WooCommerce One Page Checkout vs. Multi Step Checkout – Which is the best?

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Are you sure you need a WooCommerce One Page Checkout on your site? You may make mistake in deciding if you don’t read this article to the end.

If you have a WooCommerce website, the most important pages of your website are product, cart, and checkout pages. Why? Because they are the last step of buying from your website, it is interesting that 57% of your customers close the checkout page if they wait for more than 3 seconds before the checkout. 80% of these people will not return.

57% rate of shopping cart abandonment due to page load time

So this page should be designed in the best possible way. Your checkout page could be a WooCommerce one-page checkout or multistep checkout. This comprehensive article aims to determine the best for you and minimize the bounce rate.

Answer these questions by reading this article:

  1. What is cart abandonment, and how to calculate it?
  2. What is a checkout page?
  3. How many types of checkout pages are there?
  4. When should we use a WooCommerce one-page checkout?
  5. What are the tips to make a great checkout experience?
  6. What are the best WordPress plugins for the checkout page?
  7. What are some of the best checkout page design examples?
  8. How do we ensure a smooth checkout process?

What is cart abandonment, and how to calculate it?

Cart abandonment occurs when potential customers enter the shopping process but do not complete it. Any product added to the cart can be a chance for you. But 70% of these shopping carts do not reach the payment stage and are abandoned.

To calculate the cart abandonment rate, divide the total number of completed transactions by the number of all entries to the checkout process (adds to cart). Then you should subtract the result from one and then multiply by 100. For example, if 1000 customers enter the checkout page and 356 complete the purchase; thus the abandonment rate is 64.4%.

Shopping cart abandonment rate calculation formula

If the abandoned cart problem interests you, you might be interested in checking out the  MC WooCommerce Wishlist plugin that helps reduce it. If you like, download the free version of MC WooCommerce Wishlist Plugin from the WordPress repository.

What is a checkout page?

This page is related to payment details on an eCommerce store. The checkout page allows customers to enter these details and complete their purchases. We want to find out how to reduce WooCommerce abandonment and steer customers from the checkout page to the payment gateway.

Different types of the checkout pages

1. WooCommerce One Page Checkout

It is a checkout page where customers can complete all the checkout processes on a single page.

WooCommerce One Page Checkout
WooCommerce One Page Checkout example

One-page checkout aims to be the buying process as simple and quick as possible. You reduce the time that should be spent on the shopping process. So it boosts the checkout process speed to moderate this painful process for customers!!!

2. WooCommerce multistep checkout

This means the checkout process is extended to multiple pages. It aims to win online buyers’ trust. They can check their information and feel more secure.

WooCommerce multi stepCheckout
WooCommerce multistep checkout example

3. WooCommerce One-click checkout

It directly moves customers from a “Buy Now” button (or something like that) to the checkout page. But it requires that customers have entered their cart’s information or charged their account.

When should we use a WooCommerce One Page Checkout?

One checkout page has fewer steps, making the buying process faster than a multistep checkout page. But it is not the best solution for all stores because, on some websites, the one-page checkout overwhelms customers and increases the cart abandonment rate.

If you sell these products, a one-page checkout is exactly what you want:

  1. Digital products/services
  2. Downloadable products
  3. Inexpensive products

But it would help if you had multistep checkout for:

  1. A product or service which costs very high
  2. Almost all of the customers are desktop shoppers
  3. Almost all the customers are elderly who don’t know much about modern technology and need our help through the checkout process.

Pros and cons of WooCommerce One Page Checkout and multistep (table)

Table

Pros

Cons

One-page

  • Easier: customers don’t need to fill in the information and wait until the next page is loaded. Since all of the items are on one page, customers may trust you more.
  • No distraction: One-page checkout is the one that is not distracting and confusing; because customers don’t have to give information and wait for the next page in the checkout process. 
  • Too long:  All the items placed on a single page may get too long and make customers leave the page.
  • Slow down page loading: on a one-page checkout, since all the information is on a single page, it may increase the page’s load time.

Multistep

  • Enable guest checkout: Multistep checkout doesn’t force customers to create an account.
  • Not bulky: It is easier for customers to fill in the information. Because you do not have to get all the information from the customer on one page, it doesn’t seem too bulky.
  • It takes a long time: It may take a long time to fill out all the required information in several pages, too many steps, and it may get intimidating for customers.
  • Correction: On most websites, if a customer makes a mistake, they can’t return to correct it.

13 most important tips to make a great checkout experience

Here, we present solutions that will soon convert all your abandoned carts into huge sales.

1. Getting the necessary information

You shouldn’t force your customers to give you unnecessary information. Your checkout page should be minimal. Get an email at first; then, you even could get the billing details like address, number, etc., after the payment.

billing details fields in the checkout page
billing fields in the checkout page

If you need some information that buyers aren’t willing to represent, you can give them a discount code encouraging them to sign up and give you the necessary information (for the first time!). But don’t use the code at the checkout page! For more information, watch this video: “How To Add Coupons to WooCommerce Store?

