Four quick steps to improving the usability performance of the checkout process

1. Do Not Require Sign to place an Order: I am surprised how many sites, B2C and B2B, require visitors to sign in before they are able to make a purchase online. Why create roadblocks when you don’t have to. The visitor has taken the ultimate step you want them to take on your site; the best thing you can do is get out of their way and let them place an order.

If, for whatever reason, you have to have a login in your checkout process, then give the visitor an option to login as a guest. And at the same time provide a strong value proposition for creating an account with your site. Here is an example

2. No Surprise fees: Many customers are wary of shipping fees, especially when they are not shown in the shopping cart - what most customers may not realize is that shipping fees are dependent on the shipping address. So how do you balance the need to actually display shipping fees vs. avoiding the perception of hidden cost if you show shipping fees in the last step of the checkout process? By showing estimated shipping fees in the shopping cart and emphasizing the fact that it is estimated shipping cost that is subject to change. Here is an example

3. Build Trust: Web has given the consumers more venues to shop than ever before; but at the same time, it has also created a level of anxiety that consumers have not experienced before, even on well known brand sites. “What if I do not like the product?”, ‘What if the product is not what I want?”, “What if the product is defected?”, “Can I trust this company to exchange the product without any hidden costs?” etc are many of the questions that run thought the online consumers mind when they are looking to check out.

One of the best things that you can do in your checkout process is create trust in the mind of your customers at every step. Be upfront in addressing any concerns your customers might have and be ready to answer questions they might have at each step of the checkout process. Make sure that when addressing these questions, you use pop-up window to provide answers and not take them out of the checkout process.

4. Provide multiple payment options: Increasingly, online population is looking for different options when it comes to making payment for their purchase. Sadly, most of the e commerce sites are still stuck in the Credit card only mode. If a site offers only one payment option, then it might find it cart abandonment increase as more and more people adopt alternate payment options. Here is an example

Finally, you need to Test, Test and Test to improve the performance of your shopping cart!