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Shopify Checkout Optimization Tricks

Having a streamlined checkout process is key to avoiding lost sales as a Shopify seller. In this article, we’ll look at different tips and techniques to create a customer-centered checkout experience. Here at Upscribe, our goal is to create not only an intuitive checkout for your online business through Shopify Checkout customization, but also enable you to capture subscribers and build long-term customer relationships.

What Is Shopify Checkout?

Shopify Checkout is Shopify’s own payment portal for e-commerce business owners. It includes local and digital payment options, and is mobile-friendly. It also includes options for subscription-based sales and pre-orders. While it has good basic functionality on its own, it also integrates with multiple third-party apps that include expanded checkout options. When integrated with third-party technology, your Shopify Checkout page can also include additional features.  

  • Cross-sell and upsell suggestions to increase total sale value 
  • One-click checkout 
  • Pop-ups to warn customers about out-of-stock items
  • Loyalty or rewards points

Shopify Checkout and its integrated apps make this platform one of the most powerful e-commerce payment tools available.

How Can Shopify Checkout Benefit You?

Improved Customer Experience

Shopify Checkout offers a simple customer experience for your online shop. It is easy and quick to use and encourages customers to keep coming back. It keeps customer information secure, so both you and your customers can conduct business without fear of data breaches. 

It Offers Speed

Shopify offers one-click checkout, converting browsers into paying customers in one step. This means that more customers can buy your products who might have been turned off by a lengthy sign-in and purchase process each time they visit your shop. While one-click purchasing does require a bit of setup for new customers, it allows repeat customers to securely save their payment and shipping information to easily buy again and again.

Allows You to Sell Subscriptions

Subscriptions are the payment model of the future. Shopify Checkout’s subscription feature allows you to sell different types of items that are optimized for subscriptions, such as monthly boxes or recurring services. 

 

The recurring revenue that subscriptions bring means that you can plan your revenue over the course of a year, and reduce the amount of time spent attracting new customers. This reduces your overall customer acquisition cost (CAC), allowing each customer to bring more overall value to your business.

While Shopify makes it easy to sell products on your site, they do not offer you the ability to sell subscription products natively. Apps like Upscribe can help you introduce subscription-based products and services to your shop,. With our sleek customer portal, customers can control their subscriptions with ease, with options like passwordless logins and the ability to make changes to subscriptions through email and SMS.

Manage subscribers

Optimized for Mobile

Consumers like the convenience of shopping on mobile, as evidenced by the fact that one-third of US internet users have purchased an item through their phone. Thankfully, Shopify Checkout allows you to tap into this market, as it’s optimized for mobile, which allows an easy shopping experience for shoppers on all platforms. 

It Makes It Easy To Accept Payments

Shopify Checkout makes it easy for your buyers to pay you, and for you to accept their payments. Since it accepts multiple currencies and allows buyers to pay in their local currency, Shopify Checkout empowers you to expand your business globally

Shopify Checkout also offers multiple payment options such as PayPal and Apple Pay to make checkout even easier. 

Things to Consider when creating a hosted checkout page

Ease of use

Customers like ease. One of the reasons Amazon rose above its competitors was how easy they made purchases and payments. Consider the UX/UI of your checkout page and see how easy it is for customers to move through the payment process. Guide your customers through the checkout. Things like one-click checkouts and simple page layouts can certainly make all the difference. 

You can also try platforms like Upscribe, which provides a subscription customer portal, straight out of the box without the need for additional setup. This allows you to provide a quality portal for your subscribers straight away, with the option to customize it later if you want to. 

Make sure your payment platform is accessible for you as well. Set up your seller dashboard so you can view sales analytics at a glance. Look for integrations with other business tools whenever possible. Shopify can connect with common bookkeeping software to make inventory management, invoicing, and sales records easy. 

Flexibility

Design your checkout page so it can change or scale with your business. Choose functionalities and templates that match your store as closely as possible, or do a full customization with plugins and add-ons.

Clear security measures

Customers need to know that their information is safe with you. If your checkout page doesn’t give a confident, trustworthy impression, your customers will go somewhere else. Use a logo from a third-party security company such as VeriSign or SSL on your checkout page to give your customers the peace of mind they need.  

Speed

Design your checkout page with speed in mind. Customers won’t put up with slow loading speeds during checkout, and frustrated customers lead to a higher abandoned cart rate. 

