The checkout is the final hurdle in an online customer’s journey to making a purchase. Having succeeded at attracting them to your website and having encouraged them to put a product in their shopping cart, you don’t want to then lose a customer at the checkout just because of poor checkout design. There are lots of ways in which an online checkout can be poorly designed. Below are 5 common website checkout mistakes that could result in you losing customers.
No guest checkout
The first mistake to avoid is not having a guest checkout option. Forcing customers to create an account before making a purchase does have its benefits – you can collect more information on each customer and use this to encourage return purchases. However, some online customers may be in a rush and may not have time to create an account or may not want to submit certain personal information. Having a fast guest checkout process can help you win over these customers who are in a hurry or who may not want to share certain details. This guest checkout option should only require customers to fill in the most necessary information in order to encourage them to commit to a sale.
Overcomplicated checkout process
Whether customers choose the guest checkout option or to make a customer account, it’s important to make sure that the checkout process isn’t too complicated, otherwise it will put people off. Avoid making customers have to trawl through multiple pages of information. You should also avoid poor UI choices like overly long drop down menus or unclear field labels. It’s worth looking into payment gateway API integration and finding a gateway that can be seamlessly added to your checkout process. Similarly, any form software you choose should be modern and robust.
Poor mobile optimisation
Given that most internet users nowadays are mobile users, it’s important to make sure that your website can be easily used on a mobile device. Signs of poor mobile optimisation include overly small text, menus/fields/buttons that are too small to click on or repeated crashing/refreshing. Make sure to use adaptive design so that your checkout process is usable for mobile users.
Lack of payment options
Providing a range of payment options can help you maximize your customers. Some websites only accept debit card payments and only accept certain currencies. If your website has a global customer base and sells products at a range of prices, it could be essential to allow credit card payments and payments in other currencies. You may even want to consider installment plans or finance options when selling higher value products. Some sites even allow customers to pay in Bitcoin.
Surprise additional fees
Before customers start the checkout process, they should have an accurate idea as to what the final price will be. Throwing in last minute shipping fees, packaging fees, tax fees, insurance fees or other surprise expenses could make customers feel deceived and put off those on a tight budget. Maintain transparency by allowing customers to see the full price from the moment they put an item in the shopping cart.
