Optimizing The Online Checkout Experience: The Next E-Commerce Frontier

As the pandemic continues, consumers continue to shift their shopping habits online. 

Retailers are taking note and are looking for ways to improve the online shopping experience—specifically focusing on ways to speed up and optimize the checkout process. 

The reason: Cart abandonment rates average 69.57% across e-commerce industries, meaning almost two-thirds of online purchases are not completed.

One increasingly popular solution is enabling one-click checkout methods—like Amazon’s
AMZN
one-click checkout—and digital wallets—like Apple Pay. 

Data indicates we’re nearing the tipping point of mass consumer adoption around these more frictionless payment methods: Juniper Research projects that by 2024, as much as 50% of the global population will use digital wallets and that contactless payment transaction values will exceed $1.5 trillion.

As a result, e-commerce platforms are teaming up with online retailers to power e-commerce solutions that are both flexible enough to work with a brand’s needs and their existing technology—which is no minor undertaking.

Today, for example, Bolt announced a strategic partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG), whose portfolio includes more than 50 retail brands like Forever 21, Brooks Brothers, Aéropostale, and others.

With Deloitte survey data indicating 51% of shoppers feeling anxious about shopping in-store this year due to COVID-19 and 65% opting to shop online to avoid crowds, this partnership is aimed at helping ABG’s retail brands meet modern shoppers where they are.

Bolt’s one-click checkout functionality will be made available to ABG’s global network, beginning with fashion retailer Forever 21. ABG acquired Forever 21 earlier this year with the goal of positioning the retailer for sustainable growth. 

As part of this effort, the company is focusing on building out the brand’s e-commerce abilities and experience to align with modern online shopping preferences. 

A pillar of these efforts includes enabling a single-click checkout experience that’s optimized for any device. 

Prior to the Bolt partnership, Forever 21 was not offering single-click checkout options beyond PayPal and Amazon Pay. Today, however, Bolt’s technology makes it possible for the retailer to securely store shoppers’ payment information to provide a faster, more streamlined checkout experience. 

“Forever 21 is setting a precedent for how traditional brick-and-mortar stores can adopt technology to improve their online shopping experience in today’s increasingly competitive e-commerce environment,” said Ryan Breslow, Bolt’s CEO and Founder.  

Bolt will begin integrating its checkout technology across other ABG brand platforms in the coming months and also plans to introduce a new subscription-based program that unlocks exclusive access to a selection of products, perks, and rewards in early 2021.

Other e-commerce platforms are making strides when it comes to online checkout optimizations as well. 

Shopify, for example, along with its one-click Shop payment offering, recently announced a partnership with China-based Alipay, a digital wallet they hope will “unlock the power of cross-border commerce for Shopify’s merchants,” according to a November 17th press release. 

In September, Fast.co also introduced Fast Checkout, a payment processing tool that enables online merchants to offer one-click checkout directly on product pages.

Across the board, optimizing the online checkout experience appears to be a top priority for retailers this year as they work to capitalize on the surge in online shopping and cut down on cart abandonment rates.

If you ask Andrea Hippeau, Principal at VC fund Lerer Hippeau, the opportunity is one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. 

“This is a time for trust and transparency,” she said. “You will forever lose that customer if the experience isn’t top-notch.” 

Disclosure: The writer of this article has had or currently maintains working relationships with both Shopify and Fast.