Stop Fixing Your Abandoned Carts: Want vs Need in eCommerce

At Balkan eCommerce Summit 2026, Robert Petković from Analytics & Co. challenged one of the most common assumptions in eCommerce:

What if abandoned carts are not actually the real problem?

Instead of treating cart abandonment as a purely negative metric, the session explored how marketers and eCommerce teams often misunderstand customer behavior, buying intent, and the real meaning behind shopping cart data.

The keynote focused on the difference between “want” and “need” in eCommerce purchasing behavior and why businesses should rethink how they interpret analytics.

The Problem Is Often the Interpretation of Data

Robert explained that many companies react emotionally to abandoned carts.

Typical reactions include:

“We need to fix the checkout.”
“We need to increase cart value.”
“We cannot allow customers to abandon carts.”

However, he argued that the issue is not always the cart itself, but the way businesses interpret the data behind it.

Many eCommerce teams focus only on short-term conversion metrics without understanding the full customer journey.

Is the Cart Really Abandoned?

One of the key examples in the session described a customer journey across several days:

• Monday: customer adds a product to cart
• Tuesday–Thursday: customer continues researching
• Friday: customer completes the purchase

The question Robert asked was:

“Was that cart actually abandoned?”

From a session-based analytics perspective, maybe yes.

From a business perspective, no – because the sale still happened.

This example demonstrated how traditional analytics models can create misleading conclusions when customer journeys are longer and more complex.

Customers Rarely Buy Immediately

Robert emphasized that most consumers do not make instant purchasing decisions.

Instead, customers:

compare products
research competitors
return multiple times
switch between devices
discuss purchases with partners or family
wait before making decisions

He gave an example of users browsing products on mobile during the day and completing purchases later on desktop devices in the evening.

This means that delayed purchasing behavior is often completely normal.

The Two Most Important Metrics in Google Analytics

A major takeaway from the lecture was Robert’s focus on two often-overlooked metrics in Google Analytics:

Time to Purchase

How many days pass between the first visit and the final purchase.

Examples vary significantly:

• some stores average 3-4 days
• others average 20+ days

There is no universally “good” number.

Touchpoints Before Conversion

How many visits or interactions happen before a customer finally buys.

Robert explained that understanding these two metrics is critical for building proper marketing strategies and customer journey analysis.

Without this context, abandoned cart data becomes misleading.

The Cart Is Often a “Reservation”

One of the strongest concepts from the session was the idea that in many Balkan markets, the shopping cart functions more like a reservation or shortlist rather than a direct buying signal.

Consumers frequently:

save products for later
compare multiple products
use carts instead of wishlists
return later to finalize decisions

According to Robert, many users simply enjoy placing products into carts without immediate intent to buy.

Balkan Consumer Behavior Is Different

Robert highlighted an important regional insight:

Many eCommerce studies are based on U.S. or Western European shopping behavior, but Balkan customers often behave differently.

For example:

• Western users rely more on wishlists
• Balkan users frequently use the cart itself as a wishlist

Because of this, businesses in the region should avoid blindly applying foreign benchmarks and abandonment statistics.

Local buying behavior must be analyzed in its own context.

The Real Opportunity Is in the Gap

Robert presented data showing a significant gap between:

• users adding products to cart
• users immediately purchasing

Instead of seeing this gap only as lost revenue, he argued that this is where the biggest marketing opportunity exists.

The gap represents:

interest
intent
future purchasing potential
product desirability
remarketing opportunities

This behavioral data can reveal which products customers truly want, even before they purchase them.

Not All Intent Is Urgent

One of the central messages of the presentation was:

“Not all intent is urgent.”

Customers may strongly want a product while still needing time before buying.

Reasons include:

• budget considerations
• comparing alternatives
• waiting for approval from family members
• timing purchases
• waiting for discounts or promotions

This means marketers should avoid being overly aggressive with abandoned cart campaigns and instead better understand the natural decision-making process.

Shopping Cart Data Can Improve Marketing

Robert explained that cart behavior is valuable far beyond checkout optimization.

Products frequently added to cart can indicate:

• strong customer desire
• emotional appeal
• future demand
• high marketing potential

These products can become:

• hero products in advertising
• products featured in store windows
• remarketing campaign drivers
• promotional anchors

According to him, some of the most valuable insights in eCommerce are hidden inside cart behavior rather than only completed purchases.

Analytics Should Go Beyond Sales Reporting

A recurring criticism throughout the lecture was that many businesses use analytics tools only for basic sales reporting.

Robert argued that analytics should instead help businesses understand:

customer psychology
buying intent
decision timing
product attractiveness
behavior patterns
purchase hesitation

This requires marketers and analysts who can interpret data strategically, not just read dashboards.

Key Takeaways from the Session

The lecture delivered several important lessons for eCommerce businesses:

abandoned carts are not always lost sales
customer journeys are often longer than businesses expect
shopping carts can function as wishlists or reservations
Balkan customer behavior differs from Western benchmarks
time-to-purchase and touchpoints are critical analytics metrics
not all buying intent is immediate
cart behavior reveals valuable product demand signals
overly aggressive cart recovery tactics may be counterproductive
analytics should focus on understanding behavior, not only transactions
the biggest opportunities are often hidden in behavioral data gaps

The overall message was that businesses should stop treating abandoned carts only as a technical checkout problem and start viewing them as a valuable source of customer insight and purchasing intent.