In the latest Baymard Institute survey, published in 2026 and covering 1,083 American online shoppers, four in ten shoppers said they had abandoned a purchase because extra costs were too high, and nearly one in five because they were asked to create an account. Both reasons can largely be addressed on the checkout page.
The same survey points to an honest limit: 42% of the shoppers surveyed say they abandoned a cart because they were just browsing. No checkout page will win them over. For everyone else, though, every unnecessary field, every fee discovered too late and every obscure error message costs sales.
Here are the ten most effective levers for a WooCommerce store, each tied to what Baymard’s studies measure, to the setting that puts it in place and to the way you check the result. The settings described match WooCommerce 11.1, the current version in October 2026, according to its documentation and source code.
How we ranked them
We took into account the share of shoppers affected, based on the abandonment reasons Baymard recorded, then the effort required in WooCommerce: a simple setting, some code or an extension. We also flag the levers that require the Checkout block, now the standard for new stores, and the way to measure each change.
A word on the often-quoted figure of 70% of carts abandoned: it is the average of fifty studies run by other organizations, compiled by Baymard. It is neither a target nor the abandonment rate of your own checkout.
1. Guest checkout first
Why it matters
In Baymard’s survey, 18% of the shoppers surveyed say they abandoned an order because they were required to create an account. And according to its 2025 study, most sites do not make guest checkout the most prominent option. A shopper discovering your store wants to pay, not open a customer area.
How to do it in WooCommerce
In WooCommerce, then Settings, then Accounts & Privacy, enable guest checkout. Under account creation, choose the “After checkout” option: customers can then create their account on the confirmation page, once the purchase is done. This delayed account creation, introduced in WooCommerce 9.5, requires both the Checkout block and a block theme: with a classic theme, the option does not appear at all. It is off by default: tick the box.
How to check
Open the checkout page in a private window, check that no account prompt blocks the form, place a test order and make sure the invitation to create an account appears on the confirmation page. The only exception: subscriptions still require an account.
Customers who already have an account
For returning customers, the obstacle is often the password. Baymard measured that overly strict password rules can drive up to 19% of existing account holders to abandon, and recommends limiting the rule to a minimum length of six to eight characters. Since WooCommerce 11.0, the customer email confirmation option also lets customers link orders previously placed as guests to their account. Finally, note that the WooPay button disappears if guest checkout is disabled.
2. Show the full cost before the form
Why it matters
It is the top abandonment reason in Baymard’s survey once the just-browsing segment is set aside: 40% of shoppers find extra costs too high, whether shipping, tax or other fees. A notable share also say they could not see the total cost up front. A final price discovered at the last step feels like a trap.
How to do it in WooCommerce
In the shipping settings, enable the shipping calculator on the cart page, and hide other rates when free shipping is available. In the general settings, the default customer location can be geolocated, so taxes and shipping are calculated before the address is even typed; that option requires a MaxMind license key. On the tax side, choose to display prices including tax in the cart and at checkout if you sell to consumers, so the total does not jump at the last step.
In the Checkout block, when block-based local pickup is enabled, the Delivery block can show the cost of each option, shipping or pickup.
Local pickup, in its block version, also avoids asking for a shipping address on an order collected in person, and then calculates taxes on the pickup location’s address. And since WooCommerce 9.7, each rate can come with a delivery time in the Cart and Checkout blocks, provided you use code or a shipping extension.
Announce a date rather than a delivery speed
Baymard recommends announcing a delivery date rather than a delivery speed, which nearly half of sites fail to do, and showing the order cutoff time for same-day dispatch. A shopper understands “delivered Thursday” better than “three to five business days”, especially when ordering for a specific occasion.
How to check
In a private window, with no address, add a product to the cart: it should show a shipping estimate or a calculator, and a total identical to the one charged at payment.
3. Cut the number of fields
Why it matters
According to Baymard, the average checkout form had just over eleven fields in 2024, while most sites need only eight. Every extra field lengthens the journey, especially on mobile. In Baymard’s tests, nearly a third of participants stopped at the second address line, unsure how to split their address across the two lines.
How to do it in WooCommerce
In the Checkout block, the Address Fields section lets you hide or make optional the company, second address line and phone fields. With the classic checkout, the same choices live under Appearance, then Customize, then WooCommerce, then Checkout. Since WooCommerce 9.0, an optional second address line is hidden behind a link. The Order Note block can be removed, and the coupon field is collapsed by default.
The phone field deserves special attention: Baymard notes that some shoppers refuse to give it without knowing why. If you require it, explain what it is for, for example so the courier can reach them.
