How to Optimize Your eCommerce Checkout Process
Do you want to optimize the eCommerce checkout process on your WordPress site?
A smooth and seamless checkout experience is critical for converting visitors into customers. A lengthy, complicated checkout process can lead to shopping cart abandonment, frustration, and ultimately lost revenue.
Fortunately, there are simple steps to create a more user-friendly checkout page on your eCommerce website.
🔎 In this article, I’ll cover:
Why Optimize Your eCommerce Checkout?
You spend a lot of time and energy building an attractive and functional eCommerce store filled with high-quality products.
But if your WordPress checkout page is confusing or filled with time-consuming and unnecessary fields, it creates friction and complexity. This results in cart abandonment and customer dissatisfaction.
On the other hand, a successful checkout flow is one that is quick, easy, and secure, allowing customers to complete their purchases without unnecessary obstacles.
The more straightforward and convenient your checkout process, the more likely customers are to complete their transactions and return for future purchases.
Checkout page optimization can bridge the gap between interest and purchase. You can use it to foster trust, reduce bounce and cart abandonment rates, and boost conversions.
Best eCommerce Checkout Optimization Tips
Checkout optimization isn’t overly complicated. You just need to know which aspects to focus on. Let’s explore some of the best ways to optimize your eCommerce checkout process in WordPress.
1. Create a One-Page Checkout
One of the best ways to optimize your eCommerce checkout process is to make it a single page.
An online store with a one-page checkout provides a more intuitive and user-friendly experience, encouraging customers to complete their purchases quickly.
Some eCommerce plugins, like Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) and WooCommerce, let you create and customize a checkout page out of the box.
But you can also install a page builder plugin such as SeedProd:
SeedProd comes with a drag-and-drop editor and templates so you can tailor the checkout page with ease. It’s beginner-friendly and comes with blocks for effortless integration with both Easy Digital Downloads and WooCommerce.
If you have a multi-step checkout, it’s smart to use visual cues and indicators. Elements like a progress bar inform users of the number of steps remaining in the checkout process:
The increased transparency can curb impatience while maintaining engagement.
2. Minimize Checkout Form Fields
When it comes to an optimized checkout, conciseness is key.
Minimize form fields and steps to completion as much as possible. Too many fields may overwhelm customers, whereas simplifying the checkout form reduces user effort.
Only ask (or at least require) essential information. The form fields to include depends on your business. For instance, if you ship products, you’ll need a user’s shipping address.
I recommend an extension like Checkout Fields Manager to add conditional logic to checkout form fields. You can create dynamic forms with rules and conditions that adapt the fields based on the user’s input. It’s an excellent way to tailor forms for different types of customers.
Another strategy is to enable autofill functionality on checkout forms to help customers enter their information quickly and accurately.
You can leverage geolocation IP detection on your checkout page:
GeoIP detection auto-detects users’ locations and fills in the billing ZIP/postal code on checkout forms so they don’t have to.
3. Offer Multiple Payment Options
One of the most effective ways to optimize your eCommerce checkout is to offer multiple payment options. This increases the chances that your customers will be able to use their preferred payment method.
EDD integrates seamlessly with most popular gateways, including both the standard and advanced versions of Stripe and PayPal.
My preferred payment gateway and the one I recommend to most online sellers is Stripe Pro. Stripe lets you accept online payments via debit and credit cards as well as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other digital wallets.
The Link feature lets users save their payment details. It eliminates the need to manually enter credit card details for each purchase.
Some gateways, like PayPal Commerce Pro/Express, support one-click payments to help expedite the checkout process.
Amazon’s “Buy With 1-Click” feature is an excellent example of how effective this strategy can be.
Rather than going to a separate cart page before checkout, users can simply swipe the one-click option to complete the transaction directly on the product page.
💡 Check out these guides to learn more about eCommerce payment gateways:
4. Clearly Communicate Fees & Policies
In 2023, nearly 67% of U.S. shoppers abandoned online purchases at checkout due to both extra-high and unforeseen costs, such as shipping, fees, and taxes.
Being clear and upfront about this information as soon as possible boosts transparency, increases trust, and reduces abandonment rates.
Be sure to include pricing information on your product pages, including any applicable tax.
