Abandoned carts can be one of the most frustrating parts of running an ecommerce store. You’ve worked so hard to attract your customers and move them through your sales funnel, only to watch them walk away in the ninth inning. But there’s good news: because of the work you’ve already put in with your customer, simple adjustments to your checkout page can have a major impact on your bottom line. In fact, Studies show that ecommerce sites can gain a 35.26% increase in conversion rate through better checkout design.

1. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify.  

The more time it takes a customer to navigate a complicated checkout process, the more time they have to rethink their purchase. Extra information isn’t your friend at this stage; request only what’s necessary for getting your customer’s purchase to them exactly as they’d like it. Take a look at this example of a clean checkout page below: 

This is the checkout page for Lili Alessandra, a high-end bedding store and Grow With Studio client. Notice how the page makes the checkout experience as clean and easy as possible through the following elements: 

• One-page checkout: The user doesn’t have to click through multiple pages to complete their purchase. 
• Essential fields only: Only the information that’s essential for completing the purchase is requested. 
• No overwhelming design elements: If there was ever a time for whitespace to shine, it’s here! 
• One prominent CTA: Additional CTAs would be confusing on this page, and the prominence helps establish a clear sense of flow with a final step. 

2. Display Security/Trust Seals

A Baymard study revealed that 17% of users have abandoned their checkout during the last three months because they “didn’t trust the site with their credit card information.” Give your shoppers peace of mind using site-wide icons or seals that communicate your site’s security to the customer. According to Baymard, The badges that establish the most trust are Norton, Google and BBB. 

3. Allow Guest Checkout

From a checkout standpoint, user accounts aren’t an inherently bad idea. Allowing your customer to create one can massively simplify their checkout process the next time they shop with you, in addition to letting them have a more personalized relationship  with your brand. However, requiring registration interrupts the shopping process. One Baymard study found that 28% of shoppers who abandoned their carts did so because they had to create an account. Make sure the path to purchase is as clear as possible by letting your customers skip the extra step. 

4. Prioritize Mobile-Friendly Checkout

By 2021, mobile ecommerce sales are expected to account for 54% of total ecommerce sales. As you audit your website’s checkout process, don’t forget to make sure it looks and works great across every device. Use a cross-browser testing tool like BrowserStack to run through the checkout process across browsers and devices. Better still, pick up your phone and make a test purchase. It’s a great idea to do this in general, but if you notice a big difference between your desktop and mobile bounce rate or abandoned carts, make it a necessity. 

5. Offer a Variety of Payment Options

Offer every payment option your customers need, including: 

• Mastercard, Visa, AmericanExpress and other major credit cards 
• Amazon Pay, Google Pay, Paypal and other digital wallets 

While the latter may feel like icing on the cake (considering everyone has a credit card to use), it’s actually an important addition. Digital wallets streamline and simplify the checkout process because the user’s payment information and shipping address is already stored. That’s a major plus for customers who are looking for convenience. 

It’s not too late to make a quick last-minute audit of your store’s checkout process before the holiday traffic hits. A few easy adjustments can make a huge difference!