The current average annual value of goods abandoned per online consumer is £861, a new survey by Deko has found.

The e-commerce technology provider’s research shows that the average rate of ‘cart abandonment’ when shopping online could result in losses for retailers of up to £46 billion per year.

The majority of consumers also expect their rate of cart abandonment to increase over the next 12 months, while 90 per cent of retailers who took part in the survey said that shoppers were abandoning their baskets before checkout.

The reasons retailers gave for shoppers leaving items in their baskets included overly complicated checkout processes at 35 per cent, and a lack of consumer payment options at 34 per cent.

The survey also revealed that 58 per cent of UK retailers are already using retail finance products, while 35 per cent are considering adopting them in the near future.

92 per cent of retailers said their customers would benefit from retail finance options covering more basket sizes, and more than 90 per cent believed a greater variety of checkout options would help consumers to finalise their purchases.

Commenting on the survey results, Melanie Vala, chief commercial officer of Deko, said: “Complicated checkout processes with a lack of flexible payment options are a key factor in shoppers choosing not to convert their sales.”

She added: “Yet, often retail finance providers do not cover a sufficient variety of basket sizes or shopper profiles, making it difficult for retailers to drive sales.”

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