Ecommerce checkout best practices

Your checkout is the most important — and most fragile — part of an online store. Every bit of friction here directly costs sales. A clean, reassuring checkout is worth more than almost any other optimization.

The essentials

• •Offer guest checkout — don't force account creation.
• •Keep it to as few steps as possible.
• •Show costs (including shipping) upfront.
• •Offer the payment methods people expect.
• •Reassure with security badges and a clear return policy.

Test it on mobile

Most shopping is on phones, so the checkout has to be flawless on mobile — big tap targets, the right keyboard for each field, and no fiddly steps. Buy from your own store on your phone and fix whatever annoys you.