How to Optimize Your Ecommerce Checkout Page for Conversions
As an e-commerce site owner, you will more than likely be aware of the conversion rate drops on checkout pages.
Looking into human behavior, it’s not surprising. We fill up our shopping carts, and then when the time comes actually to buy the things, we can bail.
Your job is to make the chances of abandonment very rare. The best way to do this is to give your shoppers everything they could possibly need or want. Below is a comprehensive guide to optimizing your checkout page for higher conversion rates.
1. The design and layout
Firstly, let’s have a little look at your design and layout. You might be super surprised to find out that even slight changes to the plan can equal higher conversion rates.
The more comfortable, more concise and straightforward your design is, the more likely your shoppers will just flow their way through your checkout page.
Fewer Clicks
Make it so that your shoppers have to make the minimum number of clicks. Let’s be honest; we all want something fast and easy, making your checkout process too long will only make people click off your page.
Make your checkout buttons easy to find
We recommend spreading them out all over the page. Your customer shouldn’t have to search around for this button. Again, this will only make them click off your page, or reconsider their cart.
https://outofthesandbox.com/blogs/shopify-theme-blog/shopify-dynamic-checkout-buttons
Put security deals on your page
You want to make your customers feel like they’re making a safe purchase. Putting secure payment and security seals on your checkout page. If you don’t have these, your shoppers might reconsider and decide to shop elsewhere.
Popular signs include PayPal, Verisign and Bizrate.
https://outofthesandbox.com/blogs/shopify-theme-blog/shopify-dynamic-checkout-buttons
Add a continue shopping link
We’ve all done it – started to check out and then decide you want something else.
Hitting the back button and finding that your shopping basket has completely cleared is so annoying. So much so that customers might just completely exit your site.
Adding a continue shopping link will improve your conversion rates, and make your site more user-friendly.
https://help.shopify.com/en/themes/customization/cart/add-back-link
Make everything super clear
Your conversion rates might be low because your buttons just aren’t prominent. Your shoppers might be clicking the wrong button, getting confused or giving up trying to understand.
The best thing to do is take a step back and ask yourself “would I understand this if I hadn’t designed it?” Maybe even get an outsider to give impartial advice on the layout.
Eliminate the need to register
There’s absolutely nothing more annoying than going to check out, only to be greeted with a pop up that forces you to register for an account.
Registering can be a long process, which forces you to go back and forth from emails and adds time to the buying process, which no shopper wants.
Giving customers the option to check out as a guest or register for an account after buying their goods is an easy way to improve your conversion rates.
https://www.userzoom.com/blog/11-interesting-approaches-to-guest-checkout-design/
It even allowed one company to increase its revenues by 300 million in one year. It’s safe to say it’s worth a try.
2. Product details
When your design and layout is perfect, the only thing confusing your shopper will be the products themselves.
This includes size, color, length, etc. Here are some factors of the product description that you need to consider.
Make sure you have a product summary
Just before you checkout, having a name, thumbnail picture and any numbers next to it will suffice.
This will just let them know that they’ve clicked the right options and can be sure to proceed.
This will also help you, as you won’t get as many returns or panicked messages.
Let them update their cart
On the checkout page, make sure that shoppers can remove or add any items. Just like with design and layout, you don’t want them to exit off your site altogether.
Shipment methods should be clearly outlined
You shouldn’t wait until one of the last steps to mention the price and length of shipping. This might put off some shoppers.
Make sure that your site clearly sets this out from the get-go; it’ll eliminate shoppers that exit.
Add related products
This is like an online equivalent of placing super cool items right near the tills in a shop. Before you know it, you’ve picked up three chocolate bars and some socks.
https://help.shopify.com/en/themes/customization/products/features/recommend-related-products
Adding products right near checkout that are related to the ones in the cart is a great way to make more sales. Especially with electronic items. Make sure they know which adapters and outlets they need for their items.
Amazon now has a “commonly bought with this item” addition, which is super helpful and interesting. Adopting something like this for your site might just prove to be beneficial.
Clarify the final price
Make sure that your customer knows the full amount, shipping, handling, and tax included. Nobody wants a surprise.
Include product ratings
This is more just reassurance for your customer. Everybody wants to feel like they are making the best decision when it comes to spending their money.
Even just adding a rating system would be a great way to make your customers more confident.
https://blog.datafeedwatch.com/add-product-ratings-on-google-shopping
Do you have gift wrap options?
A lot of shoppers buy online for somebody else, and this is especially true for holiday shopping seasons.
Adding an option which just wraps the present and adds a little personalized message would go down really well.
3. The payment section
This is where most shopping carts are exited, never to be seen again. It’s when shoppers decide they don’t want to spend their money. This is why you need to make everything simple, and appealing. Here are ways to do this.
Offer free shipping
This could be a one-time thing, a deal you have on for individual shoppers, or a permanent feature.
Many e-commerce sites have a “free shipping when you spend over x amount” addition. This feature helps with conversion rates massively.
https://www.abetterlemonadestand.com/free-shipping/
Offer promo codes
There’s no appeal in making a shopper search for promo codes elsewhere. Make them easy to find, and clear as day. Some even enter the promo code for them.
It’s always much more comfortable to check out when you know you’ve had a percentage taken off. Everybody loves a deal.
Show them how much they’re saving
If they’ve entered a promo code, you have a deal on, or you know you’re cheaper than your competitors – show it off.
Just before the click “buy now” make them very aware of how much money they’re saving. It’ll limit the chance of abandonment.
Add a loyalty program
Do you know how you keep going back to a coffee shop once you have a loyalty card? Simply because you want that free coffee? It works in exactly the same way.
Offer points or discounts for shoppers that leave reviews or ratings. It will add to your website, and keep customers loyal. Win-win.
https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-loyalty
Conclusion
All of these suggestions above are super easy to implement, and will undoubtedly lead to some fantastic results.
We hope you found these tips on how to improve your conversion rates on your checkout page useful.
Bio:
Kristin Savage is interested in writing and planning to publish her own book in the nearest future. Also, she has been a reviewer at Pick Writers for a few years and is known for her thorough approach to accurately assess newcomer translation services. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter.