How to Improve the Checkout Process for Vape Shops [What to Avoid & Look Out For]

Constructing an online checkout process for vape shops is a simple yet essential part of making a sale online. Although simple, there are plenty of crucial mistakes to be made, so make sure you keep reading if you wish to learn how to avoid these.

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What Is the Checkout Process?

Common & Easy Checkout Process Mistakes to Fix [Checkout Process Best Practices]

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What Is the Checkout Process?

The checkout process is the last step of the purchasing process. When your customers finalize their purchase, going through it to check out the items in the cart,  and when they ultimately pay you the money, they owe you (retail cost of the product, shipping fees, taxes, etc.).

But that’s not everything that goes on during the checkout process. Although you want to keep this step of the purchasing process as brief and compact as possible, you’ll also want to ensure that everything that the customer needs to know is on there. Transparent shipping costs and address submission should be part of the checkout process.

There are plenty of tips and tricks that will help your checkout process optimization. Luckily, we’re here to let you in on a few secrets that will help you out.

Common & Easy Checkout Process Mistakes to Fix [Checkout Process Best Practices]

Building a checkout process is a very simple task perse. All you need to do is provide the final cost, a payment method, and an address submission screen.

It’s effortless to screw these up if you’re not paying attention. Even though each step might be working, the online consumer is getting more and more demanding by the minute.

Checkout process best practices include anything that makes it easier and more convenient for customers to complete their purchases. This is where our list of tips comes in handy.

Include Guest Checkout

Believe it or not, some brands out there still demand knowing everything about their customer before they make a sale. Even more incredibly, this is sometimes required without an additional incentive for the customer to provide their personal information.

Customers may find this obnoxious because some people try not to give out their personal information. Others don’t want to go through an extra process like opening up a frequent customer’s account. Some of them feel unsafe doing this, while others want to make the purchase.

If you encounter this customer type, they are likely to abandon their cart when they see that you do not allow for guest checkout. Even if they are ready to make the purchase, lacking a guest checkout option is one of the most predominant reasons for cart abandonment.

If you feel like you shouldn’t offer a guest checkout, make sure you provide an incentive to create an account on your websites, like a promise of exclusive discounts or information. Our suggestion? Offer both options.

Provide a Social Login Option

Remember what we said about online shopping is all about convenience? The truth is that if you’re shopping online, you probably don’t want to leave your house to do your shopping. Although sometimes this could be motivated by better pricing online, if that’s not the motivating factor, our bet is probably got to do with convenience.

So if you’re going to ask your customers to log into their account on your online retail website, make sure you are making it easy for them to do that. A great way to accomplish this is by offering a social login and registration option.

Most people remain logged into their Facebook or Instagram accounts. Including a quick login option that links their account with their social media account will ensure your customer does not get frustrated by the long, inconvenient process of having to create their account from scratch.

Include a Progress Bar

The checkout process is divided into several different smaller steps. These usually include the shopping cart summary, sign-in form, address verification, shipping information, and payment. 

If you’ve ever completed a process online, then you’ve likely wanted to make changes to your final shopping cart items, or maybe you’ve needed to go back in the process to correct your shipping address after reviewing the summary for your purchase.

Some companies do not make it easy for customers to navigate through this process, making the customer feel frustrated and eventually prompt a cart abandonment.

Make It Safe

Giving your personal information to just any retailer is exposing yourself to potential fraud attempts. Not that it will be like this in your vape shop, but it’s one of the things that people are scared of.

Look for ways to ensure your customers feel safe with you. The best way to do this is by displaying security badges on the checkout process and making sure your website is certified.

Offer a Clear Returns Policy

Returns are a tricky venture for any online business. Not having a flexible returns policy could hurt your new buyer conversion rate, but having it could make you lose some profit.

The trick is finding an in-between spot where customers are satisfied with your returns policy but not so much that it will hurt your overall profit. 

In our experience, the best way to approach this step is by making sure that your returns policy is as straightforward as it can be. If your customer knows what to expect, then it will reduce the likelihood of them being disappointed. 

Offer Multiple Payment Methods

The days are long gone when a single payment method option was acceptable. Instead, people now have their shopping funds spread out over various platforms, including digital wallets, credit & debit cards, cash, and even cryptocurrency.

Offering different payment methods will win you a few customers while allowing you to keep your existing customers happy. Without other payment options, you could generate frustration and ultimately cart abandonment within your customer base.

Checkout Process Optimization Is Key

This is just another way to say 'simplicity is key.' The simpler your checkout process can get, the better it will be for customers. Try to remember that people come to your website to purchase and get back to their day. 

Though some customers want to interact with your brand, the chances are that they don't want to during the checkout process. So if you can provide a one-page checkout, do so by all means! 

Make Your Website Mobile Friendly

Most online purchases are made through a mobile device. So having a responsive web design that adapts to any size screen is always a great idea if you want to keep your customers. 

Trying to make a purchase on a website that doesn’t adapt its size to your screen can be annoying, and let’s face it, there are many other online vape shops to choose from. So you’ll want to make sure you have your basics covered and give your customers as few reasons to become frustrated with their shopping experience as possible.

Wrapping Up

The checkout process is the last step of a customer’s purchasing experience. When the consumer confirms their purchase and types their address and other details, you’ll need as a business to deliver the product. While the checkout process is easy to design, it’s just as easy to make small mistakes that could cost you, new customers. Fortunately, these are easy things to fix, and you can follow a few tips to avoid them.