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ChapterTitle
Insights and Expertise

Three things essential than an extension of it, and therefore it isn't worth in-
vesting in. The good news is that checkout is ripe for
to checkout (beyond personalization in more ways than one.

For example, it provides a place to integrate personal-
transferring money) ized recommendations in the form of upsells (higher-
end versions of the product being purchased), as well
as cross-sells (additional, but highly relevant, offerings)
at the exact moment a purchase is taking place.

New technology offerings have even gone as far as
making these suggestions after an order goes through
as a last chance to add an item—and increase purchase
amounts—after a transaction takes place, without hav-
ing to go back through checkout. The point in all of this
By Peter Karpas is that businesses are short changing themselves and
Bold Commerce hurting revenue when checkout is simply a "Complete
Purchase" button and nothing further.
lenty of businesses would agree that checkout is 2. Convert first-time shoppers into regular customers
one of the most pivotal touchpoints in the cus-
tomer journey. After all, it's the moment when Do this with memberships, subscriptions and other
P money changes hands from the customer to the long-term offerings. While being laser focused on con-
company they're buying from. version at checkout might be an effective short term
strategy, it neglects long-term opportunities to increase
Despite its importance, however, businesses have long customer retention and create lasting relationships.
viewed checkout solely for its transactional purposes,
rather than as something that has a direct influence on the Checkout is the ideal touchpoint to introduce member-
entire ecommerce experience. And as a result, most aren't ships, subscriptions and other long-term offerings to
considering the many opportunities that checkout creates customers that will keep them coming back again and
to do more than just process transactions. again.

Of course, these opportunities are easy to miss when For example, take a customer who is about to purchase
checkout is made to happen as quickly as possible with a new skincare product. Rather than pushing them
speedy, one-click features that focus on nothing but driv- straight from cart to payment, a business can instead
ing conversion. While beneficial in some shopping sce- offer a monthly refill subscription directly within the
narios, such as high-value carts on mobile devices, these checkout interface, increasing their chances of convert-
types of checkout experiences neglect, and even eliminate, ing a one-off purchase into a recurring revenue stream.
valuable real estate for features that can offer far more
than higher conversion rates. And while focusing on one-off purchases is important,
it shouldn't come at the expense of loyal customers, es-
Checkout's purpose is more than transactional; it's a stra- pecially since they account for 65 percent of business
tegic touchpoint that can not only drive revenue, but also revenue (see https://smallbiztrends.com/customer-reten-
build lasting relationships between businesses and their tion-statistics). So rather than treating frequent shop-
customers, who will then multiply that revenue through pers like strangers, businesses should reward them for
their brand loyalty for years to come. their continued purchases.

Here are just a few of the things that can, and should, hap- One way to do this is through loyalty programs. Busi-
pen at checkout for businesses to create value that goes nesses can reward customers for their repeat business
beyond the checkout itself. (and encourage frequent shoppers to buy more regular-

1. Offer personalized product recommendations ly) by providing opportunities to earn points and other
rewards that can be cashed in for discounts.
Curated recommendations will in turn increase trans-
action size. Businesses have mastered the art of person- Similarly, memberships reward a business's most loyal
alization in ecommerce—or so they think. Companies customers with all the benefits of loyalty programs
are now investing heavily in personalizing things like plus access to exclusive perks such as early access to
advertisements and email marketing campaigns, but new products, invitations to local events, special offers
more often than not, that's where it ends. and more that make them feel like a brand insider—all
while generating additional revenue streams with the
That's because there's a common misconception that fees paid by each member, and incentivizing customers
checkout is the step after the shopping journey, rather to shop with them more regularly.
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