your eCommerce store without purchasing, every abandoned session represents lost revenue. The global cart abandonment rate now stands at 70.22%, creating an urgent need for solutions that identify website visitors before they disappear forever. Forward-thinking retailers using Opensend Connect transform these exit events into opportunities by capturing high-intent visitor data and deploying targeted re-engagement campaigns across email, SMS, and direct mail channels.

Key Takeaways

• Exit rates cost billions annually – Better checkout design can recover approximately $260 billion in lost orders globally each year, with most retailers losing 60-80% of their carts
• Mobile exits significantly outpace desktop – Mobile devices experience an 80.2% abandonment rate compared to 67.29% on desktop, creating a 13-point gap requiring targeted optimization
• Hidden costs drive most exits – 39% of customers abandon carts when extra costs like shipping, taxes, and fees are too high
• Speed matters for retention – 57% of shoppers will abandon a page that takes more than three seconds to load
• Competitors capture your losses – 40% of shoppers who abandon go directly to a competitor to complete their purchase

Exit Rate and Bounce Rate Statistics

1. Average eCommerce bounce rate stands at 41%

The average bounce rate for eCommerce websites hovers around 41%, providing a baseline for measuring single-page exits. This metric indicates how many visitors leave immediately after landing without exploring additional content. Understanding this benchmark helps retailers identify landing pages that fail to engage visitors from the first interaction.

2. Direct traffic shows highest bounce rate at 69.43%

Visitors arriving through direct traffic exhibit a 69.43% bounce rate, significantly higher than other channels. This elevated rate often reflects bookmark users, mistyped URLs, or visitors with unclear intent. Retailers should focus on improving landing page relevance and providing clear navigation paths for these visitors.

3. Email traffic achieves lowest bounce rate at 29.69%

Traffic from email campaigns shows a 29.69% bounce rate, demonstrating the value of warm audience engagement. Email subscribers have already shown interest in your brand, making them more likely to explore multiple pages. This data underscores the importance of building quality email lists for sustained engagement.

4. Finance and Travel industries exceed 81% abandonment

Complex purchase decisions in Finance at 83.6% and Travel at 81.7% drive exceptionally high exit rates. These industries involve significant financial commitment and comparison shopping, naturally extending decision timelines. Multi-touch re-engagement strategies become essential for converting these high-consideration purchases.

Mobile vs Desktop Exit Statistics

5. Mobile abandonment reaches 80.2%

Mobile devices experience an 80.2% abandonment, substantially higher than other platforms. The constrained screen size, typing difficulties, and distraction-prone mobile environment all contribute to this elevated exit rate. Retailers must prioritize mobile-first checkout optimization to capture this growing traffic segment.

6. Desktop maintains lower abandonment at 67.29%

Desktop users abandon at a 67.29% rate, creating a significant gap compared to mobile performance. The larger screen, easier form completion, and fewer distractions support higher completion rates. However, this gap represents opportunity—retailers who achieve mobile parity gain substantial competitive advantage.

7. 58.33% of eCommerce traffic comes from mobile devices

With 58.33% of traffic arriving via mobile devices, omnichannel marketing strategies must prioritize mobile-first experiences. This traffic composition continues shifting toward mobile each year. Retailers need unified customer views across devices to maintain engagement continuity through effective cross-device tracking.

Checkout Page Exit Statistics

8. Most retailers lose 60-80% of shopping carts

Standard eCommerce operations result in 60-80% cart loss, with only top performers managing to reduce this to 25%. This wide performance gap indicates significant room for optimization across the typical checkout funnel. Understanding which pages drive the highest exits enables targeted intervention strategies.

9. Average checkout requires 5.1 steps and 11.3 form elements

The typical checkout contains 5.1 steps with 11.3 form elements by default, creating multiple exit opportunities. Each additional step and field increases the likelihood of abandonment. Streamlining this process to the ideal 12-14 form elements can dramatically improve completion rates.

