When shopping online, the overall experience can be pretty great… Until you reach the checkout page and you’re forced to fill in lengthy address forms and make all these decisions regarding delivery or payment options.
(At that point, you might also find out that the item you’ve just spent so much time shopping for can’t really be shipped to your address. Ouch.)
Even though the checkout page is not the only thing that makes up the whole checkout experience, it’s an important part of it. And usually, it's overly complicated.
What makes e-commerce checkout pages great, then?
Having gone through hundreds of checkout experiences, I realized that the best ones are mostly:
- Customer-centric. No forced account creation, annoying pop-ups, or irrelevant cross-selling deals. The whole shopping experience feels straightforward, well-designed, and accessible.
- Delivery-first. Shipping information is introduced as soon as possible. There’s no need to guess, predict, or rely on previous online purchases to understand how, when, and where you can receive your order, which I believe is crucial when shopping online.
If you’re looking for the best e-commerce checkout pages with these two in common, look no further.
The best e-commerce checkout page examples
- Uniqlo
- Nudient
- Bershka
- Nudie Jeans
- ASKET
- Houdini
- Sephora
- NA-KD
- IKEA
- Denjo Dogs
Uniqlo
A Japanese clothing retailer, Uniqlo sells clothes for men, women, and kids at a reasonable price worldwide. It’s a successful e-commerce brand with 1,900 stores around the globe and one of the shortest, customer-centric e-commerce checkout pages you might see around.
✓ All the checkout steps are clearly marked, which helps shoppers track progress and manage their expectations.
✓ An “Address finder” instead of a lengthy address form that makes filling in the checkout forms much easier. Not to mention that the billing address is marked the same a the shipping address by default, which speeds things up.
✓ Shipping information is hard to miss, and repeated throughout the checkout process.
If you pay close attention when shopping online, you’ll rarely see delivery details early in the checkout process (on e-commerce product pages, for example). The thing is: There is no longer any reason for shoppers to wait until the last step of the checkout process to see the delivery options, and Uniqlo knows it. Shipping methods are well-explained on the product, shopping cart, and even account creation pages!
Nudient
Nudient, on the other hand, is a fashion tech brand known for phone & AirPods cases, screen protectors, and lifestyle accessories.
There are plenty of things to like about its checkout process, but the most interesting part is the mini-cart-style checkout page. Usually, a mini cart works as an addition to the standard checkout page and helps customer view their order summary (which updates in real-time).
In this case, though, the mini cart actually serves as THE checkout page, making it easy to double-check the order summary, choose from available delivery options, and place the order in just a few clicks.
There’s no need to go through multiple pages to proceed with the order, and definitely no need to create an account to finalize it.
That’s what a customer-centric checkout experience looks like.
Bershka
To my surprise, Bershka takes customer-centricity to another level.
In case you’re not familiar with the brand, it’s a clothing retailer company that forms part of the Spanish Inditex group (along with Zara and Massimo Dutti, among others). Even though the target clientele is pretty young, Bershka does really well when it comes to online store accessibility.
An accessible e-commerce site is one that can be accessed by shoppers of every age, with any disability, within any context, having any skill, and living anywhere with an active internet connection. To ensure accessibility, Bershka uses EqualWeb’s AI ToolBar with three main remediating adjustments: Navigation, Color, and Content Adjustment.
Each of them has a dropdown menu of multiple accessibility functions (32 in total) catering to a wide range of impairment issues.
Besides making the e-commerce checkout page more accessible, Bershka also provides customer support throughout the shopping experience. "Support-related" links and buttons (e.g. "Questions about the delivery?”), visible contact information (the phone number is right there in the top right corner), and the ability to chat online with the support team are just a few examples of a customer-centric checkout page.
Nudie Jeans
Let’s switch the focus from accessibility to an equally important topic: sustainability in e-commerce.
Since the very beginning, sustainability — both environmental and social — has been the essence of the Swedish denim company Nudie Jeans. Besides a denim collection made entirely with 100% organic cotton, Nudie Jeans offers an ambitious repair & reuse program, transparent production methods, and greener delivery options showcased on the checkout page.
With Ingrid's In-store solution, Nudie Jeans has been able to turn stores into mini-warehouses and fulfill online orders directly store-to-door instead of shipping all of the orders from their warehouse in Sweden. Besides speeding up the delivery process, this allows Nudie Jeans to work with local, carbon-free carriers like HIVED.
Currently, local Nudie Jeans stores fulfill 30% of web orders in the UK, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, and there are more markets to come.
The delivery checkout might be the highlight of the page, but it’s not the only great thing about it. The overall flow and checkout design work really well and don't distract online shoppers from the purchase.
