At Trilogi we know that checkout design is one of the most important aspects of an online store, and that we need to consider and analyze it carefully to avoid very common mistakes.
Measurement and optimization are vital to increase conversion in our store and avoid a high cart abandonment rate.
Here are some aspects to consider when designing your store’s checkout process.
As we know, there are different checkout options or formats that vary in the number of steps. Today we’ll focus on general aspects, and in another post we’ll cover each one in detail, discussing the pros and cons of each.
1- Show the steps visually
If the checkout has several steps, it’s key to show users visually which step they’re on. This is usually shown at the top, highlighting the current step.
Place buy buttons at both the top and bottom. The less time users take to find them, the faster they’ll complete the purchase. The color and text used are also relevant factors.
3- Convey security
Adding payment method logos and trust seals (Trusted Shops, Confianza Online) helps convey security and trust to customers just before they pay.
4- Option to continue shopping
Users often forget to add products before going to the cart, or realize they selected the wrong size or color. In these cases, if there’s no option to continue shopping, the user has to click the Back button and may lose the products in their cart.
5- Differentiate calls to action
It’s important to use different colors and keep space between each call-to-action button. Often they aren’t differentiated, or the spacing is minimal, causing users to click the wrong option.
6- Guest checkout
This option is uncommon, yet in many cases it has significantly increased the conversion rate of some online stores. Registration can be completed after payment, without wasting the user’s time before confirming the purchase. Bear in mind that a user who has already paid won’t mind filling in the details needed for billing and shipping.
7- Simple, clear forms
This ties in with the previous point, since guest checkout often isn’t offered because the eCommerce setup doesn’t allow it (different rates by country, shipping costs, etc.). In these cases, it’s important to include only the truly necessary fields in the registration form, keeping it as short as possible. Field design and grouping also matter so users can quickly understand and complete it.
8- Save product information
Sometimes customers are busy or interrupted and can’t finish their purchase at a given moment. In these cases, a wishlist feature can be very useful, letting users save the products they’re interested in, then come back and quickly add them to the cart again. You can also send a reminder email with the products in the cart, or even let users save the entire cart.
9- Edit product options
As mentioned earlier, users often make mistakes selecting the color, size, quantity or attributes of the product they want. It’s important to include all or some of these options in the cart so changes are much easier, without having to remove the product and go back to the product page to add it again.
10- Product recommendations
To increase average order value, you can show recommended products that catch the user’s interest during checkout. These product associations can be set manually or with external tools whose algorithms analyze users’ browsing on the website, both overall and individually.
11- Exit alerts and cart abandonment
Many websites used to show a popup alert asking why the cart was being abandoned. The problem is that many users blocked popups, so the alert was never seen. Besides, these practices tend to feel aggressive to users.
The best option is abandoned cart recovery: sending users who leave a cart an email with its contents, a special offer or discount, and the option to return to the cart in one click. At Trilogi we offer this solution, with the advantage that a single click takes the user back to the cart page with all products loaded.
12- Extra help
At this step it’s important to show all the information users may need, so they can check it without leaving the screen. This means the privacy policy, returns, shipping methods, contact details, FAQs, etc.
Adding live chat is very important, as it can help clinch the purchase right then and there.
12 + 1- Final review
Users should be able to see a final screen summarizing the order and all associated costs before confirming. This builds trust and shows all costs upfront, with no surprises later.
We encourage you to commit to reviewing your current checkout process to optimize it and get better results.
Are you up for it?
