{"id":8999,"date":"2022-01-10T16:43:49","date_gmt":"2022-01-10T16:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.realjossy.com\/?p=8999"},"modified":"2023-10-23T11:30:34","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T11:30:34","slug":"12-tips-for-designing-an-excellent-checkout-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realjossy.com\/blog\/12-tips-for-designing-an-excellent-checkout-process\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Tips for Designing an Excellent Checkout Process"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Shopping online can be a great experience. You don\u2019t have to leave the comfort of your home and you can quickly compare and read about all the competing products in order to pick the best one for you. But it can also be a little frustrating if the process isn\u2019t designed correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking around for that checkout link, having to fill out registration forms and then being told the product is out of stock isn\u2019t going to make your day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spend a little bit of time fine-tuning your checkout process and polishing off the user experience and you\u2019ll be rewarded with happier customers and more sales. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are 12 useful tips to help you do just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t require registration to shop<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your customers are here to shop, not to fill out forms. Make sure that the registration is done during the checkout process and not before. and certainly not before a visitor places goods into their shopping basket. Signup forms are barriers because they take effort and time to fill in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inform customers if the item is available<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Be clear about the availability of the items and inform your customers about the stock levels. If an item isn\u2019t available, don\u2019t make your potential customer go through several steps just for them to discover that they can\u2019t actually buy it right away. Don\u2019t just display stock levels on product pages either, show them right on the search results page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, if an item is out of stock, but will be available at a later date, offer a pre-order option so those people who aren\u2019t worried about getting it right away can still make the purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also Read: 5 Universal Principles For Successful E-Commerce Websites<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allow your customers to easily modify the order<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Everyone makes mistakes. People put the wrong goods into their shopping basket or change their minds. By making things easy to modify, you make sure you don\u2019t frustrate your potential customers during the checkout process by making things easy to modify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make sure to provide simple controls to change the quantity of an item or remove it. If someone wants to remove an item or items from their cart, don\u2019t force them to enter the zero amount; instead, provide a \u201cremove\u201d link that will delete a product from the cart and ensure order modification is quick and easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provide users with real-time-support<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since the checkout process requires the user\u2019s input, it is very likely to assume that many users might experience problems. caused by any misunderstandings or some particular needs or interests that can not be easily defined using the available web interface. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these situations, it may be crucial to provide users with professional, personal assistance instead of sending them to large help, or FAQ pages that may not have the solution to the user\u2019s problem. And, of course, if users don\u2019t get the help they need and have doubts about the whole thing, they are very likely to cancel the checkout process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore it\u2019s a good idea to add a chat- or telephone assistance for the checkout process. Not every company can afford it, but middle and larger companies may want to consider this option, particularly if the checkout process is more involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep the \u2018Back\u2019 bu!on fully functional<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The back button is one of the most used buttons in a web browser, so you can be sure some people are going to employ it during the checkout process on your site. Some sites disable the functionality of the Back button-through automatic redirects or error messages, which is sure to negatively affect the visitor\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only should the back button lead to the previous page without encountering any errors, but you should also save the user\u2019s data so that it is displayed again if it\u2019s a form. This allows people to make adjustments and carry on without having to re-fill the whole form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, sometimes it\u2019s too late to go back, like after clicking that last \u2018Complete order\u2019 button, but by ensuring that all the other pages get along with the Back button you can deliver a better user experience to your customers by saving them time and frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also Read: How To Create A Website on WordPress<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provide photos, specifications and links for the items in the basket<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your customers will need to review their basket before clicking that final button that will complete their order to ensure they\u2019ve actually got what they came here for. Item titles alone aren\u2019t the best method for helping your visitors to quickly scan over the basket, so make sure to add pictures and product specifications \u2014 e.g. size, colour, hardback or paperback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provide a progress indicator<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Checking out is usually a multi-step process. This means the customer will have to navigate several pages before the order is complete. To make this process usable be sure to add a progress indicator that says exactly at what stage of the checkout process the customer is right now and how long there is left to go. i.e. list all the steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing where you are in the topography of the site or process will give your users a sense of control, which is important from a usability perspective. Also, knowing what stages are yet to come will eliminate any confusion. i.e. they will know when they get to the last step. This will make it easier to click through as you know you can still modify or cancel
the order at any of the stages before that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep the checkout interface simple<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The checkout process is different to the rest of the browsing experience on your site. During this process, your customers aren\u2019t shopping. they\u2019re making the purchase. This means all the browsing controls are redundant here and would only distract your customers from the task at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The checkout process is different to the rest of the browsing experience on your site. During this process, your customers aren\u2019t shopping. they\u2019re making the purchase. This means all the browsing controls are redundant here and would only distract your customers from the task at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eliminate these unnecessary elements. e.g. product category links, top products, latest offers, and so on. to keep the interface simple. Provide a \u201creturn to shopping\u201d link in case the customer wants to go back and buy something else. Additionally, ensure all the buttons that point to the next step in the process are large and prominent so they\u2019re not missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t take the user out of the checkout process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s essential that the checkout process isn\u2019t disrupted, for example, by taking the customer to a different page. Taking the user out of the process can cause two problems: <\/p>\n\n\n\n