Things That Annoy Customers During Online Checkouts In 2025
Cart abandonment remains one of the biggest challenges in ecommerce. In 2025, over 70% of online shopping carts are still abandoned before purchase completion.
With 63% of consumers expecting personalised experiences and only 22% satisfied with the current level of personalisation, it’s clear that poor checkout experiences are costing businesses sales.
In fact, over 50% of shoppers switch to competitors due to inadequate personalisation. So what’s driving customers away during checkout?
Here are 4 common checkout frustrations that lead to cart abandonment – and how to fix them.
1. Complicated Checkout Processes
87% of customers abandon their carts if the checkout process is too complex. Long forms, unnecessary fields, and poor UX design can frustrate users and drive them away.
Solution: Simplify your checkout with Address Validation tools and AutoComplete features. A cloud-based Address Lookup solution can streamline the process and reduce friction. Businesses using cloud tools report 53% faster revenue growth – so it is well worth the investment.
2. No Guest Checkout Option
24% of shoppers abandon their cart when forced to create an account. Requiring registration adds unnecessary steps and slows down the buying process.
Solution: Enable guest checkout to allow users to complete purchases with just an email address. This speeds up transactions and improves user satisfaction.
A positive experience increases the likelihood of repeat purchases. In fact 91% of consumers say a smooth checkout experience significantly influences their liklihood to return to a merchant.
3. Overwhelming Drop-Down Menus
Large drop-down lists – especially for country selection – can be frustrating. Consumers find scrolling country drop-down menus frustrating and bewildering, especially on mobile, due to difficulties in navigation, scrolling unpredictability, and the sheer number of choices.
Users prefer alternative methods like a pre-filled, auto-completing text field or, if feasible, displaying options clearly via radio buttons for a better experience
Solution: Avoid drop-downs with more than 10 options. Use smart selectors or auto-detect location features to improve usability and reduce friction.
4. Non Mobile-Friendly Checkout
Mobile commerce continues to grow, now accounting for 59.6% of global web traffic, but conversion rates on mobile still lag behind desktop.
In 2025, the average ecommerce conversion rate is 4.3% on desktop compared to just 2.2% on mobile. This gap is largely due to usability challenges such as smaller screens, harder-to-navigate forms, and less stable browsing environments make completing purchases more difficult on mobile devices.
Solution: Optimise your site for mobile with responsive design, mobile-friendly forms, and touch-friendly buttons. A seamless mobile experience boosts conversions and reduces cart abandonment.
Final Thoughts
All in all improving your checkout experience is one of the most effective ways to reduce cart abandonment and increase revenue.
By addressing common pain points like complex forms, lack of guest checkout, poor mobile UX, and overwhelming drop-downs, you can create a smoother, faster, and more enjoyable shopping experience for your customers.
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, updated 2nd October 2025.
