The art of the checkout: simple steps to more sales

Create a streamlined checkout process, with no unnecessary clutter that could distract your customer and cause them to exit the checkout process. Only include information on your checkout page that’s directly relevant to completing the transaction.

It’s incredibly frustrating to get to the point you want to pay and find you’ve got to create an account. Almost a third (30%) of shoppers report that it’s enough to make them abandon their shop. It’s been improved in recent years, with browsers offering autofill – though you need to enable that function on your site.

You can simplify the process further by offering guest checkout, saving the bother of creating an account altogether. Alternatively, you can let shoppers use their social media, Google or Apple accounts to sign in.

If you need your customers to create an account, consider an incentive such as a discount – and point out it saves time in the future.

Give customers an idea of where they are in the checkout process and how much more they need to do. Guiding your customers in this way can make completing the checkout process easier.

More than a quarter (27%) of shoppers say this frustration stops them from checking out. It’s all down to picking the right gateway provider. You’ll be familiar with the usual card brands – Visa and Mastercard – but make sure you can accept digital wallets such as ApplePay, Google Pay and Paypal.
 

Think about where your customers are based, particularly if you have a global presence. If you have lots of American shoppers, you’ll want to accept the likes of Discover and Amex. East Asian customers may have JCB or China UnionPay cards.

Offering different payment methods can help increase your credibility as a retailer, while also allowing your customer to checkout with their preferred payment method or in their local home currency.
 

Some 17% of shoppers report abandoning a shop because a website requires them to pay in a foreign currency. With Multi-Currency Conversion, your site can display prices in over 100 currencies so customers know exactly how much they will be paying.

Interestingly, the higher social grades of AB and C1 – those in professional occupations, administration, supervisory and managerial roles – reported that they were even less likely to complete their purchase if they couldn’t pay in their home currency. If you’re offering a high-end product, you could be missing out on 20% of purchases because you don’t have other currencies enabled.

Be transparent with your customers from the beginning of the checkout process. Adding unexpectedly high shipping costs or fees towards the end of checkout can deter customers from purchasing and can increase cart abandonment.

According to Elavon research, a huge 71% said it’s likely to prevent them from checking out. You can reduce the cost of delivery by keeping your stock close to where most of your customers are based – but that’s not really an option for smaller businesses and gets complicated if you’ve got a sizeable overseas market.

Before you make your newly optimised mobile website live, run it through a mobile testing tool so you can identify and correct any problems that could affect your mobile user experience.
 

Consider including delivery charges in the price of your item or offering free delivery when shoppers spend over a certain amount. Or you could add features like shipping-cost calculators or displaying additional fees on product pages. But be clear from the outset what, if anything, shoppers will be expected to pay.

Continuing the delivery theme, over a quarter (25%) of online shoppers said lack of delivery options was reason to abandon a shop, emphasising the need for a good, reliable delivery scheme.

It’s worth noting that, not only is expensive delivery the number one reason for cart abandonment, but Elavon research also shows reliable delivery and free returns are the two top reasons people return to shop at your store.

Many online shoppers want to be reassured that their private payment information is being handled in a secure manner. Displaying trust seals throughout the process can help customers feel more comfortable making purchases knowing that payments are secure.

Keep on the right side of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards and make sure you have 3-D Secure features as standard. Keep your hardware and software systems up to date to avoid data breaches.
 

A good payments provider will keep the transaction side of things safe and secure. If you’re an Elavon customer, you can make the most of some award-winning security products. If you take a lot of small-amount payments, consider Transaction Risk Analysis (TRA). With TRA, you can get authentication exemptions for low-risk online transactions up to €500 (or equivalent in other currencies), which means a frictionless checkout for cardholders and increased sales for your business.
 

But don’t neglect your website’s security. Get an SSL certificate which will give you an https address and display a little padlock in your customer’s browser. This gives them the confidence that the data they share with you – such as browsing history, card details and passwords – is private.

Interestingly, our survey also revealed that the older a shopper is, the more they worry about a website’s security. About 32% of under-24s cite it as a reason to abandon a shop, rising to 48% of the over 65s. If this is your customer base, consider taking extra steps to reassure them. Get customer testimonials or subscribe to a review site, such as Trustpilot or Google Reviews.

Mobile cart abandonment is higher than desktop cart abandonment. Creating a seamless mobile checkout experience can help your business tackle this while allowing you to take advantage of the rise of smartphone online shopping.

Additionally, ensuring your website is optimised for mobile can help you to reach a wider customer base. Google’s new ‘mobilefirst’ indexing means that websites that are optimised for mobile will rank higher in search engine results.

Provide clear navigation buttons such as ‘Proceed to checkout’ to direct your customers towards completing a purchase from product pages or once they have added an item to their basket.

Streamline the process of entering addresses by offering postcode search or autofill options. Additionally, copy billing information into the shipping information form and give the option to change the shipping address should it differ for the customer.

If a customer leaves products in their cart, autosave the items to allow them to easily resume their purchase when they next visit your website. Additionally, if you have an email address or mobile number available, send reminders to customers about items they have left in their basket. In addition, include an email or SMS trigger (if you have their information) that sends them an email reminding them of items in their cart.