A checkout page is a bit of a must if you want to convert prospects into customers on an e-commerce site. But optimizing it will not only generate a positive return on investment (ROI+) on your various marketing campaigns, but will also boost your turnover. Let us take you through the ins and outs of the checkout page on an e-commerce site and the improvements you can easily make to it.
An optimized Checkout flow?
It stands to reason that a checkout is an essential step along a user’s path through an e-commerce platform. It is the final phase of the purchase, the only thing that stands between the shopping cart and the payment. In fact, the checkout page is so critical that it deserves continuous monitoring and optimisation to significantly increase the conversion rate of shopping carts into orders.
The entire checkout step requires special attention. Did you know that nearly 69% of potential buyers abandon their cart during this phase. E-merchants must therefore take the time to optimize their checkout pages to avoid this problem and, why not, showcase their articles even more prominently along the way.
To streamline the checkout page, you first need to cut down the steps between adding the article to the shopping cart to checkout. In an ideal world, they should appear on the same page. Just look at Amazon’s “1 click checkout” – the model for all e-merchants. It works by reducing the number of clicks, and at the same time the number of abandons, by adopting a one-step payment process rather than the 3 standard steps (shipping, billing and payment). Followed through to its logical conclusion, even guests should be able to proceed quickly with the purchase, without prior registration and e-mail verification.
How to streamline checkout on an e-commerce platform?
There are various reasons why shoppers may decide to abandon the shopping cart during the checkout phase. They may stumble across hidden costs or high delivery prices, lack information about the total price of the order or need to create an account to finalise the purchase process. There may also be a lack of customer confidence in the platform or a complex checkout process. To avoid these situations, here are some ways you can improve your e-commerce site.
A choice of registration methods
Your site must include options such as classic registration, registration through third party services (Facebook, Google for example) or purchase as a guest. This gives potential buyers more alternatives. Note that it should be possible to integrate the registration process at the end of the checkout instead of at the beginning of the order.
Detailed flow definition
For greater transparency, prospects should be guided through the checkout process. This helps to keep their frustration at bay and improve their experience on the site. Use a progress bar or list the steps, for example. In short, using a visual to show where a customer is in the payment process can be enough to nudge them on towards the end of the checkout process. It’s like having a shopping assistant, just like in a physical store.
Reassuring customers all the way
Buyers need to be reassured in a variety of ways. People have become wary of pulling out their bank cards at every turn. You need to give them confidence by offering them secure payment methods and protection of their data stored on your site.
Optimizing the user’ mobile experience
The mobile experience of your site’s users must also be tweaked. This means using straightforward call to action buttons and making it easier for them to delete or edit items in their shopping cart. You may also want to consider reducing the number of fields in your forms or adjusting the size of these fields and keyboards.
Simplifying forms
You can propose a single field for First and Last Name, set the default delivery and billing address or integrate auto-completion. The other improvements on the forms can be defined using certain monitoring tools such as internetVista. It offers a functionality that allows web form monitoring and optimization.
Adding delivery and product return information
Delivery costs can be a real source of anxiety for consumers when they are not explicitly mentioned on the checkout page. Their absence could therefore slow down a purchase, so make sure you state them clearly on this page. The same goes for return information and conditions in case the product fails to meet the buyer’s expectations.
Offering a range of payment options
Having several payment options at their disposal will help users to continue their purchase process and improve your conversion rate. So don’t hesitate to offer payment by bank card, e-wallets, but also bank transfer whenever possible.
Clarifying the content
It is crucial that your checkout page provides detailed information about the order. It should include a list of the items in the shopping cart, the total amount, the delivery method and other specific information.
Removing distractions from the checkout
To make sure that a shopping cart becomes a purchase, the easiest way is to remove the barriers. How do you do this? By reducing the content of the checkout to simply a validation of the purchase. You remove everything that could be considered as frills. Your objective: get rid of everything that could distract your customer from payment.
Getting in touch with users who have abandoned their cart
You can recover users lost during the checkout process by contacting them by email. Don’t forget to offer special benefits to these hot leads when you get back in touch.
Which tool can bring about these improvements?
A checkout page can be improved by using different tools. The internetVista tool is one of the most effective tools for carrying out the tasks linked to its monitoring features. It will keep track of all your web services and forms. It can also be used to analyse the behaviour and the paths of your users and therefore each step in the checkout process. You’ll see exactly what makes them all abandon their cart mid-way, a task made even easier thanks to the detailed performance reports obtained via this monitoring tool.