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Nowadays, there are approximately 170,000 websites built with Magento, which makes for about 1.4% of all the websites on the internet. And even though there are so many active users of this platform, the fact of the matter is that many of them still fail to realize the importance of their checkout page optimization.
The majority of Magento-drive businesses are still heavily focused on other areas of their operations, failing to pay enough attention to this very crucial aspect.
If you really think about it, the user experience during the checkout process is as essential as it is while browsing your website in general.
A beautifully designed website that offers a great on-site experience will encourage your users to browse your site further. But what happens when the checkout page UX design doesn’t meet the same standards? In short, it will most likely result in an increased bounce rate.
That’s why it is of extreme importance that you optimize your Magento checkout page UX design and have it match the rest of your website.
Here are just 5 crucial things you need to make sure you pay attention to.
1. Offer single-page checkout
The first thing you need to keep in mind is that customers love simplicity. What this means is that the best way to deter your visitors from finalizing their purchase is to make the checkout process too complicated. The quicker and easier your visitors can complete their purchase, the better.
That’s why you should offer your customers the opportunity to finish their checkout on a single page instead of having to go through a complex multi-page checkout.
When looking to buy products online, the majority of customers are very excited to buy them as soon as possible. If you make the process overly complex, however, you will only dissuade them from finishing the transaction. Additionally, a single-page checkout will also make it significantly easier for your customers to make any potential changes before finishing the process.
2. Optimize checkout fields
Another important thing to keep in mind is that more doesn’t always mean better, which is particularly true when it comes to checkout fields.
Similar to the previous point, customers don’t really enjoy having to go through long questionnaires when looking to make a purchase. Think of it this way – the more opportunity you give to your visitors to change their mind about making the purchase, the more they are likely to do precisely that.
That’s why professionals dealing in Magento website development strongly advise removing any unnecessary checkout fields and making the process as quick and straightforward as possible.
This doesn’t mean, however, that you should completely eliminate all the checkout fields. If you, for instance, add a new checkout field asking your buyers about the ideal day and time for delivery, this will actually be more than welcomed by the majority of them. You could also make this checkout field optional for another dose of convenience.
3. Enable guest checkout
Having to create an account in order to be able to purchase something online is anything but a customer favorite. This is mostly because when shoppers reach a store’s checkout page, their priority is to complete the purchase. The last thing they want is to have to go through a registration process.
Additionally, modern-day shoppers are fully aware of just how valuable collecting customer information truly is for businesses, and many of them simply don’t feel all that inclined – or even ready – to provide this information.
That’s why you need to make sure that you enable guest checkout and provide your visitors with the option to make a purchase without asking for anything else in return.
What’s even more interesting is that satisfied, repeat customers will oftentimes look for ways to subscribe to your newsletter themselves. So, make sure you provide the option to do so as well, without making it mandatory.
4. Diversify the payment methods
In this day and age, not having a diverse payment method option is simply not wise. Those stores that accept multiple payment options are certainly in the lead over their competitors.
This is particularly true if you operate globally, but it’s not any less important if you’re only focused on the local market.
To put it simply, customers will most likely abandon their cart if their preferred payment option is not included in the list.
Now, it is also true that it’s simply not possible to include every single payment option out there in your offer, either. However, consider the fact that PayPal has one of the highest online checkout conversions, for instance, which is why this is one of the must-have options when it comes to Magento stores.
Aside from PayPal, you should also consider offering custom payment methods as well as the cryptocurrency option.
5. Don’t forget about mobile shoppers
If you consider that mobile shoppers are slowly starting to outnumber other online shoppers, it will become quite clear why you should ensure you don’t forget about them when designing your Magento checkout page.
Any thriving online business has already implemented a responsive and mobile-friendly design, and you need to make sure that your business follows suit.
Creating a mobile-friendly and responsive design won’t only help bring in more customers. It will also positively affect your SEO efforts, which will only bring more good things your business’s way.
Other useful tips
Aside from the previously-mentioned things that require your undivided attention, you also need to keep in mind some other useful tips.
- Suppose you are providing an option for customers to buy your items as a gift, like the Magento 2 gift card extension. In that case, you can benefit from enabling the gift message functionality. That way, your customers can make their gifts as personalized as possible.
- Display proof of website and page security. Online shoppers want to make sure that they’re entirely secure when making online purchases, which is why you need to prove to them that they can trust your business. A trusted payment logo and SSL will work in your favor.
- Include coupon code field, gift card code field and other similar promotional fields on your checkout page. One of the things customers like almost as much as free stuff is having the option to pay less for things than they thought they’ll need to.
Final thoughts
As mentioned in the beginning, the design of your Magento checkout page is of the equal – if not even greater – importance to the rest of your website. That’s why you need to pay special attention to this part of your website and make sure you optimize it as best as possible if you expect to see positive results. Otherwise, you run the risk of having your checkout page deter your customers instead of encouraging them to make the purchase, which is certainly the last thing you want to happen.
About the Author
Travis Dillard is a business consultant and an organizational psychologist based in Arlington, Texas. Passionate about marketing, social networks, and business in general. In his spare time, he writes a lot about new business strategies and digital marketing for DigitalStrategyOne.
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