Shopping Cart and Checkout Page Optimization
The common checkout experience consists of a four pages, not counting the confirmation page. While this is the most common and accepted number of pages to use, the most preferred number of fields are 21-28. Here are some ways to spice up and optimize your shopping cart and checkout process for your site.
Percentages of Merchant Websites That Contain:
Express check out – 84%
Guest check out – 66%
Multiple shipping options – 100%
Gift cards – 68%
Promo/coupon codes – 55%
Use of Color
Color can influence the reaction of a customer and is a subject of many studies. Most companies use white backgrounds (89%) and black texts (96%) to stay consistent and be easily read. Most field asterisks used by merchant websites are either black (32.35%) or red (31.62%) and the top 3 colors for buttons are red (30.9%), green (19.9%), and blue (19.1%). Red is a popular choice for both asterisks and buttons due to the effect they have on increasing the heart rates of customers, ultimately influencing their decision in the end.
Shopping Carts in the Last 3 Years Are Still the Same
Shopping carts in the past few years have not changed very much. Many merchant websites have stuck to using the same check out flows, page flows, average number of inputs, and % of support for express check out. Also, shopping carts have consistently used white as the dominant page color and have stuck to the same button colors as well.
Shopping Cart Requirements
Every shopping cart needs to have certain elements in order to work and flow properly in the eyes of the customer. Stick to using a total of 4 pages, along with a confirmation, and use around 24 fields as well. Also, consider your use of colors very carefully, and realize that there is a reason most checkouts use black text on a white page. In addition, add a step guide that explains to the customer what is happening on each page. Furthermore, make sure to denote a required field using a red or black asterisk and make it easier for the visitor to fill out the form by assuming their card type based on the first four numbers, filling in the city, state, and country spaces using the zip code, and by not asking for information until it is needed.
