10 ways to make the checkout process smoother
Did you know that 70% of shopping carts are abandoned before payment?
While some people abandon their shopping carts because they have changed their mind or have got distracted, many don’t complete the process because they get frustrated at checkout.
A slow, long, or confusing checkout process can cause shoppers to give up and go elsewhere.
In this article we’ll share how to simplify your eCommerce store’s checkout and make it as easy as possible for customers to buy what they need.
Article topics
- Introduce a guest checkout
- Use a one-page checkout
- Don’t ask for unnecessary information
- Make your checkout mobile-friendly
- Remove all distractions
- Show customers that they can trust you
- Remind customers what they have purchased
- Clarify delivery methods and return options
- Offer multiple payment options
- Save your customer’s cart just in case
1. Introduce a guest checkout
According to the Baymard Institute, 19% of shoppers will leave the checkout process because they are forced to create an account.
It’s estimated that the average person has 100 online accounts. This means having to create a new one can be annoying, especially if someone wants to make a one-off purchase or buy in the spur of the moment.
An alternative is to offer guest checkout – where customers can buy products without having to create an account. This not only makes checkout faster, but also makes it easier to appeal to impulse and one-off shoppers.
Top tip:
The downside of offering guest checkout functionality is that you lose out on valuable customer data.
A good compromise is to encourage customers to sign up for an account after they have finished their purchase by submitting a password.
As the hard work is done, customers are more willing to register.
2. Use a one-page checkout
A one-page checkout consolidates order information, contact details, and payment information onto one page. From a customer perspective, this saves time, reduces friction, and means that they can see what data they need to provide upfront.
According to the Baymard Institute, 18% of customers will abandon a purchase if the checkout process takes too long, so the simpler you can make it, the better.
Top tip
While a one-page checkout is the best option for most eCommerce stores, there are some circumstances where it might not be.
For example, if you sell high-priced or complex products and need a long checkout process to capture the right data, putting everything on one page may overwhelm customers.
In this situation, a multi-page checkout process with a progress bar may lead to better conversion rates.
If you’re not sure, test both options and see which leads to the best results.
3. Don’t ask for unnecessary information
Forms are a must at checkout in order to capture a customer’s address, payment details, and contact information if you need to reach out about their order.
However, it’s vital to only ask for the information you need to complete the transaction. For example, unless you plan to send SMS messages about a customer’s order, you don’t need to ask for a mobile phone number.
Ask for too much, and customers will get irritated. Plus, the more personal data you ask for, the more you have to store securely under data protection regulations like GDPR.
Top tip
As well as the form itself, think about your microcopy – the names you give to form fields and the error messages you provide if a customer fills in a form incorrectly.
Keep your microcopy short, simple, and unambiguous.
10 easy ways to create forms that convert
4. Make your checkout mobile-friendly
90% of shoppers in the UK buy using their smartphones, with 38% saying they buy things on their phone ‘all of the time’.
This means it’s essential to make sure your checkout is easy to complete on a smart device.
Some of the ways you can do this include:
- Using pre-fill response fields, which autocomplete with known data
- Triggering the numeric keypad automatically for relevant fields
- Matching the billing address to the delivery address by default
- Only asking for the information you need, ideally on one page
- Making sure form fields, links, and buttons can be easily pressed with a finger
- Offering shortcuts. For example, one-click payment buttons (we’ll talk about these later)
Top tip
Another way to make your checkout mobile-friendly is to reduce your page load time.
As a general rule, website pages load more slowly on mobile devices as they have less powerful processors than desktop devices.
You can reduce your checkout load time by optimising the images you use, removing tracking pixels you don’t need, and using lazy loading for non-essential content at the bottom of the page.
5. Remove all distractions
When someone reaches your checkout, your number one goal needs to be to get them to convert as quickly and efficiently as possible.
If anything distracts them during the process, they may stop and not continue.
For example, let’s say you have a field in your checkout form asking customers for a discount code. There’s the risk that your customers could leave your website in search of a code, never to come back.
If you don’t offer discount codes, it’s best to take this field out. If you do, apply discount codes directly at checkout to keep customers focused on finishing their purchase.
