The money is in your online checkout process. Consider that for a moment. Before entering the checkout funnel, random visitors exit the site. Buyers that are eager to complete their order come here.
Any tiny change to your checkout UX has a direct influence on the amount of money your business makes.
“How do we get more customers to walk through our checkout flow and finish purchases?” is the question. The strategies you use will vary depending on your site, but the concepts for determining the answer are constant. In this article 10 e-commerce checkout best practices Ocey Phillips will guide you to having a better e-commerce website.
What Is An Ecommerce Checkout Flow?
The process of purchasing things from a shopping cart is known as the e-commerce checkout flow. An online consumer will seek to finalize their purchase after adding an item to their digital cart. The user must input details such as delivery options, make a payment, fill out a form, and sign in or register for a guest checkout to get to the end. These steps make up your checkout flow.
These steps in your checkout flow, on the other hand, must be optimized for user experience. For example, some people may choose to utilize a specific payment method or maybe in a hurry and unable to sign up for your website, in which case a guest checkout can be useful. Your checkout flow is the sequence of events that occur during a customer’s purchasing process.
You’ll convert your customers using our e-commerce checkout flow. Buyers with intent will proceed to your checkout flow to complete their purchase; however, if it is not optimized, they may abandon it. Any tiny design flaw can result in a big loss of profits, yet small design enhancements, such as CTA buttons, can improve user experience and increase online sales.
Why e-commerce checkout matters
The e-commerce checkout process is the last step in a customer’s digital journey. This is the point at which consumers must decide whether to complete the purchase or depart, which is why they frequently question if it is worthwhile to spend the money. When it comes to online purchasing, any annoyance or distraction can cause people to second-guess their decision and walk away. The lack of return guarantees, unexpectedly large shipping costs, and a lengthy checkout process are among the most common reasons for checkout abandonment.
What e-commerce checkout abandonment is and why it matters to you
Developing a fantastic customer experience to boost your conversion rate is the key to creating the greatest e-commerce checkout for customers. Focus on lowering your checkout abandonment rate for the best outcomes, as consumers who leave have a big influence on your bottom line.
When customers abandon the payment process after it has begun, this is known as checkout abandonment. These consumers represent a loss of revenue for your company because you spent money on marketing, operations, and development to get them to this point. It’s always a good idea to work on lowering your checkout abandonment rate.
To figure out where clients are leaving your sales funnel, understand the difference between checkout and cart abandonment.
You’ll be able to recognize why clients are departing once you’ve grasped this.
Why customers abandon the e-commerce checkout process
The truth is that people quit checkout for a variety of reasons. It differs by industry, audience, and even from one consumer to the next. Customers, on the other hand, have a variety of reasons for not paying.
Here are some examples to get you thinking about why clients might leave:
- Additional fees (taxes, shipping costs, etc.) applied at the moment of payment dissuade customers and cause them to second-guess the purchase’s value.
- Forced account creation: requiring users to create an account in order to advance places a barrier in their way. This slows them down and, in some cases, prevents them from purchasing.
- Complex processes Convenience is the name of the game when it comes to internet buying. It’s a complicated, time-consuming process. Provide a quick checkout experience to clients to lessen the chances of them abandoning their purchase.
- Shipping options and methods are limited: The eCommerce experience is incomplete without delivery. Customers desire a variety of shipping methods and delivery alternatives that are tailored to their needs.
- Concerns about safety: Customers expect the system to be secure whenever they enter billing, shipping, or personal information. When feasible, display security badges and provide clients with a safe shopping experience.
- Lack of payment options: Customers like to pay in their preferred manner whenever possible. They may not be able to finalize the transaction if one is not accessible.
- Errors and performance issues: Customers want a smooth, quick experience. Small difficulties are acceptable, but persistent website or app performance issues, such as delayed checkout load times and crashes, will drive customers away.
What are the standard e-commerce checkout process steps?
On an e-commerce store, the checkout process is a set of actions that a consumer takes to purchase the items in their shopping basket. This comprises each step a consumer takes to complete the checkout process. A smooth, frictionless user experience is what an ideal checkout sequence will provide.
