Solved: Huge Drop Off Between ATC and Initiated Checkouts

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

Happy to give you some of my initial thoughts on this. It's a really common problem, probably one of the most frequent things I see when I'm looking at eCommerce accounts for the first time. The drop-off between adding something to the cart and actually starting the checkout process can feel like a massive, unexplainable black hole where your money disappears. Most people assume there's something wrong with their checkout page, but honestly, the problem almost always starts way before that.

The good news is, its usually fixable. The issue is rarely a technical one. It's about psychology, trust, and managing expectations. I'll walk you through how I'd diagnose and start to fix this, looking at the entire journey from the ad click right through to that 'initiate checkout' button.

We'll need to look at why they're hesitating... The Psychology of the Gap

First things first, we need to understand the mindset of the customer at this exact point. Clicking 'Add to Cart' (ATC) is easy. It's like putting something in your physical shopping basket in a supermarket. It doesn't mean you're going to buy it; it just means 'I'm interested' or 'I'll decide later'. It's a bookmarking action more than a buying action.

Clicking 'Initiate Checkout' (IC) is a completely different beast. That click signals real intent. It says, 'Okay, I'm ready to give you my details and my money.' It's a step across a mental threshold. The huge drop-off you're seeing is everyone who was just 'bookmarking' or 'price checking' bailing before they have to make a real commitment.

So the question isn't 'Why aren't they checking out?'. The real question is 'What are they seeing or NOT seeing on the cart page that makes them lose their nerve?'. The problem is friction. Any tiny bit of doubt, confusion, or unexpected information at this stage will send them running. Your conversion rate is bleeding out in this gap because some form of friction is making the commitment of clicking 'Initiate Checkout' seem too big a leap.

I remember one client, a women's apparel store, had this exact issue. They had ATCs through the roof but hardly anyone started the checkout. They were convinced their payment gateway was broken. It wasn't. It turned out they had a tiny, almost invisible link to their shipping policy, and the actual shipping cost wasn't shown until the very last step. People added to cart, couldn't immediately see the shipping cost, assumed it was a trick, and left. Fixing that one thing was part of a wider strategy that helped them achieve a 691% return on their ad spend. It's that serious.

Below is a visual of the typical eCommerce funnel. That gap between ATC and IC is where most stores unknowingly lose the majority of their potential customers. It's not a small leak; for many, it's a gaping hole in the hull of their ship.

I'd say you need to audit your traffic quality... Rubbish In, Rubbish Out

Before we even get to the cart page, let's talk about who you're getting there in the first place. You can have the most perfect, frictionless cart page in the world, but if your ads are bringing in low-intent browsers, they will always abandon. This is something people overlook all the time. They blame the website when the real problem is their ad targeting.

Are you running campaigns optimised for 'Reach' or 'Brand Awareness' on Meta? If so, you are literally paying Facebook to find people who are cheap to show ads to because they don't click or buy anything. As I've told clients before, the best brand awareness is a sale. You must optimise your campaigns for conversions (like 'Purchases'). This tells the algorithm to find people who are historically likely to actually buy stuff, not just browse. These people arrive on your site with a higher level of intent from the get-go.

On Google Ads, are you bidding on really broad keywords? If you sell high-end handcrafted leather shoes, bidding on the keyword "shoes" will bring a tidal wave of people looking for cheap trainers. They'll click, maybe even add to cart out of curiosity, and then see your price and run for the hills. You need to be targeting long-tail, high-intent keywords like "handmade men's leather brogues UK" or "full-grain leather dress shoes". The traffic will be lower, but the *quality* will be infinitely higher. These are people who already know what they want and are prepared for the price point.

Getting the right people to the site is half the battle. One of the B2B clients we work with was getting loads of clicks but no leads from their ads. They thought their landing page was the issue. After a quick look, we saw their targeting was way too broad. They were selling complex environmental control systems, but their ads were reaching anyone interested in "sustainability". We narrowed their targeting on LinkedIn to only show ads to specific job titles like 'Facilities Manager' and 'Head of Operations' in specific industries. Their lead quality shot up, and we reduced their cost per lead by 84%. It's the same principle for eCommerce: get the targeting right first.

You probably should get brutally honest about your shipping and costs... The Silent Assassin

Right, this is the big one. If I had to bet on the single reason for your drop-off without seeing your site, it would be this: you are surprising your customers with shipping costs.

This is the number one conversion killer in eCommerce, full stop. People are now conditioned by Amazon Prime and countless other large retailers to expect free or cheap shipping. When they add an item to their cart, they are often doing it just to see the 'all-in' price. If they see a £4.99 shipping fee pop up on a £20 item, that's a 25% price hike they weren't expecting. It feels deceptive, even if it's not intentional. It breaks trust instantly, and they will abandon the cart without a second thought.

You need to be completely transparent about shipping costs, as early as possible.

• -> On the Product Page: Have a clear, unambiguous message about shipping. "Free shipping on orders over £50" or "Standard UK Shipping £3.99". Don't make them hunt for it.
• -> In a Site-Wide Banner: A banner at the top of every page is even better. It sets the expectation from the moment they land on your site.
• -> On the Cart Page: This is non-negotiable. The shipping cost, or a shipping calculator, must be clearly visible on the cart page itself, *before* they have to click 'Initiate Checkout'.

I know what you're thinking: "But I can't afford to offer free shipping". Maybe not. But you can't afford to lose over half your potential customers at the cart either. You need to do the maths.

