from Annika Fischer
8 ways to optimize eCommerce checkout flows in 2022
Discover eight ways your business can improve the checkout experience to combat cart abandonment, from leading e-commerce usability research.
Baymard’s research report, 8 ways to optimize eCommerce checkout flows in 2022, commissioned by Amazon Pay, identifies eight ways businesses can improve their checkout experiences to combat cart abandonment:
1. Have minimal password requirements
Suggest users create strong passwords, but don’t impose actual password requirements beyond a 6-character minimum. Use other security measures to lessen the need for technically strong passwords, and allow long, 20-plus-character passwords.
2. Use a single field for users’ full names
Have a single “Full Name” field, instead of using separate “Title”, “Suffix”, “First”, “Middle” and “Last Name” fields or options.
3. Explain why personal data is required
Don’t require users to provide personal information that isn’t strictly necessary to complete the checkout; in particular, phone, date of birth or gender. If necessary, always explain why the information is required and how it’s used.
4. Autofill address information from postcode
Autodetect city and state values after users have entered the last digit in their postcode, but be sure to always allow users to override the autodetected values.
5. Provide upfront delivery costs
Always show the individual costs for all options in the delivery interface upfront and in a comparable manner (i.e. within the selection interface itself).
6. Visually emphasise payment security
Visually reinforce the credit card fields with unique styling. In particular consider visual encapsulation of the payment fields, along with one or more of the well-known site seals.
7. Let users edit data in the review step
Allow users to edit information directly at the review step via in-line form fields or page overlays.
8. Have account creation until the end
Save account creation for the confirmation step and make it easy to create an account by only having users fill out a “Password” field. Inform users choosing the guest checkout flow (e.g. at the account-selection step) that they’ll have an option to create an account after placing the order.
If you’re interested in the full report, you can download it here.