Quick answer
Drop-off rate is the percentage of users who leave a process at a given step instead of continuing to the next, calculated as (users at the step − users at the next step) ÷ users at the step × 100.
Formula: Drop-off rate = (users at step − users at next step) ÷ users at step × 100
What is drop-off rate?
Drop-off rate is the percentage of users who leave a process at a given step instead of continuing to the next one. It is used for funnels (sign-up, checkout, onboarding), forms and multi-page flows. A step's drop-off rate is the mirror of its step conversion rate.
How to calculate drop-off rate
Drop-off rate at a step = (users who reached the step − users who reached the next step) ÷ users who reached the step × 100
Equivalently, drop-off rate = 100% − step conversion rate.
Overall funnel drop-off = (users who started − users who completed) ÷ users who started × 100
Worked example
A four-step checkout (sample data):
| Step | Users | Continued | Drop-off at this step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cart | 5,000 | 3,500 | (5,000 − 3,500) ÷ 5,000 = 30% |
| Shipping | 3,500 | 2,800 | 20% |
| Payment | 2,800 | 1,960 | 30% |
| Order placed | 1,960 | — | — |
Overall drop-off from cart to order: (5,000 − 1,960) ÷ 5,000 = 60.8%. The cart and payment steps lose the most users in percentage terms; in absolute numbers the cart loses 1,500 users and payment 840.
Drop-off rate vs related metrics
| Metric | Measures |
|---|---|
| Drop-off rate | Share leaving at one step of a defined process |
| Exit rate | Share of pageviews of a page that were the last in the session |
| Bounce rate | Share of single-page sessions with no interaction |
| Abandonment rate | Drop-off for a whole process, such as cart abandonment |
| Churn rate | Share of customers lost over a period |
How to reduce drop-off
- Find the step with the largest drop in absolute users, not only percentage.
- Split by device, browser and channel; drops often concentrate in one segment.
- Look at errors, rage clicks and replays on that step.
- Remove unnecessary fields and steps; show costs and requirements earlier.
- Re-measure on matching days after each change.
Drop-off rate in TapCub
Funnels show conversion and drop-off for each step, by session or person, with a time window and breakdowns by device or channel; see read funnel drop-off. Path analysis shows where users go instead, and form tracking shows field-level abandonment.
Related terms: funnel, conversion rate, cart abandonment rate, entry and exit pages.
Sources
- Baymard Institute. Cart abandonment rate statistics.
- Google Analytics Help. Funnel exploration.
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Product Experience Specialist
Writes about product experience, practical workflows, and growth, turning complex processes into clear steps for everyday decisions.