An important play you should consider running for the cart page and checkout flow is removing the majority of the navigation and non-essential elements from the page. Rather than just another page on the site, the cart page is more like the beginning of a funnel that guides customers to complete their purchases.
Reduce non-essential CTAs and navigation
Reflect on which interactable options on the page are required or helpful to drive the buyer to complete the checkout process. Decide what’s not useful to reaching that objective and experiment with removing those elements.
For instance, the only interactable options on the cart page could be:
- The Checkout CTA
- Actions related to items in the cart (e.g. change the quantity or remove an item)
- Optionally, suggested products to add to the cart
The normal navbar and other non-essential elements could be removed. Options for backing out could include:
- Customers can always click the browser’s back button to return to the previous page.
- You could alternatively add a Continue Shopping CTA to return to the previous PDP or another page (e.g. homepage)
Example: Black Rifle Coffee Company
When you access the cart, it opens as an overlay with the focus solely on the cart experience:
- What’s in the cart and quantity options
- Suggested products to add
- A large Checkout CTA that contrasts with the page
- Other elements of the page, like the navbar, are blurred out so that they’re “out of mind”
While customers can still click an X to return to the previous page, this presentation minimizes distraction and funnels the buyer’s attention towards the end goal of checking out.
Consider using a progress bar or collapsible sections
Breaking up long processes into bite-sized chunks, with clear expectations on the finish line can help drive buyers to convert. While it might seem like it’s adding more complexity to your checkout process, in some scenarios it can actually make the process seem much less overwhelming and far more simple.
Add some color and fun design elements to present a cleaner, more visually appealing experience.
Progress bar
Try having stages where you only present a few questions and include a clear indicator of how many additional stages are left. While the end result increases the number of clicks, there are few key benefits:
- Each stage in the flow is much smaller than the original version.
- The smaller sections can be much less overwhelming. Whitespace is our friend.
- The progress bar offers a clear path to the finish line, which sets the right expectations and can seem quite reassuring.
Example: Laseraway
Laseraway offers booking appointments online for in-person sessions. In one iteration of their booking form, they ask which service the customer is interested in and you respond by clicking a button containing the answer and a related icon. This really masks the fact that this is a form and is also a fun way to encourage engagement. At the top of the form is a progress bar that lets the customer know how many steps they have before reaching the end.
Collapsible sections
If you want to keep all of your flow’s content on one “page,” an alternative option to consider is grouping questions under collapsible sections. As the customer fills out each section, you could have a “Next” button that expands the next section or you might have the section auto-expand.
Example: L.L.Bean (Desktop version)
As the customer fills out each section, the previous section collapses, and the next section expands to reveal additional questions.
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