If there’s one thing perhaps even more important than creating a great product or service, it’s A/B testing. Experimenting with different experiences or options on your website—especially in ecommerce—allows you to see which way the river naturally flows. Testing is pretty much standard on everything from marketing emails to product lines to, of course, the checkout process.

Testing various user pathways, with just two versions of a single variable at a time, can provide great insights into how your website supports users and make a real difference in overall performance. Think of all the ways your favorite ecommerce website flows, and how many different, probably worse, ways it could function. There’s a reason the flow is the way it is.

Not every website or company requires the same type of checkout—that’s why it’s important to look beyond other people’s results and test what your customers find best.

Why do users abandon carts?

There are a lot of reasons people leave a full cart online. A long and confusing checkout process is a likely culprit. Other reasons may include unexpected fees or prices, having to create a user account, a sketchy looking payment process, and even not being able to find where to place the coupon code.

A good rule of thumb is making sure there’s as little distraction on your checkout page or pages as possible. This isn’t the best place to offer upsells and special offers, add large branding images, or include pretty much anything unrelated to getting the sale done. That being said, not every website or company requires the same type of checkout—that’s why it’s important to look beyond other people’s results and test what your customers find best.

Great options for A/B testing

There are lots of things you can test, but here are some good places to start:

• Progress Bar vs Back Button – As your customers go through the checkout process, do they prefer some way to see their progress? Do they need, prefer or use a big, fat button letting them go back one step?
• Guest Checkout vs Required Account – Lots of customers have no interest in creating an account with your brand. Of course, some services like subscriptions will require one. If your service isn’t a monthly offering, maybe it’s best to allow for users to easily access guest checkout.
• Single Page vs Multiple Page Checkout – Maybe you want a single step on each page, or perhaps you think it’s easier to have every step on one, longer page. Test it out and see what your customers prefer!
• Displaying Security Badges vs No Logos – Do your customers care about payment security? Maybe they need to see that security in the form of a logo or icon. Test both options and see if there’s any difference in whether it’s necessary or if placement matters.
• Call-to-Action Buttons – There are so many ways to present CTAs, it’s a good idea to test which ones are easier for your customers to see and more enticing to press. Think about options like colors, fonts, boldness, location and motivating language.
• Payment Options – With so many ways to pay, it’s a good idea to see which ones your users prefer. Think about testing options like Apple Pay, PayPal, credit cards, coupon codes and even Bitcoin. Simply offering a new service might spur users to close the deal.

It’s not hard to A/B test your ecommerce process. Most hosting platforms have testing support built in. But remember, it’s important to not just test, but also read the results and take action. You’ll soon see the fruits of your testing labor, allowing you to know your users even better.

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