Why you should enclose the checkout process
Enclosing or isolating the checkout process is one proven method of reducing abandonment, as it focuses the customer's mind on the steps they need to take to complete a purchase.
I've been looking at the advice on this from Econsultancy's Checkout Optimization guide, as well as some best practice examples from retailers...
Checkout abandonment on the rise
Thanks to a range of factors, including increased customer expectations, as well as behavioural factors such as comparison shopping, basket and checkout abandonment rates are rising.
A recent Forrester survey found that 88% of consumers have abandoned shopping carts, and named the top five reasons given by customers.
Tips for reducing basket abandonment this Christmas
Retailers are likely to see higher than average basket/cart abandonment rates this Christmas, thanks to the volume of traffic. But what can be done about it?
This article by Linda Bustos from the Get Elastic blog has a couple of useful tips. I've summarised them here, and added a few myself...
How to deal with discount codes in the checkout process
Coupons and voucher codes can be an effective acquisition and marketing tool, especially in the current economic climate, but are there drawbacks for retailers in terms of abandonment rates?
In a recent US cart abandonment survey, 27% of consumers said they had left the purchase process to look for coupons elsewhere. The survey did not make this point clear, but it's likely that many were prompted to search for discounts after seeing the promotional code box during the checkout process.
Verified by Visa: a conversion rate killer?
Verified by Visa, and other online verification schemes like MasterCard SecureCode, have been adopted by many online retailers in the UK, but do they cause customers to abandon sales?
Concern about the levels of online fraud has led to the introduction of these security measures, but have they seem to have been introduced without considering the effect on e-tailers, and some have found that conversion rates have been affected.
How to spoil your checkout process
I looked at VistaPrint's checkout process last month, and found it one of the most annoying and complicated ones I had ever seen, but now I have found a checkout to rival it.
Like VistaPrint, domain name registration company GoDaddy overcomplicates its checkout process by adding a ridiculous amount of cross-selling options that are sure to annoy all but the most determined customers.
Should more etailers be using video?
According to new stats from comScore, the number of US web shoppers watching videos on e-commerce sites has grown by 40% in a single year, as more retailers have started to use them as a sales tool.
A number of UK e-commerce sites are already using video on their product pages to promote items, but should more be doing this? And which sites are using product videos effectively?
Overcomplicating the checkout process
Checkout processes are supposed to be made as easy as possible for customers to complete. Of course, a certain amount of detail is required to complete a transaction, but this should be made relatively painless for the user.
The checkout and purchase process should be smooth and easy to understand, distractions should be removed, while the amount of information required and the number of steps should be kept to a minimum to make it as quick as possible. This is not the case on VistaPrint though, which has one of the most complicated checkouts I have seen.
