The e-commerce industry has been on the rise for the past couple of years, but the existing pandemic additionally boosted its growth.
An increasing number of people decide to order everything from groceries to clothes and tech gadgets online and have them delivered to their door. This is a great opportunity for every e-commerce store, but the fact that there’s a great surge in demand for online retailers isn’t enough to make this business model successful.
If you want to tap into this lucrative industry and run an online store that will generate profit, you need to build a website that will not only attract customers but also help them make a purchase seamlessly.
This means that your checkout process should be smooth and frictionless.
Here are some of the best e-commerce checkout practices.
1. Optimize for Mobile
More than 50% of global website traffic comes from mobile devices.
The same can be applied to your e-commerce store, which means that your potential customers expect that your entire website is mobile-friendly.
Otherwise, you risk losing a significant portion of your sales.
It’s very difficult and fiddly to pinch and zoom in order to click tiny CTAs or enter contact information and credit card numbers. A mobile-responsive layout and design will make it easier for your customers to complete their transactions, thus preventing shopping cart abandonment.
2. Offer Various Payment Methods
This is one of the top best e-commerce checkout practices, as offering multiple payment methods significantly increases the odds that your customer will complete the purchase.
Many e-commerce stores make a mistake by not including some alternative payment options such as Stripe, ApplePay, PayPal, or Payoneer. Higher costs are the main reason why online merchants decide to limit the number of payment methods.
And many people don’t feel comfortable when their preferred method of payment isn’t available to the extent of deciding not to make a purchase.
You can overcome this challenge by starting small and adding these options as your e-commerce store grows. It’s a good idea to focus on a couple of popular getaways that your customers mainly use at first, and expand later on.
3. Display Trust Signals
When your customers reach the moment when they have to share their sensitive information, they inevitably start thinking about the security of your e-commerce website.
That’s why it’s important to display trust signals such as security badges and seals across your checkout process. This tactic can have a powerful psychological effect on your customers and show them that you don’t take the security of your website and their information lightly.
SSL certification and third-party badges, such as the logos of Visa and cyber-security software that you use, play an important role in eliminating potential trust issues your customers might have.
4. Eliminate Unpleasant Surprises
According to surveys, 56% of shoppers abandon carts during checkout due to hidden costs.
That’s why it’s crucial to be very transparent about all the costs upfront, and prevent your customers from changing their mind when they see that there are some additional taxes or shipping fees.
In order to avoid these unpleasant surprises, list all the charges on the checkout page.
It’s even better to offer free shipping as that’s one of the most popular incentives – almost 80% of U.S. customers say it’s what would encourage them to purchase more often.
5. Keep the Checkout Process Short and Simple
Take advantage of your customers’ willingness to shop and don’t ask them to provide unnecessary information.
Your checkout process should be free from any distractions that would potentially make them change their mind and abandon the cart.
At first, you don’t need more than their email address so that you can send them your offers and recommendations and target them with your marketing efforts. After they complete their purchase, you can reach out and ask them for more details.
Similarly, the entire process shouldn’t have more than 5 steps for new customers, as that’s the average benchmark for the most successful U.S. e-commerce stores.
6. Use a Progress Bar
People don’t like forms and they tend to get very impatient if they don’t know how long it would take them to fill in all the information.
A progress bar can be a very useful element of your checkout process because it tells your customers how many more steps are there. This way, they won’t get frustrated and churn.
If you have a multiple-step checkout process, then implementing a progress bar is an absolute must as it will keep your shopping cart abandonment rate low.
Checkout is the central place of your online store, and it should be designed and monitored very carefully as it has a direct impact on the overall customer experience. These six tips can help you improve your e-commerce website checkout process and generate more sales.
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