Guide: 5 Keys to a Stellar Checkout Experience

The global eCommerce shopping cart abandonment rate currently rests at more than 70%, according to Statista. Sure, there are many reasons why consumers abandon their carts. Sometimes, they decide the final cost (including taxes, delivery fees, etc.) is too high for their budget. Or maybe the shipping time is too long and they have a specific deadline in mind.

But in many cases, abandonment rates are tied to how seamless the eCommerce experience is—especially the checkout experience.

According to a new study from Future Commerce and BigCommerce, 91% of consumers indicated that they would think less of a brand if their site is difficult to use. For many consumers, especially mobile-native ones (97%), the checkout experience is central to your brand promise, and a make-or-break part of your shopping journey.

If your checkout experience doesn’t give consumers the speed and flexibility they now expect, the likelihood that they’ll abandon their cart—and your brand—forever is exceptionally high.

Our newest research indicates that there are five key things that every eCommerce site needs to provide a stellar checkout experience.

How does your site stack up?

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1. Mobile Wallet Capabilities 

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Mobile eCommerce sales in the U.S. are expected to reach $647.95 billion in 2025 and $856.38 billion by the end of 2027, according to Statista. On a global scale, mobile commerce is predicted to make up 62% of total eCommerce sales within the same time.

It’s not surprising that consumers want eCommerce experiences to be not just adapted but optimized for mobile devices. Merchants need to go beyond simple design and UX refinements to accommodate the pinching and fingertip scrolling that smartphone users rely on. Content and product display pages need to be easy to access and browse, but it is increasingly critical that the checkout experience is also perfected for smaller screens. 

The best-in-class scenario? Mobile wallet capabilities.

Most consumers agree that, generally, the mobile shopping experience needs improvement. They have come to expect one-click, Apple Pay-like experiences everywhere. And if brands don’t provide this basic necessity, well, they’ll simply go elsewhere.

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2. Guest Checkout Options 

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To truly create an engaging and personalized eCommerce experience, you need to know and understand your consumers. And to get that depth of understanding, you need data. Incentivizing consumers to create an account with your brand is the best way to collect and connect data to an individual person, their past purchases as well as their buying behaviors.

You may have a “create an account” prompt within your checkout flow to address this goal. And for the most part, it may be effective, especially if you have tied a special deal or incentive to this process. But the reality is not everyone wants to do that, making it a possible deterrent in the conversion phase.

Sometimes, shoppers are in a rush and don’t have the time to create a username, password, and profile. But usually, it’s because, for one reason or another, they want to keep their personal data close to the chest.

Consumers today are savvy. They know that businesses and platforms collect their data to use for their benefit, so they want to control when and how their data is used whenever possible. If you don’t give them the freedom to keep their private data private, they will simply leave. For some shoppers, personalization isn’t critical; but speed and seamlessness are. 

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3. Multi-Language and Multi-Currency Checkout

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Forrester predicts that global retail eCommerce sales will reach $6.8 trillion by 2028. To seize this opportunity, merchants need to ensure their experiences, from browsing to checkout, are aligned with the distinct behaviors and expectations of global consumers.

Sure, relevant offers and incentives are great. And having distinct photography and content for different markets shows your cultural awareness and understanding. However effective personalization is far more than a creative discipline. If the core of your checkout experience isn’t global-friendly, your abandonment rate is likely to rise. 

Creating a multi-language, multi-currency experience will help you win consumers all over the globe. That means providing accurate pricing (including tax) and delivery information, incorporating all relevant inputs in the checkout flow, and providing various global-friendly payment providers, including buy now, pay later options.

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4. Accelerated Checkout Features

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We’ve all been there before: we have a shopping cart filled with everything we need (and let’s be real, some things we just want) and are ready to check out. But first, we have to spend five minutes adding our personal information and digging out our wallets to add our credit card details. It’s an arduous, frustrating process, especially if we’re trying to purchase something quickly. 

That’s why modern eCommerce experiences need to have accelerated checkout solutions that help remove friction and add speed to the entire checkout process. These passwordless checkout experiences enable consumers to securely save their information with a merchant. When they’re ready to make a purchase, they enter their email, enter a one-time passcode they receive via their mobile device, and have their address and payment information automatically filled out for a single-click checkout experience. 

There are various solutions on the market designed to provide this ease and simplicity, such as Fastlane by PayPal (for merchants using PayPal or Braintree), Stripe Link (a payment method configured in Stripe), and Bolt (which integrates with multiple payment processors).

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5. Embedded Checkout Experiences

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When consumers shop, their eagerness to “close the deal” can strike at any time, especially if they find an item they feel they absolutely need. We’ve all been there, and the urgency is especially strong when you’re browsing on a mobile device and speed is critical to your personal productivity. 

If a merchant wants to collect personal data, it should be easy to complete and optional. If the checkout process is slowed down by requiring shoppers to add an item to their cart and then click five more times and complete 10 more fields to complete their purchase, the merchant has just widened the chasm between the customer and the item they want, leading to a frustrating and friction-filled experience. 

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Close the gap between inspiration and conversion by adding one-click “Buy Now” buttons on product pages. While you may not want to do this on every item in order to inspire more research and discovery on your site, it is a low-hanging fruit opportunity for top-selling or in-demand products. By adding this accelerated checkout to hot items, you’re decreasing consumers’ chance of abandonment and increasing your overall conversion rate.

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PLUS: A Recovery Plan

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Online shopping is now a widespread behavior, which means most people understand the basic mechanics of email marketing. They know that if they abandon their cart, they will likely receive a reminder message and, in some cases, a special offer.

Brands need to not just meet but exceed these expectations by creating trigger emails that are timely, relevant, and meaningful. These messages need to present clear, tangible value in order to bring consumers back and earn their business. Respondents to our survey reported that the number one personalization tactic they want more of is a cart abandonment email with a significant discount. If you can personalize that discount at the item level, you’ll be in an even better spot.

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Conclusion

Your checkout experience can influence whether you make a sale or lose a customer for good. The process needs to be fast and seamless, including all of the features and functionality that your customers need to feel confident in your brand.

In a study of 20.5m eCommerce user sessions, Deloitte found that fast checkout boosts sales by a significant margin. By fine-tuning your checkout flow and ensuring you have the features and capabilities you need to provide ease, convenience, and flexibility, you can increase conversion rates and drive more sales.

Want to check all these boxes and create a fluid, frictionless checkout experience that boosts conversions, basket sizes, and overall sales? With BigCommerce, the only limit to your checkout experience is your imagination. Through a composable architecture, you can craft a top-notch experience curated using specific best-in-class solutions that meet your needs. Create a multi-language, multi-currency experience that empowers shoppers to make a purchase wherever they want on your eCommerce site. And as your consumers’ behaviors and expectations evolve, so too can your checkout flow.

Learn how to make your checkout experience stellar, with insights from what customers actually want. 

Download the newest report from Future Commerce and BigCommerce.

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