Shopping Cart Abandonment in Online Shopping

Shopping cart abandonment in online shopping is a growing concern for retailers because it represents lost sales. This study looks at perceived risk and perceived ownership in relation to shopping cart abandonment. It is hypothesized that perceived risk in intended behavior will affect actual purchase behavior and perceived ownership in intended behavior will positively affect perceived ownership in actual behavior. It is believed that decreasing risk will also decrease cart abandonment and increasing ownership will increase transaction completion therefore decreasing cart abandonment. A survey was administered and results showed that the most common perceived risk in abandoning the cart was financial risk. Results showed that there was a significant correlation between perceived ownership in intended behavior and actual purchase behavior however, 33% of the respondents indicated that they were likely to abandon the cart even with a sense of ownership.