A customer’s normal checkout procedure is as follows:
billing information > shipping information > shipment method > order preview > payment > confirmation
Because you’ll download what you’ve purchased, you won’t need to provide delivery information or a shipment method for digital products and goods. Physical products will necessitate the insertion of shipping information and procedures. You may need to optimize the checkout process depending on the store.
Whether it’s a single-page checkout, a multi-page checkout, or a more intricate checkout process, all checkouts follow the same basic processes. The 7 important processes in any online checkout are listed below:
1. Begin the checkout process.
When a consumer leaves their shopping cart to proceed to checkout, checkout begins. A call to action button, usually labeled “Checkout,” “Buy Now,” or something similar is used to do this. Once a consumer has chosen this option, they will proceed to the checkout process.
2. Login or register (optional)
Allow the customer to check out without having to create an account. Enforcing account creation functions as a roadblock in the checkout process, deterring customers from making a purchase. If users are returning customers, provide them the option to log in.
3. Information regarding billing
Choosing a payment option and inputting billing information are both required steps in every checkout. Billing details should be one of the last phases of the checkout process, and form fields should be intuitively constructed to fit all essential billing information.
4. Information regarding shipping
Getting products delivered to your door is one of the most appealing aspects of eCommerce. Collect shipping information using a simplified set of form fields, if possible. Create a checkbox with the pre-checked option “Shipping address same as billing address.”
5. Shipping & Delivery methods
It’s a good idea to request the shipping method when buyers provide their shipping information. Collecting these bits of information together will make it easier for your customer. Provide as much diversity in shipping ways as possible so that customers can select the delivery mode that suits them best.
6. Check out the order in advance
Many checkouts allow customers to preview their order once they’ve filled out their information. Display as much relevant data as possible, such as order subtotals, taxes, delivery fees, and final cost.
You should also add product information like quantity, item name, and a brief description. Make information available to the customer for reference throughout the checkout process if at all possible.
7. Verification of payment
The final step on the ‘preview order’ screen is usually to confirm the transaction and complete the payment. Because it completes the deal, this call to action should be conspicuous. This is the end of your funnel, and you should take advantage of consumers who have made it this far to close the deal.
Why you’re losing sales & people are ditching your e-commerce checkout flow
Customers quit checkout for a variety of reasons, many of which are shared by all e-commerce sites. Some will be more relevant to you and your company than others, and some will have less of an influence.
- Extra additional charges – Unexpected or unexpected prices introduced at the moment of checkout nearly always dissuade customers, or at the very least force them to second-guess their decision.
- Forced account creation – Forcing customers to create an account or register with their store adds additional steps to the checkout process, and in certain situations, turns away a potential visitor or one-time customer.
- Non-inclusive shipping options and pricing — Customers who arrive at the checkout only to discover that their desired shipment method is unavailable or too expensive may change their minds and abandon their order.
- Overly complicated checkout – Customers want a quick checkout experience, and they frequently shop online for convenience. Customers expect ease, speed, and convenience from online transactions, and an overly convoluted checkout experience fails to provide.
- Errors and crashes – While minor hiccups are to be expected, major performance issues, errors, and crashes cause people to lose faith in your service and seek one that offers a better user experience and interface.
- Security and protection – Any e-commerce platform must have a safe and secure checkout process.
- Performance and load times – Your service’s overall performance has a huge impact on whether or not people trust your e-commerce business. It’s critical to keep your checkout pages’ load speeds short and quick in order to retain customers interested in making purchases on your platform.
- Inadequate payment alternatives — One of the most common reasons customers abandon checkout is a lack of payment options. Customers want to pay with their preferred way, yet they may only be able to pay with particular methods in some instances. Your conversions will be lower if you have fewer selections accessible.
Best practices to nail the ecommerce checkout flow Design
It’s a big difference between understanding why customers abandon checkout and preventing them from doing so. To effectively develop a checkout flow that targets — and solves — these challenges, you must first understand the causes of abandonment. This will allow you to work toward checkout optimization.
