By Gisela Crescipulli - Creative Brand Strategist at Paisanos
With CyberMonday just around the corner, it’s easy to think that bigger discounts mean more sales. That’s why companies start thinking about how much to discount, how to communicate it, how to drive more people to their websites, and how to stand out among thousands of promotions. But an important part of the story happens after the click that adds a product to the cart.
Someone sees a product, say, on Instagram, visits the store from their phone, looks at it, compares it, adds it to their cart, and makes it all the way to the final step. Everything seems to be on track, and then, suddenly, they close the tab. They didn’t have a bad experience or change their mind about the product. They simply hesitated.
How much am I actually going to pay? Can I pay in installments? When will it arrive? Why do they need so much information? Is this safe?
Many online sales are lost because of questions like these. At some point in the journey, the user stops having the certainty they need to keep going. And as more and more purchases start on social media and are completed on mobile, the space between “I want it” and “I’ll buy it” carries more weight than ever.
According to the 2025 Annual E-commerce Study by the Argentine Chamber of Electronic Commerce (CACE), 43% of Argentine online shoppers have already made a purchase through social media, and 81% consider the option to pay in installments important. Mobile continues to gain ground as well: during Hot Sale 2026, 93.4% of purchases were made from mobile devices.
This context helps explain why the shopping experience is playing an increasingly important role in conversion. Every case is different, but some sources of friction tend to come up again and again: costs that appear too late, a checkout process with too much friction, and a lack of signals that build trust.
Getting more people to the cart still matters, but a big part of the opportunity lies in taking care of the journey that gets them there, and especially what happens once they arrive.
Why Do Users Abandon Their Carts in Ecommerce?
By the time someone reaches checkout, they have already made several decisions: they chose a product, considered the price, compared alternatives, and decided to move forward with the purchase. So when they abandon their cart at that point, it’s worth looking at the entire journey, not just the last screen.
An interface can work perfectly well from a technical standpoint and still create uncertainty. A price can be clearly communicated but appear too late, a form can ask for more information than necessary, and a promotion that made perfect sense on social media can become confusing once the user reaches the website. Each of these frictions may seem small, but together they can turn an easy purchase into something that requires too much effort.
Throughout the shopping journey, three questions tend to come up again and again:
1. How much am I actually going to pay?
The price a user sees at the beginning should still make sense when they are ready to pay. If shipping only appears at the very end, if the installments advertised on the product page as “interest-free” change at checkout, or if understanding a promotion means doing the math yourself, the number the person had in mind when they decided to buy has changed. And even a small surprise can be enough to make them stop and think twice.
Showing the final price from the start, explaining installment options clearly, and making shipping costs visible early on helps ensure that the number the user has in mind is the same one they see when they are ready to pay.
2. Why is it so hard to buy this?
A checkout with too many steps can be a significant source of cart abandonment. There’s a fairly ironic pattern in ecommerce: on many websites, the closer someone gets to making a purchase, the more things they are asked to do. Creating an account because it’s mandatory, entering information they have already provided, going back to fix an error (and hoping they won’t be sent all the way back to the beginning), figuring out which button actually confirms the order, or waiting for a screen that was never really designed for mobile to load.
None of these things, on their own, may seem like enough to lose a sale. But as we mentioned earlier, the experience is built from the sum of these details (and on mobile, each one weighs a little more).
If most purchases happen from a phone, designing for mobile goes far beyond shrinking the desktop version. It means asking what the person needs at each moment, what information can wait, and which actions need to be within easy reach, so they can focus on making their purchase decision.
3. Can I trust this website?
Trust determines whether someone feels comfortable handing over their personal information and money to a website, and it is probably one of the most important factors (and one of the hardest to detect in the metrics).
At this point, the question is about the store itself: Is it safe to enter my card details? Will the product actually arrive? What happens if I need to exchange or return it? The padlock next to the URL can help, but the signals that matter most are often others: familiar payment methods, a payment gateway that doesn’t feel like a sudden jump to another website, easy-to-find return and exchange policies, a visible way to get in touch, and reviews from people who have already bought from the store.
When they pay, users are handing over their money, but also their data and their expectations. That’s why trust needs to continue beyond the click on “buy”: a clear confirmation email, shipping information, and the ability to track the order until the product reaches their hands.
From Scroll to Checkout: How to Take Care of the Experience When a Purchase Starts on Social Media
This becomes even more relevant when the purchase starts on social media. Someone discovers a product while scrolling through Instagram, visits the store from their phone, and completes the purchase within a few minutes. For that person, it’s one continuous experience, even though on the other side there may be different teams, tools, and touchpoints: marketing thinks about the ad, product thinks about the store, and the ecommerce team thinks about checkout.
The user doesn’t make that distinction. If a campaign promises one thing and the landing page communicates something else, doubt creeps in. If the price they saw on social media changes at checkout, another doubt appears. And if the tone, information, or way of navigating changes too much from one touchpoint to another, that sense of continuity disappears.
That’s why improving conversion means looking at the entire journey: what does a person need to believe at each stage to feel confident enough to keep moving forward?
Conversion Is Designed Too: The Role of UX/UI Before CyberMonday
The three questions we’ve looked at have something in common: they don’t always show up in the numbers. Users don’t leave a comment explaining why they left. They simply close the tab. That’s why one of the easiest ways to identify these issues is to put yourself in their shoes.
A good exercise before CyberMonday is to go through the entire purchase as a customer would: start from an ad, enter from a mobile device, choose a product, pay in installments, and wait for the confirmation email. At each step, ask whether the price is still the same, whether there’s anything unnecessary or difficult to find, and whether there is ever a reason to hesitate. Even better, have someone who doesn’t know the website go through the process, because they may spot something the team no longer notices.
Many of the improvements that come out of this exercise are small: showing shipping costs earlier, removing a field from the form, adding return policies to the checkout. But on a date when thousands of people arrive with their minds almost made up, these small changes can be what prevents cart abandonment and helps turn an almost-purchase into a completed one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is cart abandonment?
Cart abandonment happens when someone adds products to an online store’s cart but leaves the website without completing the purchase.
What are the most common reasons for cart abandonment?
Common reasons include costs that only appear at the end of the process (such as shipping or installment fees), a checkout that is too long or difficult to use on mobile, and a lack of signals that make users feel safe enough to complete the payment.
How can cart abandonment be reduced before CyberMonday?
By showing the final price from the beginning, simplifying the checkout experience for mobile, adding trust signals such as familiar payment methods and visible return policies, and going through the entire purchase journey as a customer would to identify sources of friction.
How does UX influence cart abandonment?
UX can help reduce cart abandonment by making information clear, removing unnecessary steps, and making it easier for users to complete their purchase on any device. In ecommerce, a good experience doesn’t just need to work. It also needs to reduce uncertainty and effort throughout the purchasing process.
What percentage of online purchases in Argentina are made from mobile devices?
According to CACE, 93.4% of purchases during Hot Sale 2026 were made from mobile devices.