If you want more orders without racing to the bottom on discounts, start where the money is won or lost: your checkout. The Baymard Institute’s latest benchmark shows 70 percent of shoppers abandon after adding to cart, with 39 percent citing extra costs and 18 percent citing a long or complicated checkout as reasons for dropping off. The same analysis estimates a 35 percent conversion lift is feasible from checkout UX fixes alone. According to Baymard’s cart abandonment analysis, that translates to hundreds of billions in recoverable revenue across the US and EU.

Below is a field-tested, data-backed playbook of 27 experiments you can run to remove friction, improve trust, and get more completed payments in 2025, all without discounting.

First, stack the deck with the right foundation

• If you are on Shopify, you already have access to the highest converting mainstream checkout. Shopify’s own study found its checkout converts up to 36 percent better than competitors on average 15 percent higher, and that Shop Pay can lift conversion by as much as 50 percent versus guest checkout. The same writeup notes that simply showing Shop Pay can add around 5 percent lower funnel conversion. Review Shopify Checkout benefits and consider activating Shop Pay via your stack, or explore starting on Shopify if you want that baked-in advantage.

• Worldpay’s Global Payments Report confirms why wallets matter. In 2023, digital wallets accounted for half of global ecommerce transaction value and are projected to reach 49 percent of all global payments, online and POS, by 2027. This aligns with consumer behavior that favors one-tap, trusted payment experiences.

• Speed still kills or converts. Google and Deloitte’s Milliseconds Make Millions study found a 0.1 second improvement in mobile site speed increased retail conversion rates by 8.4 percent. Start measuring the real user performance of your checkout pages.

27 proven checkout tests to run in 2025

1) Make guest checkout the most prominent path

Baymard’s guidance shows many sites hide or downplay guest checkout, which is conversion poison. Their research on account selection found that making guest checkout prominent prevents avoidable abandonments and confusion.

2) Offer express wallets above the fold

Digital wallets meaningfully lift conversion, particularly when shown early. Stripe’s randomized experiment across more than 50 payment methods found an average 7.4 percent conversion lift when at least one relevant additional payment method was dynamically surfaced. Digital wallets stood out: Apple Pay delivered an average 22.3 percent lift across eligible checkouts, and a separate Stripe study found up to 2x higher conversion when Apple Pay appears in an express position.

3) Turn on Shop Pay if you can

Shopify’s enterprise analysis indicates Shop Pay boosts conversions by up to 50 percent compared to guest checkout. If you run Shopify, prioritize Shop Pay and express placement. If you are choosing a platform, weigh that data and consider launching on Shopify to unlock Shop Pay and checkout extensibility.

4) Use a delivery date, not shipping speed

Users do not want to translate business days and cutoffs. Baymard’s delivery research recommends displaying an estimated delivery date or range directly in the shipping selector for clarity. This reduces hesitation and decision time.

5) Reduce form fields to the minimum viable set

Complexity drives exit. Baymard reports 18 percent of US shoppers have abandoned solely due to a long or complicated checkout. Their benchmarks show the average checkout shows far more inputs than necessary. Remove nonessential fields, use good defaults, and simplify the sequence.

6) Add live inline validation for all critical inputs

Inline validation catches errors when they happen and helps users recover faster. Baymard’s validation study found 31 percent of sites lack inline validation and that immediate, specific feedback significantly improves error recovery.

7) Luhn validate and autoformat the card number field

Luhn checks flag impossible card numbers early and autoformatting with spaces reduces typos. Baymard’s credit card guidelines highlight both as best practice to avoid needless declines and frustration.

8) Explain why the phone number is required or make it optional

Privacy anxiety causes friction. According to Baymard’s phone number guidance, 14 percent of shoppers never want to provide a phone number and 39 percent of sites ask without explanation. Small inline copy like “Only used for delivery updates” or “For payment validation” restores trust.

9) Visually reinforce payment security near card fields

Perceived security matters. In Baymard’s security perception research, trust badges, padlock icons, and strong microcopy near card fields improved user confidence, especially for less familiar brands. Keep it honest and avoid clutter, but do add visual assurances.

10) Hide the coupon field behind a link

An open coupon box sends shoppers hunting and increases regret. Baymard’s testing on coupons shows that hiding the field behind a “Have a code?” link lets those who need it find it while keeping others focused on purchasing.

11) Mark both required and optional fields

Ambiguity causes stalls. Baymard’s form design findings recommend explicitly marking required and optional fields so no one hesitates or misses inputs.

12) Use adaptive error messages, not generic ones

Generic errors like “invalid input” slow people down. Baymard’s validations research advises using adaptive messages that name the exact subissue, for example “card number is incomplete.” That clarity reduces abandonment after an error.

13) Use localized input masks for phone and other restricted formats

Formatting uncertainty creates unnecessary errors. Baymard recommends input masks where technical constraints exist, applied thoughtfully to avoid premature errors.

14) Provide address autocomplete and accurate validation

Address validators can either help or hinder. Baymard’s address validation guidance emphasizes helpful microcopy and avoiding generic “invalid” messages. Combine autocomplete with clear correction suggestions to prevent shipping failures.

15) Preselect sensible shipping and payment defaults

Reduce choices where you can. Preselect the most common or best value shipping option and the most used payment method for the user’s region. Stripe’s work on dynamic payment methods shows that surfacing relevant local options yields lifts.

