Many online stores or businesses use online payment methods to allow customers to easily purchase their products and services. A well-designed checkout process can keep those sales coming in smoothly, but on the other hand, there are plenty of mistakes that can cost you sales if you’re not careful, too. Here, we’re going to look at some of those mistakes you should be avoiding, and what you should do instead.
Confusing Navigation
If the checkout process is confusing, then it’s very easy to lose customers on their way to clicking that payment button. An important part of e-commerce website design is that customers always know where they are in the process and what step comes next. Try to keep the number of pages involved in a checkout to a minimum, with clear instructions and buttons that lead to the next step. Breadcrumb navigation can also help them see how many steps are left, making them more likely to finish.
Mandatory Account Creation
While there are perks to having customers create accounts, forcing them to do it can increase the rate of cart abandonments. Not all shoppers are ready to commit on their first purchase, and forcing sign-ups increases friction, adds more time to the checkout process, and can spook customers whose trust you have to earn. A guest checkout option signals no pressure with purchases, and you can highlight the benefits of account creation after the sale has gone through, keeping the door open.
Limited Payment Options
If you don’t offer the payment options your customers prefer, you’re going to lose sales that they were otherwise ready to close on. Work with a payment gateway to ensure that you’re able to accept debit and credit cards, as well as payment methods like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more. The more options you’re able to fit on, the better, but at least get to know the most popular payment methods so that you’re not closing off significant portions of your customers.
Hidden Costs
Unexpected fees are going to lose you sales. While sneaking them in at the final stage of sales isn’t something you’re likely to get away with these days. Delivery costs and extra service charges are to be expected, but make them as transparent as possible where you can. Shipping calculators and estimated totals can establish trust from customers, rather than making them feel like you’re simply trying to get as much cash out of them as possible.
Poor Mobile Optimization
More and more people are shopping online these days, and if you don’t have a mobile-optimized website or a checkout process designed specifically for mobile, then they’re going to look for sites that do. Providing options like autofill and responsive design with larger buttons can improve their experience significantly. Seamless mobile versions of sites shouldn’t be considered a bonus nowadays; it should be considered essential.
Make your transparent checkout process one of the reasons that customers keep coming back, rather than a justification to abandon their shopping cart. You might be surprised by just how much of a difference it can make in your revenue