Shopify Checkout Example

Below are examples of Shopify Checkouts from different niches and product types, with different sorts of Shopify Checkout customization.

As you can see from both Partake and Allbird’s checkout on Shopify,, they’re very similar, though there are differences between them when you look closely. For instance, Allbird’s checkout includes a ‘company name’ field, which provides them with some extra information when shipping to business addresses. They also have an extra express checkout option, in Amazon pay, which should be included in all checkouts, as they provide extra flexibility for your customers when paying. 

Package Free is where we first start to see changes in the overall design of the checkout. Package Free uses neutral green tones throughout their store. Their checkout matches this color scheme, which provides a cohesive experience for their customers. 

GymShark also has a more standardized layout, but has some added  customized elements at the top of their Shopify checkout page. For instance, they provide ordering stages, which improves the customer experience. They’ve also included a field with information on their latest partnership with Thrift+, a second-hand clothes reseller. In their partnership, they’ve added the option to add a ThriftBag to baskets, which is a great example of Shopify cross-selling.

Ways to Optimize your Shopify Checkout

Optimize Your Layout

Design your checkout page to be clear, non-distracting, and logical. Make sure your customers can see a clear flow for the step-by-step process. This avoids user error and creates an easy checkout experience that can increase sales. 

Allow guest checkout

Loyal customers may want to sign in and have their information saved for future purchases or loyalty points. However, casual browsers may not want to go to the effort of creating a customer account for a one-time purchase. Guest checkout allows new customers to purchase quickly without the added time and effort of creating a customer account.

Optimize checkout loading speed

You may know that you need to optimize page loading speed for SEO purposes. But Google only wants to see quick loading speeds because it knows that’s what customers really want. According to a study by Portent, every extra second of load time for a checkout page decreases conversion rate by 4.4%. 

Offer free shipping

Customers love free shipping. Many customers will abandon a cart if they get to checkout and see a higher-than-anticipated shipping cost. Rolling the price of shipping into your item prices can create higher levels of customer satisfaction, sales conversion rates, and even higher item sales due to the lure of free shipping. 

Consider your shop’s profit margins before you decide to offer free shipping. If shipping costs will increase the cost of your items beyond a competitive level, or will cut too much into your bottom line, it’s best to keep free shipping to orders above a certain dollar level or save it for special promotions throughout the year.

Make progress bar more visible

This is another feature you can add to ensure customers understand the checkout process. It helps customers understand where they are in the process, what they will have to do next, and (most importantly) how close they are to the finish. Check out the GymShark example above to see a progress bar in use.

Use Upscribe for subscriptions 

Upscribe is a great solution to implement for your Shopify store if you are looking to build out your subscription and retention business. We prioritize customer experience, with our sleek and intuitive design and subscribers are able to monitor and change their subscriptions easily.

Plus, Upscribe comes with a number of tools for growth, like the timed-payment retry which can help reduce churn rates and the ability to leverage cohort options, increasing customer loyalty. Schedule a demo with us today, to see our full range of benefits. 

Multiple payment methods

The more payment methods you can accept, the greater your potential pool of customers will be. Let your customers know at the beginning of the checkout process which credit cards and payment methods you can accept. This helps them prepare for the checkout and lets them know if they can use their preferred payment method. 

Offer live chat support

Live chat support for common questions such as payment methods accepted, next steps, website confusions, can help customers to stay in the checkout process and not churn. It also gives you immediate feedback on areas where you should edit your Shopify Checkout page. 

Include customer testimonials

Customer testimonials are a powerful way to build trust on your checkout page. This allows customers to see others’ positive experiences and understand that your shop is a trustworthy source for their chosen product.

Show related products

Adding related products to your checkout page is a great way to increase total sale value for each customer at checkout. If you save your customers’ previous buying activity, you can also ask them if they need the same item again. 

Conclusion

E-commerce is one of the most crowded online markets today. Sellers need every competitive advantage  they can get to stand out. The key is to attract customers that keep coming back by providing them to excellent customer service, awesome products, and a memorable subscription experience. 

We’ve processed over $500 million in Shopify subscription revenue, proving that we know how to build a subscription business on Shopify checkout. . Schedule a demo with us todayto learn how to create a memorable subscription experience.