Also mark required and optional fields clearly. In Baymard’s tests, nearly a third of participants missed at least one required field when only optional fields were flagged. Finally, keep the billing address identical to the shipping address by default, and only show it if the shopper unticks that option.
How to check
Count the visible fields on the default form, for a physical product, before and after your changes. Aim for around eight.
4. Offer express wallets
Why it matters
Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal save typing a card and an address on a small screen. Baymard notes that part of abandonment comes from too few payment options. On mobile, an express button at the top of the checkout page changes the experience.
How to do it in WooCommerce
The Checkout block contains an Express Checkout block, which only appears if a compatible gateway is active. WooPayments offers Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Link and WooPay, and lets you choose where to place the buttons. The Stripe and PayPal Payments extensions also offer their wallets. Our comparison of WooCommerce payment gateways details their fees.
Limits to know
Only enable wallets in one gateway per location, otherwise the buttons are duplicated. WooPay and Link are US-only. And some situations hide the buttons, such as virtual products when prices are entered excluding tax and tax is calculated on the billing address. Test on a real iPhone and a real Android phone: Apple Pay requires HTTPS and domain registration.
The real case: how NutriBullet removed a pop-up and gained 35%
NutriBullet, the blender brand sold mostly through large retailers such as Target and Amazon, told WooCommerce how it transformed its checkout page. The story is published by WooCommerce, which sells the solution adopted: the figures are the company’s own, with no control group. It remains instructive for the order of operations.
The friction
After long running dozens of campaign microsites, NutriBullet began rebuilding its online presence in 2019 to sell direct to consumers, and chose WordPress and WooCommerce. During the pandemic, a full site audit revealed inefficiencies in the checkout.
The main problem was simple: customers had to enter their card in a separate window, not on the page itself. By monitoring the site, the team saw lost shoppers clicking in frustration because they did not understand they had to use that new window. The CIO and CTO, Peter Huh, called it rage clicking.
The fix
At the end of 2021, the team looked for a modern payment solution. Integration was not simple, on a heavily customized site connected to an ERP and an anti-fraud tool. With WooCommerce’s help, WooPayments went live in November 2022, and the card is now entered directly on the checkout page.
According to Sterling Tang, Director of Business Technology, the conversion rate rose by 35% within six months of launch. In his words, they got “over a third of an increase just by removing friction.”
Wallets, in a second phase
On May 1, 2023, NutriBullet added Apple Pay and Google Pay for its mobile visitors, who make up the majority of its traffic. The company reports an additional 18% increase in conversion rate.
What the numbers do not say
No baseline conversion rate is published, seasonality is not discussed and the measurement period for the 18% is not stated. But the lesson holds without the numbers: the biggest gain came from removing a confusing step, spotted by watching real visitors, not from adding a feature. Wallets, added for mobile visitors, brought a second, separate gain.
5. Address autocomplete
Why it matters
According to Baymard, more than half of sites offer no automatic address lookup, and nearly one hand-typed address in ten contained a typo in its tests. On mobile, typing a full address is one of the most tedious moments of the journey.
How to do it in WooCommerce
Since WooCommerce 10.3, core includes an address autocomplete interface, for both the block checkout and the classic checkout. Results come from a provider: with WooPayments, you simply tick the option under WooCommerce, then Settings, then General. A developer can plug in another provider: all it takes is a class extending WC_Address_Provider, registered with the woocommerce_address_providers filter. The same provider then serves both kinds of checkout page, which avoids maintaining two integrations.
How to check
Type the first letters of a real street at checkout: suggestions should appear and fill in the city and postcode. The WooPayments provider was suspended shortly after version 10.3 launched, before being documented as available again.
6. Trust signals shoppers actually read
Why it matters
Nearly one shopper in five says they abandoned a purchase because they did not trust the site with their card details. According to Baymard, shoppers judge security by gut feeling, based on how the payment page looks more than on the technology.
How to do it in WooCommerce
Visually frame the card fields and place one or two security symbols inside that area, as Baymard recommends. The Terms and Conditions block can require a checkbox and automatically links to your terms and privacy pages. Clearly display the return policy, which is one of the abandonment reasons, and keep a link back to the cart.
Limits
WooCommerce offers no trust badges: that is the job of the theme or a plugin. Baymard’s badge rankings concern a US audience, and Baymard itself recommends testing. Above all, a poorly laid-out payment page makes people suspect a hack: visual tidiness is a trust signal.
The choice of badge matters less than you might think. In Baymard’s study of trust seals, Norton’s came first, but a homemade seal with no meaning at all inspired more trust than every SSL certificate badge from major providers except Norton’s. What matters is that the payment area looks careful, set apart and consistent with the rest of the site.
