How to Improve Your Customer Checkout Experience

Don’t drop the ball at the one yard line, your customer checkout experience is that last yard that will make or break a sale this post will help you convert those customers.

customer checkout experience

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One of the many benefits of running an e-commerce business is the sheer scope of potential customers you can reach. But this very benefit can also bring challenges that physical stores don’t have to address. One of these challenges is creating a checkout experience that caters to all of your potential customers. 

 

Why is the Customer Checkout Experience so Important?

The checkout experience is important because it is the final step in converting a potential customer into a customer.

If it is a slow or frustrating process, then people will likely abandon their cart. In fact, some surveys have reported that almost 97% of consumers have abandoned an online shopping cart at some point because the checkout service wasn’t convenient enough. This is why e-commerce behemoths like Amazon have streamlined their checkout experience as much as absolutely possible. 

 

Ways to Improve the Customer Checkout Experience

1. Provide a Clear Overview of Important Product Details

Customers should always be given a clear overview of any relevant information about their product before ever beginning the checkout process. This includes the number of items chosen, their colors, and their dimensions. If you sell more complex products such as computer parts then be sure to include any additional specifications as well. This will give your customers a good idea of what they are adding to their cart before they begin the checkout process. 

2. Show the Customer They Can Trust Your Site

Showing customers that they can trust your site is absolutely crucial to any checkout process. If your website feels even the slightest bit sketchy then customers will likely abandon their cart with fears of being scammed. One way to increase customer trust in your website is to clearly display a Secure Sockets Layer seal or certificate. This will prove to customers that their transactions are being handled as professionally and safely as possible. 

3. Explain the Shipping Timeline

Consumers are more likely to buy from businesses that offer certainty in their shipping timeline. Customers should never be left wondering when their purchase will arrive. Be sure to clearly explain different shipping options to customers so they can choose the one they most prefer. A warehouse shipping software will enable your business to do this effectively. With proper shipping software, your business will be able to track customers’ purchases individually and update them at every step of the shipment process. 

4. Simplify the Payment Form

One of the most effective methods of ensuring customers do not abandon their cart partway through the checkout process is simplifying the payment form. Remove all unnecessary fields from the payment form and be sure to enable guest checkout. It is fairly common for customers to abandon their cart if they are required to create an account to complete a purchase. The quicker that a payment form can be filled out, the more likely it is that people will make a purchase. 

payment methods

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5. Diversify Payment Methods

Recent digital payment trends make it clear that online shoppers expect a website to offer multiple forms of payment. This means you should offer more payment methods than just credit cards and debit cards. Consider adding payment gateways to your website. This will not only add to the number of payment methods available to your customers, but it will also create an additional layer of security. Some common payment gateways are PayPal, Square, and Stripe. 

6. Offer Great Customer Service

Though all businesses should strive for every purchase to be completed smoothly, it is inevitable that there will be a few hurdles along the road. In cases like this, your customer service should be second to none. Offering great customer service will make your business more memorable and promote loyalty among your customers. Remember that the people calling customer service will likely be frustrated, so you should approach every situation calmly. 

7. Optimize For Mobile

Today’s technology is more mobile than ever. Google has even begun to prioritize websites that are optimized for mobile devices by ranking them higher than their desktop-only counterparts. Online shopping is no exception. Now more than ever, people are making purchases from their phones or tablets. Most consumers expect websites to be responsive and allow them to make purchases on any of their devices. 

8. Loyalty Programs

Implementing a loyalty program to your business’s online store will add a personal touch to their checkout experience. This will show customers that you care about the business they bring in and encourage them to return the next time they want to make a purchase. 

 

Summary

The customer checkout experience is a key part of the purchase process that can’t be ignored.

Instead of wasting time lamenting about human behavior and losing sales, spend time effectively by implementing a well-planned strategy that targets the root causes of cart abandonment and ensures a customer completes a purchase on your site.

Follow the tactics mentioned above and you can help ensure that your customers make that purchase.