Checkout Champ versus Common Shopify Checkout Experiences

Shopify currently exists on the sites of around 1.7 million merchants across the Internet. This is a huge number of people who already make good use of this useful tool. Still, there are plenty of ways that the Shopify checkout experience could improve, so are you willing to investigate them?

This article will discuss one of the leading offerings available, that of Checkout Champ. As you read through this article, think about your current e-Commerce checkout and consider how a plugin such as this could act as a real boost.

What Is Shopify’s Checkout Experience?

Shopify provides its clients (e-Commerce shop owners) with a robust way to offer a checkout experience for their customers. The Shopify checkout is a UI that allows customers to navigate through a payment process, aiming for a user-friendly process. As the customer progresses through the steps needed in a checkout, they can see a summary of the steps they need to take and how far they are through them.

Shopify also offers several other features that sellers can use to enhance their ability to run the shop with less hassle. These include:

Payment gateway integration. This allows customers to choose from several of the most common payment methods when they want to buy something. This is a secure service, meaning the customer can have a level of assurance their data will not end up stolen.

Tax application. Shopify can work out where people are accessing the store from, determine the amount of tax they need to pay, and apply it without prompting. This saves shops from needing to do this themselves and also makes sure tax records are valid.

Order confirmation. After a finished sale, Shopify will direct the user to an order confirmation page and send them an email confirming what they bought. This acts as a record of sale for both the shop owner and the buyer.

Positive UX. The Shopify interface follows standard  UX patterns and acts as a well-designed UI for any user who might want to buy something. This means that even novice web designers who want to run an e-Commerce page can start up a shop without needing high-level scripting skills.

Still, despite these features, there are both good and bad sides to using Shopify without using other tools. Not everyone appreciates the features on offer:

Shopify’s Pros

Using this e-Commerce checkout offering can create a better experience for many users.

First of all, it is relatively fast to set up. New shop owners do not need to read several pages of manuals learning how to create their shop, nor do they need advanced knowledge to add products. Instead, they can configure Shopify’s settings within the extension itself and see the impact of changes straight away.

Shopify also offers its clients the option of hosting the shop on its servers. Since many e-Commerce site owners may not understand how servers or the cloud work well enough to host it themselves, this can be useful. Shopify’s infrastructure is also very robust, hosting millions of shops, and each of these relies on its uptime to serve customers.

If you are only now starting your shop, Shopify is also great for when you do not know how fast you will grow. It offers companies both large and small the opportunity to trade without needing a minimum or maximum number of users. As you grow, the platform accommodates such changes with grace.

If you aim to expand fast, you likely need as many eyes on your shop as possible. Lucky for you, Shopify empowers this through its focus on SEO optimization. If you want to use tags that Google’s spiders can latch on to, or a sitemap to give a clear understanding of your shop, for example, it has ways to customize those.

Shopify is not only a flat experience, though. It exists as a part of a wide range of other extensions and plugins that allow for a more customizable experience. Applications such as Checkout Champ exist alongside Shopify, enhancing checkout optimization even further.

Shopify’s Cons

Despite Shopify’s positive elements, there are places where it falls down.

One of the most up-front places this occurs comes from transaction fees when running a shop through its service. Shopify runs all purchases through its own payment system, Shopify Payments. This system demands that you pass some of what you would otherwise earn to them, which may be a small price to pay for its services, but still is not perfect.

Another issue people have with Shopify is the lack of ability to upsell. Many sellers want to offer extras when people buy things, but Shopify does not come with this functionality. This leads to many lost extra sales and lower profits as customers may never come back to buy the items they did not pick up the first time.

Many sellers also report that, while Shopify offers abilities they wouldn’t otherwise have, the checkout flow can be long. This leads to a significant drop-off in potential buyers, cart abandonment, and fewer conversions.

When it comes to branding, many e-Commerce checkout owners would prefer a much higher level of customizability in their shop. At present, Shopify does allow you to create some changes to brand your online store, although for many this is not enough. Most shops still look very similar, creating a sense that the experience is not branded to you, but to Shopify instead.

Over time, sellers also want the ability to analyze their sales and make changes to help them grow more. While Shopify does offer some of these stats, it does not have a high level of visibility beyond some of the most basic information. For people wanting a website checkout that offers them transparency, Shopify falls behind.

What Is Checkout Champ?

This powerful e-Commerce checkout extension allows a wide range of updates for any Shopify store. It empowers sellers to create an online presence for their website checkout that is better than what Shopify can do on its own. Its many benefits are both diverse and holistic, updating the entire experience for both seller and buyer.

