The checkout is where revenue is won or lost.
Most abandonment is not about price. It is about friction: unexpected costs, complicated forms, lack of trust, or missing payment methods. This guide covers 12 strategies that demonstrably reduce abandonment and increase checkout conversion rates.
1. Reduce Form Fields to the Minimum
Every form field is a decision point where a customer can abandon.
What to cut:
Remove the "Company Name" field unless it is essential for B2B transactions
Use a single "Full Name" field instead of separate first and last name fields
Auto-detect city and region from postcode
Default the shipping address to the billing address with a checkbox to change it
Remove optional fields: if you do not need the data, do not ask for it
Impact: Reducing form fields from 15 to 8 typically improves completion rates.
2. Show All Costs Upfront
Unexpected costs at checkout are the number one reason for abandonment.
Best practices:
Display shipping costs on the product page or in the cart, before checkout
Show tax-inclusive pricing if possible (mandatory in some regions)
If offering free shipping thresholds, show how much more the customer needs to spend
Never add "service fees" or "processing fees" at the last step
3. Offer Guest Checkout
Forcing account creation before purchase is one of the most common conversion killers.
The solution is simple: let customers check out as guests. You can prompt account creation after the purchase is complete, when the customer has already committed and has a reason to create an account (order tracking, returns).
If you must encourage registration, offer a one-click "Save my details" option at the confirmation step rather than a full registration form at checkout.
4. Add Multiple Payment Methods
If a customer cannot pay with their preferred method, they leave. The payment methods that matter depend on your market:
UK: cards (Visa, Mastercard), Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Open Banking / Pay by Bank
Europe: cards, iDEAL (Netherlands), Bancontact (Belgium), SEPA, Klarna
US: cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Venmo, buy now pay later
Asia: Alipay, WeChat Pay, GrabPay, local bank transfers
Latin America: Pix (Brazil), OXXO (Mexico), local card networks
Offering the right local payment methods can improve conversion rates, particularly in markets where card penetration is lower. For more on local payment methods by country, see our country payment guides.
5. Use a Single-Page Checkout
Multi-step checkouts with progress bars and separate pages for shipping, billing, and payment introduce friction at every step. A single-page checkout shows all fields on one screen, reducing the perceived effort.
Single-page checkouts consistently outperform multi-step flows in A/B tests, particularly on mobile where each page load is slower and each new screen risks losing the customer.
If a single page feels too long, use an accordion layout: sections expand and collapse on the same page without a full page reload.
6. Optimise for Mobile
Mobile checkout abandonment rates are consistently higher than desktop because screens are smaller, typing is harder, and connectivity can be unreliable.
Key mobile optimisations:
Use large tap targets (minimum 44×44 pixels) for buttons and form fields
Enable auto-fill and native keyboard types (numeric for card numbers, email for email fields)
Support Apple Pay and Google Pay: these bypass the entire form-filling process
Minimise scrolling: keep the checkout above the fold where possible
Test on actual devices, not just browser emulators
7. Add Trust Signals at Checkout
Customers are entering sensitive financial information. They need reassurance that the transaction is secure. Trust signals that have measurable impact:
SSL/padlock indicators: ensure your checkout uses HTTPS (this should be non-negotiable)
Payment provider logos: Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and Apple Pay logos signal familiar, trusted payment processing
Security badges: PCI DSS compliance badges, Norton/McAfee seals.
Money-back guarantee: even a simple "30-day guarantee" message reduces perceived risk
Customer support access: a visible phone number or live chat link at checkout reassures customers they can get help if something goes wrong
8. Enable Address Auto-Complete
Address entry is the most error-prone part of checkout. Auto-complete (using Google Places API, Loqate, or similar services) lets customers start typing and select their full address from a dropdown.
Benefits:
Reduces address form fields from 5-6 to 1-2 interactions
Eliminates typos that cause delivery failures
Significantly faster on mobile where typing is cumbersome
Address auto-complete typically improves checkout completion rates.
9. Implement Card Tokenisation
For returning customers, the ability to pay with a saved card removes almost all friction from the checkout process. Card tokenisation stores an encrypted reference to the customer's card details so they can pay with one click on subsequent purchases.
