Oct 23, 2023

Shopify checkout optimization: How to double your sales in a week

In the world of e-commerce, even the smallest details can have a big impact.

For an online store to consistently produce results, it requires a combination of many different factors. One of these is setting up the Shopify checkout and payment process properly.

Start optimizing your Shopify checkout by avoiding these most common mistakes that make even the most potential customers back out at the very last moment before making a payment.

Double your online store's sales in a week by avoiding these mistakes:

1. Unexpected costs just before payment

Even if the costs are not very high relative to the purchases, if a customer encounters unexpected expenses, such as shipping fees, delivery fees, or taxes, the most likely result is the abandonment of the shopping cart.

The same is evident from several surveys as well as by examining the statistics of online stores.

Since transparency and predictability are clearly key, itemize all costs right in the shopping cart instead of having them pop up just before payment.

2. Requiring registration at checkout

The majority of customers expect a fast and straightforward payment process, and mandatory registration at checkout slows this down.

If you want to sell as much as possible, give customers the opportunity to create an account and encourage them to do so, for example, through a discount, but do not complicate purchasing unnecessarily by making registration compulsory.

3. Checkout has too many pages or too much content

As mentioned earlier, we live in a world where easiness and speed are paramount. Often, purchases are also made based on emotion rather than need.

For these reasons, it's important that a customer can complete the purchase quickly and with as little hassle as possible, and at a moment of their choosing.

Improve your sales opportunities by turning your Shopify checkout into a single page, minimizing the number of fields to fill in to just the essentials, removing unnecessary sections and buttons, and making the checkout page visually clear and simple.

4. Your online store does not inspire trust

It may be that your products are interesting, but a customer's doubt about the reliability of the online store emerges just before payment.

For example, older people may fear giving their card details at checkout and the leakage of such information, and your online store may feed this fear.

Self-made online store problems often include various small errors and shortcomings that make the store look unprofessional and dysfunctional from the customer's perspective.

You can avoid this problem by optimizing your online store or by asking a Shopify partner and Shopify expert to create an effective and cohesive implementation for you that inspires trust in the customer.

5. Appropriate payment methods are not available

Referring to the previous point, ensure that your online store offers payment methods favored by the customer.

In Finland, the most popular way to pay is online banking, and its absence can sometimes cause distrust.

In addition, if familiar payment methods are not available, payment immediately becomes more difficult for the customer.

For instance, through Paytrail, an entrepreneur can easily include online banking payments and a one-page Shopify checkout. Visma Pay is also a viable option for domestic online stores.

6. Delivery times are too long

While you can't influence postal transit times, you can speed up delivery by sending online orders from your warehouse as quickly as possible.

These days, it should not take anyone several days and certainly not weeks to do this. The most efficient online stores send out orders the day they are made or at the latest the following day, and more and more customers expect this.

If you want the customer to buy again in the future, your online store must meet the customer's expectations of delivery time.

Less important but still significant is to offer several delivery options at the Shopify store checkout.

If you offer fast delivery times or process orders exceptionally quickly, let the customer know about it.

7. Bugs at Shopify checkout or site crashes

The customer's experience in the online store must be seamless from start to finish.

Sometimes the payment process is interrupted for reasons beyond the customer's control, and there's nothing you can do (other than implement targeted advertising later).

But if your online store doesn't operate smoothly or there are problems with the Shopify checkout, you are needlessly losing customers to competitors.

The customer is unlikely to return if the purchase was urgent, your business is not a particularly unique option compared to competitors, or if your online store managed to leave a bad impression.

So invest in a functioning and lightning-fast online store by getting a quality one right from the start – it will pay for itself.

8. Return policies need improvement

Clarify, expand, and update your return policy in accordance with current legislation. Online store return policies are regulated by both EU and consumer protection laws. 

Ensure that the return policy is easily findable. Also promote any potential free returns and/or exchanges throughout the online store.

It's also worth trying to extend the return period. Offering a 30-day or longer return period instead of the statutory 14 days may be more effective as it lowers the threshold for purchase.

Shopify POS and Shopify Checkout - what's the difference?

Shopify POS and Shopify checkout are both products designed for payment, but they serve different purposes.

Shopify POS (Point Of Sale) is specifically designed for brick-and-mortar stores because it enables sales to take place on-site. Shopify checkout, on the other hand, is specifically meant and tailored for the needs of an online store.

If you have both an online store and a physical store, you can benefit from both systems. However, many entrepreneurs already have a separate cash register and operational management system in place before setting up an online store.

To boost sales, these should be integrated with the Shopify checkout as early as possible.

While sales may not directly increase with the integration, a large portion of manual work is removed and the risk of errors decreases. This, in turn, means more satisfied customers who may consider returning, as well as more time to focus on productive activities rather than administrative tasks, such as digital marketing for the online store.

Optimize Shopify Checkout and Online Store for Success

Digital agency Growly specializes in Shopify online stores and thus also in optimizing the Shopify checkout. Thanks to our cooperation, our clients from different sectors have repeatedly seen sales increase by 2-10 times even in a very short time.

A functioning Shopify checkout is of course only part of the equation for success. The entire online store and sales funnel need to be in order if permanent results are to be achieved.

Whether you need a Shopify online store or help getting sales started, we are here to assist you. We also help automate your online store with integrations.

Contact us through the form below and let's look together at how we could take your business to the next level.

Also read:

Shopify costs – what are they all about?

Digital marketing for online stores – where to start?

