Mobile apps and online platforms have made it faster and easier for shoppers to get what they want, raising customer expectations around the speed and convenience of online shopping. Businesses looking to increase holiday sales may want to explore ways to optimize their e-commerce sites so shoppers can complete holiday purchases as quickly and easily as calling a rideshare.
The holiday season is a busy time for both businesses and shoppers. When preparing to greet online shoppers for the holiday rush, optimizing the guest checkout experience can be a good place for businesses to start.
Shoppers like guest checkout. In a 2022 survey, 43% of respondents said they prefer using guest checkout to make online purchases, and 72% of those respondents would still use guest checkout even if they already had an account with an online business.1
Every hurdle a shopper faces increases the chance they will abandon their cart. Customers are used to being able to summon a ride or a meal with just one click, and they expect online shopping to be just as convenient. Simplifying your e-commerce business’s guest checkout experience to meet these expectations can help encourage more customers to complete their holiday purchases with you.
To help businesses reduce checkout obstacles and increase the number of guest checkout sales, PayPal has analyzed and optimized the shopping experience. Below, we’ll share insights into why online shoppers like guest checkout, and how focusing on speed, convenience, and privacy to streamline guest checkout can help businesses ring in more sales this holiday season.
Shoppers want speed — 66% of customers in a 2022 survey said they expect online checkout to take four minutes or less.2 Among surveyed shoppers who said they prefer guest checkout, 74% favor it because they think it’s faster than creating a new account, and 82% of shoppers have abandoned their purchase when the account registration process took too long.3
One way to speed up your guest checkout is with a one click solution that can auto-fill customers’ shipping and payment information. This is especially helpful for on-the-go holiday shoppers. If they’re trying to buy last-minute gifts on their phones while dashing to their office parties, there’s no need for them to take out their credit cards or spend time entering shipping details.
Customers don’t want another online account to manage — 56% of customers surveyed who prefer guest checkout said they like not needing to keep up with another online account.4 It’s no surprise: In 2024, the average person has to keep track of 168 passwords.5 Mandatory account creation is among the hurdles that can cause shoppers to abandon their carts.
Businesses can make shopping more convenient for their customers by enabling guest checkout solutions that use passwordless authentication to verify shopper identities. With these solutions, shoppers can sign in securely by providing their email and a secure PIN-code sent to their phone — no password or account management required.
Shoppers value their privacy — 47% of surveyed customers who said they prefer guest checkout said they favor it because they don’t need to provide as much personal information.6
A quick and easy guest checkout option that lets customers complete their purchases without having to give their information to one more business means one fewer hurdle before conversion — and shows you respect their privacy and their time.
As this year’s holiday shopping season starts to take shape, PayPal is delivering a fast, streamlined guest checkout experience that can help businesses give their customers the speed, convenience, and privacy they want — and ultimately help drive holiday sales.
Welcome to the Fastlane: PayPal's accelerated guest checkout solution. Fastlane can help increase sales and bring more holiday joy to you and your customers by recognizing millions of customers across the PayPal network and pre-filling payment and shipping information for verified guests. In fact, shoppers with Fastlane profiles have been shown to have a guest checkout conversion rate of ~80%.7
Looking to learn more? Don’t miss these further tips to help optimize (and accelerate) your e-commerce site for holiday sales.
In partnership with three expert business owners, the PayPal Bootcamp includes practical checklists and a short video loaded with tips to help take your business to the next level.
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