ASKET
Speaking of sustainable e-commerce, it’s difficult not to mention ASKET. The Swedish brand is on a mission to reform the fashion industry, slow things down, and restore meaning to the clothes we all wear. It comes as no surprise that it’s also one of the brands that refuse to "celebrate" Black Friday.
ASKET definitely practices what it preaches. The "less is more" approach, along with the attention to detail, can be easily seen throughout the checkout process.
✓ Guest checkout option
✓ All products made with care and precision
✓ Reusable packaging as an add-on
✓ Minimalistic design
✓ Address auto-completion
✓ Clear and eye-catching CTAs
✓ Live chat widget
Houdini
One last example of a sustainable e-commerce company with a great checkout experience comes from Houdini, a Swedish outdoor brand.
When buying online, nobody likes scrolling through long checkout pages and filling in endless address form fields. Houdini proves that it’s not necessary to "suffer" to actually complete the purchase.
In this case, what stands out the most are:
✓ Clean and user-friendly design
✓ Guest checkout option
✓ Customer-centric UX copy (Where would you like your parcel to be delivered? Do you have a discount code?)
✓ Cross-selling options that make sense (completing the look instead of pushing as many irrelevant deals as possible)
Sephora
Another interesting checkout page example can be found in Sephora’s store. The French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products offers at least a few interesting checkout features.
For example, the ability to "Quicklook" — as opposed to "Quickshop" checkout buttons which are pretty popular nowadays (and simply adds the item to the cart right away). Instead, Sephora introduces a pop-up with a short product description and reviews that helps shoppers quickly grasp the most important details and then decide whether to proceed with checkout.
The way that the free shipping threshold is introduced is also unique. To get free shipping and returns on all purchases, potential customers have to create an account first. It’s not a mandatory option, but it’s definitely appealing.
The actual checkout page is not the most visually attractive, but still customer-centric: The process is relatively short, with address autocompletion & validation, as well as First & Last name fields "populated" from shipping to the billing address to make things easier and faster.
The faster (and less error-prone) the checkout process, the better for your customers and your business.
NA-KD
The next checkout page example comes from NA-KD, a direct-to-consumer fashion brand targeted toward young women.
Established in 2015, it’s currently one of Europe's top 20 fastest-growing retail companies. One look at the checkout experience, and it’s pretty clear to see why:
✓ Guest checkout is available
✓ Favorite and last-visited items accessible from the header, there's no need to create an account to save them
✓ Free shipping (and climate-compensated) option with the delivery promise stated throughout the entire checkout process
✓ Sustainability measures, including NA-KD Circle
✓ Mini cart with the notion that the items in the bag are not reserved, gently nudging towards a purchase
✓ Short and straightforward address form
IKEA
Up till now, we’ve seen more customer-centric rather than delivery-first checkout experiences. IKEA, a Swedish company known for its affordable and modern furniture, is a great example of the latter.
Delivery-first checkout flow starts with the entered ZIP/postcode. Order delivery and collection options are then displayed, allowing the shopper to choose the most convenient delivery experience for them.
What’s also appealing is a slightly "conversational" UX copy — for example, “Where should we send your order?” instead of a generic header like “Shipping”. See it for yourself:
Denjo Dogs
For some reason, online pet stores and marketplaces usually have a pretty bad UX design. A lot of aggressive colors, mediocre product imagery, no personalization… Luckily, Denjo Dogs does things differently.
Denjo Dogs offers dog accessories combining the elements of beautiful design, function & a sustainable mindset. The entire checkout process reflects just that.
✓ Pretty, minimalistic design that makes shopping for dog accessories a pleasant experience
✓ Clear checkout flow starting from cart details, through delivery information, to payment options
✓ Guest checkout option
✓ Multiple delivery methods to choose from
✓ The ability to personalize the order (by adding your pet’s name)
What’s not to like about that?
The search for the best e-commerce checkout page examples continues
There are thousands of online checkout pages out there, but if you start paying attention to how they are designed, you’re likely to find more bad examples rather than good ones. If you're still on the lookout, keep in mind that the best checkout pages usually have the following in common:
✓ They're customer-centric. In other words: straightforward, well-designed, and accessible.
✓ They put a spotlight on order delivery information. It's about time to admit that the delivery details no longer belong to the last step of the checkout process!
If you feel inspired and want to create the best e-commerce checkout page, why not giving Ingrid a try?
Ingrid connects online merchants with consumers and carriers to create a better shopping experience for everyone involved. We work closely with e-commerce businesses on improving their delivery strategy and the way delivery information is presented to online shoppers, which is a big part of building great checkout pages. We're ready when you are.
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