7 ways to improve your e-commerce checkout experience

Tired of seeing potential customers abandon their shopping carts at the last minute? This article shares 7 ways you can optimise your e-commerce checkout experience. 

1. Keeping track of your checkout conversion rates.
2. What stops customers from checking out? 
3. How to improve your e-commerce checkout experience. 
4. 3 optimised checkout examples to learn from. 

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Keeping track of your checkout conversion rates.

The majority of sales are lost at the checkout. Card abandonment occurs when a customer adds items to their online basket but, leaves before purchasing. Losing customers like this ultimately means:

• Missed revenue, and
• Slower business growth

To minimise drop off at the checkout, create an easy and smooth checkout experience and continually track its performace. Keep customers engaged and motivated to hit that all important "Buy Now" button.

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What stops customers from checking out?

Nearly 70% of people abandon their carts at the checkout page, and there's multiple reasons why. Closely examining your checkout process, click by click, will help you determine why people might be dropping off and how you can best tackle this issue. 

Some common issues include:

• Unexpected costs.
• A complex and confusing checkout process. 
• Lack of trust. 
• Security concerns.
• Lack of preferred payment methods.

How to improve your e-commerce checkout experience.

Improving your checkout process will also enhance your overall customer experience. Below are 7 ways you can optimise your checkout. 

1. Simplify the checkout process. 

A simple and less time-consuming process ensures your customers don’t get bored. Removing unnecessary fields or steps, will streamline your checkout process and keep your customers engaged. The more steps or clicks your process includes, the more complicated it becomes, and the chances of your customers abandoning their purchase will increase. 

To make the checkout process smooth, you need to ensure that it is concise. This will minimise the number of stressful clicks asking for excessive information. The following details are often essential, if you’re asking for more than this review your process and consider removing certain fields: 

• Customer name. 
• Billing address.
• Card details.

2. Optimise for mobile devices. 

Shoppers often use their mobiles to make purchases. So, it’s a given that you need to have a mobile-friendly checkout. Your checkout page needs to be quick, responsive and optimised for mobile devices. 

Test your entire checkout process across different screen sizes to ensure it’s displaying correctly. If necessary, make adjustments so customers can easily pay on any device.

3. Offer guest checkout.

Don't force customers to create an account before making a purchase. You need to make online payments simple. Many customers prefer the convenience of guest checkout, and not giving this option is another big blocker to sales.

Providing them with an option to check out as a guest will allow new customers to make a quick purchase. You can always offer incentives such as exclusive discounts or free items for signing up if this is a key metric for you.

4. Display progress indicators.

If your checkout has to include a few steps, give your customers a sense of how long the process will be and where they are in it. This doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple as displaying “Page 1 / 3” or “2/2 Steps” - or you can get creative. As long as you tell your customers where they are in the process.

5. Provide multiple payment options. 

Offer multiple payment options to cater to different shopper preferences. Customers are ultimately looking for a quick and secure way to pay, so it’s vital you offer the payment methods that are relevant to your target audience. Depending on who your target audience are you can add credit/debit cards, digital wallets, alternative payment methods like PayPal etc. to your checkout.

6. Ensure clear and transparent pricing. 

Avoid adding any “surprise” costs at the checkout, such as delivery charges, to build trust with your audience and turn them into repeat customers. If you need to add additional costs, be upfront and transparent about your pricing. Genuine customers will always appreciate transparency. 

‍Display product prices, shipping fees, VAT and any other additional charges as early on as you can in the buyer’s journey. Consider making things like shipping cost calculators readily available to give your customers realistic expectations of price.

7. Implement trust signals and security measures. 

Secure transactions are very important to customers, especially when making online payments. Display trust signals such as SSL certificates and secure payment logos prominently or add customer testimonials to showcase the positive experiences other buyers have had.

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Some amazing checkout examples. 

When deciding how to optimise your checkout, have a look at some of the biggest brands in the market to see if you can generate any ideas from what they’re doing. A simple checkout process will have a huge impact on your conversion rate. Here are 3 examples of great checkouts:

Amazon: the e-commerce giant. 

It’s hard to ignore the Amazon powerhouse when it comes to checkout optimisation. Their form focuses on removing barriers and making the whole purchase process effortless. 

Amazon’s amazing features: 

• One-click streamlined checkout.  
• Autofilled address feature. 
• Multiple delivery options.

ASOS: The Fashion Forward Checkout

This popular leading fashion retailer has a visually stunning and user-friendly checkout experience. Incorporate eye-catching visuals, intuitive design, and a consistent shopping cart to elevate your checkout experience.

ASOS' shopping experience includes: 

• Visually appealing and user-friendly design. 
• Persistent shopping bag. 
• Clear and simple, one page checkout. 
• Additional payment methods options e.g. Klarna.

WooCommerce: The Customisable Checkout. 

As one of the biggest e-commerce platforms, WooCommerce sits behind thousands of online stores. Examine their checkout process to see how they match the look and feel of each brand.

Its checkout features include: 

• Customisation options. 
• Wide range of payment methods. 
• Seamless integration.

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To sum up

Lots of customers leave when confronted with a time-consuming checkout process. To grow your business, you need to focus on and improve your checkout experience. Simplify the process, make it mobile-friendly and give your customers the trust and confidence they need to complete the purchase.

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Optimise your checkout process today.

Judopay offers you an all-in-one payment solution that you can customise and integrate with your online business setup. Improve your customer experience, streamline your e-commerce checkout process, and drive more revenue. Get in touch.