10. Checkout completion over 30 seconds loses 50% of customers

When checkout extends beyond 30 seconds, over half of customers abandon their purchase. This threshold demonstrates the critical importance of speed optimization in the final conversion stages. Every second removed from checkout translates directly to recovered orders through improved customer experience.

11. Top performers lose only 25% of carts

Elite eCommerce operators achieve a 25% abandonment, proving that dramatic improvement from the industry average is achievable. These top performers combine streamlined checkout, transparent pricing, and effective retargeting strategies to maximize conversions and revenue.

Common Exit Rate Drivers

12. Extra costs cause 39% of abandonment

Nearly 39% of customers abandon carts when extra costs like shipping, taxes, or fees are too high. This represents the single largest controllable factor in exit rate reduction. Displaying total costs early in the shopping journey prevents surprise-driven abandonment at critical moments.

13. Complex checkout processes drive away 18% of shoppers

Checkout processes that feel too long or complicated cause 18% of customers to abandon their purchase entirely. This friction compounds across each unnecessary step, building frustration that ultimately breaks purchase intent. Simplifying forms and reducing required fields directly addresses this driver.

14. Slow page loads cause 57% to abandon immediately

More than half of shoppers will leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load. This speed threshold applies across the entire shopping journey, not just checkout. Investing in site performance delivers measurable returns through reduced exit rates and improved customer satisfaction.

15. 17% of shoppers cite confusing checkout as exit reason

Research confirms 17% of shoppers specifically abandon carts due to complex or confusing checkout processes. This finding reinforces the need for intuitive user experience design throughout the purchase funnel. Clear progress indicators and minimal distractions help maintain forward momentum.

16. Forced account creation stops 19% of purchases

Requiring customers to create accounts before purchasing blocks 19% of potential conversions. Guest checkout options remove this barrier while still enabling post-purchase relationship building. Retailers can capture customer information after the sale without sacrificing conversion rate.

17. $260 billion in lost orders are recoverable

Better checkout design and flow optimization can recover $260 billion worth of abandoned orders globally. This staggering figure represents the revenue opportunity available to retailers who invest in exit rate reduction. Strategic tools help capture high-intent visitors in real time for personalized re-engagement.

18. 40% of abandoners go directly to competitors

When customers exit without purchasing, 40% proceed directly to a competitor site to complete their purchase. This statistic underscores the urgency of exit prevention and rapid re-engagement. Speed matters—the first brand to re-connect often wins the sale and customer loyalty.

Historical Exit Rate Trends

19. Historical exit rates climbed from 59.8% to 70.22%

Cart abandonment has risen from 59.8% in 2006 to today's 70.22%, representing a 17% increase over two decades. This trend reflects growing consumer expectations and increased competition for attention. Legacy approaches to visitor engagement no longer suffice in this environment.

20. Exit rates jumped 8.4% in a single year (2015-2016)

The abandonment spike from 71.39% to 77.24% between 2015 and 2016 demonstrates how quickly market dynamics can shift. This volatility requires adaptive systems that respond to changing consumer behavior in real time. AI-powered segmentation through Opensend Personas maintains targeting precision.

21. Average eCommerce conversion rate remains 2-3%

Despite advances in technology, the average conversion still hovers between 2-3% for most eCommerce sites. This baseline reveals how much potential revenue walks away from every online store. First-party data strategies that identify anonymous visitors enable recovery of previously lost revenue.

Traffic Source Exit Statistics

22. Social traffic shows 42.52% bounce rate

Visitors from social platforms exhibit a 42.52% bounce rate, higher than search but lower than direct traffic. This mid-range performance reflects the mix of discovery and intent-driven visitors from social channels. Maintaining connection across platforms helps convert these initially curious visitors.

23. Search traffic achieves 28.86% bounce rate

Search-originated visitors show the lowest bounce rate at 28.86%, demonstrating strong intent alignment between query and content. This benchmark confirms the value of SEO investment for attracting engaged visitors. However, even these high-intent visitors often require multiple touchpoints before converting.

