Why does my sessions reached to checkout different than items sold?

[Umaiya]

I am trying to figure out why my sessions with cart additions and sessions than reached checkout less than the actual net items sold for the same product? 

[DaisyVo]

Hi @Umaiya 

Basically, you're noticing that "Sessions Reached Checkout" is higher than "Items sold," and you're wondering why the numbers aren't the same, right? Think of "Sessions Reached Checkout" as the number of times people got to the checkout, while "Items sold" is about the actual purchases that went through. They track different stages of the shopping journey, so it's totally normal for them to be different.

Here's the thing, just because someone gets to the checkout, it doesn't automatically mean they're going to buy something. In my experience, there are a few really common reasons why these numbers don't always line up perfectly:

• Folks Just Browse (Adding to Cart, Not Buying): Sometimes people are just window shopping, you know? They might add items to their cart to see the total price, including shipping and taxes, or maybe they're just saving items for later. They get to the checkout stage to see all this, but then they might decide not to go through with the purchase. It's like when you fill up your online shopping basket but then close the tab without buying - happens to the best of us!
  
  
• Checkout Abandonment is Real: Life happens! People get distracted, their internet might cut out, or they might just change their mind at the last minute. They might start the checkout process, fill in their details, but then abandon it before actually clicking "Pay Now." This is super common in online shopping.
  
  
• One Session, Multiple Checkouts (Maybe): Less likely, but possibly, someone might revisit the checkout page multiple times within the same Browse session. For example, they might go back to add another item or change their mind about something already in their cart and go back to checkout again. Shopify usually counts sessions in a specific way, but it's worth keeping in mind that one person could technically reach checkout more than once in a single session.
  
  
• Items Removed at Checkout: It's also possible someone removes items from their cart during the checkout process itself. So, they might have reached checkout with, say, 3 items, but then remove one before completing the purchase. This would still count as a "Session Reached Checkout" but the "Items sold" number would reflect the final, smaller order.
  
  

So, in short, "Sessions Reached Checkout" is a broader metric showing interest, while "Items sold" is the final count of successful transactions. It's actually a good thing to see "Sessions Reached Checkout" higher than "Items sold" because it means people are interested enough to get to that stage! You can then look at your checkout abandonment rate to see if there are ways to nudge more of those sessions into actual sales.

If you need any other assistance, feel free to reply, and I will try my best to help.

Best regards,

Daisy.