Study: Online checkout shows some improvement

E-commerce retailers could do better in converting shoppers at the point of sale, but are displaying encouraging signs.



According to the Checkout Conversion Index for the second quarter of 2016 from payment platform provider Pymtns.com, underperforming e-commerce retailers will lose $162.4 billion in potential revenue during 2016 due to failure to convert site visitors to sales. This is due to a variety of frictions that exist between online discovery and checkout.



However, overall online conversion performance has improved compared to the first quarter of 2016. The average checkout conversion score among more than 650 e-commerce sites evaluated in the study is 56.4 on a scale of 0-100, up three points from the previous quarter. The top 30 retailers had ab average score of 75.2.



Also 10 sites earned an “A,” or score above 75, compared to only four the previous quarter. Average checkout time was 182 seconds, down from 204 seconds.



Despite general improvements, a comparison of the top 30 retailers to the general population shows that as of now, there are some clear “winners” when it comes to converting online sales. For example:



· Top 30 averaged 15 clicks to make a sale, compared to 21 clicks overall.



· 100% of top 30 offered product reviews and recommendations, compared to 81% overall.



· 97% of top 30 offered free shipping, compared to 79% overall.



· 97% of top 30 offered security logos, compared to 63% overall.



· 100% of top 30 offered live site help, compared to 83% overall.