In the competitive world of ecommerce, an easy-to-use, attractive website isn’t enough to seal the deal. Savvy customers will no longer tolerate clunky, slow and confusing checkout processes. Instead they want to know that they’ll experience a smooth, transparent and simple checkout from the get go.
To help you master this art, we’re offering up some tips on how ecommerce brands can fine tune the checkout process, making online shopping as quick, easy and persuasive as possible for users.
TL;DR
- Capture email addresses early using pop-ups
- Get rid of anything that distracts the user from completing their journey
- Ensure you have easy-to-use basket and payment processes
- Be transparent about the final price with no hidden fees
- Make trust signals prominent across the site
- Provide a variety of payment options to give customers choice
What is checkout process optimisation?
When we talk about checkout process optimisation, we’re not just talking about optimising the pages where actual online purchase takes place. The customer journey starts way before that and each interaction a user has on your website feeds into the end result of a purchase being made.
So, when you’re looking at optimising the checkout process, you need a strategy that will improve your site conversion rate by targeting the various different points in the sales funnel. By focusing on the different micro conversions users go through during the checkout process, you work to promote a positive, trustworthy checkout experience with friction-free flow that encourages shoppers to complete a purchase rather than abandon their cart.
This sounds simple in theory, but there are lots of different facets to consider. Here’s the lowdown on some key areas to focus on with your checkout optimisation.
Implement email capture
Attraction is where the real part of the journey begins – and if done right, you can make this work for both yourself and the user. This is where email capture comes in.
Ideally, you want to get hold of those all-important email addresses as soon as you can. So, what better way to bag an address than by offering a discount?
A pop-up that alerts users to a (insert % of your choice here) discount sent straight to their inbox is the perfect way to entice them into making a purchase, while providing you with their details.
The benefits of this approach are twofold. Even if the user doesn’t complete their checkout journey right away, they might still come back to make the most of the offer; or you might be able to lure them back with future email campaigns.
Offer guest checkout
For some customers, forcing them to go through a lengthy sign up process to make a purchase can be an instant turn-off. In fact, Shopify reports that this causes 34% of customers to abandon their cart.
Implementing email capture at the start can help you get around this as they’ve already provided their email data, which can be used to speed up their checkout.
However, this shouldn't be your only approach to encourage casual shoppers to buy from your site. Every customer should be given the option to check out as a guest user with their email address or using their social logins through Facebook, Google or Instagram.
This tactic works to remove obstacles for every user, particularly the one-time shoppers. Plus, you can offer an opt-in for email capture at this point, allowing you to keep in touch with these users in the long term.
Remove distractions
With the email address secured (or not, depending on the user), next for your optimised checkout process is getting rid of distractions – so, ideally, no more pop-ups.
Anything that will remove focus from the end goal is harming your conversion rate and needs to be addressed at the earliest opportunity. This goes for everything from the box that gives users the option to view their basket or keep shopping, to the actual checkout page itself…but more on that later.
When adding an item to their basket, the user shouldn’t need to look around for how to do this. This process should be simple, streamlined and obvious - giving them a gentle nudge into doing this.
Whether you go with “add to bag”, “add to basket” or another of the popular alternatives, the button itself should be optimised, using a logical and obvious position on the page, as well as fonts and colours that stand out.
Once an item is added to their basket, make it easy for the user to continue shopping. A pop-up button works well here, giving the would-be buyer instant access to items they were
previously browsing, rather than hitting the back button and having to start the filtering process again. Don’t let this be the reason they don’t go through with the sale.
Simplify the basket process
Okay, so we said we’d get back to this: the actual checkout page.
It goes without saying that this page should be fully optimised for a quick and smooth checkout. This means, making sure it’s easy to access at all times, allowing users to review and checkout wherever they are on the site without having to spend time searching for how to do this.
It’s also important to remember that your checkout page is your last chance to convert the user into a paying customer - it’s not a done deal yet. Beyond a slick, streamlined design, one trick is to add a sense of urgency. For instance, ASOS customers receive a pop-up notification saying their basket items will be saved for an hour.
Equally effective is tapping into the FOMO (fear of missing out) mindset. No-one likes to feel like they’re missing out, so use prompting semantics like “last chance to buy” or “final few hours of sale” to encourage orders.
Finally, make the actual payment form itself quick and easy to fill out, too, so that users aren’t deterred by needing to populate numerous fields with personal information.
Promote transparent pricing
There’s nothing worse than getting through the checkout process only to discover that there’s a heft delivery charge or additional fees to pay on top of the listed price. These last-minute surprise costs are sure to turn your would-be customer away.
To promote price transparency, which is all part of checkout process optimisation, be sure to highlight delivery fees and any other costs (such as paying by credit card) as early as possible in the checkout process.
It goes without saying that any additional charges not stated in the product or service price should also be very clear on the final checkout pages so users know exactly what they’re paying for.
Showcase trust signals
Shopping online has never been easier, but this also means more opportunity for online shopping scams, conning people out of hard-earned cash.
As a result, online shoppers will undoubtedly be put off from making a purchase if they don’t believe your site is secure or credible.
Now, this isn’t such an issue with repeat buyers, of course. They know your brand, they’ve done business with you before and they’re confident that their bank details are safe when they make a purchase. But new customers are a different story.
New users may want to see evidence of an SSL certificate and mentions of the promise of a secure shopping experience when they’re on your site. This is where T&Cs pages and returns policies are invaluable, as cautious users can read them and look for available payment options and certifications for peace of mind before they buy.
So, make sure links to relevant pages are prominent and easy to access. These are generally found in the footer of a site and should be easy to navigate. Once users are on the pages themselves, information should be clearly displayed and users should be able to see how they can access further information if required.
On top of that, showcasing positive reviews here (from third-party platforms such as Trustpilot) allows you to emphasise to users that yours is a reliable brand. Consumer reviews act as free PR for your business, as well as helping to demonstrate that your brand fulfils its promises to users and is trusted by a great many customers just like them.
Offer multiple payment options
From Klarna to PayPal and everything in between, customers expect to see a variety of payment options when it comes to checking out. As the very last port of call in the sales funnel, the last thing you want is to fail to secure the sale because you only offer a standard debit or credit card payment option.
In the name of making a purchase as easy as possible for users, you need to make sure you’re giving them what they want - which is multiple payment options. This can include ‘buy now, pay later’ methods, which have become an increasingly attractive prospect for online shoppers.
By working with a merchant who offers flexible payment options, like Paypal’s ‘Pay in 3 instalments’, you can boost sales and trust signals simply by displaying the relevant badge on your website.
Before you choose a merchant, trialling some A/B testing could be a helpful exercise. Speak to different payment companies and trial what works best for your business and your customer base. Remember to compare basket abandonment rates based on any changes you make, as well as the number of sales and amount of revenue generated.
If you believe you’re following these checkout process best practices and still aren’t getting the conversion rates you deserve, or your abandoned cart rate is on the rise, we have you covered.
At Land Digital, we’ve got the ecommerce tools and know-how to help you get your checkout process optimised and ready to drive more sales. Email us now for more details or give us a call on 0191 511 1014.