Website form abandonment continues to plague online marketers. This post collects a number of form and cart abandonment statistics, both from our own database and third party studies.
The truth is…
You lose leads and sales from form abandonment.
Form abandonment in this context isn’t as well documented as cart abandonment, so there is less data out there. For example, we know from our client data that 67.1% of visitors abandon forms but data for other types of forms is less commonly available.
Other types of forms may not have an immediate transaction at the end of them, but they are no less important. They drive leads for sales teams and collect contact info to identify and market to.
When searching for these statistics we found a plethora of articles citing the same sources, as well as large fluctuations in the actual abandonment rates. We decided to gather all statistics in a single place. We’ve calculated an average so it’s easy to cite just one number instead of 40 different ones.
Know of any form or cart abandonment statistics not on this list? Then send an email to info@myformdata.com.
69.89% is the average calculated based on these 40 different studies containing cart abandonment statistics below.
Abandonment rate statistics:
- 27% of users abandon an online form because it is too long according to The Manifest (Retrieved 2022)
- 74% of companies that generate leads use online forms according to WPForms ( Retrieved 2021)
- 68% form abandonment rate according to WPForms in 2020. (retrieved September 4, 2020)
- 81% according to The Manifest in 2019 (retrieved June 1, 2019)
- 75.60% according to SaleCycle in 2018 (retrieved Jun 20, 2018)
- 81.40% according to AbandonAid in 2017 (retrieved Jun 20, 2018)
- 76.90% according to SaleCycle in 2017 (retrieved Jun 20, 2018)
- 78.00% according to Listrak in 2016 (retrieved Jan 9, 2017)
- 75.50% according to Adobe in 2016 (retrieved Jan 9, 2017)
- 68.80% according to Barilliance in 2016 (retrieved Jan 9, 2017)
- 74.52% according to SaleCycle in 2016 (retrieved Sep 21, 2016)
- 71.39% according to Barilliance in 2015 (retrieved Jan 14, 2016)
- 68.95% according to IBM in 2015 (retrieved Dec 7, 2015)
- 75.00% according to Listrak in 2015 (retrieved May 8, 2015)
- 75.60% according to SaleCycle in 2015 (retrieved May 8, 2015)
- 68.38% according to IBM in 2014 (retrieved Dec 2, 2014)
- 72.00% according to Listrak in 2014 (retrieved Sep 26, 2014)
- 69.20% according to Vibetrace in 2013 (retrieved Mar 25, 2014)
- 62.30% according to Fireclick in 2014 (retrieved Mar 12, 2014)
- 74.00% according to Barilliance in 2013 (retrieved Mar 12, 2014)
- 67.41% according to IBM / Coremetrics in 2013 (retrieved Dec 6, 2013)
- 78.00% according to AbandonAid in 2013 (retrieved Dec 6, 2013)
- 60.32% according to Triggered Messaging in 2013 (retrieved Jul 28, 2013)
- 75.00% according to Listrak in 2013 (retrieved Jul 3, 2013)
- 67.00% according to Comscore in 2012 (retrieved Jul 3, 2013)
- 74.23% according to SaleCycle in 2013 (retrieved Apr 26, 2013)
- 80.30% according to Rejoiner in 2012 (retrieved Feb 14, 2013)
- 61.85% according to IBM / Coremetrics in 2012 (retrieved Dec 20, 2012)
- 74.76% according to Fireclick / DigitalRiver in 2012 (retrieved Nov 2, 2012)
- 76.00% according to Listrak in 2012 (retrieved Jul 17, 2012)
- 72.31% according to Fireclick / DigitalRiver in 2011 (retrieved Feb 25, 2012)
- 62.31% according to IBM / Coremetrics in 2011 (retrieved Feb 25, 2012)
- 72.00% according to SeeWhy in 2011 (retrieved Feb 25, 2012)
- 71.00% according to SeeWhy in 2010 (retrieved Feb 25, 2012)
- 55.00% according to Forrester Research in 2010 (retrieved Feb 25, 2012)
- 63.68% according to IBM / Coremetrics in 2010 (retrieved Feb 25, 2012)
- 69.38% according to Fireclick / DigitalRiver in 2010 (retrieved Feb 25, 2012)
- 62.14% according to MarketLive in 2009 (retrieved Feb 25, 2012)
- 71.00% according to Forrester Research in 2009 (retrieved Feb 25, 2012)
- 63.19% according to IBM / Coremetrics in 2009 (retrieved Feb 25, 2012)
- 68.00% according to SeeWhy in 2009 (retrieved Feb 25, 2012)
- 62.01% according to IBM / Coremetrics in 2008 (retrieved Feb 25, 2012)
- 61.36% according to IBM / Coremetrics in 2007 (retrieved Feb 25, 2012)
- 59.80% according to MarketingSherpa in 2006 (retrieved Feb 25, 2012)
Average: 69.89% abandonment rate
Last updated: January 2, 2019
Why customers leave your site without clicking submit on your form
There are several reasons for form abandonment. Some have to do with the actual design of the form, while others are around the motivation of the user to complete the form. If, for example, I’m asked to complete a 10 question survey on my most recent experience with a mobile phone provider, I may lose the will to live before completion. It’s a boring task and there’s little in it for me.
However, if the form can be completed easily within two minutes, or if the reward at the end is sufficient, then more people will complete the form. In other words, people need to be motivated to complete a form.
Reasons for online form abandonment:
- Long forms look like hard work, and it’s often because they are. Keep forms as short as you can.
- There’s a natural temptation to get as much data as possible from users completing forms, as this can help the sales team, or inform future marketing strategy. However, this can also increase the likelihood that people will bail out before completing the form.
- It’s easy for people to become discouraged when completing a form, but a progress bar can offer vital reassurance that there’s not too much form-filling left to do.
- While many form fields will seem self-explanatory, users can be tripped up or delayed by certain fields. Things like postcode or password fields can be a problem if the rules are too strict. If sites have rules for password entry, then explaining this in advance will minimize the risk of annoying customers with error messages telling them they got it wrong. Some simple copy next to the relevant form field can help here.
Motivation is a starting point, but form designers then need to make sure that the effort required to complete forms doesn’t outweigh the momentum generated by the desire to get to the finish line.
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