Confusion 
This is a major issue. Consumers may be confused at how the process works, about added costs such as shipping or distracted by other elements on the pages.

Impatience
Too many checkout pages, shopping cart pages that load slowly, sites that require registration before purchase or requests for too much non-purchase related information.

Fear 
The consumer is about to hand over their credit card details to a complete stranger, and if they have any degree of common sense, they'll be wary. Anything that seems a little out of the ordinary or order forms that ask for too much personal information may scare them away.



found no correlation between reduction of steps and reduction in abandonment rate. Once people found what they came for, they found the time to check out no matter how many steps were involved.

Include a progress indicator on each checkout page. No matter how many steps in your checkout process, let customers know where they are in the process. Number the steps, and label the task clearly for each step. Give shoppers an opportunity to review what they did in previous steps and a way to return to their current step if they go back.


Provide shipping costs early in the process. If possible, provide an estimated cost while visitors browse. 

Show stock availability on the product page. Shoppers should not have to wait until checkout to learn if a product is out of stock. Also, give an estimated delivery date. Deal with the "I want it now" mentality, and let them know when they should expect to get their products.


Make it obvious what to click next. Include a prominent "Next Step" or "Continue With Checkout" button on each checkout page. Make the button you want them to click next the most obvious. One top 50 e-tailer mistakenly placed its "remove from cart" and checkout buttons next to each other. Neither stood out. Many people ended up clearing their carts. When they went to check out, they found nothing in there and immediately abandoned the site in frustration.


Make it your fault. If information is missing or filled out incorrectly during checkout, give a meaningful error message that's obvious to see. It should clearly tell visitors what needs to be corrected. The tone should be the system was unable to understand what was entered, not the visitor made a foolish mistake.


Show them you're a real entity. People's concerns start to flare up during checkout. Let them know you're a real company by giving full contact info during the checkout process.

E-tailers are better served doing these three things:


Improve home and landing pages.


Improve persuasion scenarios.


Ensure persuasion scenarios aren't interrupted.



Live help
Consider implementing live chat software. A live help feature on your cart pages may encourage clients who are confused to ask for assistance, thus helping you to close more sales. 

Of course, never dive in and offer to assist someone during a checkout process; you may scare them away. Let the client initiate the chat. If you are interested in learn more about this strategy, read our live chat software review - you can trial a service for free.

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