Easy Digital Downloads let you add automatic tax calculations for free. You can enter and display product prices inclusive or exclusive of tax:
If you sell physical products on a WooCommerce site, you can optimize your WooCommerce checkout page by clearly displaying shipping costs and options, estimated delivery dates, and any applicable fees.
Some payment gateways (like EDD’s Stripe Pro) let you eliminate transaction fees. Others enable merchants to pass credit card fees onto customers. Regardless of the pricing model you choose, be sure your customers know what to expect before they reach the final stage of checkout.
Also, provide clear and straightforward info about return and refund policies, terms of service, and privacy policies. To keep product pages clean and uncluttered, link out to separate FAQs sections or pages.
5. Use a Reliable eCommerce Plugin
When it comes to optimizing your checkout—as with any page on your website—speed matters. Loading times affect everything from your site’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and user experience to engagement and conversion rates.
That’s why you should choose a reputable WordPress hosting provider that guarantees speed and security. For digital online stores, I recommend SiteGround’s Managed EDD Hosting:
The same goes for your WordPress eCommerce or checkout plugin. The Easy Digital Downloads and WooCommerce plugins are both lightweight yet robust tools that help optimize all aspects of the customer’s journey.
6. Optimize the Checkout Page for Mobile
With a huge portion of today’s online shopping happening on smartphones and mobile devices, a mobile-friendly checkout is essential. A poorly designed or clunky checkout process can lead to frustration and cart abandonment.
To ensure a seamless experience across all devices, implement a responsive design with flexible layouts optimized for touch interactions. There are tons of WordPress eCommerce themes to choose from, including both free and paid options.
This is another instance of why it’s vital to keep your checkout concise. Avoid unnecessary fields or elements that clutter the screen and hinder the checkout process.
Make the tappable buttons and form fields large enough for users to easily interact with on mobile devices. Avoid small or tightly spaced elements that could lead to accidental clicks or errors.
Preview and test the mobile version of your site on your own device. You can also use a performance-testing tool such as Google PageSpeed Insights:
Simply enter your site’s URL and select Analyze. Then you can view the performance score, key metrics, and suggestions for improvement for both the mobile and desktop versions.
7. Allow Guest Checkout
Guest checkout lets customers complete their purchases without creating an account. For many shoppers, this is important. In 2023, a quarter of U.S. shoppers abandoned checkouts because they were asked to create an account.
Reducing steps expedites the checkout process, making it faster and more convenient, especially for first-time buyers. It can also encourage impulse buys.
There are cases where guest checkout may not be the best option, like if you have a membership site and sell subscriptions with recurring payments. Plus, limiting downloads to logged-in users can help you boost security, gather valuable marketing data, encourage upsells, and track customer behavior.
That said, with plugins like Easy Digital Downloads, you can both enable guest checkout and make it easy to auto-register users at checkout.
8. Display Trust Badges
Successful eCommerce checkouts establish trust with shoppers. No one wants to hand credit card details over to a site that looks sketchy or untrustworthy.
Display trust badges from reputable organizations to help establish credibility and highlight the security of your eCommerce site.
A Secure-Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate is a must. Many WordPress hosts, including SiteGround, include them for free with plans.
If possible, add seals demonstrating that you’re a verified or trusted partner with your chosen payment processor:
Other trust certifications and badges to consider are Norton Secured, McAfee Secure, and BBB Accredited Business.
9. Send Cart Recovery Emails
Abandoned cart emails are a powerful tool for recovering lost sales and optimizing the eCommerce checkout experience. They serve as gentle reminders to customers who leave items in their carts without completing the purchase.
Easy Digital Downloads makes it easy to send automated eCommerce emails as well as personalized cart recovery emails that address potential concerns or obstacles. With tons of email marketing service integrations, you can easily re-engage shoppers with discounts and other incentives.
Another option is to use exit-intent popups to capture the attention of users who are about to leave your site in real-time:
This provides one last opportunity to present compelling CTAs to improve conversion rates.
Best WordPress eCommerce Checkout Tools
Implementing any of the above tips and best practices is significantly easier with the right tools.
The best checkout optimization plugins to use depend on a few factors, like your eCommerce business and platform.