Top tip
If you want to encourage customers to take another action, for example, to sign up for your newsletter list or follow you on social media, ask them after they’ve completed their purchase.
6. Show customers that they can trust you
When a customer stumbles upon your eCommerce store for the very first time, for example, by following a pay-per-click ad, you need to quickly show them why they should trust you.
7 out of 10 shoppers have abandoned a transaction because they thought an online store felt untrustworthy.
Trust signals, small pieces of evidence that show customers that your website is credible and reliable, are an easy, unobtrusive way to do this.
According to Trustpilot, the best trust signals to use on a checkout page are positive star ratings and reviews, testimonials, and approved seller badges.
We recommend using A/B testing to see which trust signals lead to the highest conversion rate. Set up two checkouts with different trust signals, send half of your customers to each, and see which delivers the best results.
Top tip
A quick win when it comes to trust signals on your checkout page is to show all the payment methods you accept.
Customers feel more confident when they see that you offer well-known, secure payment methods.
7. Remind customers what they have purchased
At checkout, customers may need to go back to double-check what they have ordered. If they have to leave the checkout process, there is the risk that they may not come back.
Providing a summary of what a customer has ordered, including the price, colour, dimensions, and other variations, provides peace of mind that they are buying the right product for their needs.
Top tip
Make it as easy as possible for a customer to edit their order at checkout. For example, by changing the product quantity or swapping sizes.
8. Clarify delivery methods and return options
Over half of customers consider themselves ‘superfans’ of at least one brand.
According to the Baymard Institute, 39% of shoppers will abandon checkout because the additional costs associated with their order are too high.
While a customer still may choose not to shop with you because they think your delivery charges are too expensive, it’s still important to clarify any fees as early as possible in the checkout process.
By being upfront about costs, you’re establishing trust, potentially increasing the chances of a customer coming back to you in the future. And of course, if there’s a threshold for free delivery, a customer may be willing to put additional products in their cart to take advantage of it.
Similarly, being open about return options can influence a customer’s decision. Over half of UK shoppers say return policies help them decide whether to buy from a particular store.
Top tip
As well as at checkout, make your delivery and return policies available across your website, including your product pages and website footer.
This shows that you value transparency and are committed to good customer service.
9. To target customers based on what they’ve clicked on
44% of UK customers will not go through with a purchase if their favourite payment method isn’t available.
Providing a selection of payment methods, like PayPal, Shop, Google Pay and Apple Pay, means customers can pay on their specific terms. Many of these payment methods allow customers to pay in just one click, making the checkout process even faster.
Top tip
Which payment options should you provide? It’s best to ask your target audience.
While it may be tempting to offer every payment option available, this can confuse customers and ultimately result in them not making a purchase at all.
10. Save your customer’s cart just in case/h3>
Some customers may be ready to buy, but end up getting distracted. For example, they may be shopping on their lunch break, but get called back into work urgently.
In this situation, saving your customer’s shopping cart if they leave your site means they can come back and pick up where they left off. You can do this through a cookie, a small piece of data which is saved to your customer’s web browser.
(Don’t forget that if you use cookies, you need to inform web visitors which cookies you use and how you use them.)
Top tip
If you want to encourage a customer to return to their shopping cart and check out, a cart abandonment email can give them a gentle nudge.
Over 21% of abandoned cart emails are clicked on, with 50% of these clicks leading to a purchase.
7 types of engaging emails to send your customers
Check out a world of possibilities with Xigen
You may think that once a customer has added an item to their shopping cart, the hard work is done. The truth is that it’s important to make sure that your checkout process is as easy to complete as possible – otherwise dedicated customers may end up walking away.
Let us leave you with one final piece of advice – regularly monitor your checkout conversion rates to see what works and what doesn’t.
If you implement a change and your cart abandonment rate increases, it may be a sign that you need to rethink your strategy.
Whether you need to create a new eCommerce website or give your existing site a tune-up, we’re here to help. Our team of digital marketing experts will build a checkout system that’s reliable, hardworking, and drives sales for your business.
Get in touch today and take the first step towards an online store that delivers the right results.
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