Why e-commerce sites need a clear checkout process

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When buyers navigate through your e-commerce website and get to the checkout section where they pay for their purchases, the most important thing for them to see should be the checkout button.

But that isn't what always happens, as researcher Linda Bustos shows on GetElastic.com. She points to a top online retailer that obscures its own checkout button by much more prominent buttons for PayPal and Google Checkout. The company's own checkout looks secondary, while the alternative payment options appear to be the only checkout possibilities.

The retailer accentuates the problem by letting PayPal include its tag line under its button: "The safer, easier way to pay." And what does that suggest about the company's own payment option? Right: Not so safe, and not so easy.

If PayPal is the only option your site offers, then the tag line is helpful, she says; but otherwise, don't undermine your own checkout when offering alternatives.