Payment Fields Best Practices: Capture Lost Revenue

Estimates suggest that somewhere between 36% and 50% of all transactions worldwide are now completed digitally. While this may not come as a surprise to many, what may be surprising is just how many digital payment flows are inefficient and difficult to use.

From lack of cohesion, to fields that don’t function properly, to lack of guidance on proper checkout completion, many flows leave much to be desired. And unfortunately, this is to the detriment of the company’s bottom line.

Bad Checkout Flows = Lost Revenue

According to research in 2023 by the Baymard Institute, poor user experience can account for up to 17% of all abandoned online shopping carts. And, frankly, this makes sense. We’ve all encountered a checkout experience that was tedious, difficult, or nearly impossible - and thought about abandoning, or actually did.

This level of abandonment can have a significant impact on the bottom line. A 2022 Forrester Research report found that poor UX can cost businesses up to $2.8 trillion per year in lost sales due to checkout abandonment. 

Improving the User Experience of Checkout Flows

Getting back to the basics of checkout experience, payment flows should strive to meet several objectives that improve user experience, payment processing, and conversion. 

To build a flexible but optimized payment experience, merchants should offer checkout flows that have:

• Simplicity & Familiarity: Use intuitive interfaces, leveraging recognized UI patterns for user comfort and quick adoption.
• Speed & Efficiency: Customers want quick and seamless checkouts with minimal steps and few distractions.
• Security: Build trust and confidence with users and ensure their personal information is kept secure.
• Flexibility: Payment flows aren’t one-size-fits-all. Customers expect their preferred payment methods will be accepted when paying. 
• Transparency: Build transparent, honest flows that give a clear price and path for the customer.

How to Build Top-Tier Flexible Payment Flows

We developed a comprehensive visual guide that covers user experience best practices, checkout flow examples of top retailers, and small changes you can make today to increase conversion and grow revenue.

Download the complete Payments UX Best Practices guide today.