In any e-commerce website, it is not only important to get customers to browse your website but to also buy your products or services through your checkout process.

According to studies by Baymard Institute:

“68% of all e-commerce visitors abandon their shopping cart.”

While there could be many contributing factors to this, out of that 68%, a whole 27% of US online shoppers have abandoned their shopping cart in this past quarter alone because the checkout process was either “too long or too complicated.”

However, making your website checkout usability efficient for your customers is much simpler than you think. By implementing a few key checkout features through better UX design, it has been reported that the standard large e-commerce site can gain a 35.6% boost in their conversion rate.

That means, if e-commerce sites focus on these conversion boosters, there would be a global total of…

“$260 Billion Recovered Sales Through Checkout Optimizations”

There are always ways to improve your customer’s checkout experience; however, being able to walk your customers through this process is the first step to increasing your conversion rates. With these essential checkout features, keep your customers informed, happy and walking away with their hands full.

Progress Tracker

Customers are all about speed. If the customer is flooded with an endless number of steps before being able to complete their order, then more likely they will just end up walking away. Having a visual progress tracker with each step clearly defined helps the user know exactly what they need to do and how many more steps they need to complete.

It is often recommended to have no more than four steps, with three being the optimal number. Usually, these steps include:

1. Shipping & Billing
2. Payment
3. Review & Place Order.

No Required Registration

Many websites require you to register before you can proceed to checkout. Rather than making this a requirement, many e-commerce sites are now offering customers an alternative option, to “continue as a guest”. This will take the customer directly to the checkout page. Providing a login form for existing customers as well is also beneficial to maintain a faster checkout process.

Free Shipping

It has been reported that having free shipping is the number 1 feature for customer’s completing their purchase. While not all businesses can afford to offer unlimited free shipping, at least offering free shipping for orders above a dollar amount helps customers feel as though they are saving money. If you are offering free shipping, do not be afraid to create a free shipping banner announcement as well.

It is always great to remember that the more a customer feels that they are gaining the more they are willing to spend. At Brandastic, we are an Orange County marketing agency with a specialization in e-commerce Magento website development. To learn more about your options for setting up an e-commerce business online, contact us today at 888-339-5275.

Resources
Baymard.com
Blog.kissmetrics.com
Deisgnmodo.com
Smashingmagazine.com