Get someone else to fully test the checkout process

It is very easy to get too involved when building a website. You know how it works and where everything is. Get someone who is not involved to test the checkout process. The best person is someone who has little or no knowledge of how shopping carts are built. Also someone who has bought online before but doesn't do it very often is a good idea. Remember there are many people out there that have never bought online before. The last thing you want it to alienate any potential customers

Just like high street shop ques, online checkouts aren’t much fun either, especially when you have no idea how many steps are ahead of you. When a customer decides to checkout from your online store, let them know how many steps there are

Keep the checkout flow consistent

When designing your online store, your imagination is the limit. And while a funky and hip online store may be exactly what your target market is looking for, it’s important not to let your creativity go wild when designing your checkout flow.

Now that online shopping has been a fixture of our economy for nearly 10 years, online shoppers have come to expect a certain order to the checkout process. They love predictability.

Avoid clutter

One of your top priorities as a retail merchant is providing fast service to your customers. Shoppers want to be able to get in and out of your online store as quickly as possible, with no interruptions, distractions, or obstacles

Think about your local shop. If you’re in a rush, and you just want to pick up a few items, is it easy to get in and out with minimal hassle? Or does it feel like you’re trying to steer your way through an obstacle course? Are there stores in your neighborhood that you deliberately avoid because they’re too dense and too crowded?

Be specific when requesting information

When collecting information from a shopper, be specific, and avoid ambiguity. If there’s any possibility that your customers won’t understand what you’re asking for, an explanation and instructions is necessary

Justify your request for personal information

When asking your customers for personal information they may not want to divulge, such as an email address or a telephone number, explain why you need the information. Shoppers are much more likely to share information with you if give them a reason for the request.

Give customers the option to check out as a guest

Many online stores require customers to create an account before they can complete a purchase. From a customer’s perspective, the benefits of having an account are numerous. Once a customer has registered, his shipping addresses, credit card information, and other shopping preferences can be stored on your website, facilitating faster checkout on each subsequent visit to your online store.

While the convenience sounds attractive, studies have shown that mandatory accounts are a big turnoff to shoppers, so much so that many customers would rather abandon a purchase than spend the time filling out even a short registration form, especially if it requires they give up personal information.

Prepare customers for delivery and VAT charges

It’s always an unpleasant surprise when you make a purchase in a shop and the tally on the till is more than you anticipated. On the Internet, the shock is typically compounded by the shipping and VAT charges, which can sometimes take a shopper’s breath away.

To keep your customers from revolting, or worse, taking their business elsewhere, keep your shipping and handling fees as low as economically possible. They should also be similar to what your competitors are charging. Online shoppers are notorious for comparison shopping and if you overcharge for shipping, you’ll eventually find yourself losing customers.

With regards to VAT you must now include this is the price. According to the DTi you can no longer show it separately. This is great for shoppers, however it can be a pain for a merchant if they use the site as a way to organise VAT

Tell customers when you’re not going to charge them

Online shoppers frequently withhold a purchase decision until the very last minute. Naturally, they want to gather as much information as possible before making a “buy” or “no buy” decision. Since shipping charges and taxes are often invisible until midway through the checkout process, it’s very common for undecided customers to begin checking out, simply as a means of gathering information on pricing or shipping.

Try and anticipate your customers’ fears. With this in mind, choose the words on your navigational buttons very carefully. Use terms like “Continue” or “Next Step” in the middle of the checkout process and “Order” or “Pay” or “Confirm Purchase” at the final step. Don’t use a word like “Submit” in the middle of the checkout flow – it suggests finality, or a charge to the customer’s credit card – and it may cause a customer to be apprehensive about continuing.

Throughout the checkout process, simple messages like, “Your credit card will not be charged yet” will build trust and prevent your undecided shoppers from abandoning their purchases.

Allow customers to save their shopping carts or use 24 hour baskets

Have you ever been in a supermarket and seen a shopping trolley full of food sitting unattended in an aisle? It’s a common sight. Has the customer left or did he walk over to another aisle to pick something up? Will he return?

