10 proven tactics to increase checkout conversion rate and boost your sales
Cart abandonment rate
The efficiency of your checkout process is not just a component of your e-commerce strategy — it's the backbone. With statistics from 2023 revealing a staggering 70% cart abandonment rate, optimising your checkout conversion rate becomes critical. This article explores strategic enhancements to your checkout process that can significantly uplift your sales.
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Learn moreWhat is the checkout conversion rate?
The checkout conversion rate is a pivotal metric, denoting the percentage of customers who complete a purchase against the total number who added items to their cart. This figure reflects the efficacy of your checkout process — a high conversion rate implies a seamless, frictionless checkout experience. In contrast, a lower rate signals potential hurdles customers face during the final purchase stages.
Benchmarks and industry averages
Benchmarks for checkout conversion rates fluctuate across industries, yet a universal truth remains:
A rate lingering below 30% signifies a substantial opportunity for improvement.
Another essential metric directly related to your conversion rates is shopping cart abandonment. The Baymard Institute's comprehensive analysis underscores an average abandonment rate of nearly 70%, pointing to a widespread challenge across e-commerce platforms to retain customers through the final purchase phase.
How to calculate the checkout conversion rate?
The formula for calculating your checkout conversion rate is straightforward: divide the number of completed purchases by the total number of shopping carts created, then multiply by 100 to derive a percentage. This calculation offers a clear lens through which to view your checkout process's effectiveness, serving as a baseline for measuring the impact of any optimisations you implement.
Formula: (Completed Purchases ÷ Shopping Carts Created) × 100 = Conversion Rate %
Why the checkout experience is essential for the conversion rate?
For every online business, the usability of its website is the bedrock of its success. In this regard, it is crucial to think of a checkout page as the essential component of your website, which it truly is. However, some businesses still neglect it, resulting in consumers' frustration and lost sales.
Various studies confirm that more than half of consumers have experienced technical issues at the checkout page or abandoned a complicated payment process in the past. For merchants, it means an inevitable increase in the shopping cart abandonment rate.
How to increase the checkout conversion rate: 10 ways
Convey free shipping and free returns
One of the most cited reasons for cart abandonment is the added cost of shipping. A study by the National Retail Federation found that offering free shipping directly correlates with a reduction in cart abandonment rates. Moreover, a clear and lenient return policy can significantly diminish purchase hesitancy, thereby boosting conversion rates.
Best practices:
- Make your free shipping and returns policies visible throughout the customer journey, especially on product pages and within the checkout process.
- If free shipping is conditional upon reaching a certain order value, ensure this threshold is clearly communicated and consider adding a progress indicator in the cart.
- To alleviate purchase hesitancy, offer a straightforward, hassle-free returns process and clearly communicate this on your site.
Example: IKEA's approach to returns and shipping is a clear example. Their 365-day return policy for unopened products, hassle-free returns, and the 'Love it or exchange it' 90-day trial for mattresses reduce purchase hesitations, encouraging customers to complete transactions with the assurance that their satisfaction is a priority.
Simplify the checkout process
A complex or lengthy checkout process can deter customers from completing their purchases. Streamlining the checkout to remove unnecessary steps and asking for only essential information can reduce friction and improve the overall user experience.
Best practices:
- Review your checkout process and eliminate any unnecessary steps or fields. Aim for a balance between collecting essential information and maintaining simplicity.
- Implement a progress bar to visually indicate how many steps are left in the checkout process, setting clear expectations for the customer.
- Optimise form fields — use predictive input and autofill where possible to reduce the amount of typing required, speeding up the checkout process for the user.
Eliminate mandatory sign-ups
Forcing customers to create an account before they can make a purchase is a significant barrier that can lead to increased cart abandonment.
Best practices:
- Offer a guest checkout option alongside the option to create an account, making it as accessible as possible.
- Instead of forcing account creation, highlight the benefits (e.g., faster future checkouts, order tracking) to encourage customers to sign up voluntarily.
- If customers choose to create an account, make the process as seamless as possible, potentially allowing them to do so after completing their purchase.
Example: LEGO's checkout process exemplifies this approach. Customers are given the choice to continue as guests or to log in or register, which can streamline the process and reduce friction.
Enhance the mobile checkout experience
According to Statista, mobile sales reached $2.2 trillion in 2023 and now account for 60% of all e-commerce sales worldwide. It means optimising the mobile checkout experience is no longer optional — it's imperative.
Best practices:
- Implement responsive design. Ensure your checkout page automatically adjusts to fit the screen of any device, providing an optimal viewing experience across all platforms.
- Use digital wallets. Integrate payment options like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal, allowing users to complete their purchases with a single touch or click.
- Optimise form fields. Reduce the number of form fields and use autofill where possible to streamline the mobile checkout process.
Example: Sephora's mobile checkout offers plenty of payment options, including mobile wallets with quick payment flows. For those who prefer paying with a card, Sephora ensured autofill for card details fields, making the checkout process faster and more convenient.
