CHEAPUNO guide

Why high cart abandonment persists with a simple checkout flow?

Check if the final total at payment matches the user's expectations. Trust breaks when fees or taxes appear as surprises.

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What you are probably seeing

Your analytics show users clicking ‘Place Order’ but then abandoning the session, even though the cart-to-checkout steps are minimal.

Customer support tickets or session recordings reveal confusion or frustration at the moment a card is entered, rather than during product browsing.

Why it happens

Hidden costs like shipping, taxes, or service fees often appear only at the final step, causing a price mismatch that erodes trust.

The discrepancy between the expected total shown earlier and the charged amount feels deceptive, triggering immediate abandonment to compare elsewhere.

What changed recently

Step by step

1. Audit your checkout flow to identify where fees or taxes are first revealed to the customer.

2. Move the display of shipping and tax estimates earlier in the journey, such as on the product or cart page.

3. Test the final payment screen with real card inputs to verify the displayed total matches the charged amount exactly.

4. Create a standard scenario where a discount code and specific shipping option are applied to check for calculation errors.

5. Add a clear breakdown of all costs on the payment page so users understand why the total is what it is.

Ways to go further

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