The checkout point of a sales process is where visitors or casual browsers become buyers or paying customers. At this point, nothing should stop the customer from making a sale and leaving satisfied that they have made one of the best purchases of their lives. Sadly, this is not always the case.
Some e-commerce websites have made their checkout process so frustrating and slow that customers simply abandon their carts and move to another site to see if they offer the same products, but with less of the checking out hassle. Your checkout funnel, that last stage of the sales process, could end up losing you the conversions and revenue you need. The most important aspect of any business is its customers, for without them, the business wouldn’t exist.
Your checkout page should be structured in such a way that the customers are able to pay for what they have ordered, pick their delivery method, and sit back to wait for their order to arrive.
A checkout funnel should take only a few seconds, not endless minutes. These four tips will guide you on how to streamline your checkout process to keep your customers happy and increase your conversion rate.
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Provide a Variety of Payment Options
True, you cannot have all the payment methods there are in the world on your checkout page. It is not practical and doesn’t make much sense. However, you can have the payment options that are most uses by your customers so as to give them the variety they want and expect.
Even if you might not think that different payment options are necessary, your customers do, and, in business, the customer is always right. You may have some international customers who do not have PayPal support in their regions. Gather information about the payment methods your target audience uses when checking out, and set them up on your checkout page. Customers can have the option to pay via bank transfer, MasterCard, or Visa card. Giving them more options reduces their chances of leaving your page, and increases your chances of getting more conversions.
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Redirecting People Will Lose You Business
Why would you try so hard to get customers, convince them to buy from you, then redirect them to another page before they can pay and checkout? When this happens, the first thing some customers will say is “you are not serious” and that is the end of that. You are not going to see them again for a long time.
Some payment methods require this process, though. Once a customer clicks on them, they have to be redirected to that payment service’s page before they can make a payment for their order. This is a frustrating process that makes customers leave and look for that website that has less red tapes.
Try to set up payment options that will not lead customers away from your page, but will allow them to make their payments on that same page and checkout. The only time customers should be leaving your site is after they have checked out: not before, not during, but after.
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Minimise Distractions on the Checkout Page: Do not Advertise on It
You are out to make a profit, but that doesn’t mean that you should bombard your customers with offers of the products you had available on sale.
Checking out is the end of the sales process. You have made your pitch, they have seen it, they are interested, and now they want to place an order. When they are on their way to pay for their order, suddenly they see an ad, and then they click on the ad to see what they are all about, and right there is how you have not completed a sale.
There should be no ads on the checkout page, neither should there be any jarring differences between the checkout of and the rest of your website. A bar at the top of the page showing customers their progress from adding to cart to checking out helps to streamline their purchasing process, and keeps them in a straight line from start to finish. No distractions should break up their focus on making a purchasing from you.
Your checkout funnel should be seamless, painless, and straightforward. The page design, colour, and background should be similar to that of the product page and the home page, to show consistency and convince the customers that they are still buying from the same person. Your conversions will increase with how easy it is to check out from your online store.
