Each year, e-commerce retailers face a staggering loss of approximately $4 trillion due to abandoned shopping carts. With a global cart abandonment rate averaging 70.19%, this issue presents both a significant challenge and a substantial opportunity for online businesses. By understanding the underlying reasons for cart abandonment and implementing effective recovery strategies, retailers can transform these lost opportunities into meaningful revenue gains.
While global figures are staggering, the situation in Vietnam reflects a similar trend with its own nuances. The Vietnamese e-commerce market, expected to hit $49 billion by 2025, is booming, but cart abandonment is a significant roadblock.
Source: Vietnam's digital economy value expected to be $49 billion by 2025
Cart abandonment happens when a potential customer adds products to their shopping cart but leaves the website without completing the purchase. This is a common issue that haunts e-commerce businesses globally, regardless of their size. Imagine walking into a supermarket, loading up a cart, then suddenly walking out without buying anything. That’s the digital equivalent of cart abandonment.
The average cart abandonment rate is around 70.19% across industries worldwide. For businesses, this represents a massive revenue leakage. Think of it this way: if you have 100 people visiting your site and 70 of them don’t complete their purchases, you’re losing out on a major portion of your potential income.
Source: 49 Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics 2025
In accordance with Feedforce Vietnam’s experience with various clients, the cart-to-purchase conversion rate frequently falls well below the global average, often dropping under 20%. A key insight we have consistently observed is that platforms like Shopee which is commonly used in Vietnam, lack of dedicated wishlist feature. In contrast Amazon—a widely used platform in Western markets—does offer this functionality. Consequently, Vietnamese users frequently utilize their shopping carts as makeshift wishlists, which naturally increases the cart abandonment rates.
Mobile devices have become the primary means for online shopping, accounting for over 68% of e-commerce traffic. However, they also exhibit the highest cart abandonment rates. According to data from Opensend, the cart abandonment rate on mobile devices is 85.65%, surpassing tablets at 68.05% and desktops at 69%.
Source: 7 Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics For eCommerce Stores
Let’s face it, nobody likes surprises at checkout – especially not in the form of extra charges. Unexpected shipping fees, taxes, or processing costs can lead to an immediate “X” click on the browser. According to a Statista report, 55% of users cite unexpected costs as the number one reason for cart abandonment .
Source: The average shopping cart abandonment rate globally is 75.28%
In Vietnam, where customers often seek price transparency and value for money, any sudden cost increase is a red flag. Businesses that don’t clearly communicate their total costs upfront risk frustrating and losing potential buyers. This problem becomes more prominent during flash sales or promotions when users are extra cautious about being tricked.
No one wants to fill out 10 different fields just to buy a pair of socks. A long, tedious, or poorly designed checkout process is a major conversion killer. Studies show that 22% of users abandon carts because the process is too long or complicated.
This is especially true in mobile-first markets like Vietnam, where over 70% of e-commerce transactions happen on mobile devices. If your mobile checkout isn’t fast, responsive, and easy to use, expect users to drop off fast.
Source: Shopping Cart Abandonment Statistics (2025)
Trust is everything in e-commerce, and it’s even more critical in developing markets like Vietnam where online fraud and phishing scams are a growing concern. Many users fear sharing their credit card details or personal info unless the website feels secure.
Visual trust signals like SSL certificates, secure payment badges, customer reviews, and return policies go a long way in reassuring users. A study by Baymard found that 17% of users abandon carts because they didn’t trust the site with their credit card info (source).
Source: The top eight reasons for cart abandonment—and what they can tell you about your business
In Vietnam, the distrust extends to newer or lesser-known e-commerce stores. Hence, brands must invest in building strong credibility through localized strategies such as influencer marketing, partnerships with established banks, and showing clear company information and customer support.
Payment preferences vary from region to region. While credit cards might dominate in the U.S., in Vietnam, Cash on Delivery (COD) and digital wallets like MoMo and ZaloPay are far more common. Not offering these options means you’re losing out on a huge chunk of users.