16) Prioritize the right payment methods by market

Stripe’s experiment reported double digit uplifts when local methods were available to the right markets, for example 39 percent with iDEAL in the Netherlands. Adopt dynamic payment method ordering and eligibility per country.

17) Offer BNPL where it fits your AOV and category

Consumer appetite is growing. Adobe’s analysis notes BNPL hit an all-time usage high on Cyber Monday 2023, up 42.5 percent year over year, with tens of billions in spend powered by BNPL in 2023 alone. Test prominent placement for larger baskets and seasonally time-sensitive campaigns.

18) Localize currency, language, and duties

Clarity reduces surprise costs. Shopify’s multi-currency and Markets capabilities help you price and collect duties in local currencies with localized checkout. Presenting total landed costs reduces the number one abandonment reason: unexpected extra costs.

19) Surface the full cost early and often

According to Baymard’s latest reasons-for-abandonment data, 39 percent leave due to extra costs and 14 percent leave because they cannot see total cost up front. Show taxes, fees, and shipping estimates before payment.

20) Add a precise order cutoff countdown

Static cutoff times require mental math. Baymard recommends a live countdown like “Order within 42 minutes to receive by Tuesday” instead of a fixed 1 PM ET cutoff line. This reduces confusion and sets correct expectations.

21) Keep order summary visible and editable

Let shoppers edit quantities and remove items without leaving checkout. This keeps momentum and avoids back button dead ends. Make the order summary sticky on desktop and a simple toggle on mobile.

22) Remove distracting navigation and competing CTAs

You want focus, not exits. Minimize header navigation, promo banners, and secondary CTAs during checkout. Keep the path clean to reduce backtracking and pogo-sticking.

23) Tune microcopy to the payment method

Baymard’s payment selection guidance suggests aligning button copy with the selection, such as “Pay with PayPal” or “Place order” after a card is chosen. This reduces uncertainty at the final step.

24) Apply SCA exemptions to minimize unnecessary 3DS challenges

Friction costs orders in regulated markets. Stripe’s SCA and 3D Secure documentation explains how to use exemptions and data-only approaches to reduce cardholder friction on eligible transactions while staying compliant.

25) Recover gracefully from declines

Offer a quick retry with a different method, surface wallet options, and provide a specific reason if available, not just a generic failure. Stripe’s declines and payment analytics guidance helps you spot patterns and build targeted recovery.

26) Display a progress indicator and save state on error

Make users feel close to done. Clear step indicators reduce anxiety, and preserving all field inputs after an error avoids painful retyping which Baymard’s testing shows can trigger abandonment.

27) Test a free shipping threshold progress bar

You do not need to discount products to increase AOV. Shopify’s free shipping guidance highlights that a threshold can raise basket size and improve checkout intent. Use a subtle progress indicator in cart and checkout to nudge the final add.

Mobile-first performance and clarity

Checkout is mobile. Keep tap targets large, avoid multi-column layouts, and ensure the keypad matches the field type. The Deloitte and Google study on mobile speed quantifies the payoff, showing meaningful uplifts from shaving fractions of a second. Audit third-party scripts on checkout pages, lazy load noncritical widgets, and test on real mid-tier devices and networks.

Pricing, shipping, and trust transparency

Extra costs and uncertainty are the top killers. Use estimated delivery dates over shipping speeds, show a cutoff countdown, and embed duties and taxes. Build perceived security where it matters by visually reinforcing payment fields and adding concise reassurance copy. Baymard’s research on perceived security shows that even minor layout bugs can erode trust, so QA your checkout across devices regularly.

Instrumentation and sequencing

• Track every validation error, decline, and step exit. Baymard recommends prioritizing adaptive error messages for high frequency, high abandonment errors.

• Sequence boosts: guest checkout prominence, express wallets, delivery date clarity, and form field reductions tend to lift conversion broadly. Run these early.

• Local payment relevance and BNPL placement often move the needle by market and AOV. Test regionally with data, not assumptions.

Put this playbook to work with StoreAcquire

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And if your roadmap includes a replatform or a fresh storefront, consider starting on Shopify to leverage the best converting mainstream checkout, Shop Pay, and robust extensibility.

Sources cited in context

• Baymard’s cart abandonment statistics and reasons breakdown detail 39 percent leaving due to extra costs, 18 percent due to checkout complexity, 19 percent due to trust, and an aggregate 35 percent conversion upside from checkout design improvements.

• Baymard’s guidance to make guest checkout prominent, reduce form fields, add inline validation, Luhn validate and autoformat card inputs, explain phone requirements, use adaptive error messages, and display delivery dates is based on 15 years of large-scale checkout testing.

• Worldpay’s 2024 Global Payments Report shows wallets at 50 percent of ecommerce transaction value in 2023 and nearly half of all transactions across channels by 2027.

• Stripe’s optimization studies found significant conversion uplifts from surfacing relevant local payment methods and from early placement of express wallets like Apple Pay.

• Google and Deloitte’s Milliseconds Make Millions study reported notable conversion gains from small mobile speed improvements.

• Adobe’s analysis highlights sharp BNPL usage growth during peak periods, reinforcing its role in conversion and AOV for the right baskets.