10 Causes of Abandonment on Application Forms and How to Improve Them: Tips for a Smooth Path to Payment
"I have traffic, but no one is signing up." This is a problem that everyone who sets up an application form encounters at least once.
To put it simply,there are clear reasons why people abandon application forms. Furthermore, most of these are backed by data, and fixing them will increase sign-ups. Improving your form is much faster and cheaper than increasing traffic.
In this article, based on the accumulation of form UX research (Baymard Institute, WACUL, HubSpot, etc.), I will introduce10 causes of form abandonment and their improvements with actual data. Finally, I will also summarize how to smoothly connect forms and payments.
[Premise] The effectiveness differs between web-only and face-to-face/referral models
First, just one thing. Much of the data below comes from surveys of people who "find it on the web and sign up/buy on the web." For businesses decided by referrals or face-to-face meetings, these abandonment rate figures do not apply directly. This is because people who come face-to-face are already intending to sign up. (Even so, it still affects the ease of abandonment.)
However,the moment you try to gather new customers from the web, the story changes. You are not there in person in front of the people who come from the web. The landing page and application form must take over all the explanations, price presentations, and anxiety relief that you would normally provide face-to-face. This is the source of the missed opportunities. Please consider the following 10 points as ways to make that "substitute" work properly.
1. Too many input fields (The biggest cause of application form abandonment)
This is the cause with the clearest data.
For every field removed, the form completion rate increases by approximately 2% (WACUL/B2B Form Research)
According to HubSpot's research, the conversion rate is highest when there are 3 fields
One B2B company reduced fields from 10 to 5 and saw a 1.5x increase in CV
Expedia is a symbolic example. It is reported that removing just one field, "Company Name (Optional)," led to an annual profit increase of 1.2 billion yen.
Improvement strategy: Re-examine each item one by one: "Do we really need this information now?" You can also keep registration minimal and ask for details later.
2. Unnecessarily splitting input fields
Splitting phone numbers into three parts or separating addresses into "street address" and "building name" fields increases the visual number of input fields at once. Large-scale tests by the Baymard Institute have repeatedly confirmed that UX performance drops as the number of input fields increases. The average number of input elements in e-commerce checkout forms is about 23, which is nearly double the optimal 12-14.
Improvement strategy: Follow the principle of "one question = one input field." Prioritize the effort of the person filling it out over the convenience of the management side.
3. Placing "exit links" within the form
If menus, banners, or footer links are lined up on the application form screen, people will escape from there. In one case,simply removing the footer links resulted in a 1.6x increase in CV.
Improvement strategy: The goal of the form is only to complete the input. Remove all detour links that block the path to that goal.
4. Difficult to input on smartphones
More than 60% of web traffic now comes from smartphones, and it is known that the abandonment rate on smartphones is over 20% higher than on PCs. If you build it for PC, check it on PC, and call it a day, you will lose the majority of your users.
Improvement: Make input easier on smartphones, such as by ensuring the email keyboard appears for email fields and the numeric keyboard appears for phone number fields.
5. Cannot see "how many items are left"
People get anxious and abandon a form when they cannot see the finish line. Over 100 studies by the Baymard Institute have consistently confirmed that showing progress, such as "Step 2/3," reduces abandonment.
Improvement: Break long application forms into steps and show users "where they are now."
6. Fees and conditions are revealed too late
One of the biggest reasons for abandonment in web-based processes is "unexpected costs appearing after finishing the input." In one survey, about 40% of abandonment reasons were due to these additional costs.
Improvement: Present fees and conditions early without hiding them. Transparency directly leads to trust and higher application rates.
7. The "what service it is and why I should apply" is not conveyed before the form
Simply pasting a Google Form link is the same as handing an application form to a stranger without explaining anything. You are asking for their "name" and "email" without them knowing what the service is, how much it costs, who is providing it, or why they should apply. They won't fill it out.
Improvement: The role of the landing page before the application form is to "create a reason to apply." Only when a reason is established does the input become worth the effort.
8. Application and payment are separated (Google Form → payment link sent later)
This is the most common and most wasteful pitfall. "Have them apply via Google Form, then send a payment link via email later"—this may seem like a normal method, but if you follow the user's journey, it looks like this:
Apply via the form (the desire to apply peaks here)
A message appears saying "We will send payment instructions later"
Wait for email → Open it → Find the link → Reopen and pay
The moment they apply is the moment their enthusiasm is highest. If you interrupt the process there and push it to "later," their interest will definitely cool down. The email might go to spam, it might be put off and forgotten, or they might change their minds by the time they open the link—the longer the "gap" between application and payment, the more people you lose. For the operator, the applicant list and payment status are scattered in different places, making it a hassle to manage "who has paid and who has not."
Improvement: Complete the payment on the same screen, right in the flow of the application. Carry them to the goal without interruption while their enthusiasm is high. By simply connecting the application and payment into one, this loss is completely eliminated.
9. Button text is just "Submit" / Errors are shown all at once at the end
Buttons with text that lets users imagine what happens after clicking are more effective than just "Submit" or "Confirm." HubSpot and others add a reassuring phrase like "No credit card required" right next to the button. Instead of "Apply," use text that shows what comes next, such as "Consult for free first," and add a phrase nearby to eliminate anxiety.
Another major cause of abandonment is the high stress of being told "There are errors" only after filling out the entire form. Providing real-time error feedback, highlighting incorrect fields, and changing free-text fields to selection-based ones can reduce input errors themselves.
10. It is not decided whether to "collect quantity" or "narrow down quality"
Finally, let's consider the opposite. "Fewer fields are always better" is not an absolute truth. In a case study by Anagrams, a B2B SaaS companydeliberately increasedthe number of input fields and saw their conversion rate triple. The story is that only highly motivated people remained, which led to more successful business negotiations.
Improvement measure: Decide first whether you want to "collect quantity" or "narrow down quality." And before making any changes,use tools like GA4 to check the numbers on where and how many people are dropping off. If you skip this, your improvements will be a gamble.
How to smoothly connect application forms and payments
What you notice after looking at these 10 causes is that many stem from the fact that the "LP," "form," and "payment" are disconnected.
For example, even if you can take applications via Google Forms, you cannot process payments. The more tools are separated—payment on a different service, customer management on another, and follow-up contact done manually—the more users will drop off at the seams. The issue mentioned in point 7, "the reason for applying is not conveyed," also happens because the LP and the form are separate entities.
The ideal is a state wherethe LP, application form, payment, customer management, and follow-up emails are all connected as one. Users apply in the flow of reading the explanation and proceed directly to payment. On the operational side, applicant information is automatically collected, and follow-ups can be automated. If the seams disappear, abandonment decreases.
The service we provide,Yoyaku, is a tool that combines this "LP + application form + payment + customer management + email automation" into one. Starting at 1,480 yen per month, entrepreneurs starting a business from 0 to 1 can complete their application flow without combining multiple tools.
If you currently feel that "there is traffic but no applications" or "Google Forms cannot connect to payment," before adding more advertising budget, try filling out your own application form on a smartphone to the end. The point where your hand stops is exactly where you need to improve.
Reference Data and Sources
Baymard Institute (Large-scale research on EC payment form UX: number of fields, progress display, abandonment rate, additional costs)
WACUL "Best Practice Research for B2B Site Forms" (Pass rate of about 2% with one field)
HubSpot (Survey on number of fields and CVR, CTA button anxiety reduction)
Expedia (1.2 billion yen profit increase by removing "Company Name (Optional)")
Anagrams Inc. (Contrarian case study where increasing fields tripled CVR)