Checkout: the five places people leave
Abandonment is rarely about price. It is usually about surprise, friction, or a moment of doubt at the wrong time.
By the time someone reaches checkout they have already decided they want the thing. Losing them from there is a design problem, and it tends to happen in the same five places.
1. The surprise total
Shipping, tax or a fee appearing at the final step reframes the whole purchase as a negotiation the customer is losing. Show the full cost as early as you can compute it, even approximately.
2. The forced account
Making someone create an account before they can pay asks them to commit to a relationship before they have completed a transaction. Offer guest checkout, and invite them to save details afterwards, when they have a reason to.
3. The long form
Every field is a small decision. Ask for what you need to fulfil the order and nothing else. Autofill, sensible input types on mobile, and address lookup remove more friction than any amount of visual polish.
4. The trust gap
Payment is the moment doubt arrives. Returns policy, contact details and delivery expectations belong near the button, not buried in a footer link that opens a new tab and loses the cart.
5. The silent error
A declined card or a validation failure that does not clearly say what went wrong, and where, ends the session. Errors should be specific, adjacent to the field, and survive a page refresh.
If you only fix one of these, fix the surprise total. It is the one people tell their friends about.