Addressing Checkout Page Abandonment: Customer Insights and Solutions

The checkout page nowadays stands as the last roadblock in online shopping between a buyer and a successful order. It is an online version of the offline checkout counter where customers complete their purchases. Businesses aiming for success in the eCommerce industry should always examine their checkout page to avoid any incomplete orders. 

The average percentage of customers who quit their checkouts varies; some research claims that 60% to 80% of customers abandoning checkout is a usual thing.

This article explores the importance of the checkout page and factors to be considered to ensure smooth and efficient transactions for customers, improving their overall checkout page experience.

What is a Checkout Page? Understanding Its Role and Importance

A checkout page is a website payment page where customers can complete the transaction to place an order. It can be single or multiple, depending on the requirements of the product or service listed. The checkout page allows a customer to revisit their selected products, collect their shipping and billing details, check payment mode, and submit the order.

The checkout page has a significant role in an eCommerce website. It ensures that there is a smooth and secure way for customers to finalise their transaction and place an order. It is a user-friendly experience for customers to buy things online. The checkout page also converts the prices of the things listed on a website as per the location of the customer and any ongoing offers, which helps in maximising sales for the company. It also provides complete transparency and a summary of the orders to the customers, including all the necessary details like shortlisted items with total costs, discounts, taxes, shipping fees, etc. This thorough transparency allows the customers to understand the items they included in the cart before purchasing them.

A checkout page is very important for processing the payment as it provides multiple payment options to customers, like credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers, digital payment methods, etc. Optimisation of the checkout page has proved to be beneficial for businesses as it enhances customer satisfaction and supports the overall sales of the website.

What is Checkout Abandonment and Its Causes?

Cart abandonment, also known as checkout abandonment, means when the customer adds products to their cart while shopping online but does not purchase the products and abandons them during the final stage of order placement. These abandonments are very common and are a challenge for businesses. There can be multiple reasons why customers abandon their carts at the end moment. Some of these are as follows:

1. Unexpected costs: unexpected charges at the checkout page can result in cart abandonment. These may include shipping charges, unnecessary taxes, any additional fees, etc.
2. Complex checkout processes: Customers despise lengthy and difficult online platform checkout procedures. It can be difficult for them to persevere and finish the order if a platform requests too much information or takes too long to respond. Consumers want their online shopping experience to be time-saving and satisfying.
3. Privacy issues: When customers feel unsafe at the checkout page about their personal or financial information being shared, they drop the cart without completing the purchase.
4. Pressuring customers: Customers get irritated when websites force them to register or make an account, hence they leave their cart without purchasing anything.
5. Restricted payment options: There are a few websites that do not cater to diverse audiences and accept payment through limited options. Customers don’t prefer such eCommerce sites as they like to get various payment options.
6. Faults: When the checkout page has technical faults and glitches like unnecessary errors, slow loading, etc., it spoils the experience of the customer and leads them to abandon the cart.
7. Limited delivery options: Many times, customers reach the checkout page to find out that the company does not deliver to their location or that their delivery partner doesn’t serve the location. This forces the customers to abandon the cart. 
8. Unclear and strict policies: Complicated policies related to purchasing and returning the product also make customers think twice about completing their order.

Optimising Your Checkout Page: Best Practices and Strategies

Businesses with eCommerce websites need to have optimised checkout pages to improve their sales, reduce checkout abandonment, and provide satisfactory customer experiences. There are several practices and strategies followed by companies to optimise their checkout pages and create a smooth and efficient experience for their customers. Some of the popular and effective practices that you can follow are:

1. Simplifying the checkout process for customers is one of the easiest and most effective ways to gain audience attraction. A simple checkout page will make the process easier for customers to complete their orders.
2. It’s critical to give customers autonomy; if they wish to buy something from the website without creating an account or registering, they should be allowed to do so. Customers will have greater flexibility if they get to check out as guests.
3. Businesses should optimise their websites and checkout pages for mobile devices, as most of their customers shop online from mobile devices.