1. Build it into your price: Can you increase your product prices by a small amount to absorb the shipping cost? Customers are far less sensitive to a slightly higher product price than they are to a separate shipping fee. A £25 product with free shipping will almost always outsell a £20 product with £5 shipping.
2. Use a threshold: Offering free shipping over a certain order value (e.g., £50) is a powerful psychological tool. Not only does it remove the friction of the shipping cost, but it also encourages customers to add more to their cart to meet the threshold, increasing your Average Order Value (AOV).

This isn't just theory. I've seen it transform businesses. A cleaning products company we worked with was struggling with cart abandonment. We convinced them to test a 'free shipping over £30' offer. Not only did their conversion rate jump, but their AOV went up by almost 20% as people added an extra bottle of cleaner to their order to qualify. That change was a huge part of how we helped them achieve a 633% return. Dont underestimate the power of 'free shipping'.

To really see the damage this is doing, I've built a small calculator for you. Play around with the numbers – especially the 'Cart Abandonment Rate'. See how much potential revenue you're leaving on the table each month. When you see it in pounds and pence, it really focuses the mind.

You'll need to build trust on the cart page itself... Remove All Doubt

Okay, so let's say you've sorted your shipping costs. The next biggest cause of friction is a lack of trust. The cart page is your last chance to reassure the customer that you are a legitimate, trustworthy business before they hand over their details. If the page looks sparse, unprofessional, or is missing key information, their internal alarm bells will start ringing.

Your cart page needs to be a fortress of trust signals. You should be hammering them with reasons to feel safe and confident.

• -> Multiple Payment Options: Do you only offer card payments? A lot of people feel much safer using PayPal, Apple Pay, or Google Pay. These services act as a trusted middleman and mean the customer doesn't have to type their card details into a site they've never used before. Simply displaying these logos can significantly increase conversions.
• -> Security Badges: Display logos from McAfee, Norton, or just a generic SSL certificate badge. While some might say they're cliché, they work on a subconscious level to reassure people that the transaction is secure.
• -> Clear Returns Policy: Can they see, right there on the cart page, a link to your returns policy? Or even better, a simple statement like "Easy 30-Day Returns". This removes the risk from the purchase. If they know they can send it back if it's not right, they are far more likely to complete the purchase.
• -> Customer Reviews / Star Ratings: Can you show a snippet of a recent 5-star review or your overall Trustpilot rating? Social proof is incredibly powerful. Seeing that other people have bought from you and had a good experience is hugely reassuring.
• -> Contact Information: Is there a clear phone number or email address visible? It shows there are real people behind the website that they can contact if something goes wrong.

Each of these elements on their own might only provide a small boost, but together they create an overwhelming sense of security and professionalism. You're removing every possible reason for them to hesitate. The chart below gives a rough idea of the kind of impact these trust signals can have. The combined effect is what you're aiming for.

I'd say you need a dedicated cart abandonment strategy... Don't Give Up on Them

Finally, you have to accept that even with a perfect cart page, a lot of people will still leave. Life gets in the way. The baby starts crying, the boss walks in, they decide to think about it overnight. That doesn't mean the sale is lost forever. The fact they added an item to your cart makes them one of the most valuable audiences you have. They are highly qualified and have shown clear intent.

You absolutely must have a dedicated retargeting strategy for these people. This is where you can be really specific and effective. I'd split this into two parts: email and ads.

• -> Cart Abandonment Emails: You should have an automated email sequence that triggers an hour or two after someone abandons their cart (if you've captured their email earlier in the process). The first email is a simple reminder: "Did you forget something?". The second, maybe 24 hours later, could address common concerns: "Got questions? Here's our returns policy and contact info". The third, 48 hours later, could offer a small incentive to complete the purchase, like a 10% discount or free shipping.
• -> Retargeting Ads: This is crucial. Using the Meta Pixel or Google Ads tag, you can create a custom audience of everyone who triggered the 'AddToCart' event but not the 'Purchase' event in the last 7-14 days. Then you can run ads specifically to them. Don't just show them the same ad they saw before. Show them a different one. Remind them of the product they left behind. Use ad copy like "Still thinking it over?" or "Your cart is waiting for you!". You can test showing them testimonials for that specific product or offering them that 10% discount you mentioned in the email. Because this is such a small, high-intent audience, you don't need a huge budget for it, but the return can be enormous. We often see this BoFu (Bottom of Funnel) retargeting campaign become the highest ROAS campaign in an entire ad account.

For an eCommerce client selling subscription boxes, we implemented exactly this kind of multi-channel cart abandonment strategy. Their initial ROAS was okay, but not amazing. Once we started recapturing a significant percentage of those 'lost' sales through targeted emails and ads, their overall ROAS shot up to over 1000%. You're paying to get these people to your site and to the cart; it's madness not to spend a little bit extra to bring them back over the finish line.

This is the main advice I have for you:

So, to pull this all together, fixing your ATC to IC drop-off rate is a multi-step process. It's about systematically identifying and eliminating every point of friction and doubt. Below is a summary of my main recomendations for you to implement. Tackling these in order will almost certainly have a significant impact on your conversion rate.

As you can see, there's a lot more to it than just the design of one page. It's about the entire ecosystem of your advertising and your store working together to create a smooth, trustworthy path to purchase. Getting it right can be the difference between a struggling store and a profitable one.

Working through these issues methodically takes time and expertise. You need to be able to dive into your ad account analytics, your website analytics, and understand how they connect. You need to know which levers to pull first to get the biggest impact, and how to test changes properly so you know what's actually working.

This is where expert help can make a huge difference. Instead of spending months guessing and testing, an experienced eye can often spot the main problems in minutes and lay out a clear plan of action.

If you'd like to go through your specific site and ad account together, I'd be happy to offer you a free, no-obligation consultation call. We can share screens, look at your actual data, and I can give you some more tailored advice on what your biggest priorities should be.

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh