According to statistics, currently WooCommerce handles around 1 in 3 ecommerce stores. it has over 5 million active installs, which considering it’s not even a decade old, is quite impressive.
Unlike other e-commerce platforms, WooCommerce uses a rich plugin infrastructure which gives business owners the ability to customize their stores in unlimited ways. This, however, does not mean that merchants are immune to problems which occur on other ecommerce platforms.
Frictional Checkout
One of the most frequent problem is the whooping 70% of abandoned online carts. This means WooCommerce faces the same problems as any other platform, even worse. It lacks a universal checkout and payment solution.
Online shopping
2001 was an exciting time for online shopping and the internet in general. The new experience of purchasing something online, if you managed to overcome all of the obstacles of collecting payments online, the chances of making a profit were big.
For online shoppers, this was a dream come true. This was a time when consumers were often fickle and spoiled, but the truth is they had every right to be.
After all, has the online check out process really changed that much, even two decades later? Aside from autofill, how easier is it to make an online purchase?
Problems with Frictional Checkout
The issue, which was very common on 2001, remains the same today – frictional checkout. Excessive checkout pages, checkout fields, lengthy page load times. Multi-step checkout flows, and much more.
All of this blends together, creating one giant issue, which makes customer unhappy and leading to no profit for business owners. This is the main point which needs to be figured out in order to resolve the dilemma with cart abandonment.
Cart abandonment
A lot of people blame the main cause of cart abandonment to high prices, but the root of the issue lies within frictional checkout.
With each passing moment that the checkout process continues, the chances of the customer making a purchase decrease. What can business owners do to solve this issue? Perhaps the solution lies within the WP plugin infrastructure. Streamlining the checkout process
Autofill is a huge help in alleviating the issue with cart abandonment. You don’t need a PHP code alteration or plugin to bring this functionality to users. Note, that autofill is most useful when there are as few checkout fields and pages as possible. There are also some one-page checkout plugins on the market which can be of use.
Checkout Files Editor
The Checkout field Editor is for the tech-savvy customers, which helps you make modifications to the PHP code when in dev mode.
WooCommerce Cart Abandonment Recovery
A lot of merchants believe that the cart abandonment problem can be resolved by adding an email automation plugin which can remind customers they need to complete their purchase. However, the decision to do so has most likely been long gone. Still, it can be an interesting solution. The WooCommerce Cart Abandonment Recovery plugin focusses on bringing customers back by sending out emails to those who have abandoned their checkout cart.
Funnel builder by CartFlows
Another popular solution is to create an elaborate multi-step checkout flow with up-selling and cross-selling capabilities. Cart Flows Inc is very popular for its funnel builder, which encourages customers to check out “one more item” before finalizing the purchase.
However, with each product you try to up-sell, you create more friction to the checkout process, resulting in tired customers.
YITH One-Click Checkout
The worst possible solution is to encourage/force customers on creating an account, with the promise or an easier check out process the next time. It comes as no surprise that customers do not take the bait. They will most likely never visit that store again.
It might be worth considering if you find yourself into a position with plenty of repeat customers. Give them the option to check out as guests, but let repeat users to create an account and allowing them access to the YITH one-click checkout plugin, for example.
PeachPay
The best thing you could do is offering customers who have never shopped on your site before, a one-click checkout. This is probably the best solution to removing frictional checkout.
In this case you can use the PeachPay plugin. The moment that a customer clicks on the button to purchase, the plugin generates a streamlines form which is easier to fill out than more than 90% of checkouts. When the client returns to your website, their details will be available for a 1-click checkout.
Conclusion
Although, these options may be overwhelming, the best choice would be the PeachPay one-click checkout solution. You can set it up in minutes, customers check out in seconds and the results will be visible in days.