Offer multiple payment methods
Providing a variety of payment options caters to different customer preferences and can significantly reduce cart abandonment.
Best practices:
- Research your target market to understand which payment methods are most popular in your region.
- Include traditional options like credit/debit cards alongside modern alternatives like digital wallets, buy now pay later, and bank transfers.
- Display payment method logos prominently to build trust and reassure customers about security.
Display trust signals and security badges
Building trust is crucial for online transactions. Displaying security badges, SSL certificates, and trust signals can reassure customers and reduce purchase hesitancy.
Best practices:
- Show SSL certificates and security badges prominently on your checkout page.
- Display customer reviews and ratings if available.
- Include clear privacy policies and terms of service links.
Optimise page loading speed
Slow-loading checkout pages can lead to frustration and cart abandonment. Ensuring fast page load times is essential for maintaining customer engagement.
Best practices:
- Optimise images and reduce file sizes.
- Minimize the use of heavy scripts and third-party tools.
- Use a content delivery network (CDN) to improve loading times globally.
Implement exit-intent popups
Exit-intent popups can capture customers who are about to leave and offer incentives to complete their purchase.
Best practices:
- Offer a discount or free shipping for completing the purchase.
- Keep the popup simple and non-intrusive.
- Test different offers to see what works best for your audience.
Show real-time inventory and urgency
Creating a sense of urgency can encourage customers to complete their purchase quickly.
Best practices:
- Display stock levels if inventory is limited.
- Show countdown timers for limited-time offers.
- Highlight items that are selling fast.
Provide clear order summary and total
Transparency in pricing is crucial. Customers want to see exactly what they're paying for, including all fees and taxes.
Best practices:
- Break down all costs clearly: subtotal, shipping, taxes, and total.
- Show itemized order details.
- Make the total amount prominent and easy to find.
Advanced strategies and techniques for conversion optimisation with InstaxPay
InstaxPay offers a suite of features designed to enhance checkout conversion rates, with clients observing an increase between 10-25%. This section delves into how our payment orchestration platform empowers businesses with advanced strategies and techniques for conversion optimisation, supported by illustrative client stories.
Instant and one-click payments
InstaxPay simplifies the checkout experience with instant and one-click payments, eliminating the need for returning customers to re-enter their payment details. This convenience significantly reduces checkout time, a key factor in boosting conversion rates, as it aligns with the modern consumer's expectation for speed and efficiency.
Custom payment routing strategy and cascading schemes
InstaxPay enables the creation of tailored routing and cascading strategies that consider a wide range of transaction parameters, from card issuer details to transaction amounts. This granularity in routing decisions ensures that each transaction is processed through the pathway with the highest likelihood of approval.
Our PSP client's journey from a 56.2% conversion rate to an impressive 85.1% within a year underscores the power of a meticulously crafted routing strategy, combined with cascading and UX improvements, in achieving significant conversion rate growth.
Card bindings for higher acceptance rates
The card binding feature offered by InstaxPay significantly enhances payment acceptance rates by optimising transaction flows based on historical success. By binding a customer's card to the Merchant ID (MID) that previously processed a successful transaction, subsequent payments are streamlined, leading to improved approval rates.
Payment team as a service
Payment team as a service is how we refer to the payment guidance and support we provide to our clients. Based on our payment expertise, we perform tasks varying from daily operations to forming feature requests, solving issues with providers, developing payment expansion strategies, and more.
Here's a brief recap of a case that illustrates our capacity to pinpoint and resolve intricate problems, leading to substantial conversion rate improvements: a major PSP client faced a dismal 14% conversion rate with Google Pay due to issues in the provider's interaction with the issuer. InstaxPay's intervention rectified these issues and boosted the conversion rate to 84% after implementing recommended adjustments.
Proactive monitoring with InstaxPay's Dashboard
By providing a comprehensive overview of transaction data, our Dashboard enables businesses to identify and address inefficiencies within their payment processes, allowing for continuous optimisation based on real-time performance. This works especially well with the payment team as a service, when our Account Managers monitor clients' data to help them detect areas for improvement.
One example is the case of our ISO/MSP client. Their dedicated Account Manager noticed that transactions in a particular currency were unstable on their live graphs – the conversion was low due to many failed transactions. Together with the client, they analysed the transaction statuses and found the reason – they used only one payment provider for this currency, and this provider experienced downtimes. After connecting one more provider and configuring cascading rules, the number of failed transactions decreased.
Conclusion
Enhancing the checkout process is a multifaceted strategy that requires attention to detail, a deep understanding of customer behaviour, and continuous optimisation. By implementing the strategies outlined in this guide, e-commerce businesses can significantly improve their checkout conversion rates, leading to increased sales and customer satisfaction. The key is to start small, test continuously, and always keep the customer's experience at the forefront of your optimisation efforts.
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