Form Abandonment Statistics for 2021

23 Unbelievable Form Abandonment Statistics for 2021

Form abandonment is no longer a mystery but still a real can of worms to any type of organization.

When someone abandons your form, a business could lose a sales lead, and a nonprofit could miss a chance for a potential donation.

The Evolution of Web Forms

Forms have been existing here since the birth of the internet.
Without web forms, there would be no online transaction, user account, or even search engines. Plus, there could be no sort of marketing strategies or technologies like we interact with nowadays.

1991 - 1998:  The Early Days of WWW

In 1991

the first website was launched by Tim Berners-Lee

In 1993

the first HTML web forms were brought to life. Aliweb was regarded as the first proper web for search engines

Until 1995

the age of web forms has officially begun

In general, the web forms at that time mainly performed search and submission tasks. The interface was simple and dull, HTML-based with no CSS.

1994 - Until now

In 1994

Online forms were used for e-banking and online order in 1994. However, online payments were still a star to reach at that time.

Pizza Hut started to accept online pizza orders in the US in 1994. Clients had to provide their phone numbers. Pizza Hut would call them back to take a credit card payment via the phone.

In 1999

Not until 1999 was this problem resolved thanks to the birth of PayPal. It did normalize the concept of online payment and introduce eCommerce to the world.

Web forms could exhibit products for sale and then direct submitters to the payment gateway for completing the transaction.

2004 - Present: Web Forms in the Social Media Era

The rise of social media took web forms to the next stage.

In 2003

The very first modern social network called MySpace was launched in 2003 and quickly gained over million users in just over a half year.

Flickr, Reddit, or Twitter were some big names that set their footprints in the social media platform.

In 2004

The birth of Facebook in 2004 and its innovations on UX were listed among the most interesting evolutions.

Online Forms and Other Milestones

In 1994

The SSL protocol for data encryption was released by Netscape.

In November 1999

One famous hijack of a web form occurred.

In 2000

CAPTCHA and password protection to block spam started to be available.

By 2005

Numerous form builders joined the market, allowing website owners to create online forms without touching a bit of code.

In 2007

The first WYSIWYG form builders made their way in.

Since 2008

Developers have made use of HTML5 to add new features and input types.

By 2010

AJAX form submission was catching on.

In 2012

Responsive design started catching on. This gave a helping hand in optimizing forms for multiple devices.

In 2013

The emergence of multi-step forms.

Form Abandonment Statistics

81%

81% of users have abandoned an online form after beginning to fill it out.

27%

Lengthy forms have caused over 27% of users to abandon their online forms.

29%

Security concern proves one of the top reasons deterring 29% of people from completing online forms.

67%

According to WPForms, “more than 67% of site visitors will abandon your forms forever if they encounter any complications.”

13%


13% of people choose not to fill out an online form since they prefer paper copies. (WPForms)

76.9%

The average global cart abandonment rate was 76.9% in 2018. (SaleCycle)

5%

Asking for a phone number lowers form conversion rates by 5%, followed by street address (4%), a person’s age (3%), and city and state (2%).

3%

More than 3% of visitors will abandon your online forms if you use the word “Submit.”

24%

24% of clients refuse to fill out checkout forms if there is a requirement on creating a user account. (Baymard Institute)

12%

No trust badges on the checkout page will result in 12% of shoppers abandoning a form.

35%

Improving checkout design can reduce form abandonment by as much as 35%, which equals nearly $260 billion in recovered orders. (Baymard Institute)

39%

39% of retailers reveal that women are more likely to abandon their online shopping baskets, while 19% agree with men.

30%

30% of people will return to complete a form if it offers a free tool or an incentive.

Forms with dropdown form fields have the highest form abandonment rates.

Baymard Institute pointed out the top three reasons for cart abandonment include unexpected costs (shipping, taxes, fees), required account creation, and a complicated checkout process.

How to Avoid Form Abandonment?

Keep Forms Short by Avoiding Unnecessary Questions

Short forms deliver the sense of “free and easy,” resulting in fast form completion.

Avoid “Halt” Words

Words like “Spam” or “Submit” are typical “conversion killers.” They can leave a negative and dull connotation in visitor’s minds and discourage conversion.

Include Visual Cues and Social Proof

Including imagery and strong social proof aid form completion. They humanize your marketing, build trust, and comfort indecisive users to complete your forms.

Use Inline Validation

Inline validation supports checking and notifying errors in real-time. It saves users from checking the accuracy of input back and forth.

Inline validation is best suited for:

  • Validating if an email address is valid, or has previously been registered for your site.
  • Informing users about a specific data format whenever they mistakenly input in different formats.
  • Correcting spelling errors in email addresses.

Optimize Form Designs

Beautify your forms with eye-pleasing themes and the right color scheme.
Choose vibrant colors for the CTA button to grab user attention and neutral ones for text fields or background.

Analyze Your Forms

Utilizing form analytics tools such as Hotjar, Decibel Insight, Zuko to track form abandonment rate, measure form performance, and user interaction with your forms.