Checkout options in an online store

When setting up checkout options in the online store, a store owner is driven but several factors. Consumers like checkout to be comprehensive, easy to follow, yet secure and safe. They also like to see more than one option, payment and shipping types to choose from.

Though checkout procedure can be different from one store to the next, it always requires for a customer to enter shipping and payment information, which is then used to save and finalize an order. This is standard traditional checkout process and is employed by most online stores.

Though many customers use kind of checkout described above, they often find it frustrating to type contact/shipping/billing and other information every time they place an order in the new store. They may even abandon their shopping carts or find it easier to shop in the same store where all necessary information is already on file.

To make it easier and more appealing to a customer, Google Checkout and PayPal Express Checkout has launched an alternative to a traditional checkout process. Its main feature is that customer’s information is stored in the checkout service (Google or PayPal) database and is sent to your online store. When a customer clicks a button, order details are passed to the site of the corresponding service; information there is pulled up by matching customer’s account on file and saved order is passed back to the store.  For a customer this kind of checkout is:

• quick - just a button click without typing contact and billing details
• secure - no sensitive information is passed between servers; it is stored in the database of a checkout service
• consistent – the same checkout process no matter where you place an order (as long as the store offers this checkout option)

In a Shop-Script store corresponding Google Checkout and PayPal Express Checkout buttons both appear on the shopping cart details page, together with a standard “Proceed to checkout” option: 

Which checkout should I choose?
The scheme below shows steps that describe both kinds of checkouts:

When it comes to choosing which checkout to setup in a store, all of them are equally valid and legitimate checkout processes. One is no better than the other, just like one payment type offered in a store is not better than the other. A way of checkout selected by a customer is often based on personal preferences. It is, therefore, a good practice to offer all kinds of checkout in an online store.