OPTIMIZING YOUR CHECKOUT PAGE

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

CHECKOUT IMPORTANCE

The checkout page is one of the last steps in the sales process – and also one of the most important if you’re hoping to turn buyers into repeat customers.

This presentation will go over the five main areas to focus on if you want to optimize the checkout process.

THE FOCUS OF THE PAGEYour checkout page should be focused on exactly one thing: getting customers through the process and keeping them happy with the experience. There are several things you can do to improve the focus, including:

THE FOCUS OF THE PAGE• USING CALL TO ACTIONS:

Prompt the customer to move forward in the checkout process. Use a stand-out color, a positive shape (arrows going to the right are a popular choice), and keep it simple. The fewer words you’re using, the better.

THE FOCUS OF THE PAGE• REMOVING CLUTTER: If it’s not important for the checkout

process (or fixing something, like modifying the contents of the cart) then it doesn’t need to be on the checkout page. Stop advertising and just focus on providing the information the customer needs to know. Don’t be afraid to put information on multiple pages if it makes sense to do that.

ASSURING THE INFORMATIONPeople want assurance that they did the right thing when they’re checking out. This means:1. Telling Them Their Payment Options2. Avoiding Unexpected Variables3. Providing Safety Signs

ASSURING THE INFORMATION

• AVOID UNEXPECTED VARIABLES: All costs should be noted in the early part of the checkout process – customers don’t like to see added fees later on. Avoid those and perhaps even mention that there will be no further costs to them.

ASSURING THE INFORMATION• TELLING THEM THEIR PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Most sites prefer to use small, simple logos (PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, etc.) to clearly and quickly explain the payment options that customers have. When they see these, customers will know whether or not their preferred method is accepted.

ASSURING THE INFORMATION• PROVIDING SAFETY SIGNS:

Hacking is a real concern – buyers like it when they see assurances that their information is protected.

CLARIFYING THEIR PROGRESS

If buyers don’t know where they are in the buying process, you have a problem. They should always know how close they are to finishing the checkout process, and this can be easily accomplished by adding a simple progress bar at the top of the screen.

DEALING WITH TIMEIt's very important to ensure that your checkout page loads quickly. If someone's made the decision to buy, you want them to buy, and taking more than a few seconds to give them the option could result in them leaving to purchase a product elsewhere.

Also, consider increasing the amount of time that cookies will be saved on a given computer. Many customers won't buy a product right away - it could take a week or more for them to make a final decision. If many of your customers take days to buy, add a "Save It For Later" option that permanently saves the product to a list for easy access later. That list is one of the few things that you can (and, indeed, should) show on the checkout page before they make a payment.

SOCIAL CONNECTIONS

That's right, you may want to have some social proof on your checkout page - again, before someone enters the payment process. After that, there's no need to try and convince them. However, social connections can be distracting - focus on designing them so that they always provide visual guidance towards the form fields and anything else you want them to pay attention to.

SOCIAL CONNECTIONSGood choices for social connections include testimonials, notes of who else uses the product (especially if their names are recognizable), and exactly how many people have already purchased the product.

CLARIFYING THEIR PROGRESSYou should also take steps to clarify what products are in the shopping cart – images are particularly valuable here, along with text highlighting all relevant information (size, quantity, color, etc), as are in-line validation techniques that tells customers when each field has been filled in correctly.

This smooths the checkout process along and ultimately helps to improve conversion rates.

For more tips on ecommerce, business, marketing, and branding visit cortexcommerce.com