In any E-Commerce website it is vitally important to get the checkout process right, if not you will lose many precious sales. It can be extremely frustrating to lose a potential sale when they reach the checkout page. Many people abandon their “virtual” shopping carts because they become confused or distrust the site when they see that it is not secure. If you have been experiencing this problem rest assured that this can be fixed easily enough by making the checkout process simpler.

Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do to make the online shopping experience on your site a pleasant and more importantly a successful one.

Indication of Shopping Process

When you go to a supermarket you are completely aware of the buying process, you walk in, browse around, select your items and place them in your shopping cart before heading to the checkout counter. Many people are reluctant or intimidated by shopping online as they have no clue as to what the purchase process is, I mean I was such a person once upon a time who did not really understand the internet much less Ecommerce. Including a simple outline of the buying process will help your potential customer as they will be confident of their next step. To illustrate my point I have used an example from Amazon below,

Keep the Shopping Cart Visible

It is important that you keep the shopping basket visible and easy to understand for the buyer at all times as it creates a sense of ownership and ensures that they don’t forget about their purchase. Incorporating this on your site also allows the buyer to see how much they are spending. Make sure that the basket is visible no matter which page of the website the buyer visits as it can be frustrating to have to click back to one page all the time to ascertain your selected products and their cost. I have chosen Kalahari .Net as an example to illustrate what information a shopping basket should incorporate.

Simplify the Buying Process

If the buying process on your site is complicated and intricate, chances are that the buyer will abandon the sale altogether and may never visit your site again. Try to make it as easy as possible for them, this is definitely not a place to let your designers get creative and cryptic, rather let it be as obvious as possible. Have a look at the example below from Amazon as to what a simple, obvious checkout should look like,

Ensure Transparency Of The Shipping & Delivery Costs

Most people won’t buy until they know the final cost, make sure that you are upfront about the shipping costs and delivery methods and time. You should offer a few options with regards to delivery method as some people prefer to collect their parcels at a post office within a few working days or next day door to door delivery.

The suggestions above will help enhance your website and also assist you in gaining your potential clients’ trust. I hope that you will implement them on your Ecommerce site.