We’ve all been there before - you've found your online shopping items and entered your delivery details, only to get to the payment section and abandon the entire cart. Maybe it was the shipping cost that you didn’t expect, or perhaps the merchant wanted you to create a new account - whatever it was, it made you jump ship immediately.
The way we shop has changed, and with e-commerce on the rise and online shopping becoming the ideal choice for more and more customers, merchants need to consider how they can improve their shopping cart experience to avoid cart abandonment. Checkout optimisation can increase conversions by around 35%, so it’s important to think about some of the ways you can streamline this experience for your customers.
Here are 5 ways you can create an easy and enjoyable checkout process for your customers and increase your conversion rates.
We all want options when it comes time to make a payment, so one way to move more customers across the line is to offer a number of different payment methods. Offering customers their preferred payment method is likely to increase the average order value and lessen the chance of cart abandonment.
Choosing which methods to make available will depend on your target customers and this could vary based on your region and what your customers use the most. Consider options like PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and buy-now-pay-later options like AfterPay to diversify your range of payment options.
The Pay By Link method might be more preferable and would be perfect when closing a sale that was started elsewhere, like over the phone, via email, or even using Facebook messenger. This option keeps the payment process running smoothly, and works particularly well for service businesses, where customers may want to pay in instalments, or it’s not feasible to simply add an item to the shopping cart.
Narrow down which options work best for your business and audience, and try new ones that you think might also hit the mark.
Offering a guest checkout option is a great way to streamline the shopping experience as it takes out some of the admin involved with online shopping. In fact, 24% of customers abandon their shopping cart because the merchant needed them to create an account.
Adding this to your checkout will encourage one-time shoppers, and eliminate the obstacle of creating an account to add unnecessary details.
More and more people are using their phones as their main device, and optimising for mobile devices is a sure-fire way of increasing your conversion rate. According to Barilliance, mobile abandonment is even higher than desktop at 85.65%, which is a huge loss of potential revenue.
Optimising your online checkout to make it more mobile-friendly means ensuring your eCommerce site is responsive across all devices in terms of functionality, as well as using graphic design elements that are easier to use on a smaller device, and minimising the number of steps needed to complete the purchase.
Incentivising customer loyalty and adding features to your checkout that show how much you value your shoppers is another effective way to increase conversions. One way to do this is simply by offering first-time customers the option of securely saving their payment details for later. This saves time and effort next time they visit your online store, and improves the chances of them coming back thanks to the easy process.
Gamifying your checkout solution is a great way to make shopping more fun and exciting - this could simply be adding a discount when a certain purchase value is reached, or even better, free gifts and loyalty points.
In some cases, it’s more beneficial to redirect your customers to a secure Hosted Payment Page (HPP) to complete their transactions. The shopping cart details, products and quantities can still be sent when using this method, maintaining full visibility into the purchase. Once the transaction is complete, the customer is redirected straight back to your website to finalise the process.
Verifone’s payment gateway is an ideal solution - not only is it ultra-secure, but it also allows you to match the theme of the payment page to your brand by customising it with your own logo and brand colours. This helps your customers to trust the purchasing environment and move confidently through the process without second-guessing.
With these 5 tips, you’ll be well on your way to optimising your online shopping cart and creating a streamlined and more enjoyable experience for your customers. Not only that, but you’ll also be able to increase your conversion rate and make the most of any potential revenue that may have previously fallen through the cracks.
If you’re keen to learn more about Verifone’s payment gateway and all of the shopping cart options available, head over to the page today.
Or if you'd like more advice on how to put some of these tips into action, contact the sales team using the button below!