How To: Simplify Your Shopping Cart Checkout

An e-commerce merchant's worst nightmare is an abandoned cart. When a customer adds the final items to their cart, as a retailer, it’s up to you to simplify the shopping cart process enough to convert the sale. Bottomline, shoppers want easy checkouts with the minimum number of steps.

Luckily, you have access to everything you need to make your checkout straightforward and easy-to-use. Take advantage of these easy tips to convert more sales with fewer abandoned carts!

First, consider why customers abandon their carts in the first place.

The 5 most common reasons are:

• The process is too long and complicated
• Additional added fees or shipping costs
• They have to set up an account to continue
• They are pushed to subscribe to channels, social media, etc.
• Too little information required

Here’s what you can do to make the shopping experience more enjoyable for your customers!

Shorten the Checkout Process

Asking for too much information makes clients uncomfortable. Keep your checkouts short with these four easy checkout steps:

1. Product Information – This includes all product details like size, texture, quantity and, of course price.
2. Billing and Shipping Address – Keep in mind that the billing and shipping address can sometimes be different, so it’s important to ask for both. Allowing a toggle button to auto-fill both addresses if they are the same can make the process much easier for your customer!
3. Payment – Making the payment portion the easiest to complete can really help you convert a sale. You’ll want to make sure that you can accept all types of credit cards through your payment provider. This way you are broadening your audience and allowing the max number of customers to shop from your online store. You can also use auto-fill selections as well.
4. Confirmation – To avoid mistakes on the customer’s behalf, allows for a final review prior to the customer confirming the purchase. This step isn’t totally necessary, but clients do appreciate it and understand the overall purpose.

Allow Guest Checkout Options

Leave it up to your customer to decide if they want to sign up and have an account with your business or not. Customer accounts are great for your business and can even benefit your client. These accounts can provide rewards, receipts and product tracking. However, leave it to your customers to decide if this is something they want to opt-into or not. Sometimes customers want to buy something on an impulse, if you ask them to fill out a long form, they will just go to a competitor where they don’t have to. Instead, keep your checkout short and sweet by offering your customers the option to purchase as a guest.

No Surprises!

The most annoying thing for a customer is to be hit with fees that weren’t disclosed prior to checkout. This will often lead to distrust, causing your customers to bounce from your store and never return. Customers are sometimes willing to pay more for an item when they get to the checkout page where there are no other fees added. There are two ways you can eliminate fees without minimizing your income. You can either list all the fees from the very beginning or you can add the shipping costs to the price of the product. Think about the sites that say “Free Shipping on Any Item” or when they list that there is a minimum for shipping to be covered. Either way, customers want transparency.

Simplified Checkouts Leave a Lasting Impression

A simplified checkout is crucial to converting sales and it offers numerous benefits to your customers. Remember, a lack of transparency and demanding too much information can deter customers from making a final purchase. An easy checkout proves to increase conversion rates, which means happier clients and more sales for you!