Shopping cart design is as much of an art as it is a science. Following good shopping cart practices can make a huge difference on your shopping cart abandonment rate. Many of the best practices are things must people fail to do and its a shame, because many of them are very basic but can make a world of difference in your bottom line.

Not long ago I did a lot of research about shopping cart design and best practices. I did this because I wanted to create a shopping cart that was unique in design, but still followed all the basic principles of a good shopping cart design. If you are interested in seeing what I came up with, leave me a message in the comments and I’ll share it with you.

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Clickable Product Thumbnails

It’s important to include a clickable thumbnail of the product to be purchased in your shopping cart. While customers have more than likely looked over the product in great detail before they added the item to the cart, the thumbnail gives them security. The thumbnail assures then they added the correct product to their cart. Peace of mind aside, it also helps the add-to-my-cart-now-and-look-at-it-later type of shoppers. Point is, by allowing the customer to visually see what is in their shopping cart will raise their comfort level and trust in the checkout process.[sws_divider_basic]
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Provide the Total Cost Upfront

Customers are more likely to abandon their shopping cart if they are asked to enter in credit card information before they know what the final total is. This final total should include the cost of the product, taxes, shipping costs, and any other fees associated with the purchase. If possible, include a dynamic total cost price on the first page on your shopping cart where customers can provide their shipping zipcode to see price with shipping before the move forward in the process.[sws_divider_basic]
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Shipping Costs Estimates

While this follows closely with the above statement, this is one way to take it a step further. If possible, add a shipping cost calculator on your individual product pages. Customers are unlikely to go forward with a purchase if they are unsure of what the shipping costs will be. This is especially true on larger items such as TV’s furniture, computers, etc.[sws_divider_basic]
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Allow Customers to Checkout as Guests

Many customer associate registering for a site with SPAM and not as a way to save their information for future use. While you the business owner may see this as adding to the customer experience, the customer generally sees it as annoying. It is likely that customers will abandon their cart and look for the same item elsewhere that allows them to checkout as a guest or even give up buying online and go to the store. Minimize the amount of required information as much as possible.[sws_divider_basic]
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Provide a Progress Indicator Through the Process

Customers want to know what they are getting into when they start the checkout process. Even if your checkout process is only two steps long, without an indicator, your customer doesn’t know that. For all they know, your checkout process is 10 pages long. Yes, thats an exaggeration, but you get the point. Let the customer know where they are in the checkout process and how much is left in it.[sws_divider_basic]
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Save Previously Entered Information

How much do you hate it when you fill out a form and for whatever reason go back in the browser, only to come back to your form and find all the information gone? This is a sure fire way to build frustration in your customer. First, avoid any actions that would make the user back out of the checkout process. Second, have a fail safe in place that saves their information should they intentionally or unintentionally hit the back button or exit the checkout process. If the customer has to start the checkout process all over, they are likely to leave out of frustration.[sws_divider_basic]
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Provide a Summary Before Checkout

Giving your customers a summary before they click the “buy” button is critical. Allow them to see the product thumbnails mentioned above, total cost of each item, shipping, and tax all on a single page. Noting doing so goes back to security and comfort. When the customer can douvle check the order before they submit, they feel confident in thier purchase.[sws_divider_basic]
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Share Your Contact Information Freely

Make it easy for your customers to know how to get a hold of you. This helps improve your sites credibility by letting customers know they have a easy way to contact you if something goes wrong or if they have questions. While most customers will probably never contact you, they like knowing that they can if need be.[sws_divider_basic]
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Let Theme Know What to Expect Next

Nobody likes the unexpected, so don’t leave your customers wondering whats going to happen next. Thank you conformation screens and emails are a great way to let customers know there order got through. But don’t let that be the extent of your post purchase interaction. Use this screen or email to inform customers of what to expect next. Let them know how long it will be before their item ships or if a customer service agent will be following up with them.

Your Thoughts?

What are your thoughts on good shopping cart design? Anything that really bugs you or pisses you off about certain shopping cart designs, or lack there of?