We All Know That Cart Abandonment Is A Thing
If you have ever gone shopping online, there's a good chance you've left something in a cart without actually checking out. It's not your fault, there are a lot of reasons for it. But it's called cart abandonment and it's a thing. Merchants know it. Shoppers know it. And it's everywhere, according to 44 different studies. How do we fix it? You have to make eCommerce frictionless and one of the best ways is to use a one-click checkout solution.
What Is One-Click Checkout?
In 1997 Amazon applied for the patent that would protect their new feature. It was a simple button that meant a user didn't have to fill out any forms to pay. Once their name, card information, and address were in the Amazon system, a customer could simply click once, and the purchase would be completed.
The patent was granted in 2009 and helped Amazon drive incredible results all the way until 2017, when it expired.
Since then, several players have stepped into the market. Stripe has a feature that you can use. Bolt has a feature like this. And my favorite, Fast.co, gives merchants this capability.
Why Should Merchants Care about It?
I started shopping on Amazon before they patented the one-click checkout in 1997. When it arrived I thought it was great. But it didn't transform my shopping until 2000 – and it wasn't on Amazon.com when it happened.
I don't know if I've written about the night before a vacation when I opened up iTunes (after Apple had licensed the one-click checkout feature) to buy some music. We were driving to Vegas and I wanted some new music.
In just a few minutes, without realizing it, I had clicked on several collections and spent over $800. In minutes.
That's the power of frictionless eCommerce.
When a shopper doesn't have time to pause and think about what they're doing, or when there aren't any distractions or disruptions, you'd be amazed at how much people can purchase.
Who is Fast and Why Should You Bet On Them?
I've written about Fast before. Yeah, I'm on a mission to tell the world about them. To be clear, I get nothing from it except really happy friends who circle back and tell me how happy they are that they checked them out.
Fast is a young startup that's focused on frictionless eCommerce. Their fraud protection and one-click checkout are just some of the ways that they're making eCommerce better.
And while there are others out there, I find that they either don't care much about my favorite eCommerce platform, WooCommerce, or they only work with WooCommerce (and not the rest of the eCommerce world). Both dynamics are troubling.
What I want in a one-click checkout provider is a company that works with all the platforms, because I know that will keep them in business and help them grow. But I also don't want a partner that pays lip service to WooCommerce while spending all their time with Shopify.
Fast.co is that partner. In fact, I believe in them so much, I pursued an actual partnership between their company and where I work.
Nexcess & Fast Are Making Things Easier for Everyone
Of course, when we announced the partnership this past week, all of us shared this great video we produced. But I didn't share it here on my blog. So without further ado, here's my acting debut. (Just remember, you knew me before I became famous.)
Pretty cool, right?