Redesigning a Checkout Flow: 34% Conversion Boost

A bakery in Portland had an 18% checkout completion rate. Customers were abandoning carts at the payment step.

What We Changed

We reduced the checkout from five steps to two. Removed mandatory account creation. Added trust badges near the payment button. The hypothesis was simple: fewer fields meant fewer drop-offs.

Results After 90 Days

• Checkout completion: 18% to 52%
• Average order value stayed consistent at $47
• Mobile conversions improved by 41%

The most significant change was eliminating the account requirement. Guest checkout accounted for 73% of completed orders. We also noticed customers spent less time on the payment page, dropping from 2.3 minutes to 47 seconds on average.

What Didn't Work

Adding product recommendations at checkout actually decreased conversions by 6% during testing. We removed them.