Some of the features of Checkout Champ include:

Subscription handling. This not only allows people to buy individual subscription periods, but it also handles automated renewal. This removes the need for users to return each time they want a longer service.

Website builder tool. Using a simple drag-and-drop interface you can build a store, including several analytical tools.

More currencies and payment gateways. When the list of payment processing options on Shopify is not enough, this adds a few more.

Improved analytics. Sometimes you need much more information than what Shopify gives you. This can help you make better decisions in the long run.

One UI for several stores. Instead of you needing to log into each shop, this gives you a way to switch between them seamlessly. You can even see the details for more than one shop in your dashboard at a glance, speeding up your response to issues as they occur.

What Are the Benefits of Checkout Champ?

With the above features, you can find that you are likely to have a much better time using Checkout Champ than Shopify alone. If you use this extension in your e-Commerce checkout, these are some of the ways you are likely to benefit:

Simple Installation

The installation process of Checkout Champ is very simple. As an extension to Shopify rather than a whole new shop front, it does not demand the removal of one checkout to replace it with another. Instead, it works  with your existing e-Commerce checkout and uses the same data on the site that already existed.

Faster Checkout Processes

The extension uses checkout optimization such as a streamlined UI and back-end. By implementing these, Checkout Champ offers both a speedy and smooth process for customers. Without the clunky and lengthy nature of Shopify’s vanilla offering, you can expect a much higher rate of conversion.

Upselling Opportunities

By offering the opportunity to buy more items at the checkout itself, Checkout Champ gives you a chance to make more sales. You can set the upsell each user is likely to get on a per-item basis, meaning you can focus people in the right direction each time.

With strong analytics, you can ensure you are likely to make the most money and offer the most useful checkout experience.

Reduced Cart Abandonment

On top of the faster checkout, Checkout Champ has ways to ensure people do not drop their cart forever. First of all, it brings up a dialogue box when it looks like people intend to leave the checkout, encouraging them to finish buying things. On top of this, it sends automated emails to people who have abandoned a cart, encouraging them to return.

By offering more payment processing options, you also ensure people always have a way to pay and are not likely to leave due to a lack of funds.

Improved Conversion

When a person comes to a website checkout for the first time, they will need it to be as smooth as possible to prevent them from wanting to leave. Checkout Champ’s checkout optimization features ensure this is always true. This way, you can ensure any drop-off is not because of the speed of the site.

Over time, this means you can make other changes you hypothesize might improve your funnel. As such, Checkout Champ can help you reach a better onboarding flow.

More Customization

Sometimes, Shopify does not offer you a way of displaying your brand identity enough. This might be due to colors, imagery, layouts, or logos.

Checkout Champ solves that by expanding the number of options you have when it comes to customization. These even include options to use custom CSS in your site, giving you the ability to have a unique layout that works best for you.

Mobile Compatability

When you load up a website checkout using Shopify’s standard offering on a browser, you may often have issues. Shopify’s mobile UI is not up-to-date with the latest offerings when it comes to browser resolution and interfaces.

Checkout Champ offers a responsive interface that works with mobiles, tablets, and browsers of any size. It also updates to offer a more mobile-centric interface when shrunk down enough.

Other Payment Options

More payment processing options will mean you can give your users a smooth and more personal checkout experience. It will allow them to make payments in a way that suits their needs rather than your limitations. This can often ensure that a customer returns again and again, as they will feel safe engaging in the buying process of their choice.

Guest Checkout Capability

Many different stores or services demand you run through a registration or login process before you can buy from them. You may find that if you implement this, you will have a high level of dropout from your website checkout. Instead, by allowing for a “guest checkout”, you have a higher chance of making sales.

You can still ask for contact details, such as an email address, in this process. Thus, you can gather and use this information to inform potential future customers of store information.

Thank You Pages

Something Shopify is missing is the personal touch after someone buys items. Checkout Champ gives you the option to add a ” Thank you” page after someone goes through a website checkout.

By adding a way to express gratitude for anything someone may have bought, you can make people feel better about having spent money. On top of this, you can use this page to cross-promote related products or upsell other items.

Improve Your Shopify Checkout

The above information should help you understand why, even though the Shopify checkout is competent, it could be much better. Lucky for you, Checkout Champ can help you on your journey to a much better conversion funnel.

With the power of Checkout Champ, you can ensure your e-Commerce checkout experience is both smooth and functional. So, if you want a better experience for your customers, check out our offering and book a demo today.