The Role of Assurance in Purchase Completion

Why do shoppers abandon checkout?

According to responses from Baymard Institute’s latest checkout usability study, eCommerce shoppers are looking for various forms of assurance during their purchase process.

We can categorize nine of these top ten reasons for abandoning the checkout process into three buckets:

Transparency:

• Extra costs too high (shipping, tax, fees)
• Delivery was too slow
• I couldn’t see/calculate total order cost up-front
• Returns policy wasn’t satisfactory

‍Control:

• The site wanted me to create an account
• Too long/complicated checkout process
• Website had errors/crashed  
• There weren’t enough payment methods

Security:

• I didn't trust the site with my credit card information
  

The only reason remaining is “the credit card was declined” and it accounted for only 4% of responses—landing tenth on Baymard's list of ten. Unless you’re going to call the customer’s bank to find a solution to the declined card, there aren’t many ways to fix that one.

The solution to these issues comes down to open communication—both with words and with visual design. As is our theme at A Work of Cart, the design that surrounds our words is just as important as what we say.

Let’s walk through the philosophy behind transparency, control, and security, and how these concepts improve eCommerce website conversions.

Transparency

Shipping times & costs should be mentioned up front. The number one cause of abandoned carts is unexpected costs.

We’ve all been there; you select the items you want, open your cart and click checkout, happy with the price you’re about to pay. You enter your shipping information and the merchant adds $17 to your total—shipping and taxes strike again.

[A]nything that sets an expectation will remove surprises during checkout. Less surprise means less abandonment.

Taxes are a necessary evil, but communicating your shipping costs early in the journey will help remove surprises during checkout. Most eCommerce websites do this with an alert bar. It could be as simple as saying, “Free shipping on orders over $99.”

Some businesses also offer flat-rate shipping under the free shipping threshold. So, if a customer doesn’t meet the $99 minimum, they only pay $5 for domestic shipping. This method makes sure there are zero surprises when shipping costs are applied at checkout.

You may not know where your customer is located, making estimating shipping times difficult. Communicating range estimates up front is a way to effectively combat the uncertainty surrounding delivery times. Under an add to cart button, say something like “delivers in 3–5 business days.” Really, anything that sets an expectation will remove surprises during checkout. Less surprise means less abandonment.

Clearly stated policies lean into the element of control, but communicating them in a transparent way is a method of giving shoppers control. Communicating guarantees and return policies sets the expectation that the customer has complete control over the purchase process.

Highlight your return policy and/or satisfaction guarantee to reassure your visitors while they shop. No one wants to live with a bad purchase; giving your customers post-purchase choices makes them more motivated to add to their cart and, ultimately, complete checkout.

Control

Don't make your users create an account. Let shoppers checkout as a guest, then give them the option to create an account after they enter their information.

Speaking of information, don't ask for too much. You should only collect the information you absolutely need. Customers know which information is necessary to complete checkout. Anything additional is a burden—and a potential privacy risk—that could cause them to abandon.

Like with other elements of your eCommerce website, giving shoppers an experience that's similar to other checkout processes will make them feel more trusting. Browsers can also automatically fill out forms with common fields (e.g., name, mailing address, email), so the more common the questions are, the more effortless the customer experience.

It should go without saying that your checkout experience should have zero technical issues of any kind. If you can't figure out how to create a simple form, how can a customer trust you with their payment information?

Use a reputable eCommerce platform to prevent any technical issues with your checkout process. Top eCommerce platforms create checkout flows that are based on in-depth user research and usability testing. They also have entire teams of engineers to fix issues that may arise.

Shopify has the added benefit of being one of the most recognized checkout patterns in all of eCommerce. Your checkout process is unlikely to surprise anyone if you stick with Shopify's default look and feel. According to builtwith.com, over 4.8 million websites use Shopify. For context, only 3.5 million websites use Mailchimp for marketing (both metrics are from the time of writing).

Giving your visitors control over their shopping experience is very straightforward. Using a top eCommerce platform will make it much easier. The foundation of a great checkout experience is a simple design, guest checkout, and the choice of various common payment methods.

Security

Make sure customer service is available at the time of checkout or the customer knows assistance will be available after a purchase. Live chat, a telephone number, or even an email address can put visitors at ease when they're making a purchase. Use these cues to show that you’ll be there for them whenever they need you.

Professionalism goes beyond just being there for your customers. Perception is everything in eCommerce. If you look like a business that could fold at any moment, customers won't feel safe making a purchase.

The first four components of The Masterpiece Model deal with the look and feel of your eCommerce website. These principles don't become any less important during checkout.

If you've created an effective design based on the first four components, just make sure that same attention to detail is carried through to your checkout.

To reinforce the security of your payment processing, use the logos of well-known payment types that you accept. Accepting Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shop Pay and the four major credit card brands indicates that you’re affiliated with trusted companies.

Overall, the look of your checkout process makes visitors feel better about finalizing their purchase. Just like using a familiar interface can help the tech-challenged, seeing a common design when checking out feels comforting.

Just remember, familiarity drives the emotions behind the feeling of security. Take your customers' privacy and security seriously and, in the end, all you have to do is be transparent about your efforts.