Did you know that 67,45% visitors abandon their shopping cart? As usual, it happens while completing checkout fields. Fortunately 63% potential customers still want to buy. Thus you always have a chance to recover the purchase process and get the orders submitted.
So, How to engage visitors into completing a purchase?
We recommend putting emphasis on checkout process. The well-done checkout page is undoubtedly the biggest part of successful sales at your website. Talking about tactics to improve the Magento checkout page and avoid abandoning, we’d like to highlight the following ones:
- Help users navigate between checkout steps faster. Reduce steps and simplify the process by using one-page checkout modules.
- Don’t ask for too much information. Delete unnecessary elements and let users focus on checkout process itself.
- Pay attention to the shipping/billing address fields in order to make the delivery addresses clear and correct.
Summarizing recommendations above you can see that the checkout page usability is not so complicated task. You have just followed some strategies to help customers walk through the whole checkout flow easily and quickly.
What can you do to help?
One of the most powerful strategies is checkout address validation feature. Talking about creating the positive online experience, this option is worth to be implemented.
So, what does this feature do...
- It improves user data entry in checkout field
- It helps to correct and verify a shipping address
- It makes you feel strong confidence in users data
- It helps to avoid delivery problems and customer support issues
- It increases customer loyalty and the overall conversion rate
We review some of top websites to help you to see what the address validation feature looks like.
You will better believe in something with companies you trust!!!
We think everybody can share the passion for North Face brand. This is an American outdoor product company with high ratings. Besides delivering the outdoor gear, the North Face keeps on delivering nice shopping experience to the consumers. Here is an excellent example of a friendly checkout page with address validation option.
American users may find everything they need to outfit the home at Crate and Barrel website. It provides you with the best designed collection of home furnishings and decor. Taking into account the fact that there are 170+ retail stores in the USA, the company cares about online customer service too. Crate and Barrel team simplifies the checkout process for their visitors by having postcode lookup during the checkout.
Everyone who's in a relationship with Sephora knows this company makes a lot to satisfy customers. There are more than 200 brands showcased at Sephora online store. Visitors worldwide got used to purchase cosmetics, skin care and hair care every day. That's why this company chooses the postcode address validation as one of key principles of good website usability. The company staff is always sure the address specified at checkout is the correct address to ship to.
Large number of people keep on wearing Osprey stuff. Backpacks & rucksacks for outdoor adventure are always in handy. Assuming that the company was founded in 1974, it knows what's what in increase conversion. Therefore the checkout page in the store comes with address verification feature. Helping visitors complete the purchase faster, Osprey gets much more sales.
Is there any other way to evaluate the validity of an order?
Another step in user data verification is customer’s credit card details validation. In order to ensure that the given card number is tied to a valid bank account, you may deal with reliable payment gateways. Either Braintree, Stripe, Paypal or Authorize.Net and other payment providers provide you with all the information available from the banks. At the USA, Canada and in the UK all banks commonly support address verification option. Thus if the payment gateway approves a transaction - you’ ve got the order with status completed.
Let’s get down to business and talk about..
How to make sure addresses are real before you rely on them to deliver?
Avoid mistakes with deliveries by providing address verification and autocomplete ways. There are a lot of services which provide you with USPS address verification, FedEx address validation and simply address autocomplete options.
Facts you should know about FedEx and UPS address validation
- Both FedEx and UPS use the the USPS deliver address validation results.
- The United States Postal Service is often abbreviated as USPS.
- The UPS Address Validation uses U.S. Postal Service guidelines to check the city, state and postal code.
- Address Validation provided by UPS, FedEx, and USPS does not guarantee the address is valid or not.
Fortunately, the address validation is available now in the US only. In order to search for any UK address, you can get access to 1.8 million UK postcodes and 29 million addresses with Royal Mail's PAF. You have to just find a provider.
Luckily, nowadays there are many address finders which provide you with a possibility to check user's address. Using professionally developed extensions you’ ll get suggested addresses alternatives displayed. Once the module gets the street address input it will provide customers with a suggestion. Afterwards, the information will be updated.
Sometimes it is quite enough to enter a zip code to get the address line autocompleted with the needed value. Postcode and address finders will help you easily find the information for accurate delivery.
All these tactics are perfect for checkout page usability. This next paragraph you are going to see solutions which integrate FedEx, USPS and postcode lookup functionality to your website. Let's go ahead and factor this by grouping.
