The Perfect Checkout

The latest issue of Catalog Success magazine includes an article by Amy Africa, an expert in ecommerce strategy. 5 Steps to the Perfect Checkout is a solid summary of ecommerce principles which, if implemented, will minimize abandoned carts and thus increase conversion.

While much of what she shares has been said before, there were some jewels of information which made me sit up and take notice:

• Before building a one-step checkout, start with a more traditional five-step checkout to identify the sources of cart abandonment. I might add, if you currently have a four- or five-step checkout and are considering moving to a one-step checkout, make sure to mine all available data to get an idea of where your potential customers have historically abandoned your shopping cart.
• Too many alternate payment options can increase abandoned carts. This was an eye-opener for me because multiple payments is currently all the rage. It makes sense though. Many ecommerce strategists have, for example, said that too many choices on the home page can lead to confusion for your customers. Why wouldn’t the same principle apply during the checkout process?
• It is important to include your phone number in your checkout pages. While we are fond of the idea that the web should replace the call center, including your phone number in your checkout pages is actually a hedge against abandoned carts. If your potential customer wants to call you while they are in the midst of the checkout process, it’s because they are having a problem and are on the verge of abandoning the order.

Those were just three of the jewels I found. I would encourage you to read the entire article.

Next Steps:
Subscribe To Comments Feed For This Article
Print This Article
Bookmark/Share

<< Back to main