Optimising the PrestaShop checkout: 12 points of friction that cost sales

The checkout is the stretch where the customer has already decided to buy. Every obstacle they find here is a sale you lose when it was almost done.

The 12 points of friction

1. Mandatory registration. Offer guest checkout. They can create the account at the end with one click.
2. Shipping costs that appear at the end. Show them, or an estimate, on the product page and in the cart.
3. Long forms. Ask only for what is needed. Do you really need their landline and date of birth?
4. Errors that only show on submit. Validate each field as it is filled in and explain the error in plain language.
5. Mandatory NIF/DNI (Spanish tax ID) when no invoice is needed. Make it optional or for businesses only.
6. Too few payment methods, or ones your customers do not use. In Spain, card and Bizum are almost essential.
7. Going to another website to pay without explanation. If there is a redirect, say so.
8. Highly visible discount codes. A large “coupon” field sends the customer off to look for coupons elsewhere. Keep it discreet.
9. No trust signals. Returns policy, delivery times and contact details in plain sight.
10. Slow on mobile. Measure the checkout on a real phone on mobile data.
11. Confusing buttons. Two confirm buttons in a row, or generic labels (“Continue”) when it is time to pay.
12. Technical messages to the customer. Notices such as “these payment methods are not shown” with internal module names confuse more than they help.

And test the checkout yourself

Once a month, buy from your own store on a phone, as a guest, with each payment method. It is the cheapest test there is and the one that uncovers the most problems.