The checkout is the part of an online store where a shopper turns their chosen items into a paid order. They give an email, a delivery address and a payment method, see the final total, and press the button that charges them. It is the last step, so any friction here costs you sales you had almost won.
The steps a checkout walks through
- Contact: an email or phone for the receipt and updates.
- Delivery: shipping address and method, or a pickup or appointment choice.
- Totals: shipping and sales tax are calculated now that the address is known.
- Payment: card fields or wallet buttons supplied by your payment gateway.
- Confirmation: an order number on screen and by email.
Some stores spread these over several pages; others fit them on one. Both can work. What matters is that each field is needed and the total never surprises anyone.
Hosted or built into your site
A hosted checkout, such as Stripe Checkout or Shopify's checkout, sends the buyer to a page run by the provider. You get their security work, saved wallets and tax tools, at the cost of less design control. An embedded checkout keeps the buyer on your domain using the provider's secure payment fields. Either way, the page must use HTTPS.
Example: a florist's delivery checkout
A florist needs a delivery date and a card message as well as the usual fields. Instead of making every customer create an account, she offers guest checkout, puts the date picker before payment so sold-out days are spotted early, and shows the delivery fee on the product page. The buyer sees no new costs after typing their card.
When your checkout deserves attention
If you take payments online, the checkout deserves a real test on a phone before launch and after every change. It directly affects your conversion rate. If you only take enquiries, a contact form is your version of a checkout and the same rule applies: fewer fields, clear next step.
Checkout mistakes that lose orders
- Forcing account creation. Offer guest checkout and invite sign-up afterwards.
- Late surprise fees. Show shipping estimates early in the cart.
- Vague error messages. Say which field is wrong and keep what was already typed.
- Wrong mobile keyboards. Mark email, phone and card fields so phones show the right keypad and autofill works.
Related terms
- Shopping cart: the step before checkout.
- Payment gateway: processes the payment at the end.
- Conversion rate: the measure checkout changes affect most.
- HTTPS: the encryption every checkout needs.