How to optimize the checkout process for ecommerce platforms

There’s no question that shopping has transformed into an effortless act. Long gone are the days of rolling out of bed, starting up your car, and mentally preparing to stand around waiting in long checkout lines. So, it should come as no wonder that approximately 80% of Americans now engage in the convenience of buying their goods online.¹ Yet given the rise in virtual shopping, many eCommerce businesses still confront the roadblock of getting their customers to finalize their transactions. In 2022 alone, roughly 71% of virtual carts were abandoned in America.²  
 
If you’re like most business leaders, this means you’re left with one very important question—how do I optimize the checkout process for my clients? In this article, we’ll delve deeper into shopping cart abandonment and help you identify quick and easy tips to weave into your business strategy to maximize your online sales by perfecting the shopping experience.  

Why do customers abandon at checkout?

 If a client landed on your page, browsed your online products, and added them to a virtual cart, all signs point to them being interested in your company and what it has to offer. So why, then, do they go through this effort just to abandon your website at checkout? 
 
The truth is, there are dozens of factors at play that may cause your prospective customers to leave your website prematurely. While you can’t be certain without an exit intent survey, we’ve compiled a list of a few common problems: 

• Complicated or confusing checkout process: If your customers have to fill out contact information without an autofill option, they may find the checkout process to be too inconvenient—especially when your competitors may have a simplified checkout process on their site.
  
  
• Concerns surrounding data security: Does your website seem spammy or unsecured? If so, users may be hesitant to pass over valuable personal information, including their name, phone number, and address—key data components that are often required at checkout. 
  
  
• Technical issues: When users shop online, they anticipate a quick and effortless experience. If your website often presents slow-loading pages that fail to let the user checkout in a reasonable amount of time, it may be the reason behind your higher shopping cart abandonment rates. 

Optimizing the eCommerce checkout process 

Despite the common issues we outlined above, there are a few strategic ways to finalize virtual sales and help your business nail its performance KPIs. Here are several key points to keep in mind when mapping out your eCommerce strategy: 
 
Data management equals happier customers 
 
Our most recent research study backs the far-reaching impact of data quality automation and investment. In fact, of the 500 business leaders surveyed, 91% anticipate that data quality automation will help them better their customer experience. Another 89% of participants link data automation to greater customer retention rates, too.

In simpler terms, this means that investing in data management is a fundamental act in optimizing the checkout process. But how? With an organized and streamlined data management plan, you can segment your audiences, increase your chances of having secure and up-to-date information, and much more. 

Streamlined checkout simplifies the shopping experience  
 
Shopping should be a stress-free act. When users check out on your site, do they have an effortless checkout with autofill options? If not, investing in real-time data solutions will significantly help streamline the process and ensure you’re capturing accurate data at the point of entry. 
 
Consider leveraging address verification to reduce the number of keystrokes required from the user, allowing for a simplified checkout process. How does it work? Once integrated into your system, address verification will provide the user with a drop-down selection of addresses to select from as they begin to type their address. Not only will this reduce data entry time, but it will ensure proper spelling and formatting for the address, too. 

Accurate contact data provides peace of mind for delivery  

Optimizing what happens after the user checks out is just as important as what happens during the checkout process. To maximize your ROI and reduce unnecessary risks, you want to increase the chances of successful delivery to your customers while keeping them informed along the way.  
 
Help ensure that your business is capturing accurate data at the point of entry with tools such as real-time address verification, real-time phone verification, and real-time email verification. With real-time validation processes in place, you can help ensure that your business is accurately capturing valid, correctly formatted, and legitimate data from your consumers. Human error can stand in the way of users receiving order confirmation emails, text updates, and even their order entirely. If it looks like the prospective client mistyped their contact data, error messages help avoid these issues from occurring by resolving the problem the second it happens.  

Data management and shopping cart success go hand in hand

While eCommerce is a rapidly growing sector of shopping, not every online shopping experience will result in a sale. To decrease your business’s shopping cart abandonment rates, you’ll find it beneficial to implement a data management plan into your core strategy.  

Not only will accurate contact data help you precisely reach your audience and fulfill their orders successfully, but your customers will enjoy a more seamless checkout process, too. Interested in getting started? Reach out to one of your data quality specialists to explore your options and create a customized pricing plan suited for your company’s needs.  

Resources:
¹eCommerce US. Statistica. https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/ecommerce/united-states
²The average shopping cart abandonment rate globally. Ecommerce Benchmarks. https://marketing.dynamicyield.com/benchmarks/cart-abandonment-rate/