Setting up a Shopify online store in a few days

In the world of e-commerce, even the smallest details can have a big impact.

For an online store to consistently produce results, it requires a combination of many different factors. One of these is setting up the Shopify checkout and payment process properly.

Start optimizing your Shopify checkout by avoiding these most common mistakes that make even the most potential customers back out at the very last moment before making a payment.

Double your online store's sales in a week by avoiding these mistakes:

1. Unexpected costs just before payment

Even if the costs are not very high relative to the purchases, if a customer encounters unexpected expenses, such as shipping fees, delivery fees, or taxes, the most likely result is the abandonment of the shopping cart.

The same is evident from several surveys as well as by examining the statistics of online stores.

Since transparency and predictability are clearly key, itemize all costs right in the shopping cart instead of having them pop up just before payment.

2. Requiring registration at checkout

The majority of customers expect a fast and straightforward payment process, and mandatory registration at checkout slows this down.

If you want to sell as much as possible, give customers the opportunity to create an account and encourage them to do so, for example, through a discount, but do not complicate purchasing unnecessarily by making registration compulsory.

3. Checkout has too many pages or too much content

As mentioned earlier, we live in a world where easiness and speed are paramount. Often, purchases are also made based on emotion rather than need.

For these reasons, it's important that a customer can complete the purchase quickly and with as little hassle as possible, and at a moment of their choosing.

Improve your sales opportunities by turning your Shopify checkout into a single page, minimizing the number of fields to fill in to just the essentials, removing unnecessary sections and buttons, and making the checkout page visually clear and simple.

4. Your online store does not inspire trust

It may be that your products are interesting, but a customer's doubt about the reliability of the online store emerges just before payment.

For example, older people may fear giving their card details at checkout and the leakage of such information, and your online store may feed this fear.

Self-made online store problems often include various small errors and shortcomings that make the store look unprofessional and dysfunctional from the customer's perspective.

You can avoid this problem by optimizing your online store or by asking a Shopify partner and Shopify expert to create an effective and cohesive implementation for you that inspires trust in the customer.

5. Appropriate payment methods are not available

Referring to the previous point, ensure that your online store offers payment methods favored by the customer.

In Finland, the most popular way to pay is online banking, and its absence can sometimes cause distrust.

In addition, if familiar payment methods are not available, payment immediately becomes more difficult for the customer.

For instance, through Paytrail, an entrepreneur can easily include online banking payments and a one-page Shopify checkout. Visma Pay is also a viable option for domestic online stores.

6. Delivery times are too long

While you can't influence postal transit times, you can speed up delivery by sending online orders from your warehouse as quickly as possible.

These days, it should not take anyone several days and certainly not weeks to do this. The most efficient online stores send out orders the day they are made or at the latest the following day, and more and more customers expect this.

If you want the customer to buy again in the future, your online store must meet the customer's expectations of delivery time.

Less important but still significant is to offer several delivery options at the Shopify store checkout.

If you offer fast delivery times or process orders exceptionally quickly, let the customer know about it.

7. Bugs at Shopify checkout or site crashes

The customer's experience in the online store must be seamless from start to finish.

Sometimes the payment process is interrupted for reasons beyond the customer's control, and there's nothing you can do (other than implement targeted advertising later).

But if your online store doesn't operate smoothly or there are problems with the Shopify checkout, you are needlessly losing customers to competitors.

The customer is unlikely to return if the purchase was urgent, your business is not a particularly unique option compared to competitors, or if your online store managed to leave a bad impression.

So invest in a functioning and lightning-fast online store by getting a quality one right from the start – it will pay for itself.

8. Return policies need improvement

Clarify, expand, and update your return policy in accordance with current legislation. Online store return policies are regulated by both EU and consumer protection laws. 

Ensure that the return policy is easily findable. Also promote any potential free returns and/or exchanges throughout the online store.

It's also worth trying to extend the return period. Offering a 30-day or longer return period instead of the statutory 14 days may be more effective as it lowers the threshold for purchase.

Shopify POS and Shopify Checkout - what's the difference?

Shopify POS and Shopify checkout are both products designed for payment, but they serve different purposes.

Shopify POS (Point Of Sale) is specifically designed for brick-and-mortar stores because it enables sales to take place on-site. Shopify checkout, on the other hand, is specifically meant and tailored for the needs of an online store.

If you have both an online store and a physical store, you can benefit from both systems. However, many entrepreneurs already have a separate cash register and operational management system in place before setting up an online store.

To boost sales, these should be integrated with the Shopify checkout as early as possible.

While sales may not directly increase with the integration, a large portion of manual work is removed and the risk of errors decreases. This, in turn, means more satisfied customers who may consider returning, as well as more time to focus on productive activities rather than administrative tasks, such as digital marketing for the online store.

Optimize Shopify Checkout and Online Store for Success

Digital agency Growly specializes in Shopify online stores and thus also in optimizing the Shopify checkout. Thanks to our cooperation, our clients from different sectors have repeatedly seen sales increase by 2-10 times even in a very short time.

A functioning Shopify checkout is of course only part of the equation for success. The entire online store and sales funnel need to be in order if permanent results are to be achieved.

Whether you need a Shopify online store or help getting sales started, we are here to assist you. We also help automate your online store with integrations.

Contact us through the form below and let's look together at how we could take your business to the next level.

Also read:

Shopify costs – what are they all about?

Digital marketing for online stores – where to start?

Setting up a Shopify online store in a few days