I’ve divided these best practices into three categories to help you tackle the problems straight on:
- Streamlining the checkout procedure
- Inventing new techniques to entice shoppers
- How do you keep consumers from departing at the last minute?
How to make the checkout process faster
Online buyers want a quick, easy, and seamless experience that saves them time and effort. Customers must be able to check out quickly and efficiently in order for this to be achievable. This includes the time it takes for a page to load, the number of steps it takes, and how difficult it is to navigate the sites on a mobile device.
Here are some tips for speeding up your checkout process:
1. Simplify, simplify, and simplify some more
Customers seeking an online purchasing experience want it to be simple and convenient. To provide them this, keep your checkout process as simple as possible, removing any superfluous steps, lowering the number of form fields, and saving customers valuable time. Customers will be more likely to convert if you make the entire checkout process as straightforward as possible.
2. Offer guest checkout
One of the worst things you can do is force a consumer to create an account or register at the moment of purchase. When a buyer is about to finish a transaction, it poses an impediment for them. Instead, allow clients to check out as a guest on your e-commerce site, making it more accessible to all customers, particularly first-time visitors. This also helps individuals who just want to get through the checkout procedure quickly.
3. Autofill addresses and validate in real-time
Integrate a software application that automatically fills in and validates addresses as they are entered. This will not only make checkout faster and easier for customers, but it will also ensure that the address information they enter is correct. This saves you time confirming an address and eliminates any uncertainty about the billing or shipping address.
4. Allow social sign-in
Allowing users to connect via their social media accounts might help make the process faster and easier if you require — or prefer — customers to sign up or register for your service. This allows them to connect an account that already confirms and verifies their personal information, rather than creating an account and entering their personal information.
Creating an ideal checkout page entails thinking about everything from the beginning to the finish of the process. Design and development is a never-ending process, and you’ll want to make changes as they become necessary to improve the design.
You’ll improve the design of your checkout page over time to reduce checkout abandonment and increase sales.
The following are some recommended practices for creating your e-commerce store to encourage customers to complete the checkout process:
5. Indicate checkout progress
Use a progress indicator to let clients know where they are in the checkout process. Customers can see how far they’ve come and what stages they’ll face next, guiding them through the process. This simplifies the checkout process and gives the consumer an estimate of how long it will take to complete.
6. Prioritize mobile user experiences
The bulk of e-commerce shoppers now purchase on their smartphones and tablets. It’s critical to develop and design your mobile UX to be as seamless and smooth as possible in order to captivate this audience. When it comes to checkout development, use best practices and create a responsive design so that customers get the same experience on all devices.
7. Summarize cart contents and order details
Show a complete overview of all order details, including product, payment, and shipping details. Allowing clients to check their orders before confirming payment is critical for providing them with a complete image of the order. If at all feasible, you should display this throughout the checkout process, but it is a must before a consumer completes their payment.
8. Guide users through order forms using micro-copy
The short descriptions (in a tiny font) that assist explain what each form field demands is known as microcopy. You can use this microcopy to give the customer more information at various phases of the checkout process. Customers will find it easier to follow along if you provide them with the information they require at the precise time they require it.
9. Make your value clear to visitors
Remind them of the value you offer, whether it’s the exclusivity of your product or service or the personal touch your service provides. Remind customers of the value they will receive from this purchase on a regular basis to encourage them to finish the transaction in your store.
10. Test, review, adapt, repeat
Perfecting your checkout is a continuous effort, and you should incorporate analyses and changes into your product development process on a frequent basis. Track statistics on a regular basis, evaluate your site’s performance, track the impact of your campaigns and upgrades, and enhance your product with each iteration.
Your checkout process isn’t the only component of your sales funnel that needs to be optimized on a regular basis, but it is one of the most important parts of the process that is sometimes forgotten.
The process of improving conversion rates is never-ending. Develop ideas, make a change, then test the impact on sales. Continue on. Eventually, you’ll realize that optimization isn’t just entertaining and educational; it may also pay off handsomely in terms of return on investment.
Request a free e-commerce inspection and I’ll review your website (including your check-out process!) if you’re searching for improved results from your website but don’t know where to start. Then search for places where you may improve.
