Full name. Email address. Shipping address. Delivery options. Your small business needs a lot of information when processing a customer’s order.
While many fields are essential to take payment and ship a package, the path from browsing to buying can be arduous. Extra steps in the checkout process cause friction that stands in the way of you and paying customers.
1-click checkout makes the path more straightforward for customers, resulting in fewer abandoned carts, and, ultimately, more revenue. This guide shares how to offer it on your small business’s online store. It’s time to make some speedier sales.
- What is 1-click checkout?
- What are the benefits of 1-click checkout?
- Is 1-click checkout right for your products?
- What are the best 1-click checkout options?
What is 1-click checkout?
1-click checkout happens when customers visit their online shopping cart and purchase items within a single click.
Customers only need to fill in their information once. Their name, email address, and shipping location is stored within the payment processor for future use, allowing them to breeze through the online checkout experience with one click when returning to the same website. This eliminates the clunky experience of being forced to navigate to a seperate payment screen and manually enter personal information.
S’Wheat, for example, offers 1-click checkout on its online store using Shop Pay. When I clicked the cart button on its ecommerce website, my personal details were already filled in. There was just one button for me to click to complete my order.
The concept of 1-click checkout started in 1999, when ecommerce marketplace Amazon patented the concept. The brand made a fortune on its patent,suing Barnes & Noblefor implementing a similar technology andleasing its own 1-click buttonto Apple’s iTunes store for an undisclosed annual fee in 2000.
The patent, oncevalued at $2.4 billion per year, expired in 2017. 1-click checkout is now free for any merchant to use through its ecommerce platform.
What are the benefits of 1-click checkout?
1-click checkout closes the gap from browsing to purchasing by creating a painless experience. Shoppers can go from casual browser to paying customer in just a few seconds.
Some 26% of peoplewho abandon their shopping cartsdo so because the checkout process was too long; another 7% exit because their preferred payment method wasn’t accepted. That problem is removed—and conversion rates increased—if they can buy within one click using a payment method they’ve already checked out with before.
Similarly, fewer steps in the checkout process leaves less time for customers to dwell on their purchasing decision. By using 1-click checkout, you can take a slice of the $2,100 theaverage consumer spendseach year on impulse buying.
Is 1-click checkout right for your products?
Merchants benefit when their products are easier to buy. Enabling 1-click is a smart option for retailers with a high returning customer rate—shoppers don’t have to re-enter their personal information each time they make an order. It’s automatically saved and prefilled next time.
It’s also worth considering 1-click checkout if you sell low-ticket items through your ecommerce store. It’s easier for shoppers to impulsively buy a $15 product through 1-click than a $1,500 one.
“Since we sell smaller items like spices, pottery and kitchen wares, it makes sense to encourage impulse purchases while tempering 1-click checkout with a generous return policy,” says Sylvia Fountaine, CEO and founder of recipe blog and kitchen goods storeFeasting at Home. “We carry small inventory and sell mostly local goods, so there is usually a demand for returned, non-edible items like pottery and books.”
But not all products lend themselves to impulse buying. Daniel Hedegaard, Head of Press at shipping and labeling companyCoolParcel, says, “If you sell specialized hardware or complex B2B solutions, 1-click checkout may be unappealing to your buyers, who always deliberate before making a purchase.
“On the other hand, merchants who sell necessities of life or eye-catching novelties may discover that instantaneous ordering is exactly what their customers want.”
What are the best 1-click checkout options?
Ready to offer 1-click checkout on your ecommerce store? Here are some options to consider.
- Shop Pay
- CartPop
- Instant Checkout
- Link with Stripe
- PayPal One Touch
- Facebook Pay
1. Shop Pay
Shop Payis the 1-click checkout system exclusively available to Shopify merchants.
With 100 million shoppers already signed up, new customers can use 1-click checkout on your ecommerce store—even if they haven’t purchased there before. The app saves, encrypts, and autofills checkout fields on other Shop carts, making items ready to buy in one tap.
“We offer Shop Pay because it’s quick, secure, seamless, and accepts all major card providers, so it makes things a lot easier for everyone,” says Sophie Gibson of S’wheat. “The majority of our transactions are through Shop Pay, actually, around 90%, with the other 10% or so through PayPal.”
Customers have a seamless buying experience with Shop, hence why Shop Pay checkouts have a1.72 times higheraverage checkout-to-order rate than those going through regular checkouts.
The best part? Customers can track their orders within the Shop App, alleviating pressure on your customer service teams. It’s no wonder customers who order via Shop have a 9% higher repurchase rate.
公关icing:Free for Shopify merchants.
2.CartPop
Offer 1-click checkout outside of your website withCartPop, a tool that lets you create customized carts and send the link to checkout to customers.
If you’re reengaging those who’ve abandoned their shopping carts, for example, create a custom cart using CartPop. Send the link in the contents of your email. Fewer steps equals less friction, increasing the chances of them converting into paying customers.
公关icing:Free plan available.
3. Instant Checkout
Looking to incentivize impulse purchases even more? Make the checkout process faster by sending shoppers directly to your checkout. WithInstant Checkout’s Buy It Now button, a shopper can bypass the Add to Cart button on a product page.
While it might not be the best solution for all ecommerce stores, the Buy Now button is worth testing—especially if customers are returning to buy the same product.
公关icing:$10/month.
4. Link with Stripe
Stripe is one of the biggest payment gateways in the world, processing anestimated $350 billionin payments in 2020. The Link feature lets shoppers store debit or credit card information within their own Stripe account.Accept Stripe on your ecommerce storefor shoppers to check out in just one tap.
公关icing:Starts at 2.9% plus 30¢ per successful card charge.
5. PayPal One Touch
Some85% of US consumershave bought an item online using PayPal within the past year. The payment platform stores card information for shoppers to save time on future purchases.
Its One Touch feature accelerates this, giving 1-click checkout options to shoppers. They don’t have to sign into their account each time.Retailers that accept PayPalOne Touch payments allow customers to skip login at the checkout page and complete their purchase quickly.
公关icing:Starts at 2.9% plus 30¢ per sale.
6. Facebook Pay
More than2.3 billion peoplearound the world have a Facebook profile. To capitalize on its gigantic user base, the platform rolled out its own payment system,Facebook Pay.
Users can store and encrypt card information inside the Facebook Pay system. Then, when shoppers are signed into their account and visit a Facebook Pay–enabled store, they’re able to make a 1-click payment.
公关icing:Free.
Start offering 1-click checkout today
无论你是鼓励购买或reducin冲动g cart abandonment, the benefits of 1-click checkout are clear. And, with software built to safely store customer information for future purchases, there’s no excuse not to offer this type of fast checkout on your online store.
Shopify merchant? Enable 1-click checkout withShop Pay.Customers can tap to buy instantly, track their orders, and pay in installments—all within one tool.