The Checkout Experience Audit: 5 Fixes That Lift Conversion Instantly
Checkout is the moment of truth. It’s the part of the journey every customer reaches with intent, but intent isn’t the same as completion. The majority of carts still leak revenue in these final steps, not because the experience is broken, but because it’s quietly underperforming.
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Over the years I’ve audited hundreds of checkouts, from global brands to niche specialists. The same patterns repeat, and the same friction points appear. The good news? Most fixes aren’t about rebuilding your entire checkout. They’re about focus, restraint, and applying proven design principles. Here are the five places I always start.
1. Fields: Less is More
The problem: Many checkouts still demand far too much information. I’ve seen flows with 18-20 fields, and half of them are irrelevant. Every extra input is an extra second of hesitation, another opportunity for the customer to rethink.
The fix: Strip it back. Do you really need “Title”? Do you need a second phone number? Even the “First name / Last name” split can often be collapsed. Modern checkouts should aim for no more than 8-12 fields.
The best practice:
Auto-detect country from the customer’s IP or shipping address.
Prefill city and postcode when one is entered.
Use progressive disclosure (show fields only when relevant, e.g. “Company name” for business addresses).
Rule of thumb: every unnecessary input is 1% abandonment you didn’t need.
2. Redirects: Keep Them in Flow
The problem: A customer builds trust on your site, and then you bounce them to a payment service provider’s page with a different design, font, or logo. Even subtle shifts in branding raise doubts: “Am I still paying the right business?”
The fix: Reduce redirects and keep styling consistent. If you must use an external page, make sure it inherits your fonts, headers, and navigation structure.
The best practice:
Embedded payment methods that live within the checkout flow.
In-context 3DS authentication, so the step feels seamless rather than disruptive.
Wallets like Google Pay or Apple Pay, which keep the customer in checkout rather than sending them elsewhere.
If your font changes, trust drops. It’s that simple.
3. Wallets: Where the Intent Lives
The problem: Too many merchants still hide Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal under the card entry fields. That’s like placing your “Yes” button at the bottom of the page.
The fix: Make wallets the first thing a customer sees. These aren’t just payment methods - they’re shortcuts past friction. If a customer has their details saved, one tap seals the deal.
The best practice:
Show wallets prominently in cart and at the top of payment.
Detect the browser and surface the relevant wallet (Apple Pay on Safari, Google Pay on Chrome, etc).
Offer Fastlane or returning-customer shortcuts that prefill details instantly.
Wallets are intent buttons. Don’t bury them. Surface them.
4. Errors: Fix Before Fail
The problem: There’s nothing more frustrating than completing 15 fields, clicking “Pay” and receiving the dreaded “Something went wrong.” Customers rarely recover from it.
The fix: Validate early. Catch errors as the customer types, not after they submit. Highlight them clearly, in context, with language a human can understand.
The best practice:
Inline validation (tick marks, warnings) as soon as input is complete.
Forgiving error copy: “Try postcode without spaces” is far better than “Invalid postcode.”
Use helpful hints, like expected formats or autocomplete for addresses.
Errors are inevitable. Confusion isn’t.
5. Speed: Design It In
The problem: A slow checkout doesn’t just frustrate - it feels unsafe. Customers are wary of spinning loaders and laggy buttons.
The fix: Design for speed from the start. It’s not about throwing hardware at the problem; it’s about stripping back unnecessary weight.
The best practice:
Keep the checkout route under 150KB of JavaScript.
Use skeleton screens instead of spinners, so progress feels visible.
Defer analytics and tracking scripts until after payment.
Monitor your checkout performance separately from the rest of the site - if it breaks, you need to know instantly.
Speed equals safety. The faster the flow, the more confident the customer feels.
Quick Wins to Try This Sprint
You don’t need a rebuild to see impact. If you only have a week to act, try these:
Remove one unnecessary field per step.
Move wallet buttons above card entry.
Replace spinners with skeletons.
Rewrite your three most common error messages in plain English.
Final Thought
The best checkouts aren’t clever. They don’t try to reinvent the wheel or pack in novelty. They’re calm, restrained, and efficient. They do less, better.
And when you get it right, conversion lifts aren’t gradual. They’re instant.
At GENE, we’ve been refining checkout flows for over a decade, from building Adobe Commerce’s default PSP integration to pioneering headless, wallet-first solutions. If you’re wondering how much revenue your checkout is leaving on the table, start with these five fixes. Chances are, you’ll see the difference before the next sprint ends.
Ready to see how much revenue your checkout is leaving on the table?
We’ve spent a decade engineering faster, safer, wallet-first checkouts for Adobe Commerce and Magento merchants. Let’s put your flow under the microscope and show you what instant conversion lifts really look like.
Author
Richard David
Richard turns complexity into clarity. A Senior UX/UI Designer, he’s all about checkouts that flow, catalogues that make sense, and designs that actually move the needle. When he’s not shaping client work, he’s mentoring the next wave of creatives as a Figma Community Advocate in Edinburgh.
