If you're unfamiliar with the term, one-click checkout allows shoppers to access their online shopping carts and purchase its contents in one single step.
First-time shoppers will have to fill in their information, including their name, email address, and shipping address.
However, they only have to do this once.
During the first purchase from a site, the payment processor stores customers' personal info for future transactions. Next time they make a purchase, they can breeze through the online checkout process without having to re-enter their info.
This functionality also means customers don't have to navigate to a separate payment screen and manually enter their details. In theory, it might not sound like a big deal to open a new page to enter payment info, but in reality, this can be a significant friction point.
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One-click checkout was first pioneered by the eCommerce behemoth Amazon back in 1995 when it was still just an online bookstore.
Not only did it deploy this new technology to great success, but Amazon also patented one-click checkout.
This patent raked in a fortune for Amazon. It allowed them to sue Barns & Noble for implementing a similar one-click checkout process. Amazon also leased its one-click button to iTunes in 2000. At one point, the patent was valued at $2.4 billion per year.
Fortunately for everyone, Amazon's patent on one-click checkout expired in 2017, so any merchant or eCommerce seller can now freely use one-click checkout processes on their platforms.
Now that Amazon doesn't have a monopoly on the one-click checkout concept, other eCommerce businesses can start leveraging its many benefits.
Of course, the biggest, most important benefit is simple: it increases conversions and revenue.
But how does this technology do that?
One of the most powerful effects of a one-click checkout is it reduces the gap between virtual window shopping and purchasing. It does this by creating a painless, quick experience that's practically free of friction.
Instead of jumping through hoops to buy something, shoppers can transition from casually browsing to making a purchase within a matter of seconds.
According to statistics, 26% of online shoppers abandon their carts when the checkout process is too long or too complicated. Another 7% will exit if the site doesn't offer their preferred payment method.
One-click checkout eliminates both of these problems. Being able to buy with a single click takes all the hassle out of checkout. It also means buyers never have to end up in a situation where their preferred payment method isn't accepted.
Instead, they can automatically pay with a method they've already chosen before.
Besides these crucial benefits, the quick, easy nature of a one-click checkout also means that buyers have less time to dwell on their purchase decision.
If you've ever had to face a clunky checkout process, you'll understand why this is so impactful.
After the initial impulse to purchase, most buyers want to get their order completed asap. If the checkout process is long, involved, or too complicated, this will inevitably trigger feelings of frustration. As the initial excitement over their purchase fades, and they're left dealing with a mile-long form to fill in, they might start second-guessing the purchase.
Do I really need this?
Is it going to be as useful/great/necessarily as I thought?
Could I get it cheaper somewhere else?
Overly complicated, laborious checkout processes could even make shoppers second guess the legitimacy of your site. If a seller can't provide shoppers with an easy, modern, checkout process, who's to say they'll fulfill the order professionally? These kinds of reservations can be one of the reasons for low conversion rates.
If it's a small purchase, the buyer might also start to ask themselves whether going through multiple checkout pages is worth the effort.
Another benefit of one-click checkout is it perfectly caters to impulse purchases.
If you implement one-click checkout, you stand a far better chance of positioning your store for impulse buys, something which can significantly increase your turnover. Poll results reveal that 64% of consumers have increased impulse spending this year, and the average shopper spends over $3,000 per year on impulse purchases.
If you want to reduce even more friction in the impulse purchase buyer journey, you can also look into offering a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) feature.
BNPL is currently taking the eCommerce world by storm. Many leading payment processors have begun offering integrated BNPL features, such as PayPal's Buy In 4 service.
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As you can see, there are plenty of benefits to a one-click checkout. But, just like guest checkout, there are also a few potential drawbacks, too.
Although one-click checkout can drive up conversions, remove friction, and boost turnover, it can also hurt sellers if not implemented correctly. For instance, not giving customers a chance to review their carts could trigger more returns and chargebacks.
Certain types of shoppers might even be chased away by one-click checkout processes.
Ultimately, the answer to whether or not you should utilize one-click checkout depends on your products.
Low-ticket items are usually highly suited for one-click checkout. Buying smaller, low-cost, or simple items in one click is ideal for most shoppers.
Big ticket items?
Not so much.
It's a lot easier for a customer to quickly purchase a $20 item through one-click checkout than a $2,000 item. The majority of customers don't spend a lot of time deliberating over small, simple goods.
But when it comes to large ticket purchases like technology products, furniture, electronics, and expensive household and personal wares – most shoppers need a little more time to deliberate.
This doesn't mean that you should have a drawn-out, cumbersome checkout process.
But it does mean that you should give customers some warning before the transaction is finalized.
For a customer who is buying something at a high price point, a one-click checkout could feel alarming and abrupt, almost like the seller is trying to rush or trick them into finalizing the purchase.
If most of your products are high-ticket items, you can still implement a streamlined checkout process, but add an additional confirmation page, or prominently display the option to "view cart."
Do your products attract a high rate of returning customers? If so, enabling one-click checkout is a smart move.
Merchants who sell a lot of consumables and necessities tend to have high returning customer rates. Once a customer decides they want to buy their toiletries, cleaning products, garden products, etc. from you, they'll probably be back for a repeat order once their supplies run out.
When this happens, one-click checkout will allow them to quickly and painlessly order more items, without the hassle of having to reenter their details. The information they supplied the first time will have been saved, ready to prefill the fields in the checkout form.
Novelty items are another category of products that pair exceptionally well with one-click checkout. If you sell a lot of eye-catching, unusual items, that don't require a very high investment from the buyer, one-click checkout could be the perfect way to ramp up conversions.
