9 Innovative Ways to Improve Your Customers’ Checkout Experience
Scott MorrisSolutions Engineer
Having been with 4mation since inception in 2001 while completing a Computer Science degree at UTS, Scott has played a variety of roles within the business through its almost 20 years of growth.
As a Certified AWS Solutions Architect, Scott has a strong ability to bridge the gap between the technical and business/user world. Scott has a deep understanding of the service we provide our clients having spent years as a Developer, Business Analyst, Team Lead, and Head of Delivery.
His focus now is heading up 4mation’s Internal Operations to make our work and suite of digital tools as efficient and effective as possible.
When looking at ways to increase your conversion rate, your customers should be at the centre of your strategy. Providing the best possible checkout experience will help boost your sales and ensure that those high-value customers keep returning. We want to help you increase your conversion rate, whilst making your customers’ lives easier, so here are 9 innovative ways to improve your checkout process.
Digital Wallets
Offer a range of easy payment options to make your customers’ lives easier. Digital wallet solutions such as PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay and Alipay can store consumers’ payment information and addresses online in the one secure location.
Digital wallets reduce friction in the checkout process because your customers can buy in one click. Gone are the days of manually inputting long credit card numbers. Still not convinced? BigCommerce merchants who have introduced digital wallets saw an increase in their mobile conversion rate by 3X.
There are a number of payment gateways that provide digital wallet options for your online customers. If you’re ready to get started with digital wallets, Stripe offers a wide range of options that can be integrated with any platform.
Credit: JB Hi-Fi
Real-Time Credit Card Validation
One of the biggest frustrations for users is long and complicated checkout processes. One study found that 28% of people abandon at checkout because of this, another 4% said because the credit card was declined. It’s not hard to see why, imagine filling out all of your information and having the whole thing fail, and possibly reset due to one missing or incorrect digit on the credit card input field.
Luckily there are steps you can take to improve the outcome for your user. Stripe has created an interactive element that can show card validation in real time to your users. It’ll check their card type, number, expiry date and CVC as they type and tell them if something has been incorrectly entered.
Credit: Stripe
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)
In the past, if customers were unable or unwilling to pay the full amount at point-of-sale, they could lay-by the item. Lay-bys in-store are often time-consuming and the customer can’t get that instant gratification of a new purchase because they need to wait until they’ve paid off the item before taking it home. Instant lay-bys, or “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) have emerged in recent years with services like AfterPay, OpenPay and zipPay offering customers buy now, pay later as a driver for conversions.
Australia Post estimates that BNPL accounted for 7.7% ($1.6bn) of total online goods spend in 2017. After implementing Afterpay, an Aussie online company saw a 52% increase in average order value, another saw a 10% increase in their conversion rate.
If you’re ready to get started, integration with Afterpay is made simple and can be done directly via API or using one of their platform plugins.
Credit: Kidstuff
Address Lookup and Validation
At checkout, save your customers’ time by providing real-time address lookup and validation. As they type, their address should pop up, the customer can then choose the closest match. Additionally, it helps to ensure that your deliveries reach their intended destination. According to Australia Post, you’ll also reduce wastage and excess print or delivery costs with compliant addressing.
Looking to save your customers and business time? Consider integrating a tool like AddressFinder, using their ‘ADDRESSFINDER’ API, or one of their platform plugins.
Credit: AddressFinder
Click & Collect
Click & Collect has been available for a while now, yet many businesses fail to take advantage of the benefits it offers. For whatever reason, customers may not want their purchase delivered to them. By offering an option to buy online, pick up in store, you’re allowing customers to pick-up the order at a time that’s more convenient for them.
Click & Collect has become especially popular in Australia’s major supermarkets. Supermarkets like Woolworths are allowing their customer to pick up their groceries on the way home without the hassle of walking down every aisle. Woolies has even begun to take this concept a step further with their new ‘Pick up Drive thru’. Rather than picking up your order in the store, with the Pick Up Drive Thru option, a Woolies employee will bring your order out to your car instead.
For Australians, the key drivers of click & collect are: avoiding home delivery charges (45%) and/or because it is more convenient than home delivery (37%).
Credit: Target
Convenient Delivery
With more people on the go leading busy and active lives, it can be difficult for them to be available for a delivery. Besides click & collect, parcel lockers are a great option for customers who want to access their online delivery on their own terms. Australia Post now has 24/7 Parcel Lockers at more than 260 sites, including selected Woolworths stores and train stations.
Australia Post is offering online businesses more choices for delivery than ever. Let your customers decide when, where and how their online shopping gets delivered. Their Delivery Choices API connects with your checkout process, allowing customers to search their address with their suburb or postcode, or find an alternate delivery address nearby via Google Maps.
Parcel lockers are no longer exclusive to Australia Post, with retailers beginning to provide their own. Expect to see more of your favourite brick and mortars offer 24/7 parcel lockers outside stores like Supercheap Auto has done.
Credit: Australia Post
Fast Delivery
Delivery speed is growing in importance for consumers. A recent study by Dropoff found that 43% of consumers expect companies to have “much faster” delivery times in 2018, a 23% increase over last year. By offering options like next-day, same-day delivery or even 3-hour delivery for metro areas you can increase your conversion rate. The numbers don’t lie, with two-thirds of online shoppers (63%) reporting they would definitely buy an item in their online shopping cart with next-day delivery.
Thankfully there are many third-party solutions to help you ship and deliver your orders faster. Companies like Temando offer streamlined fulfilment and shipping services. They also integrate with most eCommerce platforms, making your life a whole lot easier.
Credit: Dan Murphy’s
Social Registration and Login
I don’t know about you, but I find it a challenging task to remember all of my accounts and passwords. Providing people with an easy social login reduces friction at checkout. LoginRadius found that there’s a 52% increase in conversion rate when online businesses provide a social login option.
Not only does this type of registration/login help your customers, it allows your marketing team to capture verified data. Plugins, like this one from WooCommerce, let you see your connected user’s social accounts too. Track the platforms your users are on for a deeper look at their behaviour.
Credit: Catch
In Feed Social Checkout
Help your customers purchase where ever they are. Social commerce is a growing market with an expected annual growth rate of 34% between 2017 to 2021. You can join in this growth by providing an in-app or in-browser checkout option for people who are shopping their social media feed. Not only will you make your customers’ lives easier, you’ll improve your bottom line.
Social platforms like Pinterest and Instagram let your customers shop directly from and their feed. For instance, Instagram allows brands to tag up to 5 products in a post. The tags display product information like price and a link to purchase. Once a user clicks on the product link, it’ll open up an in-app website browser. Your customer can easily swap back to scrolling through pictures of friends if they want to.
Credit: Mecca Brands
What’s next?
I hope this article has generated some great ideas about how you can improve your customers’ checkout experience. If you’re ready to innovate, 4mation can help.
We’re a full-service digital agency with over 21 years of experience delivering digital solutions that help our clients innovate faster. The team can help you create and execute an eCommerce digital strategy for 2023 to achieve your business goals.
Chat with us today and we’ll take it from there.
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