Poor checkout experiences, including a lack of one-click or quick payment options, risks losing retailers hard won online conversions, according to the latest data from parcelLab.
The company conducted its own research last year, comparing how 150 eCommerce brands and retailers managed their checkout, shipping and returns services.
Their findings revealed that while many retailers invested heavily to get shoppers onto their websites and to the point of purchase, little was done to retain them – or stop them abandoning an order, once they reached the checkout. The critical moment, parcelLab says, where a conversion is either won or lost.
parcelLab cites a PPRO study last year, by way of example – where results showed that almost half (44 per cent) of UK consumers would give up on a purchase if their preferred payment option wasn’t offered at the online checkout.
While 41 per cent of retailers have embraced Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) schemes, such as Klarna and Lay Buy, says parcelLab, many still don’t provide the convenience of one-click payments which shoppers have become accustomed to on Amazon.
Just a quarter of retailers (27 per cent) provided quick pay formats, such as Apple Pay or Google Pay, and only 10 per cent offered Amazon Pay.
A fifth (17 per cent) of retailers were also said to be adding friction to the checkout experience, by insisting that people sign-up or register for an account to allow them to make a purchase.
Tobias Buxhoidt, co-founder and CEO of parcelLab, said: “Conversion blockers at the online checkout risk undoing all the hard-won gains of getting that customer right to the point of purchase. Retailers are already paying handsomely to get a shopper to their site in the first place amidst rising competition online, so they can’t afford to fall at the last hurdle by adding friction at checkout and potentially losing a sale, right at that critical moment.
“By thinking about the checkout not just as a transactional process in the buying journey, but as integral to the customer experience, retailers can smooth the path to purchase and increase the likelihood of conversions and sales.”
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