You have the following options to control which pages display to shoppers in the checkout process:
- Single-page checkout - Displays the shopping cart, shipping, and billing information on one page.
- Multi-page checkout - Displays the shopping cart, shipping and billing information on separate pages.
- Shipping and Billing combined - Displays the shipping and billing information on the same page.
- Order Review - Choose to hide or show this page.
- Shopping cart section - Displays the shopping cart items, tax and shipping charges, and total order amount on top or to the right of checkout page contents.
Single-page checkout with Order Review shown and Order Confirmation:
Multi-page checkout with Order Review shown and Order Confirmation.
You should use caution when making changes to your flow settings as these changes can impact your shopping cart abandonment rate. You can test various configurations to determine what is the best choice for your shoppers given the type of products you sell.
The following notes are based on observations conducted by Turbify of buyers testing the various flow settings.
Flow type
- Single page
- Customers that frequently shop online may benefit from the speed of one page checkout.
- One page checkout makes for a long page which leads to excessive scrolling. A long page can cause shoppers to miss fields required to checkout and lead to an unpleasant shopping experience.
- Multi-page
- If shoppers in your store are often comparing prices with multiple sites, then having a multi-page checkout requires them to get through multiple pages to see the billing page (with final charges). Shoppers may leave if they feel too much work is required to see an order total with shipping and tax included.
- Set up shipping rates so shoppers can see shipping charges using the shipping calculator in the shopping cart page. Shoppers informed of shipping charges early in checkout seem less likely to abandon shopping carts than users that see these charges later in the checkout process.
- If you are selling high-price items or your order totals are high, multi-page checkout seems to allow shoppers to build confidence and trust. Shoppers have more time to review information and see messages about shipping charges, refund policies and other information to assure them that their personal information is safe and your site is legitimate.
Shipping and Billing
- Combined - When shipping and billing information appear on the same page, shoppers may find it easier to enter information and make fewer mistakes by comparing the fields side by side. Though there is a means to use the same address, shoppers may feel the page requires too much information.
- Separate - When shipping and billing information appear on separate pages, users may find the pages easier to fill out, but they also may be more prone to making errors.
Order Review
- Show - Including the order review page allows shoppers to review all information prior to submitting their orders. This allows them to feel comfortable with the charges and terms of the order, especially in the case of large orders.
- Hide - Hiding the Order Review page makes checkout quicker to complete, which may help lower abandonment rates. Not having a review page though may lead to higher cancelled orders by shoppers if they feel they were not ready to submit the order and expected to see a review page.
Shopping cart section
- Top - Aligning the cart section to the top allows shoppers to review their order total including shipping and tax charges on the shipping and billing pages. This may be useful for large orders but may discourage impulse purchases.
- Right - Aligning the cart section to the right allows shoppers to focus on the main purpose of the page (entering or reviewing information) while still allowing them to view their order total if necessary, but not in an obtrusive manner.
Change your flow settings
- Sign in to your My Services page.
- Click the Store link.
- Go to Checkout & Registration Manager.
- Go to Global Settings.
- From the Flow Settings tab under Checkout Process Configuration, select a Checkout Option:
- Click the Save button when finished or Save & Preview to save and view your changes.
- Return to your Store Manager and publish your order settings.
Learn how to change other flow settings: