The problem

Cart abandonment was high, while most shoppers entered checkout without signing in. Usability testing showed that account prompts, unclear price visibility, and too much information at once were adding friction at the point shoppers were deciding whether to buy.

The strategic shift

Testing showed that the answer wasn’t simply a shorter checkout. I reframed the experience around three decisions: keep the primary path simple, make express checkout truly express, and reveal information only when shoppers needed it. The goal was to remove unnecessary decisions without hiding the information that builds confidence to purchase.

Key decisions

• Keep guest checkout as the default instead of forcing account creation

• Simplify the primary path and move special shipping cases out of the main journey

• Treat express payment as a continuous path from cart through confirmation

• Keep the running total visible so shoppers could see what they were committing to

• Use progressive disclosure to surface shipping, billing, and order information when it became relevant

Outcome

After launch, cart abandonment decreased from 70% to 64%, while account creation increased from 14% to 18% after sign-up moved later in the journey. Removing the unrealistic free-shipping gap did not materially change average order value, giving the team a clearer signal about what reduced friction versus what actually changed purchasing behavior.