For instance, retailers selling physical goods via WooCommerce likely need to include shipping address fields on checkout forms. For digital sellers using Easy Digital Downloads, this probably isn’t necessary.
That said, I’ve compiled a list of some of the best WordPress tools for optimizing the checkout process. I’ll start with those aimed at Easy Digital Downloads users, then cover some more general WordPress options.
Easy Digital Downloads Extensions
Easy Digital Downloads offers a wide range of both built-in tools and add-ons you can use to optimize the checkout experience. The ones you have access to may vary depending on your plan. Learn more about EDD Free vs Pro.
For full access to our all EDD premium extensions, I recommend upgrading to an All Access Pass.
Earlier I mentioned two of the best payment gateways for eCommerce, which are also available as EDD extensions: Stripe Pro Payment Gateway and PayPal Commerce Pro. These powerful tools can optimize your checkout process to be fast, secure, and convenient.
Beyond payment gateways though, here are a few useful EDD extensions worth exploring.
Checkout Fields Manager
This EDD extension offers complete control over the checkout form, letting you add, remove, or customize form fields to collect information. You can set requirements for specific fields, ensuring that customers provide essential details for order fulfillment.
There are tons of conditional logic form fields to choose from. This flexibility helps you streamline the checkout process and gather relevant data without overwhelming customers with unnecessary fields.
Add to Cart Popup
This extension eliminates the need for customers to navigate back to the product page to add items to their cart. Instead, when they click the Add to Cart button, it displays a popup. The popup allows them to quickly view their cart contents and proceed to checkout.
EDD Cross-Sell and Upsell
Selling doesn’t have to end once your shoppers reach the checkout page. EDD’s Cross-sell & Upsell extension intelligently suggests relevant products to customers during the checkout process, increasing the average order value and boosting sales.
It analyzes the shopper’s current cart items and recommends complementary products that align with their interests. This targeted approach enhances the customer experience while generating additional revenue for your eCommerce store.
Additional Checkout Optimization Plugins
Whether or not you use Easy Digital Downloads to power your online store, there are a handful of additional WordPress plugins that can help with eCommerce checkout optimization.
- WPForms: This leading form builder plugin can help you build user-friendly forms for your site, including the checkout page. It provides a variety of customizable form templates and features for enhancing your forms, such as payment gateways and promotional codes.
- OptinMonster: OptinMonster offers a suite of tools designed to increase conversion rates and reduce cart abandonment. This includes Exit-Intent technology, A/B testing, geo-location targeting, & more. It works with all major eCommerce platforms, including Easy Digital Downloads, WooCommerce, & Shopify.
- SeedProd: This feature-packed landing page builder for WordPress lets you effortlessly create and customize high-converting checkout pages without any coding.
- WP Simple Pay: This freemium Stripe payment plugin is ideal if you don’t want a full shopping cart system as you get with Easy Digital Downloads or WooCommerce. You can use it to add. a simple payment form and accept one-time payments and donations.
Looking for checkout optimization plugins for a WooCommerce store? There are a plethora to choose from.
Some of the most popular include WooCommerce Checkout Manager, CartFlows, and WooCommerce Cart Abandonment Recovery.
FAQs About Optimizing eCommerce Checkout
Let’s wrap up with some frequently asked questions about optimizing the eCommerce checkout process in WordPress.
How can I measure the effectiveness of my checkout process?
Use analytics tools to track checkout conversion rates, abandonment rates, and average order value. This data can help you identify areas for improvement. I recommend MonsterInsights, the #1 Google Analytics WordPress plugin.
How do I make my eCommerce checkout faster?
Use a reliable and reputable hosting provider that guarantees speed and fast loading times. Make your checkout process as simple and concise as possible. Only ask for necessary information and make it easy to navigate from mobile devices.
Improve eCommerce Checkout With EDD
Creating an optimal eCommerce checkout process is essential for online selling success. By leveraging the flexibility and power of Easy Digital Downloads and other useful WordPress extensions, you can easily establish a simple, seamless checkout experience for your shoppers.
Don’t have Easy Digital Downloads yet? Grab a pass to get started!
Want more ways to drive traffic and conversions on your site? Learn how to use social media to increase online sales!
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