7. Error messages that say what to fix
Why it matters
According to Baymard, nearly one site in three has no inline field validation at all, and almost all use generic error messages. A message such as “invalid field” leaves the shopper guessing what to change.
How to do it in WooCommerce
The Checkout block validates each field without showing errors while the shopper types: an invalid entry is flagged as soon as the shopper leaves the field, and an empty required field when they try to submit. For your extra fields, the Additional Checkout Fields API accepts a validation function. Since WooCommerce 11.0, a filter also lets you adapt phone number validation.
How to check
Submit the order with a wrong postcode, then with a declined test card. Each error should appear next to its field, say exactly what to fix, and the page should not wipe what the shopper already entered.
The declined card case deserves special care. Baymard recommends keeping card data after a validation error when the gateway allows it, a practice many sites neglect. Having to retype everything after a simple mistake on the expiry date is enough to make some shoppers give up.
8. Test checkout on a real phone
Why it matters
According to Baymard’s 2026 mobile study, three quarters of e-commerce sites on mobile offer only a mediocre experience. Yet mobile often accounts for most of the traffic, as at NutriBullet.
How to do it in WooCommerce
The two main levers have already been covered: express wallets and address autocomplete. WooCommerce has also improved browser autofill, notably for Safari in 2026, and the layout of buttons on small screens. Finally, speed matters: our Core Web Vitals fixes for WordPress apply to the checkout page too.
How to check
Test on an iPhone with Safari and on an Android phone with Chrome: autofill, numeric keyboard for phone and postcode, express button visible without scrolling.
9. Switch to the Cart and Checkout blocks
Why it matters
Since WooCommerce 8.3, in November 2023, the Cart and Checkout blocks have been the standard for new stores. Older stores keep their checkout page as long as they change nothing. Yet several of these levers only exist with the Checkout block: block-based local pickup, the second address line hidden behind a link, the Additional Checkout Fields API, uniform express button styles and delayed account creation, which also requires a block theme.
How to do it
Replace the checkout page shortcode with the Checkout block, then test every active gateway. An extension that has not declared block compatibility shows a warning, and customizations made with PHP code on the old page may disappear. Our guide to the Cart and Checkout blocks details the migration.
If you need extra fields, such as an EU VAT number or a preferred delivery date, use the Additional Checkout Fields API, stable since WooCommerce 8.9. It places each field in the contact, address or order section, and validates it properly, without hacking the block.
How to check
WooCommerce presents the blocks as the way to maximize conversion, without publishing data to back it. So measure yourself, before and after, as explained in the next point. Going back to the old page remains possible from the editor.
10. Measure abandonment before and after each change
A funnel in Google Analytics
In GA4, the begin checkout, add shipping info, add payment info and purchase events let you build a closed funnel. The Google Analytics for WooCommerce plugin sends them automatically. Compare four weeks before and after each change. Our comparison of WordPress analytics plugins covers the other tools.
Beware: in Europe, with consent mode, visitors who refuse are not measured, and the funnel underestimates volumes. Compare trends, not absolute figures.
WooCommerce also offers order attribution, on by default and controlled in the advanced settings. For each order placed, it records the visitor’s origin, campaign parameters, device type and number of pages viewed. It only sees completed orders, but lets you check, for example, whether the share of mobile orders grows after adding express wallets.
What WooCommerce shows
Pending payment and failed orders are the abandonments visible in WooCommerce. Draft orders, on the other hand, are no longer created when the page opens, but when the order button is clicked: they cannot be used to count checkout starts.
The WooCommerce 11.0 recovery email
WooCommerce 11.0 added, as an experimental feature disabled by default, an abandoned cart recovery email: a single reminder per order, sent by hand from the order or, if “Send automatically” is ticked, two hours after an order left in pending payment, with an unsubscribe link. It starts disabled if WooCommerce detects AutomateWoo or MailPoet.
Where to start
Start with what only takes a setting: guest checkout, account creation after purchase, the shipping calculator, hiding unnecessary fields. Then add express wallets and address autocomplete. Keep the move to blocks for a quiet period, tested on a copy of the store.
And measure before touching anything: without a baseline funnel, there is no way to know what worked. To go further, our selection of WooCommerce plugins to boost sales complements these settings.
