Where people drop off in checkout.

List your checkout steps, count the people who reach each one, and divide each count by the one before it. Ignore the first step, because most people who land leave and that is normal. The step with the worst rate after that is where to start. GA4 can build this from its checkout events, and Shopify keeps a simpler version for you.

• 5.1 steps

  is how long the average checkout is for a new customer, in Baymard's 2024 benchmark of large ecommerce sites. Baymard Institute

• 11.3 fields

  is the average number of form fields in those checkouts, down from 12.7 in 2019. Baymard says most sites need only 8. Baymard Institute

• 4 events

  make Google's example checkout funnel: begin_checkout, add_shipping_info, add_payment_info and purchase. They only exist if your store sends ecommerce events to GA4. Google Analytics Help

• 40 in 100

  shoppers who were not just browsing told Baymard they left a checkout because of extra costs. It is the most common reason they name. Baymard Institute

1. 01Read rates, not raw drops

   The first step always loses the most people, because most visitors were only looking. That is not the leak. Divide each step by the one before it. A step that keeps 9 in 10 is fine. A step that keeps 3 in 10 is where to look, even if fewer people pass through it. Google Analytics Help

   TRY THISWrite your steps in a column with the count next to each, then a third column: this step divided by the last. Circle the lowest number after step one.

2. 02Build the funnel in GA4 from checkout events

   In GA4, go to Explore and pick Funnel exploration. Add one step per event: begin_checkout, add_shipping_info, add_payment_info, purchase. Google notes that someone who comes back later may enter part way through, so use an open funnel if you want to count people who skip earlier steps. Google Analytics Help

   TRY THISBefore you trust it, open GA4's Realtime report and go through your own checkout. Check that each of the four events shows up, in order. A missing event makes a step look like a cliff.

3. 03On Shopify, start with the counts it already keeps

   Shopify counts visits that added to cart, visits that reached checkout and visits that completed checkout. That is a three-step funnel with no setup. It cannot split checkout into shipping and payment, but it tells you whether the leak is before checkout or inside it. Shopify

   TRY THISDivide reached checkout by added to cart, then completed by reached checkout. Whichever is lower is the half to work on first.

4. 04A leak at shipping usually means a surprise cost

   If people enter an address and stop before payment, they have usually just seen the delivery price or date. Extra costs are the reason shoppers name most often, at 40 in 100 of those who were not just browsing. Baymard Institute

   TRY THISShow the shipping cost, or the free shipping threshold, on the product and cart pages. Then nobody meets it for the first time at checkout.

5. 05A leak at the details step usually means too many fields

   Baymard found the average checkout asks for 11.3 fields when 8 would do. Every extra field is one more place to stop, and a required phone number with no reason given is one of the worst. Guest checkout matters here too, because a forced account is one of the reasons shoppers give most. Baymard Institute

   TRY THISCount your checkout fields. Remove or make optional anything you do not need to ship the order, and offer guest checkout as the first choice.