6 Ways To Improve Ecommerce Checkout In 2023

Currently, the global cart abandonment rates stand at an average of 69.99% according to Baymard. As an ecommerce business owner, you should already know that getting customers to come to your website is already a difficult and expensive thing to do.

Therefore we should maximize the potential value of each traffic by optimizing our checkout processes and conversion rates because the performance of the checkout process can make or break your ecommerce business.

This article aims to explain what makes people abandon their carts and what you can do to avoid the same issue happening to other ecommerce businesses. Without further ado, let us begin!

What are the common causes of cart abandonment?

There are many reasons why a visitor abandons their cart, and according to Baymard's cart abandonment rate report, the most popular reasons are the following:

Many of these reasons are relatable if you have shopped online before because you might have considered buying from a website that did not optimize its checkout experience. Therefore, the high figure for the cart abandonment rate makes sense considering most websites are not aware of these issues.

Now that we know what the common causes of cart abandonment are, let us look at how to solve them so you can avoid making the same mistakes as your competitors.

# 1 Simplify Your Checkout Process

One way to increase conversion is by creating a more straightforward checkout process that encourages your buyers to complete their transactions.

According to Statista, 17% of shoppers abandon their carts due to a long or complicated checkout process and end up not buying anything from the website. 

Your ecommerce website may be losing out on customers due to a complicated checkout process. You can consider introducing a single checkout page, where all the steps are displayed on the same page, requiring minimum navigation. If you remove the multi-page checkout structure, all the information gets packed on a single page, which makes it seem lengthy to your customers, but you can add a progress indicator on the side, showcasing mini-milestones that the customer has completed.

Another friction many customers face during checkout is the filling of long, and sometimes repetitive forms. To tackle this, you can limit the information required from potential customers, or introduce smart form-filling. Smart form-filling includes the usage of shipping address predictor tools or autofill options. It is also useful to have form field validation and error notifications to let your buyers spot errors on the go. For the billing address, enable a small checkbox so customers can easily input the same address as the shipping address.

#2 Provide Multi-Device Experience

As of January 2022, mobile ecommerce accounted for nearly two-thirds (65.7%) of all global ecommerce retail sales as reported by Statista. Apps have raised the bar for customer experience and expectations regarding frictionless transactions, speed, and ease of use. Shoppers now expect the same level of service across the web and mobile devices from all businesses.

Therefore, to improve your ecommerce conversion rate, you need to ensure that your mobile checkout experience is just as seamless as your website’s. Make sure to test the app checkout buttons for functionality and effectiveness. We highly suggest that you consider this during the process of building your ecommerce website. This would imply that investments will be needed for the development of the website as it contributes to the long-term success of your business.

To have an idea of how much budget you can allocate, we have an article that covers the costs of building an ecommerce website.

Also, keep in mind that ecommerce platforms can get a better reach when they’re optimized for multiple devices. 

#3 Payment Options

Globally, there are over 200 payment methods, including credit cards, bank transfers, direct debit, digital wallets, cash on delivery, e-invoices, digital currencies, and specific locally-preferred payment options. Consumer preferences over payment methods are highly region specific. As an example, take credit cards: while they are a widely used payment method in some parts of the world, there are regions where people feel less secure using them.

With this in mind, you will need to carefully select an appropriate mix of payment options that your website will support considering the preferences of your specific target segment. You may want to think about the currencies that you will accept, the countries from where you will be receiving payments, and the average transaction size in doing so.

For instance, if you expect to receive payments from customers in different countries, you can consider offering a payment option that uses the currency that the majority of customers may use. In many cases, websites will offer USD as a primary currency for payment, but you can think of offering other currencies if your customer base is mostly in Asia.

Implementing multiple payment methods like Paypal, Amazon Pay, or Apple Pay can also be beneficial for your checkout conversion rate. Having a variety of options gives your customers choices that fit their convenience and potentially eliminate some friction in the payment process. Fortunately, accepting payments such as PayPal payments, on your website is quite simple if you follow the given instructions.

And don't forget to consider multiple payment gateways as well, especially those that support global transactions. Some gateways are Stripe, Authorize.net, and Square. With that, your customers can enjoy a simple, but wide coverage of payment methods.

💡Tip: We also have a detailed guide on the best payment gateways and payment methods specifically for ecommerce businesses.

#4 Flexible Shipping Options

One of the most common reasons for shopping cart abandonment is too high extra costs such as shipping, tax, or fees. Therefore ecommerce businesses need to factor in shipping costs and consider a variety of shipping options to boost their average conversion rate. 

A survey conducted by Saddle Creek Logistics in 2020 has revealed that meeting delivery expectations are the most difficult to fulfil.  

Your business can consider looking into alternative shipping options that may be less expensive and more flexible. Carefully evaluate the different options to present better choices to your customers.

Let’s say you look at your average order value and you set the free shipping order threshold slightly above. This gives your customers an incentive to spend more to get free shipping, and at the same time increase your average ticket size. This case creates a win-win situation. 

You can also offer free shipping for certain items only, for example, there may be some items that are too large or heavy to ship for free. Or you can also categorize your items by low and high-margin products, and offer free shipping for the more profitable ones. 

However, before you start testing your free shipping policy, make sure to map your customers and where they’re based, and project the shipping costs that you would need to bear if you introduced free shipping. 

#5 Guest Checkout Option

Another frequent reason for customers to not go through with their purchase is that the site requires them to create an account. 

Often shoppers just want to make a purchase and quickly move on. They don’t see the added benefit of having an account with you and easily coming back for repeated purchases. Making such customers sign up creates a point of friction and increases the risk of cart abandonments. 

It’s worth considering allowing users to check out as a guest and enter the minimum required information quickly, head straight to payment, and finish the purchase before they change their minds about the purchase.

And if you want to encourage customers to create an account, you can offer incentives and promotions to those who do. For example, offering 10% discount coupons for new customers with first-time purchases, or through referral programs. 

#6 Retarget Customers

Retargeting offers a way to keep your brand visible even after your visitors have left your website. It is a form of online advertising using a smart way of selectively targeting consumers based on their internet actions.

A report from Business Insider shares that 97% of visitors that visit and leave a website will never return. This leaves a huge missed opportunity for potential customers.

By repeatedly exposing potential customers to your offering, your brand will be more exposed to them and will be kept in mind, potentially leading to an increase in conversion rates. The more often customers see the item they did not end up buying, the bigger urge is created to buy the product. This ultimately pushes your conversion rate up

Some effective retargeting tools that you can consider implementing on your online store are Google and Facebook.

To find the best retargeting strategy, your business needs to understand its consumer base and experiment with different options and channels. You also might want to consider other tools that can help your ecommerce business grow in different ways.

Conclusion

As you see, there are multiple ways to boost your conversion rates and to help your ecommerce business grow. Your business needs to start experimenting and figuring out, which of the proposed methods could work for your site and unique customer base. There’s no clear-cut solution that works for everyone, so spend some time developing the right strategy, but hopefully, these ideas can give you a headstart.