Retailers need to bring checkout to shoppers — not bring shoppers to checkout

Across the country, major retailers are working to enhance the in-store checkout experience by removing the frustrations of waiting in long lines, unloading and reloading items into carts.

Companies such as Amazon, Walmart and Target are increasingly adopting features like "scan and go," allowing customers to checkout in real-time, streamlining the process and improving convenience. However, this same convenience has not made it to the online shopping experience. Whether shoppers are exploring search results, scrolling through social media or reading blogs, they face interruptions with multiple pages, forms and redirects between discovering a product and completing their purchase. Each of these additional steps can be costly.

A “checkout anywhere” approach solves this by giving brands the ability to power purchases anywhere their customers are. By embedding checkout across various touchpoints, checkout turns any digital touchpoint into a shoppable moment. Rather than having checkout sit as the final touchpoint of the shopping journey, it becomes both the first and final step, eliminating many of the obstacles that stand between consumers and a completed purchase. 

Instead of building the e-commerce experience around bringing shoppers to a specific checkout point, here are five underutilized places where brands can bring checkout directly to their shoppers.

1. Search Engines

   Search engines have traditionally been used as tools for discovery and research, with shoppers using them to gather product information and compare options. From there, it typically takes several more clicks for them to actually enter a brand’s website, scroll through a product page, add the product to their cart and then begin the checkout process — all before actually purchasing the item they discovered within the search engine results. 

   Especially as shopping behaviors shift toward shorter attention spans and making quicker decisions, brands now have a narrower window of time between the moment shoppers find a product and when they’re most likely to purchase it. And clicking through from the search page to the retailer’s website can be enough of a delay to cause shoppers to lose interest or get distracted — especially for those browsing on a mobile device. 

   Integrating checkout directly into search results streamlines the shopping experience, turning the point of discovery into the point of sale. For example, imagine a shopper searching for a new pair of shoes. Ordinarily, they’d compare a few options, gather details and then click through to a retailer’s site to complete the purchase. They should complete the purchase instantly, right where they found the item.  This experience allows brands to capture shoppers at their peak of intent – in the exact moment they discover something they want. It also gives brands more visibility and sales without major website adjustments such as overhauling site navigation or reconfiguring checkout flows, while shoppers enjoy a simpler, faster path to purchase. 

2. Shoppable Photos and Videos

   Consumers are flooded with product photos and videos across nearly every digital channel — whether it’s from an influencer they follow on Instagram, a product demo they’re watching on YouTube, or an advertisement while they’re browsing the internet. But even though these images and videos might pique their interest in making a purchase, that initial motivation often fades if they have to take unnecessary steps to actually buy it. 

   The extra effort of clicking over to the product page, working through various forms and inputting shipping and billing information can easily turn a potential purchase into an abandoned cart. Many brands have attempted to solve this with fast, one-click checkout offerings. The real friction in this scenario isn’t the complexity of the checkout process itself, however. It often starts much earlier than checkout — at the transition point from product discovery to checkout.

   By integrating checkout directly into shoppable photos or videos, brands turn casual browsing into instant shopping, keeping viewers engaged and letting them buy on the spot. For example, if a shopper clicks on a specific product image from an Instagram post or ad, the transition to checkout should be seamless, keeping them on the same platform or page they’re already engaged with and pre-filling any relevant product info.  This approach captures the purchase at the peak of intent, boosting engagement and revenue without requiring extra clicks or steps outside of the photo or video. For shoppers, the experience feels seamless and interactive, allowing them to explore and buy products directly within the content they’re already viewing.

3. Emails

   Emails are an effective marketing tool for re-engaging customers and reminding them of products they left behind in their cart. But if an interested shopper has to take the extra step of navigating back to the brand’s website to complete the purchase, they risk falling into the same pattern of distraction or hesitation that led them to abandon their cart in the first place. 

   By embedding checkout directly within abandoned cart emails — or any other email marketing content — brands can reduce the chances of drop-off and make each campaign more effective at driving revenue by enabling consumers to complete a purchase directly from their inbox. It also provides an opportunity to boost average order value (AOV) by offering tailored upsells or cross- sells right within the message. 

4. Texts (SMS)

   Convenience, simplicity and availability are a few of the reasons why consumers are increasingly choosing to shop on their mobile devices rather than desktop. As a result, brands have begun searching for ways to meet customers on their preferred devices. With mobile taking center stage, brands have tapped SMS as an effective marketing channel. In fact, more than half of marketers (53%) have adopted text marketing for its ability to drive higher open and click-through rates than other channels.

   This shift shows just how important it is for brands to meet customers on their platform of choice, minimizing friction in the path to purchase. By integrating checkout directly into SMS, brands can boost engagement and drive revenue by allowing shoppers to act on offers instantly. For consumers, SMS checkout offers a fast, mobile-friendly way to buy products directly from an SMS link without switching between apps or tabs.

5. Blogs

   Blogs are a great space for product discovery, especially for consumers who aren’t necessarily in ‘shopping mode,’ but come across an item that speaks to them when browsing recent content from their favorite online influencers. By integrating checkout directly into blog content, brands provide an opportunity for blog readers to move from interest to purchase seamlessly. 

   Blog content also provides an opportunity for brands to target their customers with product recommendations based on their gender, location, lifestage or interests. With ‘top gifts for her’ lists, for instance, brands can not only take the hassle out of online shopping, but out of checkout, too, by enabling shoppers to make a purchase without visiting additional tabs, product pages or shopping carts. Checkout doesn’t have to be the final touchpoint of the shopping journey anymore – it can be both the first and the only interaction a shopper has with a product to capture the conversion. And with a Checkout Anywhere approach, these interactions can happen virtually anywhere that shoppers are.