Source: Top 4 e-Wallets in Vietnam
A report by Google and Temasek indicated that over 60% of Vietnamese consumers prefer using COD when shopping online. If your store only supports card payments, that’s a guaranteed spike in abandonment rates.
Source: Vietnam’s Booming E-commerce Market
E-commerce platforms in Vietnam must integrate popular local payment gateways and offer flexible methods like installment plans, QR code payments, and e-wallets. It’s all about meeting the customer where they are comfortable.
Source: Vietnam’s Booming E-Commerce Market – Analysis
A significant portion of online shoppers abandon their carts simply because they are "just browsing" or comparing prices. According to the Baymard Institute, 43% of U.S. online shoppers have abandoned a cart in the last three months for this reason. These users often use the shopping cart as a tool to organize their potential purchases or to compare prices across different platforms
Source: The Keys to Abandoned Cart Recovery and Reducing Lost Sales
Feedforce Vietnam’s insight from working closely with Vietnamese e-commerce audiences reveals a unique behavioral pattern that’s especially prevalent among women in their 20s and 30s: using the cart as a wishlist substitute.
Unlike shoppers who abandon carts while comparing prices (as mentioned in Reason #5), these users intentionally save products in their carts to wait for the next promotional campaign — such as Shopee’s monthly 6.6, 9.9, or end-of-month payday deals. They’re not unsure about their purchase, they’re simply timing it for when the best value becomes available.
This habitual behavior isn’t captured in most Western-centric cart abandonment reports but plays a significant role in Vietnamese e-commerce. It's why a high cart abandonment rate doesn’t always signal lost interest — in many cases, it indicates deferred intent.
Understanding these local shopping habits allows brands to more effectively re-engage cart users and convert them at the right moment — not just the fastest one.
In behavioral economics, loss aversion explains why people are more motivated to avoid losses than to achieve gains. In e-commerce, this often manifests during checkout when unexpected charges—like taxes or shipping—appear.
What should have been a simple transaction suddenly feels like a loss rather than a value exchange. This shift in perception triggers hesitation, especially among Vietnamese shoppers who are highly cost-conscious and prefer transparent pricing. Retailers can counter this by clearly displaying all costs upfront and offering free shipping thresholds to mitigate perceived loss.
Source: Understanding Cart Abandonment from a Behavioral Economics Perspective
Cognitive overload occurs when users are faced with too many decisions or steps in a checkout process. From filling out forms to choosing shipping and payment methods, a cluttered interface increases the mental effort required to purchase.
In Vietnam—where mobile shopping dominates and attention spans are short due to quick-browse habits—streamlined checkouts are critical. Multiple fields, redirects, or slow-loading pages add friction, encouraging users to bounce.
Source: The Psychology of Cart Abandonment Explained
Source: Scribd
When users don’t feel a strong emotional connection or urgency, they tend to deprioritize completing a purchase. This is especially true in non-essential shopping categories like fashion, gadgets, or lifestyle goods common in Vietnam’s online marketplace.
Factors like bland product descriptions, unclear benefits, or a sterile checkout page can result in emotional detachment. Without excitement or urgency, users abandon carts with the intention to “come back later” — which rarely happens.
One of the quickest ways to break a customer's trust — and their purchase journey — is to spring unexpected fees on them at the last second. According to MobiLoud, transparent pricing is a cornerstone of e-commerce checkout optimization. That means including all costs — shipping, taxes, handling fees — upfront, either on the product page or the first step of checkout.
Shoppers, especially in highly competitive and cost-sensitive markets like Vietnam, want to know exactly what they’re paying. Surprises lead to frustration, and frustration leads to abandonment. Clear pricing builds trust, helps users budget properly, and removes doubt before checkout.