FedEx solution
If you’re looking for a solution to set a shipping cost faster, you can use this module that is using FedEx address validation option. This feature is used mainly in the United States.
UPS/USPS solutions
Magento's eCommerce platform helps you get many checkout extensions that support address validation UPS. One of them is USPS Address verification extension. It works with the Free USPS API, so you will always get updated information.
Meet one more great solution to increase delivery rates by validating addresses is FireCheckout extension. It comes with GeoIP detection settings as well as with included Google address autocomplete integration. This way your visitors will be allowed to complete address line while typing it, using geolocation technology and Google technology. The module utilises USPS address verification feature that will help you to correct undeliverable addresses and to reduce delivery issues. Firecheckout is available in 14 languages and provides a huge list of integrated extensions. Thus, you get a bonus in extra value for the checkout page in your magento store.
Another extension offers correct alternatives verified through the UPS and USPS address data bases. But it’s still a partner product only.
You can also check the following module to provide your customers with checkout address validation via United Postal service. This module is compatible with two one step checkout extensions.
Working with customers from different countries...
The following services are provided by developers from different countries. Generally all tools use either visitor’s post code or city name to provide a list of addresses for the user to select from. Only a few keystrokes and customers will see a complete address.
If you are interested in how exactly the postcode lookup is powered by, you can learn the trick here.
Postcode lookup and other address finders
If you are a resident of the UK you’d probably like address postcode lookup service, that
is based on the Royal Mail Full PAF®, covering all 29+million addresses in the UK. Works with 240 countries data.
Postcode.nl address validation tool will help you to validate Dutch addresses within a
checkout process using Postcode.nl address API. The module developer promises once the user inputs the postcode plus house number, the complete address will be displayed in the checkout field. The owners of France online shops might have been excited about CapAdresse service. It allows to verify addresses in 192 countries in order to help websites ensure they deliver to correct addresses.
You will also be satisfied with three services from PCA Predict. They offer address, email and mobile number validation in over 240 countries.
Another AFDWorldAddress smart address finder covers 230 countries. It also fits UK database address format. The company performs validation on the postal address, email address, mobile and landline telephone numbers.
Addrexx developers say their service validates addresses to 200+ countries around the world. This tools comes with autocomplete feature. Whatever the user starts to input - zip code, street name or suite number, Addrexx will suggest the complete decision to choose from.
The next service or in other words Address doctor from Informatica supports verification of addresses in over 240 countries. As soon as a user starts entering his address, the tool will find the best match in the suggestions column.
Customers can also search for addresses in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom with Hopewiser address validation solution. In total this is an address and postal code finder.
Simply postcode module will help you to find an address including a postcode from an incomplete address with a postal code. This service database is updated daily from the Royal Mail PAF database.
Finally you can check the address validation solution for australian citizens. Australia
postcode finder will help you both to check postcodes for all suburbs in Australia and to autocomplete the address line with the best match after a few zip code numbers input.
Helping customers to move through checkout steps faster with address autocomplete technology...
In order to cut down the overall time of filling out checkout page fields, we might also focus on address autocomplete feature. It comes with Google maps autocomplete API. The address autocompletes functionality will help you to search the address based on geo-location. Other words it will help customers enter their addresses.
Are you interested in knowing if there any tool to implement this useful functionality?
The Google address autocomplete module is exactly what you might need. This extension provides the very fast way to fill address form, using google maps API features. It comes with easy to use the single box for entering an address. Once the user starts typing in checkout address field, he will see the drop down with suggested address values. After a customer selects the valid address from the drop down - the value in a housenumber field will be filled out automatically. Basically, the module allows user to search for full address.
Address autocomplete module supports Magento one page checkout and Firecheckout modules. In total these tools make the checkout optimization project easier to implement.
As has been noted already, the 63% of visitors who abandoned the shopping cart still want to be happy clients. Thinking about how to make visitors enjoy your site, you become much more experienced every day. Anyway, the winning website is impossible without friendly checkout page. What are some things to remind yourself while designing checkout page:
- Avoid multiple steps
- Improve delivery success rate with address validation feature
- Help customers fill out fields faster with address autocomplete functionality
We hope this article will come in handy. Stay with us and be sure - customers will spread a word about your website.
Happy to become one of several customer for this wonder inspiring site D!