4. Optimising checkout pages with features like autofill and autocomplete can reduce the time consumption of a customer during order completion, improving their experience.
5.  The checkout page should always accommodate a wide range of clients by providing them the option to make payments using a variety of payment methods, such as digital wallets, debit cards, credit cards, and digital payment options.
6. Refrain from requesting unnecessary additional details from customers as this may cause them to get concerned about their security and give up on the carts.
7. It’s critical to reassure customers that your company is legitimate and that their information is in safe hands. Therefore, getting badges, certifications, and logos approved might help visitors to your website become more confident and trust your site.
8. Authentic feedback from prior clients encourages future customers to place orders and feel confident.

Advantages of an Optimised Checkout Page

The optimisation of a checkout page is important to propel businesses as it reduces the chances of cart abandonment, increases the stability of customers on the website, and provides them with a positive checkout experience to revisit and purchase again. There are several other advantages to an optimised checkout page, such as:

1. An optimised checkout page makes the process of purchasing things online easier for customers. This leads to high rates of successful orders and more consumers visiting, revisiting, and buying from the website.
2. Checkout page optimisation improves the overall shopping experience of consumers.
3. The optimised checkout page takes care of the causes that lead to cart abandonment, like unexpected costs, complicated processes, etc.
4. Optimisation of the checkout page fastens the payment process and allows customers to complete their purchases smoothly.

Learning from Checkout Page Case Studies

It is smart to learn from others! There are multiple companies that have successfully executed strategies to provide a great checkout experience and satisfy their customers. They are using effective practices to optimise checkout pages. The learnings that we can take from examining their checkout page case studies are as follows:

1. Amazon:

• The checkout page of Amazon is simple for its customers, with necessary and minimal steps.
• They have provided a guest checkout option to the customers, which promotes flexibility.
• They have placed clear visual progress and security signals to guide consumers and build confidence in them.
• Apple has integrated Apple Pay to provide a quick and secure payment option to customers.
• There is transparency on Amazon’s checkout page, as they have listed every detail clearly with no hidden rules.

2. Etsy:

• Etsy provides a personalised checkout page for different sellers, which provides a first-hand and unique experience to every customer.
• It integrates various payment processes from third- parties, which allows customers to do international transactions.
• They also provide transparency by providing real-time delivery updates to the customers.
• They have efficient return and protection policies to ensure the process of purchasing items is easy.

3. Apple:

• The checkout page of Apple provides a seamless experience for customers.
• Apple helps its customers by providing personal recommendations and enhancing their overall shopping experience. This helps the sellers with sales and increases order value.
• There is no heavy design on the checkout page, as it is a simple layout for the customers.
• Apple assists customers by providing detailed information about the product without hiding anything. This helps customers make an informed purchase.

Shiprocket Checkout for Easy Conversions

Shiprocket Checkout, a product of Shiprocket,  is a trustworthy solution to drive more conversions for eCommerce sites. It enables a superfast checkout experience for your customers. Some of the features of Shiprocket Checkout are:

1. It facilitates easy checkouts with simplified and secure logins, pre-filled addresses, multiple payment gateways, etc.
2. Offers more than 10,000 discount configurations to attract customers
3. It offers configurable tools to minimise returns, discourage COD by charging a fee on checkout, block multiple CODs, etc.
4. It provides a comprehensive SaaS tool to manage customers’ checkout experience

Here are some of the benefits of using Shiprocket Checkout for your eCommerce business:

1. It enables 70% faster checkouts
2. Reduces RTO by 30%
3. Helps eCommerce businesses increase the conversion rate by 60%
4. Its features help eCommerce sites achieve 25% less cart abandonment  

Conclusion

In conclusion, checkout pages play a vital role in increasing the conversion rates of an eCommerce website and retaining customers. With an understanding of the complexities of checkout optimisation, you can aim to reduce cart abandonment and increase customer loyalty and orders. There are multiple strategies to help you prioritise transparency, customer centricity, etc. to optimise their checkout process. Services like Shiprocket Checkout help companies with online websites handle the checkout processes and earn profit.