How to Build a Checkout Page that Converts More Visitors to Buyers

For customers, the ecommerce journey starts from product search, to adding items to cart, to checkout (if you impress them) and then to the last stage—when they finally receive their parcel from a courier service.

Your online store’s checkout page is more like the pay point or counter in a physical store.

In ecommerce, the checkout area plays a critical role because its user-friendliness impacts a buyer’s purchase decisions.

A poorly designed, complicated or incomplete website checkout area can be a major cause of cart abandonment in an ecommerce store.

When a customer can’t figure out how to order items and make payments in a site, they simply stop the purchase process and continue the search for a brand that offers similar goods with an easier-to-use checkout page.

A Difficult Checkout Process Can Increase Cart Abandonment

A shopper is more likely to abandon a site with a complicated checkout process. In fact, an entire 70 percent of would-be clients abandon ecommerce shopping carts for similar reasons.

As a result, streamlining and simplifying your online store’s checkout stage is becoming a must-do for all web-based merchants. 

And while other factors like a shopper’s state of mind, prices, and online reviews may influence purchase decisions, studies show that a well-thought-out checkout stage design can boost up conversion by an entire 35 percent.

The Four Elements of an Excellent Website Checkout Sheet

So what are the 4 elements that influence the user-friendliness of an ecommerce website?

1. Design
2. Usability
3. Security
4. Features

These for elements, combined together, can lead to a checkout process that makes or breaks a customer’s pre-purchase experience.

How you incorporate the above elements on checkout determines whether its drives more conversion or abandonment.

Creating a User-friendly Checkout Process to Increase Conversion and Reduce Abandonment

Having understood the 4 pillars of an excellent checkout process, we can now get down to the crux of the matter to understand how each element should be executed to ensure customer-friendly checkout.

1. Design

Your checkout page’s design impacts customer experience and determines whether a buyer abandons cart or converts.

The best designs attract a shopper’s attention without putting off or confusing them.

Here are some top design elements and why you should consider making these changes.

• Reduce Clutter: Customers hate too much congestion because they lead to accidental clicks. The need to display more and more products is understandable, but users prefer some unused space for easy navigation.
• Use prominent colors for CTA buttons; all buttons that “call to action” should be noticeable to avoid confusing visitors. Use a different easy-to-spot color for those.
• Use visual error pointers to correct form-filling mistakes there and then; pointing out any mistakes made in real-time can help buyers spot and correct errors when completing forms.

Lastly, you want to gather only the pieces of info that matter from a buyer. Maintain a friction-free checkout experience by including a reasonable number of fields in your checkout forms and eliminating unnecessary steps.

2. Usability

Usability is key to a page that should convert your website visitor into a buyer.

Usability can also mean the ease-of-use or accessibility of your pages by all website users.

Customers prefer an easy-to-use site designed to direct them on where to go next and simplify the order request and payment process.

Here’s how to improve the usability of your checkout page.

• Confirm Availability of Product at checkout - Buyers hate to find out the product they added to cart and paid for is out of stock through an apology email. That’s why it is advisable to give clues on the availability of products. An easy way is to show and update the number of items remaining in stock. And give an ETA for of items out of stock.
• Provide Numerous Options at Checkout – Offer your visitors more than one option. For instance you can allow them to either “View Cart Contents” or “Proceed to Checkout.”You can also use this chance to market related products.
• Allow Shoppers to “Change Cart Contents” or “Add to Cart” – Allows shoppers to change or add cart contents if they wish to.
• Pre-fill redundant form sections – Don’t make a customer enter the same information over and over again. Pre-fill form sections where applicable to give repeat buyers an easy time.
• Offer the “Guest Checkout” option – Many shoppers abandon online sites because they prompt one to sign up before buying an item. Providing the “guest checkout” option can help reduce cart abandonment rates related to mandatory account creation.

A user-friendly page converts more prospects than a difficult-to-navigate checkout page. Always make tweaks from time to time to improve usability.

3. Security.

Customers prioritize security that many of them—almost 20 percent— will abandon a cart if they doubt a retailer’s trustworthiness or ability to safeguard their credit card info.

Proving that you offer safe checkout is essential in proving to buyers that you are legit—and you prioritize the safety of their payment information.

This can be done by listing the various payment avenues and displaying their logos prominently.  Also make sure you’re site has a Secure Connection Certificate that guarantees the safety of all info on the website.

4. Features.

Features are the X-factor when it comes to creating a killer checkout zone.

They are the extra perks an ecommerce site offers on top of the fundamentals. A checkout page with the features that are most attractive to shoppers stand a better chance of converting visitors because they offer more user-friendliness and convenience.

Here are some features you need to prioritize;

• Offer a Product Description: Include product size, color, dimensions as well as any other specifications that can help a shopper make an informed buying decision.
• Indicate the Total Cost of the order (including taxes and shipping fees): Many customers—more than 20 percent— abandon ecommerce brands because they can’t work out the full cost of ordering an item.
• Numerous delivery options: if possible, provide expedited/slow or economical shipping options to accommodate the changing needs of your shoppers.
• Add a Wishlist – More than 50 percent of customers are willing to buy an item on the cart if offered at a cut rate. A wishlist is therefore a wonderful way to encourage repeat buying.

Adding the above features and more is the key to building a killer checkout page that will maximize conversion.

Final Words

Working on these for checkout page elements is a perfect way to start reducing abandonment and increase sales. Hopefully these improvements will have a significant impact on your website’s conversion rates.