Convert your prospects into customers is something that is known to most online sellers 

And what leads to this conversion? Your checkout pages!

The checkout process is where people buy products. In technical terms, your cart drives the sales. So, to boost conversions, you should streamline the e-commerce checkout page design. 

Did you know that the average cart abandonment rate is a staggering 70%? Indeed, you wouldn’t want so many shoppers to visit your checkout and leave without buying. 

Hence, simplifying your e-commerce checkout process is imperative. To help you with this, we explain below what you should do to optimize the checkout e-commerce flow. 

Reasons for cart abandonment

A checkout process allows customers to buy an item or service in an e-commerce store. Generally, this process happens after the visitor chooses a particular product.

So, why do people proceed to the checkout screen and leave empty-handed? Here are some reasons:

• High shipping costs
• No guest checkout option
• Complex steps
• Insufficient payment options
• Lack of shipping cost clarity

44% of online shoppers abandon their carts due to high shipping costs. Furthermore, 11% of customers dislike the flow of the checkout process.

Can e-commerce store owners address these issues? 

In a word the answer, ‘yes.’ Certain e-commerce checkout flow best practices can rectify all the problems without much hassle. 

Tips to optimize the checkout process

Subtle changes in the design and development of your eCommerce checkout pages can make a huge difference. These include:

1. Simplify the page design

Humans process visuals 60,000 times quicker than plain text. As an e-commerce store, you need to leverage this fact.

Online shoppers want to get information with convenience, especially during the checkout process. So, you need to simplify the design by adding more visuals.

You must, therefore, follow these tips to simply the checkout page visual design:

• Eliminate big chunks of text
• Use more images
• Add minimalistic graphics
• Keep limited options on the page

This point is checkout eCommerce 101 and applies to all the process landing pages. 

2. Reduce complexity

Try to limit your checkout process to a maximum of four steps. Here’s what most customers prefer in terms of flow:

• Checkout page
• Product and delivery details
• Payment page
• ‘Buy Now’ or confirmation page

Businesses can boost their conversion rates when the e-commerce checkout page design has minimum distractions. Additionally, make sure your website does not redirect to any link during the entire checkout flow. Also avoid unnecessary ads during these steps and gradually, you will notice people buying products without any hassle from your website. 

3. Add the guest checkout feature

Don’t want to lose another 14% of consumers? Then you might want to add the guest checkout option! 

Imagine yourself after scrolling through numerous products. Now imagine what is the worst thing you can view after the ‘proceed further’ option? 

It is the ‘register now’ pop-up!

Shoppers should have the flexibility to purchase a product without creating an account. Hence, you can offer a ‘guest checkout’ option to boost conversions.

If you want people to create an account, provide the registration link pop-up after the entire checkout process. 

4. Design a progress bar in the UI

This tip is related to visuals again. Let’s assume you need to enter more than four pages to complete the checkout process. But have to do so while also ensuring that your buyer stays engrossed enough to complete the purchase. 

A progress bar indicating the current and remaining steps helps deliver this. Creating the progress bar as a series of connected tasks can be vital for your e-commerce checkout page design.

Consequently, the visitor will get an idea of the remaining steps in the entire purchase activity. This inclusion will infuse clarity in the process.

5. Visibility of the shopping cart

Try to recall prominent e-commerce giants like Amazon and Nike and then think of what they offer in their checkout process.

The answer is— clarity in all aspects.

A customer’s shopping cart should include the following details:

• Image of the potential purchase
• Quantity graphic underneath the image
• Price of the product
• Discount offered (If applicable)
• Delivery charges
• Option for shipping details

The trick is to keep the product images visible throughout the entire process. This design strategy helps maintain customer interest and filling in shipping address forms, payment details, and other information does not feel boring.

6. Payment options

Almost 7% of customers abandon the shopping cart due to the absence of their preferred payment options.

E-commerce stores cannot afford to lose such a huge customer base. Hence, you should optimize the checkout process by increasing the number of payment options.

Also, include clear ‘call-to-action’ (CTA) in every step. Here are some examples:

• Select Payment Method
• Check Out with XYZ
• Pay Now

This way, you offer more clarity to the visitor. Moreover, you are introducing a mix of concise UX and multiple options in the checkout e-commerce process. 

Checkout process design points

E-commerce businesses can focus on specific design aspects to simplify the checkout process. These changes can impact consumer interaction positively. These are:

• Include graphics like ‘certified’ for relevant product summary
• Keep the checkout form short
• Display a warm message of affection after payment
• Highlight mandatory information fields
• Include size guides in the product summary 
• Provide graphics of prominent payment providers

These points are integral and by being upfront, genuine, and concise you convert your prospects into buyers.

Summing up

A checkout process is the final junction for online shopping. Most consumers leave their shopping carts due to the above-mentioned reasons.

Hence, it is imperative to prevent cart abandonment by optimizing your checkout experience. The strategies in this article will help rectify the common issues that drive leads away from e-commerce sites.

Including a guest checkout option, enhancing the design and visuals, offering a clear shopping cart are proven ways to boost the conversion rate. You can execute most of these strategies right now.

Lastly, your focus should be on simplifying the checkout process, so an e-commerce tech firm can help provide you with additional inputs by analyzing the nature of your business.