Online, abandoned shopping carts are a persistent problem. E-commerce merchants have been studying the phenomenon for years and the results are enlightening, even encouraging. Just as in the real world, we know that online shoppers love to browse and comparison shop.

Creating the ability for a merchant to come back and find that their shopping basket is still available is a great incentive to get them to purchase from you. They can even end up buying more from you this way, as they may have forgotten what they originally added to the basket, so therefore may forget to add it second time around. However if it is still there from the first visit they will normally pay for it

Use clear, non technical language

When shoppers are completing a transaction on your online store, it’s important they know their purchases are secure. But don’t use technical language to reassure your customers. A phrase like “We use SSL Encryption to secure your purchase” may sound impressive, but the meaning of this type of encryption will be lost on the average online shopper. A simple, straightforward message like “This page is secure” with a link to more information is much more helpful.

Display contact information and store policies throughout the checkout process

When shopping online, there is no cashier, so customers generally have to rely on whatever information they can find on the website. During every step of your checkout process, customers should have quick and easy access to your store’s return policy, privacy policy, and any other important information that may influence their decision to do business with you. You should also have your store’s contact information (e.g. a telephone number) displayed throughout the checkout process, so a customer with a last-minute question can get a quick answer.

Avoid “dead ends”

As indicated above, it’s a good idea to display links to privacy policies, refund policies, and other customer service information throughout the checkout process. If a customer clicks any of these links, make sure there is a highly visible button the customer can press to return to his shopping cart. I’ve come across many online stores that take customers to “dead ends” – pages without a link back to the customer’s shopping cart. These dead ends are guaranteed to frustrate customers – and cost you business.

Make sure customers can return to the checkout

As customers proceed throughout your checkout screens, they may want to return to the shopping aisles of your online store, perhaps to look at another product or deliberate the purchase a bit longer. To prevent customers from doing this, some merchants have designed their checkout screens so there are few or no external links. I don’t advocate this approach, since it’s tantamount to holding the customer hostage in the checkout aisle. It may also force a customer to use his browser’s “Back” button to return to a previous screen. This action frequently results in a browser error, and the loss of customer data.

Provide a receipt or email confirmation

Once a customer has confirmed an order and the transaction has been processed, provide the customer with a receipt summarizing the purchase. Make sure you include your return policy on the receipt, and provide your contact information (both telephone and email) and office hours in the event the customer needs to contact you. You should display the receipt on the screen, but also send a duplicate copy to the customer by email. This will confirm that you received the order and reduce the likelihood of a chargeback from the customer.

We frequently come across online stores that display a receipt on the screen and say “Please print this receipt for your records.” This is frustrating to shoppers who don’t have a printer handy, so make sure that you email a copy of the receipt as well.

Remind customers of abandoned purchases

How many times have you started to write an email and then failed to complete or send it because you became distracted? It’s just as easy for a customer to become distracted while shopping online.

There are a variety of reasons why a customer might forget to finish making an online purchase. For example, maybe the customer’s phone rang or dinner was ready. Some online merchants will contact customers who have jettisoned their shopping carts, in the hope of luring them back to complete their purchases. This is only possible, of course, if a customer has identified himself to you, either before shopping by logging in with a user-id and password, or during the checkout phase, if the customer got that far before abandoning the purchase.

Test your online store again and again

As mentioned before. test it again and again. Have your family members and friends make purchases on your website as if they were customers. Watch them carefully and make note of any problem areas. Ask your testers to identify areas on your online store where they became confused or had trouble. Solicit suggestions from your friends to make the shopping experience better for your customers.

It’s never too late to run usability tests on your website. If your website is already live, you can still invite friends and relatives to shop, make a purchase, and critique the experience. This is the best way to undercover flaws and weaknesses that you didn’t notice yourself.

Invest in your loyal and returning customers

Finally, when it comes to reducing shopping cart abandonment and improving customer satisfaction, don’t fall into the trap of forgetting to see the forest for the trees.