14 tips to reduce eCommerce checkout abandonment

A recent Baynard survey has revealed that a whopping 68% of baskets are abandoned during the checkout process. Are over half of eCommerce customers only window shopping or is there something fishier going on here? You’ll be pleased to hear there are many simple ways in which your checkout can be improved to help customers navigate and complete their purchase! We’ve listed 14 best practice techniques to help improve the effectiveness of your checkout. If you have any of your own then please let us know!

1. Keep it simple – Every checkout process should be easy to use and understand!
2. Navigation is key – Customers should be able to navigate back and forth within the checkout to view and edit all steps in the process with ease.
3. Indicate checkout progress steps clearly – Customers should know where they are in the checkout process and the steps required to complete their purchase. Consider incorporating a progress bar across the top of the checkout page. An example can be seen on the Miller Harris website inset.
4. Isolate the checkout area – You don’t want to distract your customers from completing the task in hand. Removing any unnecessary clutter, such as the main navigation bar, search boxes and footer information, will help prevent customers from being side-tracked out of the checkout process.
5. Offer free delivery – Everyone loves to hear the word ‘free’ but many have become so accustomed to the offering of free delivery that they now expect it! One way to limit the hit to your business is by offering free delivery over a certain price threshold, the idea being to push up your Average Order Value (AOV). According to a recent Interbrand report, delivery charges are now the number one reason for abandoned baskets online!
6. Have a great returns policy and make it explicit – When you can’t see or touch the products, customers want to know that they won’t be stuck with an unwanted item. It’s important to ensure the returns policy is accessible throughout the checkout process to give customers further reassurance.
7. Add check out summary information – Customers should be continually reminded and reassured about their basket’s contents, delivery information, and prices.
8. Invite customers to check out as guests – A recent study by Econsultancy / Toluna shows that 25.6% of online consumers would abandon a purchase if they were forced to register in order to buy. Rather than asking customers to register for an account before purchasing, invite customers to create an account once the purchase is complete.
9. Safe and Secure – Display secure payment logos and the different payment options the website accepts, this will encourage confidence and will help gain your customers trust.
10. Don’t hide costs – Nothing is more off-putting than entering the checkout to find the costs are more than you expected them to be. Ensure all costs are displayed upfront before reaching the checkout process.
11. Only ask for relevant information – Forms should be as clear and concise as possible. The modern customer understands the value of their personal details so try to avoid requesting any unnecessary information in the checkout process.
12. Don’t make your customers enter information twice! – If you’ve taken the time to enter your personal details, it’s extremely frustrating if you are required to enter the same details again on another page. You can help your customers by implementing address capture tools so visitors can speed their way through the checkout process. Postcode lookup tools are another great way to limit the amount of information a customer has to enter, and speed up the process.
13. Optimise the order confirmation page – This page can do more than reassure customers that their purchase has been successful. Consider adding promotions or present the customer with other product suggestions that complement their purchase to encourage further sales. This page is also the ideal place to invite those ‘guest’ customers to register for an account since they have entered the majority of their details already!
14. Set up goal and funnel tracking throughout – This will provide you with insightful information, allowing you to identify any problematic areas where your potential customers are leaving the checkout process.

References
E-commerce Best Practice Compendium By Graham Charlton, Econsultancy, November 2012