5 Reasons your mobile e-commerce website needs accelerated checkout

93's guide to accelerated checkouts. Adding a fast, secure payment option to e-commerce sites can increase customer satisfaction, decrease abandoned carts and prevent revenue loss.

Are you losing revenue because checkout is too complicated?

When it comes to e-commerce, safety and ease hold equal weight with customers. Paying for items online should be easy and intuitive, and it absolutely must be secure— if customers are worried about entering their credit card details because of the potential for data breaches or identity theft, they simply won’t do it, meaning you lose out on revenue. 

Studies have shown that lack of trust in the security of a site accounted for 18% of abandoned carts, while a checkout process that was too long or complicated accounted for 17%. These are significant figures when it comes to e-commerce revenue that your business is losing out on. 

Third party payment platforms such as Apple Pay or PayPal offer a secure and fast way of paying online via your e-commerce site that can increase conversion rates, new user acquisition and purchase frequency, while decreasing abandoned carts and reducing the risk for customers. 

So why do so many businesses not use them?

Whether it’s lack of awareness - businesses don’t realise how important they are - or lack of knowledge - businesses worry it will be too hard or complicated to add these payment methods to their sites - the end results are the same: disillusioned customers, the potential for data breaches and, ultimately, lost revenue.  

5 benefits of using Apple Pay and PayPal on your e-commerce site

Streamlined checkout - One of the biggest advantages of using Apple Pay or PayPal on your e-commerce website is that they streamline the checkout process. Customers can simply tap a button on their phone to pay, without having to find and enter their card details. The more steps a customer has to take between deciding to buy and checking out, the higher the risk they will not make the purchase, so a streamlined checkout process is vital. 

Increased security - Apple Pay and PayPal are very secure ways to pay, so there's no need to worry about your customers' card details being stolen. Retail is the sector most impacted by cyber security breaches and these hugely impact customers’ trust and willingness to use the site. The importance of security can’t be underestimated. 

Faster, easier checkout next time - Accelerated checkouts save customer payment information, making repeat purchases even easier. This means customers are more likely to return, having had a great e-commerce experience on your site. 

Buy now, pay later - Research has shown that buy now, pay later transactions are expected to account for nearly a quarter of all e-commerce payments by 2026 - rising from just 9% in 2021. Buy now, pay later attracts consumers from all age brackets from Gen Z to Boomers, increasing your revenue across demographics. 

Decreased cart abandonment - Another advantage of using Apple Pay is that it can decrease cart abandonment. The faster and more streamlined the process from adding items to a cart to checking out, the more likely the customer will be to complete. 

Apple Pay, PayPal, Google Pay - Which to choose? 

Lack of choice in payment methods accounted for 9% of abandoned carts so the answer to the question of which method to offer is: all of them. Giving customers multiple ways to pay, including Apple Pay, PayPal and Google Pay, as well as the ability to enter credit/debit card details if they choose, increases checkout conversions and customer loyalty.

Adding a variety of payment methods to your e-commerce site isn’t hard - this is something we’ll talk you through in the process of developing our brief when building your e-commerce site. We’ll help you decide which payment methods are appropriate for your target market and make sure those options are available. 

Need to optimise the rest of your site?

If mobile conversion is an issue it’s a good idea to take a methodical approach to solving the problem. The checkout process is important, but it’s not the only stumbling block your target audience could face when navigating your e-commerce website. 

50% of online transactions are made via a mobile device, so it is essential that your e-commerce website is easy to use on mobile, purpose-designed for smaller screens. Ensure that your site is easy and intuitive to navigate, the site speed is up to scratch (most users wait just two seconds for a page to load), your design and branding is strong, and the copy and SEO is effective. 

If you’re struggling to understand where your site is going wrong, we can help you take a step by step approach, looking at your analytics and UX (user experience), sitemap, linking structure and much more, to ensure that your target market has the best possible experience from browsing to checkout. 

Have an e-commerce site that needs a little something extra?

Let us help. As official Shopify Partners we can get your site off to the best possible start, increase your revenue and help you grow.

Get in touch