2. Step-by-step design

If you use multistep checkout, you should design it step-by-step; that may help the customers not confuse. A 3-5 step process is natural.

steps of a multistep checkout page
steps of a multistep checkout page

3. Adjustability

make it possible for customers to change :

  1. their information in every step (on multistep check out)
  2. the quantity or their order on the checkout page

5. Guest checkout

Enable guest checkout. Don’t make customers register an account. They may not want to create an account on your website and make a one-time purchase. If you do not take this opportunity by forcing them to create an account, they may become your loyal customers.

6. Ad notification

Minimize your promotions and advertising notifications on the checkout page.

7. Simplicity

Your checkout page design must be as simple as possible. Try to design a specific page. Amazon’s checkout page is an idol of simplicity.

8. Progress bar or compacted design

Add a progress bar so that customers find where they are in the multistep checkout process.

If you use a one-page checkout, compact your design; thus, the customer doesn’t need to scroll a lot! Maybe three or four columns are enough to place all the necessary items.

9. UX design

Customers can easily find and fill the items. Be aware! Most shoppers who abandon checkout pages use smartphones (around 80%). You should optimize your website to be mobile-friendly.

moble friendly checkout

If over 80% of your users come to the site with a mobile phone, it might be better to have an application. To encourage them to use the application, you can make attractive offers for its users and post them on the site.

10. Checkout page load time

The loading time of the checkout page should be the lowest possible. If it is slow, that will increase your BR and decrease your CR.

11. Payment method

each customer prefers a different type of payment from the other. Make sure that you have enabled most types of typical payments. You should enable at least three types.

12. Bugs and technical problems

although technology has many advantages, don’t forget about glitches, bugs, and technical problems. You should ensure the checkout process is implemented without any problem. Do regular checks and benefit from analytic tools to ensure you didn’t miss anything. Prevent technical problems such as crashed pages and errors.

13. Transparency

Remember! The main reason for the cart abandonment is some issues like taxes, shipping, and fees, which is unexpected! Inform the customers about them before entering the checkout page. If you want to be professional in this regard, you better read about Extra costs and how to solve this problem.

6 Best WordPress plugins for checkout page

By default, WooCommerce offers a simple and functional checkout page; however, you can customize it effectively to better customer experience. Following, we will address some of the best plugins that help you modify the checkout page on WordPress.

WooCommerce Direct Checkout

It makes the checkout steps from looking at a product to putting customers’ payment details in a two-step process. Cut out the cart page and go straight to the checkout.

Checkout Field Editor

It is one of the best plugins to add, delete or rearrange fields on our WooCommerce checkout page.

Flexible Checkout Fields

This free plugin offers a couple of field types to add to your WooCommerce store checkout page.

WooCommerce Checkout Manager

This plugin offers 15 different field types to help you customize WooCommerce checkout pages in your online store. Using the checkout manager plugin, you can add or rearrange fields in the billing, shipping, and additional field sections and create a WooCommerce One Page Checkout.

Calculated Fields Form

This plugin helps you create forms where values will be dynamically calculated, like calorie counters or the service’s total cost. In addition, the plugin has an automatic troubleshooting option that will help you resolve any complex you may happen with other plugins or scripts.

WP Rocket

It makes your WordPress website load faster. It is important not only for customers but also for search engine rankings. If your site is slow, you will rank lower.

Some of the best checkout page design examples

  1. AliExpress: minimal information needed
  2. Etsy, Amazon, and BigBasket: simplicity
  3. ASOS: mobile-friendly
  4. Zappos: Straightforward
  5. Walmart: doesn’t need to register an account

How do we ensure a smooth checkout process?

It is not simple to decide which checkout is the best. To be able to make a better decision choose WooCommerce One Page Checkout or multi-step:

A/B testing

Once you read all the advice we explained above, try an A/B test if you are unsure which type is most suitable for you.

Benefit from heat mapping your website. If you want to find out whether a one-page checkout is suitable for you or the multi-page one, perform A/B testing like this:” A/B Test Case Study: Single Page vs. Multi-Step Checkout.”

Analytics Tools

Take a closer look at the analytics and notice where the customers leave out the process.

Best abandonment rate

If you want to optimize your checkout process, set your abandonment rate goal to about 20%.

How’re the competitors?

Compare your checkout flow to your competitor’s flow.

Gain Customer Trust

Customers should trust you if you want to reduce the website abandonment rate. Whether they found your website unfamiliar, they may not complete the purchase. Encourage your customers or even your viewers to leave a comment about your product or service.

 

The product page is also important.

Many people get involved in various plugins and modify the checkout page to have WooCommerce One Page Checkout, but the entrance to your sales funnel is the product page; many users leave your site at this stage, one of the best tools to attract users and convince them to buy is a wishlist button. They are product pages; if you put an add to wishlist button on them, you can have more chances to convince those users. The only plugin that has worked on this issue professionally is the MC WooCommerce Wishlist plugin, the free version of the MC wishlist can be downloadable from the repository.

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Saeed Threes
I love WordPress, its plugins, and building a free world with this tool. That is why I would like to share my experiences in this wonderful world with you. You can do anything with WordPress without any hassle.
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