Unless you primarily sell very high-value items that require a lot of research and deliberation from buyers, one-click checkout could be the answer to your conversion rate prayers.
Are you ready to tap into the friction-free power of one-click checkout? If yes, you will need to choose a one-click checkout solution for your store.
Here are some of the top one-click checkout companies to consider.
1. Dominate
2. Shop Pay
3. CartPop
4. Instant Checkout
5. Link with Stripe
6. PayPal One Touch
7. Facebook Pay
Let’s go through each in more detail.
Implementing one-click checkout can be a powerful way to reduce friction for shoppers and skyrocket your conversion rate.
However, you need to pick the right one-click solution. One that is cost-effective, facilitates all major payment types, and gives you flexibility over things like branding and page layout.
Here at Dominate, we know what merchants need to deploy a seamless one-click checkout process that will increase eCommerce sales and inspire trust.
With Dominate's one-click checkout solutions, you can completely customize your checkout page for ultimate brand consistency. You can also offer BNPL through PayPal Pay in 4, accept Venmo, Google Pay, Apple Pay transactions, and much more.
The best part?
Our one-click checkout solution is 100% free.
Boost your conversion rate and supercharge your revenue by creating your Dominate account today to implement friction-free, one-click checkout for your customers.
Shop Pay is Shopify's propriety one-click checkout system. It saves, encrypts, and auto-fills checkout fields on Shopify-powered sites, allowing users to buy in one tap.
Only Shopify merchants can use Shop Pay, so if you don't have a Shopify site, you won't be able to use this popular checkout solution.
Because it is Shopify's signature system, Shop Pay currently has around 100 million signed-up users. If you have a Shopify store, your customers can use the fast one-click checkout option and it will autofill any pre-saved details. Even if they haven't shopped with you before, their info will still be auto-populated into your checkout form fields.
Many Shopify merchants have had success with Shop Pay. Because it's fast, seamless, and accepts all major credit card providers, Shop Pay can help increase conversion rates for merchants.
However, even with these pros, Shop Pay might not be the ideal solution for all Shopify merchants.
Shop Pay states that its checkouts have a 1.7x higher average checkout-to-order rate. This isn't a surprise, given how much friction one-click checkout processes can remove.
Unfortunately, Shop Pay has garnered some negative reviews from shoppers, and it also has some limitations. For instance, when using Shop Pay, merchants have to turn off the customer accounts feature in Shopify.
Shop Pay also isn't the cheapest one-click checkout solution and isn’t very upfront about certain fees. For instance, Shop Pay charges a 5.9% + $0,30 fee (at the time of writing) on BNPL installments.
Fortunately, there are alternatives to Shop Pay if you want something other than Shopify's proprietary system.
For instance, here at Dominate, we offer a fast one-click checkout extension specially built for Shopify and enhanced with PayPal. Not only is it free to install and operate, but it's also highly responsive, easy to customize, and offers a seamless experience.
CartPop is another payment tool in the Shopify suite.
CartPop lets you offer one-click checkouts outside of your eCommerce site. It also allows merchants to create customizable carts and has a feature where merchants can send a checkout link to customers.
If you're trying to re-engage customers who've already abandoned their carts, CartPop could be a handy solution. After creating a custom cart with CartPop, you can include the link in an abandoned cart email.
If the customer still wants to go through with the purchase, the one-click checkout process gives them fewer steps to complete, creates less friction, and might enhance the chance of them converting.
CartPop has a free plan, but if you want to create permalinks in your emails you will need to sign up for either the $11.99 or the $29.99 plan.
If your products lend themselves to impulse buying, one of the one-click checkout companies you should definitely consider is Instant Checkout.
Instant Checkout allows you to display a "Buy It Now" button. This enables shoppers to bypass the "Add to Cart" step and skip straight ahead to purchase.
Take note: this might not always be the most strategic solution. Offering a "Buy Now Button" can deter customers from adding additional items to their cart.
However, it can be an effective way to raise conversions if a large percentage of your customers return to buy one specific product over and over again.
Currently, Instant Checkout's pricing is $10 per month.
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After PayPal, Stripe is one of the world's biggest digital payment processors.
(We actually have a post comparing PayPal and Stripe if you're curious how they stack up)
Link is a reusable payment method that belongs to Stripe. It saves users' payment information the first time they check out with Link. After that, every site they shop on that supports Link will auto-populate with their details during checkout.
Currently, Stripe's pricing starts at 2.9% + 30¢ for every successful card charge.
Statistics show that over 70% of consumers in the US use PayPal. It's also available in 200 countries. In comparison, Stripe is only available in 46.
One of PayPal's inherent abilities is it stores card information for shoppers. However, PayPal has upped its checkout game with the introduction of the One Touch Feature.
The One Touch feature accelerates things even further by giving one-click checkout options to shoppers. Instead of having to sign into their account every time they want to make a purchase, shoppers can skip this step with retailers that support PayPal One Touch and complete their purchase with a single click.
Seeing as Facebook has almost 3 million active users, it's not surprising that the social media giant has rolled out its own payment system.
Facebook Pay stores and encrypts users' card information. If shoppers are signed into their Facebook profile, they can make a one-click purchase at any Facebook Pay-enabled store.
Currently, Facebook Pay is a free service for users. Sellers have to pay regular payment processing fees.
More and more, one-click checkouts are becoming the norm.
Business owners love them because they increase conversions – especially with mobile users, a population that continues to grow, as well.
Consumers love one-click checkouts because it makes it much easier to make the purchases they want – again, especially when they’re making purchases on their mobile devices.
So, what’re you waiting for?
Add Dominate to your website to power your checkout page with a wide range of benefits, including the many reasons to love one-click checkouts.
