Reducing the number of checkout stages

[edmorey]

Hi there

Currently within my site the user has the following pages to jump through before finalising their transaction...

1) SHOPPING CART
2) BILLING ADDRESS (+ maybe a separate DELIVERY ADDRESS)
3) MARKETING QUESTIONS
4) GETTING READY TO JUMP TO THE PSP
5) CREDIT CARD
6) PAYMENT CONFIRMATION
7) RECEIPT

This is too many and I want to reduce the number of steps.

I understand that Actinic needs these pages in order to work through from each script stage to the next, but is there a way in which some of the transitions can be automated rather than forcing the user to keep clicking NEXT?

The 3 candidates to be automated are 3, 4 & 6. 6 is pretty straightforward (I think) in that I could use a meta refresh with a URL parameter value set to hook back into the correct order record.

Has anyone tried this or got any opinions on whether this is a good idea or bad.

Thanks
Ed

[Toby B]

Hi Ed,

Sounds like a tricky task and I don't think it is possible unless you do some quite heavy script amendments. I'm guessing you need to program the submit button to somehow be activated as soon as the page is loaded.

I'm afraid I don't have enough perl knowledge to comment on how to set this up.

[aalden]

I agree about the checkout pages. There are far too many, its the kind of thing I find frustrating when ordering online, perhaps future releases of Actinic could include a more stramlined checkout process?

[cdicken]

I agree wholeheartedly. I've probably completed more Actinic checkouts than anyone, and it could do with some improvement.

It's not trivial though, as it will mean moving away from Perl and HTTP posts and into a more elegant solution. But we are investigating the possibilities.

[magicalwonders]

Cutting down the stages at checkout gets my vote also.

The marketing page is definitely not needed at checkout. Who thought up the question "What was your reason for buying"? Errr, "because I want it" I suspect will be the popular answer! (At least from my customers who will think I'm a complete muppet for asking )

The right marketing questions can be useful, but not in the middle of the payment process.

I understand that at present is is not possible to automate any of the transitions, but is there any way to simply delete the marketing page and have Actinic jump from page two to four?

Living in hope,

Myles Sinclair

[george]

Em, I actually like the feedback I get from the marketing questions. A lot of folks just click past them anyway but sometimes its the only way you get feedback from customers. When a site goes fully e-commerced up a lot of customer feel is lost in my opinion, mine only mind. A few years ago when we started Football Heaven we had stuff online but folk had to send cheques, postal orders etc and you got a lot of letters attached from customers complimenting your site, and items they were looking for,etc. Customer `connection` is good for repeat business.

Maybe I'm a wee bit old fashioned. And a muppet. lol

[magicalwonders]

Hi George,

I probably didn't make my point of view very clear on this one. I fully agree that customer feedback is important if not vital to a business. So you are not being old fashioned! But there are lots of ways to achieve feedback without interupting the payment process.

You can encourage customers to sign up to an opt in list and keep in contact with regular mailings that invite feedback. You can also include an online form inviting feedback.

However, including a feedback form halfway through taking the payment is not ideal . It adds an unnecessary step to what is already a somewhat lengthy process. I'm putting myself in the customers shoes on this one. When I'm shopping and have found what I want, I like to complete the deal as quick as possible. That includes online transactions. I don't really have time for a survey when I'm trying to pay. I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of consumers fall into this catagory.

Hope this clarifies what I was trying to say.

Best wishes,

Myles

[parekh81]

I STRONGLY agree with this view. Infact I feel this is an important issue with regards to customer experience. Most of the 'big boys' out there have a three stage checkout system (obviously for a reason).
1. Press checkout to confirm your cart
2. Enter your delivery details
3. enter your credit card details and pay

I have tried the actinic cart on a number of websites recommended within the forums, and I have to say I find the cart to be actinic's weak point. (apart from the complexity of the templates!!!!!)

Just hope that Actinic has made a point to have fewer checkout pages in Version 8


anish

[Duncan Rounding]

I rarely see any useful info from the marketing questions - nothing that I didn't know already and most people don't fill them in anyway.

It's usually -
What was your reason for buying?: 'because I liked the products' or (my Favourite)
How did you find our site?: 'on the internet'

With GA and good logs you probably know more about the customer experience than they do.

[remmo]

The extra information fields can be customised or removed.

Design > Text > Web Site (cont) > General Information

[RuralWeb]

Several of my clients report good use of the marketing info and they get lots of useful info eg the fact that they bought because of a magazine advert/article, follow up purchase from a trade show/farmers market/instore promo stuff you cannot get from the server logs. Feedback forms I find are not useful, newsletters are one way traffic.

So I personally like them - but as stated above you can easily remove them or modify them to gain any info you want.

[Mark H]

7 Pages!

I understand that at present is is not possible to automate any of the transitions, but is there any way to simply delete the marketing page and have Actinic jump from page two to four?

Was there ever an answer to this? Like others, my customers have to endure eight pages of checkout if they want a different delivery address:

Page 1 - Shopping Cart

Page 2 - Shopping Cart again plus ONE TICK BOX (different delivery address)

Page 3 - Shopping Cart again plus their address

Page 4 - Shopping Cart again plus their delivery address

Page 5 - Shopping Cart AGAIN plus ONE QUESTION - how did you hear about us (and why won't you be coming back.......)

Page 6 - an ugly wierd unsettling page which does nothing except say click on the button to go to Securetrading, then goes anyway before you get a chance to......

Page 7 - Securetrading - at last

Page 8 - confirmation - "do you want to go back to the shop?" No thanks

I have seen excellent shops which do this in one page (excluding confirmation) - is there anything we can do? Thanks in advance for your help. Mark H.

[Mark H]

9 Pages!

Sorry - forgot the receipt page - nine pages in total

[Bruce]

Mark,

This is already on the wish List. I will add another vote for you.

Kind regards,

[Mark H]

Thanks Bruce - I take it that there is no way of getting rid of even one of these pages in the meantime? I don't mind altering the PERL scripts if necessary! Mark H