How To Analyze A Checkout For Opportunities To Improve Conversion Rates (Beyond One Step)

[GabGoldenberg]

Hi Guys,

I thought I'd share a free worksheet on analyzing your mobile checkout to see how you can improve conversion rates, beyond just a one-step checkout extension.

I'm copy pasting the worksheet here for your convenience, below. 

I'm also working on a tool that will visit your site and grade your checkout, so you can find opportunities to cut cart abandonment 30%+ ... at the click of a button.  If you want access to the grader, sign up here:

http://lp.conversionrateoptimization.co/checkout-grader

Here are the best practices to implement / check your site for, for mobile checkout:

1. On your phone, add a product to your cart. Is the button labelled “checkout” the most prominent/intuitive one to tap? Yes / No
   
   
2. Proceed to checkout. Are your cart contents listed at the top of the cart?
   Yes, listed with picture at the top
   Sort of – listed at the top, without a picture, or listed with a picture at the bottom
   No, not listed
   
   
3. Is there a security seal indicating the checkout is secure? Yes / No

4. Is there an option to order over the phone? E.g. click-to-call or to receive a call?

5. Circle those of the following fields that bring up the phone keypad (as opposed to the regular full alphabet keyboard):
Telephone                 Credit Card                Credit Card CVV (3-4 digits on reverse)

6. Do you automatically insert a space after each group of 4 digits in the card number, to increase legibility and decrease typos? Yes / No

7. Are the shipping options shown as tiny, hard to tap buttons? Yes / No

8. Do the shipping options specify time and cost? Yes / No

[eric_delone]

Hi GabGoldenberg,

The best practices that you detailed are a great first step in setting up purchase conversion analysis. I think all ecommerce merchants could benefit from those tips. That tool that you mentioned also sounds useful!

To take this to the next level, you could build automated reporting to analyze the customer funnel and optimize conversion rate. Using event data from a tool like Google Analytics, Segment, or Mixpanel you can then easily import that data in a Business Intelligence tool such as Magento Analytics (www.rjmetrics.com).

We at Magento Analytics would be curious to see how Magento users are answering the checkout questions above, and also what they're doing to measure the success of those checkout flows. How does your business tackle these questions?

Thanks!

Eric DeLone

[levashov]

There are many factors that can damage conversion rate. When we do paid checkout audit we analyse over 100 of them.

To the points mentioned by @GabGoldenberg I would definitely add:

• Think about what checkout way (one step, multi-step, accordion) is most suitable for your store. Each of them has pro et contra
• Use only minimally required set of field at checkout, the less is more here: 
• If you use address verification/autocomplete, make sure that it helps your customer rather than confuses and annoys them, which is often a case

A tool like Google Analytics with Ehnanced eCommerce enabled and probably Magento Analytics (while I admit that haven't tried it yet) will help you to track your store conversion funnel

[nategolubiewski]

These are all great steps to optimizing site conversion rate!

To build on the comments from @levashov and @GabGoldenberg, you’ll want to make sure you are taking a data-driven approach to any changes you make to your website.

•  Perform A/B testing when implementing any changes to the checkout process or the location/aesthetics of a page to confirm your hypothesis of improvement.
• Consider the effects of purchase incentives outside of design. For example, does adjusting your free shipping threshold increase conversion rate or average order value?
• Don’t ignore valuable data! Make sure to include analyses from your Google Analytics account with eCommerce functionality, your email marketing campaigns, magento store, and any other software that may provide valuable insights to your conversion funnel.

@levashov, what other best practice analyses have you found key during your paid checkout audit?

[levashov]

@nategolubiewski totally agree with importance on be data driven rather than rely solely on intuition.

Intuition is important and help you to build hypothesis, but then it is important to test them and see is a changed version better than control one.

Conversion optimisation is never-ending Analyse-Build-Test circle

Couple other things that affect checkout conversion rate are:

• There should be a very delicate balance for up and cross selling. On the one hand these techniques are very important and drive up average transaction value. On the other hand they may distract consumers from completing transaction. General best practice is have them at product and shopping cart pages, not at checkout.
• Good idea is to have a shortcut from adding to cart button straight to checkout, bypassing shopping cart stage. It can be organised via an overlay that appears after a user added product to cart. It gives user a choice to go to Shopping Cart, Checkout or continue shopping

[Fahmiza]

Wow my Mageapp23 fulfilled all the criteria's!! thank you so much for sharing this information!! We also have PayPal for the billing system. 

[sarahkhanbd]

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[joykristof]

Hi @GabGoldenber

Most of the points have been discussed. I will add few more points here. Adding easy sign-ups like social login options can help

Add security badges to ensure data security to the customers.

More payment and shipping options to choose from for the customers.

Option to checkout as a guest.

[skilled_tradies]

Thanks for the info. Conversion optimization is a never ending job with us at Skilled Tradies

[usmanijaz8990e]

To effectively analyze a checkout process for opportunities to improve conversion rates beyond just the initial step, you can follow these steps:

1. **Map the Checkout Flow**: Start by mapping out each step of the checkout process. Identify all the stages users go through from cart to completion.

2. **Gather Data**: Use analytics tools to track user behavior at each step. Look for metrics like abandonment rates, drop-off points, and time spent on each stage.

3. **Identify Drop-off Points**: Analyze where users are exiting the process. High drop-off rates at specific stages can indicate friction or confusion.

4. **User Testing and Feedback**: Conduct usability testing to understand user experience and gather qualitative feedback. This helps identify pain points or confusing elements.

5. **Evaluate Form Design**: Examine form fields for ease of use. Long or complex forms can deter users. Consider options like auto-fill, progress indicators, and simplified fields.

6. **Check for Mobile Responsiveness**: Ensure the checkout process is optimized for mobile devices. Many users shop on mobile, and a poor mobile experience can hurt conversion rates.