How to build an effective checkout? UX(and not only) considerations for a visible increase in conversions

Have you ever visited an online store, found the product you wanted, and been ready to buy it? All that’s left is to place your order. And then you are met with a request to register, a million (maybe a little less) fields to fill in, and even the delivery turns out to be paid.

If not, then you are lucky, but unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky.

18% of US online shoppers have abandoned an order in the past quarter solely due to a “too long/complicated checkout process” according to the Baymard research.

This is a pretty serious figure, which can make you think about how to create an effective checkout page.

There are a few must-have fields that should be in any checkout process:

- Billing and shipping information

- List of items

- Shipping methods

- Payment information

- Support options

The end! See you!

Okay okay, that’s an obvious joke, sorry!

It’s not enough just to have some steps or fields, it’s important to organize them properly. Let’s figure out how to do it!

1. Think about non-registered users

Getting the privileges of a regular customer, getting the opportunity to have a personal discount, increasing your reputation — sounds attractive, but not everyone needs it.

Not everyone wants to create a new account for a potential one-time purchase.

What’s more, the absence of an opportunity to order without registration is the second most common reason for abandoning the cart, so registration shouldn’t be obligatory or should be simple.

One of the ways to implement such an experience is to create an account for each user who makes a purchase automatically. The password would be automatically generated and sent to the customer’s email along with the payment confirmation. Alternatively, you can invite users to register on the site on the thank-you page, which is far less annoying for them.

2. Progress bar

Progress bars are a visual representation of how far a customer has progressed toward completing an order. Such a tool can benefit your site both aesthetically and in terms of conversions.

Interesting fact: our average attention span is about eight seconds (BostonDigital). How can it help you?

Here’s how: your task is to attract and hold your audience’s attention in this short period of time. One of the most popular and effective strategies for this is gamification, an element of which is the progress bar.

This small element will play quite a big role in the checkout process, allowing the impatient user to understand how much time is left to complete the process.

3. Free shipping/return options

49% of people abandon their shopping cart because extra costs at checkout were too high. (Shopify)

9 out of 10 consumers say free shipping is the topmost incentive to shop online more and orders with free shipping average around 30% higher in value.

93% of online buyers are encouraged to buy more products if free shipping options are available whereas 58% of consumers add more items to cart to qualify for free shipping. (Invespcro)

I agree, it’s not always easy to provide free shipping, not to the detriment of your budget, but there is a solution:

• Include the shipping cost in the price of the assortment, but your customers would be still aware that shipping is free. Profit.
• Free shipping is also a good incentive to buy related products, in case the customer can get it only by buying a certain amount of products.

Free returns are another feature that can serve as a final push for customers to decide to complete their purchase.

We’re all wary of filling out credit card information online. It’s important to show that your store meets payment security standards, then users will be more willing to complete orders. Similarly, if you give customers the option to return items they don’t like, they’ll be more loyal to buy from your store.

4. Fewer actions, better results

Behavioral studies prove that the fewer clicks a user has to make on the way to the desired goal, the higher the conversion rate. So what are the points you can do to provide your customers with a convenient and fast checkout experience?

A large number of columns on the checkout is cognitively overwhelming and confusing for the user. It’s important to create structure and consistency. Statistics show that single-page checkout works best.

Use one field for the user’s first and last name, instead of two for each of the points.

An important feature for checkout is an autofill function, which will make life easier for users by saving time on entering information.

Not having to re-enter data also encourages customers to come back. If the payment address and delivery address are the same, the site should automatically duplicate it.

5. Сart contents

Why do we need a shopping cart when we shop online?
1. We need to check the shopping list
2. Сheck if we made a mistake with the choice of products, for example accidentally choosing a T-shirt in size XXXL instead of the necessary M
3. Fill in the delivery data
4. Sadly look at the wallet and think that we want to buy something extra again
5. Delete unnecessary things from the cart

That’s why the cart should necessarily contain the following:

• A picture of the product
• Item price, quantity, and total order amount
• Button to delete items
• Button “Get a million dollars for being beautiful” (optional)

By setting up a shopping cart and a couple of cross-sell features you’ll be able to sell additional items to your customers without ruining the shopping experience.

What if the customer leaves the store? Forget about them, new ones are coming soon!

No, no, no, it’s better not to do that, unless, of course, you want to make a profit and not work for the idea)

The selected item should be saved in the cart, as the customer can return to their cart tomorrow to complete the checkout. And don’t forget about the cart emails. We’ll talk about them next.

6. Abandoned cart emails

It’s time for statistics again:
A staggering average of 69% of online carts is being abandoned by users

45% of cart abandonment emails are opened; 21% of all is clicked on, while 50% of the users who clicked purchase.

Shipping-related reasons attribute to over 60% of carts being abandoned. (See point 3)

The secret to the success of this customer return strategy is that the email is sent to the customer who is still ready to buy your products. That’s why you need to:

• Send the email within the first few hours after the customer has left the page
• Remind them that customers have products left in their shopping cart
• Offer a bonus in the form of a promo code, discount, etc.

7. Thank-you page

The Thank-you page is the place where the user goes after placing an order. And it’s the only retention tool that provides a 100% open rate — all customers see this page after they complete their purchase.

It can be very useful for you, as a store owner, because it allows you to

• Gather more information about the customer, for example, by asking them to leave their email, which can then be used for newsletters.
• Expand your audience by encouraging customers to follow you on social media.
• Increase customer loyalty by offering bonuses or discounts.
• Gain extra profits with upselling.

And after all, who hasn’t been pleased to see a page where we are thanked for some action. Unless, of course, you lost a lot of money before seeing this page) But that’s another story!

Conclusion

Well, here we are at the finish line. It’s time for the final advice! Don’t drink coke and don’t eat fast food! Okay, all right, one more.

Take responsibility for the design of the checkout page, and then your customers’ shopping carts will bring you conversions and increased profits.

PS. Feel free to share your considerations for the checkout stage.

See you at the start of the race called “next article”.