This is a security-first approach: your system never stores actual card numbers. The payment provider handles tokenisation and limits your PCI scope. Returning customer conversion rates are typically higher when saved cards are available.
10. Recover Abandoned Checkouts
Not every abandonment is permanent. Many customers leave because they were distracted, needed to check something, or were not ready to buy at that moment. Recovery strategies:
Email reminders: send a reminder within 1-3 hours of abandonment, with a direct link back to their pre-filled checkout.
SMS/WhatsApp follow-up: for mobile-first audiences, a text message with their checkout link can be more effective than email.
Payment links: send a payment link directly to the customer with their order pre-loaded. This bypasses the checkout entirely and lets them pay in a few taps.
Exit-intent offers: display a targeted offer (free shipping, small discount) when the customer moves to close the tab.
11. Offer Buy Now, Pay Later
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) options like Klarna, Clearpay, and Affirm have become a significant driver of checkout conversion, particularly for purchases over £50. Customers who might hesitate at a full payment are more likely to complete checkout when they can split the cost.
BNPL impact varies by sector but typically lifts average order value and checkout conversion for eligible orders.
The key is to display BNPL options early, on the product page and in the cart, not just at checkout. Customers need to know the option exists before they decide whether to buy.
12. Use Embedded Checkout Instead of Redirects
Redirecting customers to a third-party checkout page (whether it is PayPal, a payment gateway's hosted page, or a bank's 3D Secure page) introduces friction. Each redirect is a moment where the customer can lose confidence, encounter a loading delay, or simply forget what they were doing.
Embedded checkout keeps the entire payment process within your site or app. The customer never leaves your domain. This is particularly important for:
Brand consistency: your checkout looks and feels like the rest of your site
Conversion data: you can track the full funnel without losing visibility at the redirect
Mobile experience: redirects on mobile are especially disruptive
For platforms and software companies, embedded payments take this further: your merchants get a branded checkout experience powered by each merchant's own compatible PSP, without the merchant needing to build or maintain a payment integration.
Checkout Optimization Checklist
Use this checklist to audit your current checkout:
Strategy | Status | Priority |
|---|---|---|
Minimum form fields (7-8) | ☐ | High |
All costs shown upfront | ☐ | High |
Guest checkout available | ☐ | High |
3+ payment methods offered | ☐ | High |
Single-page checkout | ☐ | Medium |
Mobile-optimised | ☐ | High |
Trust signals displayed | ☐ | Medium |
Address auto-complete | ☐ | Medium |
Card tokenisation for returning customers | ☐ | Medium |
Abandonment recovery (email/SMS) | ☐ | High |
Buy now, pay later option | ☐ | Medium |
Embedded (not redirected) checkout | ☐ | Medium |
How Payment Infrastructure Affects Checkout Conversion
Many checkout optimization guides focus exclusively on UX: form design, button colours, copy. But the underlying payment infrastructure has an equally significant impact on conversion:
Local acquiring: transactions processed by a local acquirer (e.g., a UK acquirer for UK cardholders) have higher authorisation rates than cross-border transactions.
PSP redundancy: if your single PSP has an outage, your checkout is down. With more than one PSP connected, you can move the affected payment types over and keep checkout up when one provider is down, though saved cards stay with the PSP that stored them.
Local payment methods: supporting country-specific payment methods is not just a nice-to-have. In markets like the Netherlands (iDEAL) or Brazil (Pix), local methods account for the majority of online transactions.
For platforms serving merchants in multiple markets, a PSP-neutral payment layer solves these infrastructure challenges without building separate integrations for each provider.
Improve Your Checkout Conversion
Checkout optimization is not a one-time project. Customer expectations evolve, new payment methods emerge, and what works in one market may not work in another. The businesses with the highest checkout conversion rates are those that treat their checkout as a product, continuously measured, tested, and improved.
If your checkout conversion is limited by your payment infrastructure (missing payment methods or single-PSP constraints), see how Shuttle works for platforms or book a discovery call to discuss your checkout architecture.