6 tips to optimize your Shopify checkout

With an average 70% of shopping baskets abandoned during an online purchase¹, you need to continually optimize every step of your checkout to limit customer irritation over time.

These include:

• a slow e-commerce store;
• too many steps in the purchasing process;
• a lack of payment methods;
• doubts about site security, and many others.

To help you optimize your Shopify checkout, Payplug, a French payment solution designed for merchants and e-merchants, reveals its 6 tips for maximizing your conversion.

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1. Boost your site's performance

Like a storefront, your site's design and fluidity are the first things customers notice.

17% of shopping cart abandonments are due to a technically unstable site¹.

Just as when a customer spends too much time in a queue, they may abandon their purchase when faced with a site that's too slow or pages that display poorly.

To avoid this, your site must :

• adopt a responsive design
• be technically stable and allow web pages to load quickly.

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💡Attempts to reduce page load times:

‍‍Avoid images that are too large (example: a 4000 x 4000 pixel visual is useless for the web).

Prefer JPEG or Webp formats, which are lighter than PNG.

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2. Create a seamless shopping experience

Technically, your site is second to none: perfect. Now it's time to make sure that your shopping experience is designed with consumers in mind: simple and efficient.

22% of shopping cart abandonments are due to a checkout that's too long or too complicated¹.

When shopping online, your customers and prospects are looking for quick access to payment. Additional steps can cause them to lose patience and abandon their shopping baskets.

To boost the conversion rate of your Shopify checkout, it's in your interest to keep it as simple as possible:

• Include a progress bar showing the remaining steps before payment.
• Limit the number of fields requested when creating a customer account.
• Automate the completion of certain information, such as transferring the delivery address to the billing address.

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💡 Tip: offer to order as a guest ‍

With 26% of customers abandoning their online shopping cart if they have to create an account¹, it can be interesting to offer the order as a guest.

On your Shopify back-office, in the "Account experience" section, click on "Edit" and then uncheck the "Require customers to log in before paying" option.

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3. Adapt your payment methods to your buyers' expectations

Where some consumers will abandon their purchase due to lack of fluidity, others will do so if they can't find their preferred payment method.

According to a Payplug and PrestaShop study on the buying habits of Gen Z, 20% of 18-27 year-olds have already abandoned their shopping cart due to a lack of choice in payment methods².

You therefore need to take into account the behavior of your customers and the buying habits of your target market, in order to best meet their expectations.

The choice of payment methods to offer also depends on the profile of your online store:

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Your mobile traffic is high

You can make payment easier by offering your customers express payment methods such as e-wallets. To simplify future purchases, consider suggesting one-click payment.

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Your average order value is high

With inflation weighing on consumers' purchasing power, they'll appreciate being able to pay in instalments and/or deferred payment.

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You have an international presence

Find out which payment methods are popular in your target market(s).

Whether it's Giropay in Germany, iDeal in the Netherlands or Satispay in Italy, each can make a difference for your customers.

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To find out more, read our post on alternative payment methods.

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4. Use an integrated payment form

With an integrated payment form, your customers can pay directly from the checkout page, without being redirected.

In fact, Payplug is the first French payment service provider to offer this feature on Shopify!

In this way, your customers benefit from a smoother shopping experience and exhaustive information linked to their order.

At a glance, they can check the list of selected items or the details of delivery charges, so there are no unpleasant surprises!

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5. Reassure your customers at the time of purchase

When your customers are about to validate their order, they may decide to retract it if they feel insecure. Don't forget that it's sensitive data they're sharing at checkout!

25% of shopping cart abandonments are due to a lack of confidence in the site's security¹.

So you need to build trust with:

• A personalized checkout that reflects your brand identity.
• Security markers: PCI DSS badge, "Secure payment" mention.
• A contact banner, available in your Shopify theme settings, featuring your logo and contact information.

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6. Integrate your loyalty program within your checkout page

Certain apps available on the Shopify app store can enable you to personalize your checkout page, for example to :

• tailor your checkout to the behavior of your customers;
• encourage up-selling and cross-selling;
• offer product bundles.

But that's not all.

You can also integrate your loyalty program into your checkout page.

Thanks to Loyoly's Checkout Extension (available for Shopify Plus brands).

This extension allows your buyers to :

• see the points they can earn by completing the order;
• use rewards already accumulated;
• redeem their points for instantly applicable rewards.

A great way to boost rewards usage, program engagement and customer loyalty.

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Conclusion: lessons to be learned

To optimize your Shopify checkout and increase your conversion rate, it's in your best interest to :

• boost your site's performance with a technically stable checkout that's easy to navigate;
• create a fluid purchase path that makes it easier for your visitors to proceed to checkout;
• offer payment methods adapted to your target audience;
• optimize the customer experience with an integrated checkout page;
• reassure your customers at checkout with security markers;
• Integrate your loyalty program to boost customer retention.

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Now it's up to you!

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Payplug helps you optimize your payment performance.
Find out more about their Shopify module.

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^{1 Baymard study on reasons for shopping cart abandonment at checkout - 2024
2 Study on the shopping habits of Generation Z - Payplug x PrestaShop x OpinionWay - 2024}

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