A new study from Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, reveals that many of Australia’s most visited e-commerce websites have error-ridden checkouts, which frustrate customers and cost businesses revenue.
Stripe conducted a detailed review of the 100 top e-commerce websites in Australia, uncovering significant errors in the checkout pages of many of the region’s most visited websites. The report, ‘The State of Checkouts in 2022,’ presents the stark results: the checkouts on the largest e-commerce websites are riddled with mistakes and fall far short of the standards shoppers expect.
“With economic growth in Australia projected to decelerate to 1.75% next year, optimising the checkout experience will allow businesses to make more money for less effort — a simple, efficient way of boosting sales during the economic downturn.”
“Australian businesses have embraced ecommerce in recent years, however those ignoring their online checkout experience are subjecting themselves to unnecessary revenue loss,” says Managing Director of ANZ Karl Durrance. “Addressing the common checkout issues doesn’t have to be complicated. With technology like Stripe Checkout, businesses have the support of a team of engineers and designers working continually and obsessing over every detail of their checkout from the load time to the smallest animation, increasing sales on their behalf.”
Websites are losing money in onerous checkouts
Online shoppers expect the checkout process to be fast—and they leave when it’s not. According to the report, “47% said they would abandon a purchase if the checkout process took three minutes. This means businesses are losing about half of all online customers who really intend to make a purchase. Additionally, only 10% of customers always complete their online purchases, implying the majority (~90%) do not make a purchase.”
However, 99% of e-commerce sites make five or more basic errors that slow the checkout process:
- 89% do not follow up with customers that had abandoned their cart
- 84% do not recommend higher-end versions of a product or service through upselling
- 55% do not recommend related products or services through cross-selling
- 31% of websites allow customers to attempt to pay with an expired card, increasing the likelihood of payment errors.
Security front of mind for many
The fifth error is that 77% of Australia’s e-commerce sites do not display security logos on their checkout page, jeopardising customer trust. “At a time when there is a flurry of data breaches being reported across some of Australia’s largest companies, security is top of mind for many consumers and could make the difference between them completing a purchase or not.”
“Stripe holds the gold standard for security through its PCI certification – the most stringent level of certification available in the payments industry. This gives both brands and consumers peace of mind when it comes to sensitive customer information.”
Not optimised for mobile
On average, over 59% of Australian customers use their mobile phones to shop for products online more than they use their desktop or laptop. “Customers are also shopping through social media, with 77% of survey respondents saying they use platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to make purchases.”
“While most businesses surveyed adapted their checkout flow to a smaller screen, the majority did not support wallets, a mobile-friendly payment method that allows customers to store payment information, such as debit or credit cards, on their phones. This signals an urgent need for businesses to improve their mobile checkout experiences to ensure they’re not missing out on purchases made from mobile devices.”