E-Commerce Checkout Usability

60% of all e-commerce visitors abandon their shopping cart. Why?

An original research study by Baymard Institute, 2011

After months of user testing and research, the most significant usability study on e-commerce checkouts is ready.

We've tested 15 of the biggest e-commerce sites and boiled it all down to 63 actionable guidelines that will help you get the lowest possible shopping cart abandonment rate.

“This is very, very useful!”

Vitaly Friedman, Editor in Chief of Smashing Magazine

  • 63 actionable design guidelines divided into 6 categories.

  • 41 user quotes illustrating what customers think as they abandon the checkout.

  • 126 screenshots showing you concrete usability issues and solutions.

  • 7 case studies of real life examples illustrating what works and what doesn't.

  • 144 print-optimized pages exploring the customer's checkout experience.

  • A convenient checklist for you to use when implementing the guidelines.

Slide through the report

“.. Worth every dollar. It's well done, good looking and simply very useful.”

Jan Jursa, founder of Information Architecture TV (IATV) and curator of the UX Storytellers book

Is your checkout better than Apple's, Zappos', or Walmart's?

The findings in this report are based on our own original research study. A group of users in the age range of 20‐58 were recruited to test the checkout user experience on 15 of the largest e‐commerce websites. The tested checkout steps range all the way from "shopping cart" to "completed sale" – the entire checkout process.

In total, the test subjects encountered more than 500 usability issues during the study. These 500+ usability issues have been distilled into 63 checkout user experience guidelines, each marked with a "severity" and "frequency" factor – providing you with concise design guidelines that will help you improve the performance of your checkout process.

Test site logos

Tested sites: 1-800-Flowers, AllPosters, American Apparel, Amnesty Shop, Apple, HobbyTron, Levi's, NewEgg, Nordstrom, Oakley, Perfume.com, PetSmart, Thomann, Walmart, and Zappos.

“Best checkout report I've read to date.”

Rikard Stolz, e-commerce optimization manager

Table of contents

  • Introduction (6 pages)
  • Guideline categories:
    • Data input (26 pages)
      • 15 guidelines on data validation, input formatting, form field types, etc. + Perfume.com case study
    • Copywriting (15 pages)
      • 8 guidelines on form field labels, button naming, contextual words, etc. + PetSmart.com case study
    • Layout (29 pages)
      • 15 guidelines on page structure, text formatting, security badges, etc. + Walmart.com case study
    • Navigation (16 pages)
      • 8 guidelines on drop-down carts, checkout steps, breadcrumb links, etc. + AllPosters.com case study
    • Flow (14 pages)
      • 7 guidelines on proceed buttons, data comparison, proximity, etc. + Nordstrom.com case study
    • Focus (21 pages)
      • 10 guidelines on account registration, cross-selling, coupon codes, newsletter, etc. + Zappos.com case study
  • Getting started:
    • Apple.com checkout case study (6 pages)
    • Checkout usability checklist (4 pages)
  • Methodology, authors, etc. (6 pages)

“The report is based on facts and includes many pragmatic, fully tested and easily implementable actions.”

Tom Wilson, President of The CareGiver Partnership

Compared to other industry reports

eConsultancy Checkout Optimization Guide E-Commerce Checkout Usability Nielsen Norman Group E-Commerce User Experience
Published: 2010 2011
Pages: 66 pages 144 pages 2,140 pages
Guidelines: 70 guidelines 63 guidelines 874 guidelines
Source: Author's thoughts User testing User testing
Price: $250 $78 $996

“Thank you for your great work – compact, insightful and helpful!”

Holger Maasen, information architect and owner of IAMA.de

Get your report now

Get your report

Get your copy of this report instantly delivered as a PDF file for $78, and start lowering your shopping cart abandonment rate at only $1.2 per actionable usability guideline.

We stand by our research and offer you a full 14 days money-back guarantee.

  1. Report info
  2. License
  3. About the authorsAuthors
  4. Delivery

Product details

Name: E-Commerce Checkout Usability
Authors: Jamie Appleseed, Christian Holst
ISBN: 978-87-994365-0-7
Delivery: Instant PDF-download
File-size: 22mb
Pages: 144
Price: $78

Refund policy

14 days "no questions asked" refund policy.

If you're not satisfied with the report, then simply send an e-mail to christian@baymard.com and we'll transfer the full amount back to your credit card.

Report license

This report is intended for internal use - for you and your team.

You and your team are allowed to both print and digitally distribute the report within your own organization, as long as it’s not accessible to anyone outside your organization.

We trust our customers, so all reports we sell are unrestricted – this means that no DRM or other restrictive technologies are used.

Baymard Institute

The report was published by Baymard Institute, and written by the two founders:

  1. Christian Holst – holds a master’s degree in Design & Innovation, with a focus on usability, from the Technical University of Denmark. He has worked with usability in both the hearing aid industry and the credit card industry.
  2. Jamie Appleseed – has more than eight years of work experience designing websites, with a focus on user experience. He has also worked as lead developer on numerous web projects at Spoiled Milk.

Instant PDF download

The report is delivered as an e-book in the .PDF-file format and will open in any .PDF reader, such as the freely available Adobe Reader.

This report has been optimized for printing and isn't restricted by DRM or any other restrictive technology.

After you have completed your order, you will receive an e-mail with a link to download your copy of the report.

What others are saying about the report:

“The purchase price of this guide is absolutely nothing compared to the benefits you’ll get!”

Steve Johnson, comment on Smashing Magazine

“I've already made good use of your study. I found it to be well done, well structured [..] So thanks a lot!”

Franz von Vacano, UX consultant and owner of vonvacano.de

“This is very, very useful!”

Vitaly Friedman, Editor in Chief of Smashing Magazine

“.. Worth every dollar. It's well done, good looking and simply very useful.”

Jan Jursa, curator of IATV and the UX Storytellers book

“This report paid for itself in a single day.”

Christoffer Joergensen, owner of gamepimp.eu

“Thank you for your great work – compact, insightful and helpful!”

Holger Maasen, Information architect and owner of IAMA.de

“Best checkout report I've read to date.”

Rikard Stolz, e-commerce optimization manager

“Every 10 years or so comes a report on usability for e-commerce sites that is really worth buying.”

Giacomo Pelagatti, Search Marketing Consultant

“I think your report is excellent.”

Sasha Gilberg, Strategic Director, conversionBOOST

“We purchased your wonderful e-commerce usability report and it is in fact very useful to our current work and research.”

Rajarajan UI Architect at Cognizant

“I purchased your checkout usability report and gained an abundance of knowledge from it.”

Zoeb Saroya, E-Commerce Owner

“The report is based on facts and includes many pragmatic, fully tested and easily implementable actions.”

Tom Wilson, President of The CareGiver Partnership

“We have been very impressed with your work on the Checkout Usability report. [... Our] 4.0 release will include many of your useful guidelines.”

Gary Cao, Lead Developer at WP e-Commerce

1

IATV Jan Jursa

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12

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