Website Usability Guidelines

E-Commerce Shopping Cart (2 of 4)

Follow these recommendations:

Safeguard Personal Data - You're asking visitors to trust you with their personal information and credit card numbers. Make sure they feel comfortable doing that by linking to your site's privacy policy, offering secure online transactions, and requesting only the information you need. Ensure that your SSL certificate is up-to-date and shows on the shopping cart.

Ideally, you should ask for personal information as late as possible in the ordering process. Users will click away from any site that requires credit card and contact information before they tell the user the final purchase cost - including shipping charges!

Contact Information - Contact information is important. A recent marketing survey found that customers like to know they can contact a live person and might not have abandoned their carts if one were available. Always have your telephone number and physical address.

Ways to Improve Shopping Cart Abandonment Percentage

• Provide shipping costs early in the process, so shoppers are not surprised during final checkout.
• Show stock availability on the product page, so shoppers do not have to wait until checkout to determine if a product is out of stock.
• When an item is placed in the shopping cart, include a link back to the product page, so shoppers can easily jump back to make sure they have selected the right item.
• Make it easy to change quantities or delete an item from the shopping cart.
• If a product comes in multiple sizes or colors, make it easy to select or change values in the shopping cart.
• Include a Progress Indicator (e.g., Step 2 of 5) on each checkout page, so shoppers always know where they are in the checkout process.
• Include a prominent Next Step or Continue with Checkout button on each checkout page, so shoppers do not get lost.
• Keep all information above the fold (on one screen) on each checkout page, so shoppers do not have to frequently scroll down.
• If the billing information is the same as the shipping information, include a box that shoppers can check to automatically fill in the same information.
• If information is missing or filled out incorrectly during checkout, give a meaningful error message that clearly describes what needs to be corrected.
• If you intend to add your customers to a list for future e-mail marketing (either from you or a third party), make sure your customers know this and can easily opt out.
• Make the most of cross-selling by making recommendations of additional items to buy based on what is already in the shopping cart.