How to build the best checkout experience for conversions

How often do you browse an online store and add a few items to your shopping cart, only to leave before you’ve made the purchase? We’ve all done it. In fact, a study from Baymard found that around 70% of online shoppers abandon their shopping carts! But why?

Although there will be plenty of consumers simply browsing to pass the time with no intention of actually making the purchase, there are many genuine customers who have been put off with frustrating or confusing checkout forms or additional shipping costs they were unaware of.

So, let’s take a look at how you can optimise your checkout experience to boost conversions. 

Why optimising your eCommerce checkout experience matters

First, let’s start with why. You don’t want to go through all the effort to engage your customers only to lose them at the final hurdle, right? Of course not! So optimising your checkout page shouldn’t be an afterthought; it’s just as important as the rest of your website.

The way we make payments online may have changed so much over the years with multiple options and advanced technology to make the process quicker, easier and more secure for the consumer. So staying up to date with the latest developments and trends will help to keep you ahead of your competition and ensure you meet your customer’s expectations. 

How to create the best checkout experience for customers

Making your checkout process as simple and transparent as possible is the best way to create a checkout experience that converts.

Here are a few key factors you should consider. 

1. Offer multiple payment options

We all have our preferred online payment option, whether it’s by credit or debit card or by a newer alternative like Buy Now Pay Later.  And the amount of alternative payment methods available these days is forever growing so there’s so much to choose from. But if your checkout doesn’t offer someone’s chosen method, you can kiss them goodbye.

No longer can you just offer the traditional choices, customers expect to see Apple Pay, Klarna, PayPal, and the list goes on. You should bear in mind generational payment methods too. Boomers will definitely favour a different way to Gen Z, so it’s important to make sure you optimise the customer experience for everyone.

2. Be optimised on different devices

More than 67% of consumers are browsing on one device, like a smartphone, only to switch to a desktop to complete the transaction. Why? Because the site isn’t optimised for mobile checkout and they trust the desktop version more. But this isn’t a great experience. Consumers should be able to browse and buy all on one device. Especially now mobile commerce and even social commerce are growing so fast. 

So what happens if your eCommerce business isn’t optimised for mobile devices but your competitor’s website is? The competitor wins the sale. So take some time to understand what devices your customers are more likely to use and optimise your checkout accordingly so your customers keep coming back. 

3. Localise your checkout 

If your business is global, there are other considerations to ensure your checkout is localised, including language, currency and payment method. 

Ask yourself, would you purchase from a site if you couldn’t understand the language? Probably not, right? So if a consumer can’t browse your site in their own language and view prices in their chosen currency, you could struggle to gain their trust. Each country will have its own preferred payment method too, so it’s important to research each market. For example, Alipay is the most popular payment method in China, whereas The Netherlands prefers iDeal. 

4. Make your checkout quick and easy 

Speed and good user experience are everything. So much is at our fingertips these days, so if your site can’t keep up, you could get left behind. Making the checkout quick, simple and transparent can help to win your customers over. Here are just a few things you can do to improve your checkout flow.

• Create a clean design with no pop-ups to avoid distractions.
• Have a clear call to action.
• Offer real-time auto-fill validations, such as shipping address predictor tools, postcode search or add billing details to the delivery details.
• Real-time error notifications can also inform customers if they have made a mistake as they are typing, reducing frustration before the point of purchase.
• Create a quick one-click checkout for returning customers — these are sometimes also known as single page (or ‘one-page checkouts’).
• Build simple forms requesting only the information you need, and make sure your form fields are self-explanatory and simple to understand.
• Highlight shipping costs and other fees upfront.
• If you require a phone number, explain why — otherwise your customers might raise an eyebrow.
• To ensure functionality, test that everything works as it is intended.

5. Keep up to date with your security

As people become more aware of how their data is used and their privacy rights, building trust is crucial to gaining loyal customers. Although you can’t always show the risk management you have in place, there are some visuals that can put them at ease. 

• Having an SSL certificate enables your website to move from HTTP to HTTPS and gain the biggest security indicator, the trusted padlock icon before the URL. This is basically a must, as it will protect your customers’ card information.
• Got some good reviews about your website? Make the most of them! So many people will make a purchase based on a recommendation, so get them on your website.
• Display logos for trusted payment methods, such as Mastercard, Visa and Apple Pay, as well as any other security-focused logos.

6. Allow guest checkout

Sometimes consumers just want to make a one-off purchase without then being bombarded with marketing emails. Retailers forcing them to create an account result in a 34% cart abandonment rate. Allowing a quick and simple guest checkout could prevent many customers from walking away.

How to reduce abandoned carts

Optimising the checkout page isn’t the only way to increase your eCommerce site’s conversion rate. You could have the best checkout experience but still lose some customers. If that happens, it’s still not over, there are a few marketing tips to draw them back in and reduce the number of abandoned carts, for example: 

• Cart recovery emails – Remind your customer that they have items left in their basket.
• Retargeting ads – Keep popping up across multiple channels, like social media adverts.
• Offer discounts – Free delivery is always a good one to try.

How can Total Processing help?

Here at Total Processing, we can help you build the best online checkout experience. With a range of payment solutions, you can easily create the journey that suits your business and audience. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get your checkout optimised!