Source: Checkout Optimization 101: Designing The Ideal Checkout Flow
One of the easiest ways to recover lost sales is by making the checkout process stupid simple. Seriously, think about how Apple Pay works – just a tap and done. That’s the gold standard.
In Vietnam, where mobile shopping is king and internet speed can be inconsistent, every extra second in the checkout process risks a dropout. A one-page checkout, auto-filled form fields, and a guest checkout option can significantly decrease friction.
Platforms like Shopee and TikTok Shop have already mastered this. They allow users to go from browsing to buying in less than a minute. Your business can implement similar UX practices using tools like Shopify’s streamlined checkout or Magento’s one-step checkout plugins. Also, make sure your site loads fast, especially on mobile – because a slow page load equals a lost sale.
People hate uncertainty — especially during payment. That’s why visual cues like progress bars or checkout step indicators are so powerful. They show users where they are in the process and how much is left.
Omniconvert highlights that these progress indicators reduce user anxiety and create a sense of control. In Vietnam, where many users are still developing trust with online platforms, showing that the checkout process is short and transparent can make a huge difference.
Source: 25 eCommerce Checkout Optimization Best Practices That Convert
Notably, a recent article by Feedforce Vietnam emphasizes that over 70% of internet traffic in Vietnam comes from smartphones, and more than 90% of users shop online via mobile. Yet only 19% of local merchants have mobile-optimized websites — making mobile readiness not just an advantage, but a necessity for staying competitive in the Vietnamese e-commerce landscape.
Source: Why Optimizing E-commerce Websites for Mobile Devices is Essential?
With mobile shopping becoming the norm in Vietnam, optimizing the mobile checkout is not optional — it’s mission-critical. Sites must load quickly, forms must be easy to tap and fill, and buttons must be clearly visible. According to Google research, even a 1-second delay in page load can reduce conversions by up to 20%.
Invest in responsive design, mobile-first UX, and lightweight pages. Also, enable autofill for delivery addresses and payment details — mobile users expect speed and convenience above all.
Source: Think with Google
In a market still warming up to online transactions, trust is everything. Imagine walking into a store with no signage, no reviews, and no return policy – would you buy anything?
That’s exactly what users feel when landing on an unfamiliar e-commerce site. Displaying trust badges (e.g., Norton Secured, Verified by Visa), SSL certificates, and money-back guarantees helps reassure customers.
Social proof is another powerful trust signal. Showcase real reviews, user-generated content, and even live sales notifications (“Nguyen just bought this 3 minutes ago!”). Tools like Loox, Judge.me, or Trustpilot can automate and display these reviews beautifully.
Also, customer service visibility is crucial. A visible hotline number, live chat, or a Zalo support chat button shows that your business is legit and accessible.
Sometimes people just need a little nudge. Exit-intent popups detect when a user is about to leave the site and present them with an offer – maybe a discount, free shipping, or a reminder about their cart. These popups alone can recover up to 10-15% of abandoning users if done right.
Source: How Exit Intent Popups Can Increase Your Website Conversions
In Vietnam, consumers love deals and value offers. So a popup saying “Wait! Get 10% off your order if you checkout now!” could seal the deal. Tools like OptinMonster, Sleeknote, and Poptin work great for this purpose.
Then there’s retargeting – the art of bringing users back. Use Facebook Dynamic Ads and Google Remarketing to show personalized ads to users who abandoned their carts. Maybe they were on the fence. Seeing the same product on their Facebook feed with a discount might push them to complete the purchase.
In Vietnam, the e-commerce battlefield is heating up. With platforms like Shopee, TikTok Shop, and Lazada vying for dominance, every click matters. Cart abandonment is like a leaky bucket — no matter how much traffic you pour into your site, if your checkout process is flawed, you’ll keep losing potential customers. We’ve seen this time and again, not just globally but also within Vietnam’s rapidly growing digital economy. Abandoned carts don’t mean lost forever. With the right strategy, you can turn those lost opportunities into actual sales — and loyal customers.
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