Close to all (99%) ecommerce sites make five or more basic errors that slow the checkout process, according to a new study from financial infrastructure platform for businesses, Stripe.
Stripe conducted a detailed review of the 100 top ecommerce websites in Australia, uncovering significant errors in the checkout pages of many of the region’s most visited websites.
Almost nine in 10 (89%) ecommerce sites do not follow up with customers that had abandoned their cart, 84% do not recommend higher-end versions of a product or service through upselling, 55% do not recommend related products or services through cross-selling and 31% of websites allow customers to attempt to pay with an expired card, increasing the likelihood of payment errors.
“Australian businesses have embraced ecommerce in recent years, however those ignoring their online checkout experience are subjecting themselves to unnecessary revenue loss,” Stripe managing director for Australia and New Zealand, Karl Durrance said.
“Addressing the common checkout issues doesn’t have to be complicated. With technology like Stripe Checkout, businesses have the support of a team of engineers and designers working continually and obsessing over every detail of their checkout from the load time to the smallest animation, increasing sales on their behalf.”
Online shoppers expect the checkout process to be fast—and they leave when it’s not. Almost half (47%) said they would abandon a purchase if the checkout process took three minutes. This means businesses are losing about half of all online customers who intend to make a purchase. Additionally, only 10% of customers always complete their online purchases, implying the majority do not make a purchase.
What’s more, the fifth error is that 77% of Australia’s ecommerce sites do not display security logos on their checkout page, jeopardising customer trust. Stripe holds the gold standard for security through its PCI certification – the most stringent level of certification available in the payments industry.
On average, over 59% of Australian customers use their mobile phones to shop for products online more than they use their desktop or laptop. Customers are also shopping through social media, with 77% of survey respondents saying they use platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to make purchases.
While most businesses surveyed adapted their checkout flow to a smaller screen, the majority did not support wallets, a mobile-friendly payment method that allows customers to store payment information, such as debit or credit cards, on their phones.