To start, let me ask a question first, do you know how many merchants among the world’s top 500 online retailers are using single-page checkout? The answer is less than 5! From this interesting and shocking statistic, you’d realize that multi-page checkout should have a higher tendency in bringing in more orders for the merchants.
With that being said, SHOPLINE is optimizing your checkout flow in the COMING WEEKS!
You may be confused about the system changing from single-page to multi-page checkout flow as the latter seems to be more time-consuming and complicated. But since most other big E-commerce brands are using it, there must be some reasons for the wide adoption. Keep reading to understand the advantages of using a multi-page checkout flow.
1. Easier to see the pitfalls
This is the most important advantage of using the multi-page checkout, as you are able to figure out which step your customers abandon the cart. 70% of customers will abandon the cart during checkout and there are a couple of reasons leading to it. For example, it could be that they got low confidence for your shop, or they think that your shop is not secure enough.
It is difficult to find the most-visible problem in single-page checkout but not in multi-page page as tracking tools like Google Analytics can help. When using multi-page checkout flow, you can analyze on which step most customers abandon their carts and come up with ideas to solve them.
2. Clearer layout
A clean and clear layout is important in encouraging customers to finish the whole payment procedure. When using single-page checkout, the page would be very long since you have to squeeze in all the fields related to that order.
For multi-page checkout, every step is clearly shown. On top of that, each page looks shorter and easier to fill in even when the required information for both kinds of checkout procedures are the same.
3. User-friendly
Checking out on a single page would also be troublesome for the customers because they have to scroll up and down, left and right to ensure they entered everything correctly.
As you can see in the checkout flow of Asos.com below, they separated the payment procedure step-by-step in order to better guide the customers. A multi-page checkout flow is more convenient to use in general and especially when final-checking all the order details.
4. Complex orders
You will also find that multi-page checkout flow is more convenient to use especially in cases with complex orders. What does “complex order” mean? It could refer to an order with freebies, different packages, add-on items, special requirements, coupon codes, etc.
Accommodating complex orders in multiple pages is easier and clearer for you to record your customer’s special needs and streamline the entire checkout process.
5. Improving brand image
A good checkout experience will be critical in solidifying the brand image and trustworthiness of your shop in the long-run. On the contrary, no matter how nice or good-looking your products are, a weak checkout page cannot make customers trust you enough to complete the payment, let alone come back to purchase a second time.
To a large extent, customers develop their trust for e-commerce brands by judging on the checkout procedure because this is where you’ll see whether or not the shop owner put in the effort to create a seamless and secure checkout experience.
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