Summary table
| Lever | Abandonment reason targeted | Where to set it | Checkout block required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guest checkout | Mandatory account | Accounts & Privacy | For delayed creation |
| Full cost shown | Fees discovered late | Shipping, tax, general | For block local pickup |
| Fewer fields | Form too long | Block address fields, or the Customizer for the classic page | For the address line 2 link |
| Express wallets | Not enough payment methods | Payment gateway | For uniform button styles |
| Address autocomplete | Tedious typing, errors | General settings (WooPayments) | No |
| Trust signals | Distrust of payment | Theme, terms, policies | No |
| Clear error messages | Site errors | Field validation, code | For the Additional Checkout Fields API |
| Mobile checkout | Process too complicated | Tests on real devices | No |
| Cart and Checkout blocks | Several at once | Checkout page | It is the block |
| Measuring abandonment | All | GA4, pending orders | No |
Frequently asked questions
What is a normal cart abandonment rate?
The average compiled by Baymard is around 70%, but the studies behind it range from 55% to over 84%. Compare your store with itself over time rather than with that average.
Does WooCommerce track abandoned carts?
Not in its reports. Pending payment and failed orders show last-minute abandonments, and the experimental recovery email in version 11.0 relies on the pending ones. For the whole journey, you need a funnel in an analytics tool.
Should I force an account for subscriptions?
Yes, it is a WooCommerce Subscriptions requirement: a customer needs an account to manage their subscription. For every other product, keep guest checkout.
Can I get address autocomplete without WooPayments?
Yes. The core interface accepts other providers, which a developer or an extension can plug in, and several WooCommerce address extensions exist on WordPress.org. Most address lookup services are still paid.
Are recovery emails allowed in Europe?
They reach customers who started an order, but the consent question depends on the context. Have it validated, and see our guide to GDPR and consent on WordPress.
Does the Checkout block convert better than the old page?
WooCommerce says so, but publishes no data to back it, and we found no independent data either. What is established is that several of the levers covered here only exist with the block. The only way to settle it for your store is to measure before and after the migration.
Conclusion
The checkout page is where a store loses the most sales it had almost won. The most profitable levers are often the simplest: let people pay without an account, show the final price early, remove unnecessary fields. Express wallets and autocomplete come next, especially on mobile.
NutriBullet’s story shows it: the biggest gain came from a friction spotted by watching real customers, then removed. Watch your own visitors check out, measure, and fix one thing at a time.
Sources
- Baymard Institute (September 22, 2025). Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics
- Baymard Institute. Reasons for Cart Abandonment
- Baymard Institute, via Datawrapper (May 11, 2026). Reasons for abandoning online purchases at checkout
- Baymard Institute, Edward Scott (June 26, 2024). Checkout Optimization: 5 Ways to Minimize Form Fields
- Baymard Institute (November 2025). Checkout UX 2025
- Baymard Institute (March 24, 2023). Provide a Fully Automatic Address Lookup Feature
- Baymard Institute (January 9, 2024). Usability Testing of Inline Form Validation
- Baymard Institute. How Users Perceive Security During the Checkout Flow
- Baymard Institute (July 2025). Always Explain Why the Phone Field Is Required
- Baymard Institute (July 2026). Mobile UX Trends
- WooCommerce (September 2026). Checkout block
- WooCommerce (August 2026). Accounts and Privacy Settings
- WooCommerce (September 2026). Configuring WooCommerce settings
- WooCommerce. Local Pickup
- WooCommerce (September 2026). WooPayments settings guide
- WooCommerce (July 2026). WooPayments express checkout compatibility
- WooCommerce Developer Blog (October 22, 2025). WooCommerce 10.3
- WooCommerce Developer Blog (December 17, 2024). WooCommerce 9.5
- WooCommerce Developer Blog (November 6, 2023). FAQ: Extending Cart and Checkout blocks
- WooCommerce Developer Docs. Validation data store
- WooCommerce (August 5, 2026). Abandoned cart recovery emails
- WooCommerce (August 2026). Order statuses
- Google (August 2026). Measure ecommerce
- Google Analytics Help. Funnel exploration
- WooCommerce (September 2026). Google Analytics for WooCommerce
- WooCommerce, Vanessa Petersen (February 9, 2024). Nutribullet improves conversion rate by 35% with WooPayments
- Baymard Institute, Sonia Sousa (February 6, 2024). Retain Data in Sensitive Credit Card Fields after Validation Errors
- WooCommerce (September 2026). Accepting Apple Pay with WooPayments
- WooCommerce Developer Blog (February 25, 2025). WooCommerce 9.7: Smarter shipping displays and faster performance
- WooCommerce Developer Docs. Address Autocomplete Provider Implementation
- WooCommerce Developer Docs. Additional checkout fields
- WooCommerce (September 2026). Order Attribution Tracking
- WooCommerce on GitHub. Changelog
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