A study conducted by Roy Morgan last year showed that Australians spent an estimated 37.8 billion dollars on the internet in the 2015 financial period. On average, 4 out of 10 people purchase at least one item online every month.

The checkout process can make or break a business online. Let’s see how The Iconic and David Jones do it.

Different studies show that cart abandonment can reach up to 80%. We need to consider the reasons why customers abandon their carts at the last moment. Note that seven of the ten reasons listed below for abandoning a cart are related to the checkout process.

What makes a good checkout? Look at two online retailers. One has a streamlined checkout, and the other is stuck in the old days.

The Iconic

Remember that The Iconic operates exclusively online. It’s not a physical store like David Jones. Therefore, its digital marketing strategy must be strong. Let’s have a look.

Step 1: Add the Item to the Cart

This step is not special. Who could get an ‘Add to Bag” button wrong? The Iconic did one thing right! Notice the two calls to action in the below image. You can’t miss them! They are large, bright buttons in blue. Yes, simple but very effective. The Iconic’s web design is simple and chic and really reflects their brand. They can clearly direct shoppers to the desired destination by using contrast CTA buttons.

Step 2: Sign up

The Iconic has a unique checkout process. You can’t check out as a “guest,”. You must sign up. This could be annoying to some customers. However, 35% of abandoned carts are due to customers being forced to create an account. You may want to purchase something without being bothered.

Why would someone do that? There are many reasons. First, it’s pretty obvious. They want to expand their mailing list. The other data that they collect is probably more valuable to them. You can track your purchases by creating an account. They can make a highly-targeted shopping experience for you once they know your preferences in terms of gender, size, and price range.

Step 3: Payments and Shipping

Many retailers manage to sabotage this step. The Iconic, on the other hand, does a good job. When I first got to the page, I was surprised that the entire information was above the fold—NO SCROLLING! Placing the form in two columns makes the process so much simpler.

This section also offers a variety of payment options. The more payment options you offer, the better.

Conclusion

You’re done! You’ve spent the money you intended to save before you even know it! The Iconic website is a testament to the importance of speed and simplicity. The checkout process is made so quick by using the smallest number of form elements and pages. You won’t have time to feel bad about buying jeans that you didn’t really need, but they were on sale.

Total Pages: 3.

Total form element: 13.

Total number of clicks between ‘Add to Bag’ and ‘Place order’: 5.

David Jones

Compare David Jones to other athletes.

Add to Bag

The first step is similar to The Iconic: a simple, clean design with a CTA you can see from a distance. A great CTA button is a must!

Step 2 Cart Preview

This step allows you to see your shopping cart in a preview and remove items that you no longer desire before you choose to checkout (again). This step, which I think is very important for those of us who tend to add 10 items to our carts before calculating the total and getting a heart attack, could be combined with another.

If someone asked you right now whether you’d skydive, you might say yes. If they kept you hanging from the side of a flight for an hour, you might not be so keen. But I don’t think we should force customers to leave the plane and make them buy things they do not want. The longer and more tiring the experience, the less likely it is that they will finish or do it again. Shopping should be enjoyable, not stressful.

Remember, The more steps you take before purchasing, the higher the chances of abandoning your cart!

Step 3: Sign up

David Jones, unlike The Iconic, allows you to check out as a guest and sign in as a return customer. I love this! I decided to check out as a guest to see how much quicker it was.

Step 4. Delivery

Do I need to complete a written test, or am I doing some shopping? If you are already a member, all this information will be saved. However, the fact that I have to scroll down to complete the delivery section is a bit tedious (a first-world problem).

Even small changes, such as combining the fields for ‘First and Last’ names or suburb postcode recognition, can make a big difference. David Jones has only nine form elements, while The Iconic has only six.

We are still in the delivery phase. Please remind me why these options could not have been included in the essay. The estimated delivery date now appears on the order summary. It is good that they are upfront and honest. 16% of customers will abandon their cart if the delivery time is too long. The order total is another positive. It is important to be upfront with shipping and calculated costs. Nobody likes a surprise after completing a long checkout process.

Step 6 – Payment

YAY! Finally, we have reached the end. What year are you in? What year are we in?

It took a long time, but there are many payment options, even without AfterPay. Still, a thumbs up.

Conclusion

David Jones is so focused on offering customers 100 different checkout options that it has lost sight of what we want: efficiency. Customers want flexibility, but it doesn’t have to be a long process.

Total Pages: 6

Total form elements: 17

Total clicks before purchase confirmation: 11

The Verdict

The Iconic’s checkout process is undoubtedly better than David Jones’s. It doesn’t cost much to have an efficient checkout process. Yep! The fewer pages, forms and steps you have, the better. It’s important to offer options and flexibility, but this doesn’t mean your process has to be a marathon.

Takeaways:

• The Iconic checkout can be completed in 3 steps. It is not worth it to lengthen the checkout process.
• Keep things simple: we all love beautiful web designs, but they should not overpower a product or the user experience. The simpler your design and the more “in your face” the CTA buttons, the better.
• Keep It Simple: The experience should be short, simple and easy! If it takes more than 1 minute and 15 seconds to complete your checkout, it is too long. The more obstacles your customers must overcome before reaching the finish line, the more likely they are to abandon their purchase.