Improving Your Checkout Process for Better Online Conversion

Online stores are becoming more widespread than ever. If you plan to launch an e-commerce brand, you’ll face significant competition in an already crowded market. That means you can’t afford to have incompetent shopping experiences that result in abandoned carts, considering the many options online you could lose to. 

This comprehensive guide will discuss the most effective practices to elevate your site’s user and shopping experiences. Discover all the best features you must include in your online store to prevent abandoned carts and increase conversions.

Common Reasons Customers Abandon Carts at Checkout

Cart abandonment occurs when online shoppers proceed to checkout but drop their items instead of purchasing them. Significant cart abandonment rates signify a troubling issue in an online store. That’s why when launching your e-commerce brand, you must monitor your cart abandonment rate and optimize your site accordingly.

There are many reasons why this issue occurs. Some of the most common ones are the following.

Tedious checkout process

Online shoppers don’t want to go through many unnecessary steps when checking out their desired items. When they encounter more tasks in their checkout process, they will likely opt out and head to another online store. 

Forced account creation

Shoppers find creating an account an obstacle in their purchase, especially if they’re hurrying to buy the item or casually exploring an online store. 

Instead of typing in their personal information, setting up passwords, and completing other steps, many consumers prefer to visit an online store and proceed to checkout easily.

Moreover, some online users may hesitate to create an account because of privacy concerns. Forcing them to generate one might feel like an invasion of privacy to them, leading to more abandoned carts. 

Lack of payment methods

Catering to a few payment methods is a significant reason people opt out of an online store. Doing so limits your ability to convert a wide range of consumers with their own preferred payment options, from digital wallets to credit cards. 

Surprise costs or hidden charges

Shoppers always create an expectation of the total cost when they add items to their carts. They calculate it based on the price and other details presented while browsing the store. 

That means unexpected costs, like taxes, shipping fees, or additional charges, will catch them off guard and create a sense of misalignment with their initial expectations. When that happens, they might question the brand’s credibility, particularly its pricing practices, prompting them to leave and shop elsewhere. 

Poor user experiences

Consumers generally look for seamless, fast, and straightforward shopping experiences. That means they will likely head out and buy from sites with better online services if they encounter numerous technical issues and other distracting elements while shopping. 

Improving Your E-Commerce Site To Reduce Cart Abandonment

Before launching your online store to the market, you must ensure it prioritizes the following features. Below are some of the crucial elements that will help decrease cart abandonment. 

Ensure mobile-friendliness

Today’s consumers mostly shop online on their mobile devices, whether smartphones or tablets. That means you’ll miss out on a large segment of your customers if you fail to optimize for mobile. 

Mobile-friendliness encompasses various factors. Aside from design, every function must translate well from desktop screens to mobile, meaning visitors must be able to check out an item regardless of their device. 

Enable guest checkout

As mentioned above, many consumers find it uncomfortable and tedious to create an account to buy an item. Providing a guest checkout feature, where visitors can buy without making an account, is crucial to cater to these shoppers. 

This is not to say that you shouldn’t have the option to create an account. Allowing users to register in the system provides an opportunity to retain repeat customers. Making the guest checkout feature available is an excellent way to cater to all customers. 

Avoid asking for unnecessary information

Collecting too many details creates added steps visitors don’t want to take. When it comes to gathering information, always stick to the basics. These may include names, shipping addresses, contact numbers, and other details related or vital to the item’s delivery. 

Eliminate surprise costs and fees

Customers have a final price in mind when they enter the checkout process. Surprising them with added charges will break this expectation, driving visitors away before completing their purchase. 

That’s why providing as many details as possible up front is vital, meaning before checkout. These include applicable taxes, shipping fees, subtotal, and a final order total. Doing so eliminates all surprises that will turn off the shoppers. 

Use form error notifications

Error notifications alert customers if they missed out on providing a crucial detail or have given the wrong one during checkout. This technique is crucial to help guide visitors better and ensure that the data you collect are accurate. The latter is essential to avoid failed or multiple-attempt deliveries, which is detrimental to an e-commerce brand’s success. 

Implement address autocomplete

One of the many crucial details online shoppers must provide is their shipping address, which can be tedious if visitors have to type their information manually. 

With the address autocomplete feature, you help reduce the time and effort spent on this step. This tool suggests related addresses based on what the customer is typing in the forms or fields. Once they get the right suggestions, they won’t have to complete their input and simply click on the option. 

This feature is accessible through an address autocomplete API. Implementing the right one for your online store will significantly help improve your checkout experience. 

Accommodate many payment gateways

Catering to as many payment methods as possible is an excellent way to accommodate many consumers. Unfortunately, the more payment options you acquire, the costlier it will be for your brand. 

With that, it’s best to prioritize the most popular payment methods first and expand as your business grows. Some of the best examples of these options include PayPal, Stripe, Square, Apple Pay, Visa, and Mastercard.

Reduce Your Online Store’s Cart Abandonment

Launching an online store and calling it a day is not enough. To stand out in an already crowded marketplace, you must strive to provide quality shopping experiences to prevent abandoned carts and boost conversions. 

Prioritize quality experiences. Monitor your online store’s performance and ensure that it’s optimized for the factors mentioned above and more.