Throwing a bunch of buttons on a screen and hoping your conversion rate will not be impacted rarely works. Figure 9-15 shows how different payment options are represented on two competing websites.
We do not like side navigation on the cart page because it allows visitors to navigate away from the page. If the cart page already has a top navigation panel, in most cases there is no need to add side navigation as well. We recommend testing the impact of removing the side navigation panel on both the conversion rate and the average order value.
Offering users multiple ways to pay for their orders is an excellent method for increasing conversion rates. But keep a few things in mind:
Many ecommerce stores offer visitors multiple ways to complete the checkout process through external websites. Although this can be a great way to increase conversion, how these options are presented to visitors can have an impact on conversion rate:
If you allow visitors to complete payment on an external site such as PayPal, Google Checkout, or 2CO, let these visitors know they will be navigated to an external site where they will complete the checkout.
Remember that external websites have their own holes in the checkout process and some of your visitors will drop off as a result. Our testing of PayPal and Google Checkout shows that these sites suffer from close to 40% drop-off rates.
At a minimum, you should know how many visitors you are sending to external payment sites, and how many of these visitors are actually converting.
Throwing a bunch of buttons on a screen and hoping your conversion rate will not be impacted rarely works. Figure 9-15 shows how different payment options are represented on two competing websites.
The cart page design will impact your ability to persuade visitors to proceed to the checkout process or continue their shopping, or may cause them to abandon the site altogether. Small changes to the cart design can make a 10% to 20% difference in ecommerce conversion rates. Figure 9-16 shows different designs for a “Continue Shopping” button.
You can test several things with a “Continue Shopping” button:
The location of the button
The text on the button
The design of the button
We do not like copying other websites because what increases conversion with one website can kill your conversion rate. Figure 9-17 shows the cart page from Amazon.com. The page does not have a “Continue Shopping” button. The site compensates for the missing button by allowing visitors to navigate back through the header and the cross-sells and upsells.
