eCommerce Shopping Cart Checklist - What to Look For in a Checkout Experience

Author's Note: This is an update to a post originally published in May 2011 and has been edited for relevancy

There are many reasons why your customers don’t complete a purchase; from sticker shock to getting distracted, it’s often something unrelated to the design or usability of the item in question.

When it comes to eCommerce shopping carts, there are several things you should look out for that can affect your customer’s experience in meaningful ways, including:

1. Cart is visible throughout the experience

Research shows when a cart is constantly within range of the shopping experience abandonment rates diminish. Amazon does this effortlessly on their dedicated app.

2. Seamless Multi-brand or Multi-geo

When multiple brands co-exist the cart and checkout experience should be seamless for the customer. With Elastic Path Payments, brands can facilitate complex checkout processes across customer touchpoints or geographical markets and drive revenue growth with ease.

3. Easy to view thumbnails

The product is the hero of the page and stands out within the cart.

4. Product availability is prominent

Should the item be out of stock, it’s clearly set off in a different font size, color, or housed within a separate design element.
 

5. Offer clean, non-competing Calls-to-Action (CTAs)

CTAs should never compete font-wise, nor be similar in size, shape, or color. Be clear in what you’re asking the customer to do.

6. Shipping and Tax Calculation

All costs are clearly visible, so the customer knows exactly what they are paying in total for the item(s) including tax and shipping.

7. Chatbot

Should there be questions or issues within the checkout process or throughout the shopping journey, offer a chatbot feature to assist in real time. No need for emails or calls that may adversely affect the customer experience.
 

8. Add to Favorites

Add to favorites, move to later, whatever you call it, giving the consumer a chance to save an item for a later time will support a positive customer journey and increase the likelihood of the customer purchasing at a later time.

9. Save the Shopping Cart

Ensure a seamless customer experience by saving the cart for the customer for a defined length of time. This will help to avoid customer frustrations and increase the chances of the customer converting at a later time.

10. Gift Options

Offering a note and gift wrapping is the icing on the cake for a busy shopper!
 

Looking for more ways to improve your checkout experience?

Check out Elastic Path partner, Stripe’s latest research on the global state of checkouts, where they dive into the five common errors plaguing retailer carts: The State of North American Checkouts in 2021 or The State of European Checkouts in 2021.