Customer Trust Exit Statistics

24. 19% of shoppers distrust sites with credit card information

A significant 19% of customers abandon carts because they don't trust the site with their payment information. Trust signals, security badges, and transparent privacy practices directly impact conversion rates. Compliance isn't just legal protection—it's a conversion optimization strategy.

25. 30% leave if forced to re-enter credit card information

When checkout requires re-entering payment, 30% of customers abandon rather than comply. This friction point often results from session timeouts or poor user experience design. Secure, compliant systems that remember payment details improve completion rates significantly.

Consumer Behavior Statistics

26. 38% of consumers appreciate product reminders

More than a third of shoppers respond positively to reminders about products they've browsed. This receptiveness creates opportunity for thoughtful remarketing that feels helpful rather than intrusive. Timing and relevance determine whether these touchpoints drive returns or annoyance.

27. Conversion rates can increase 35.26% through optimization

Large eCommerce sites implementing checkout improvements achieve 35.26% conversion increases through better design. This improvement comes from addressing known friction points rather than revolutionary changes. Systematic testing and optimization compound into significant revenue gains over time.

Transform Exit Data Into Revenue

Exit rate optimization represents one of the highest-ROI opportunities in eCommerce today. With cart abandonment costing retailers billions annually and recovery emails converting at 18.64%, the ability to identify and re-engage exiting visitors directly impacts your bottom line.

Opensend Connect transforms anonymous website visitors into actionable first-party data, enabling personalized re-engagement campaigns across email, SMS, and direct mail. By capturing high-intent visitor information legally and compliantly, retailers can deploy the abandonment recovery strategies proven to work.

The combination of identity resolution technology and first-party data strategies enables retailers to maintain connections with customers across devices and sessions. When traditional cookies fail and email addresses bounce, Opensend Revive replaces bounced emails with active addresses for the same users, ensuring re-engagement campaigns reach their intended audience.

Success in reducing exit rates requires both preventing abandonment and recovering lost visitors. Understanding these 36 statistics provides the benchmark data needed to measure improvement and justify investment in optimization efforts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good average exit rate for an eCommerce website?

Industry benchmarks show the average cart abandonment rate at 70.22% globally, though this varies significantly by sector. Top performers achieve rates around 25%, demonstrating substantial improvement is possible. For your specific industry, aim to perform better than the sector average—for example, if you're in Beauty and Personal Care with an 81.71% average, reducing to 75% represents meaningful progress.

What are the most common reasons why visitors leave an eCommerce checkout page?

The primary drivers include extra costs being too high at 39%, such as shipping, taxes, and fees revealed at checkout. Complex checkout processes cause 18% to abandon, while 19% exit when forced to create an account. Site speed issues also contribute—57% of shoppers leave pages that take over three seconds to load.

How can I use exit-intent technology to reduce my exit rate?

Exit-intent technology detects when visitors are about to leave and displays targeted interventions. With 38% of consumers appreciating product reminders, well-timed pop-ups offering discounts, free shipping, or saved cart options can recover otherwise lost sales. The key is relevance—generic messages feel intrusive while personalized offers based on browsing behavior feel helpful.

How does first-party data help in re-engaging visitors who have exited my site?

First-party data enables identification and re-engagement of visitors who would otherwise remain anonymous. With cart emails converting at 18.64%, the ability to reach exited visitors through email remarketing creates substantial recovery opportunities. Identity resolution technology captures high-intent visitor information legally and compliantly, enabling multi-channel re-engagement.

Is it legal to re-engage customers who leave my site without purchasing?

Re-engagement is legal when conducted through compliant channels and with proper consent. Opensend partners with thousands of sites whose users have opted in to partner marketing, ensuring all outreach complies with CAN-SPAM and CCPA requirements. The combination of first-party data and consent-based practices enables effective re-engagement while maintaining full regulatory compliance and customer trust.