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Store owners and e-commerce managers constantly strive to boost sales with a high-performing checkout page. You may be surprised to learn that slow checkouts can generate a cart abandonment rate of 22%. However, optimizing your Magento 2 checkout process can lead to a satisfying user experience.
The strategies in this article are designed to boost Magento speed at the most critical point, the checkout, leading to a satisfying user experience and increased revenue. Follow the tips below to streamline your payment method list, cut out unnecessary checkout fields, and design a highly functional checkout page. If you want to completely revamp your checkout page, take a look at our guide on how to build a dynamic Magento website.
What Is Magento Checkout Performance?
Once shoppers have the necessary items in their shopping cart, they head over to your checkout page. A fast-loading page and simple interface can mean the difference between a successful sale and a frustrated customer. Every cart abandoned is a lost opportunity, so do everything possible to optimize checkout performance in Magento.
Magento Checkout Performance is the speed, efficiency, and overall user experience during the checkout process on a Magento-powered e-commerce site. It is a critical component of Magento performance optimization, a holistic approach aimed at reducing cart abandonment rates, increasing conversions, and providing a seamless shopping experience.
Factors Affecting Magento Checkout Speed and SEO
There are dozens of factors influencing page speed and SEO performance. Making small changes, like combining fields for shipping information, can have a big impact on loading speed. Many e-commerce leaders invest in Magento development service to build a smart page layout.
The number of fields, checkout steps, payment options, and delivery methods all impact whether customers complete the transaction. Here are a few tips to ensure fast page loading and data processing on the most important page on your e-commerce store.
Minimize Third-Party Extensions
Are excessive extensions slowing down your checkout page? Regularly review your extensions and remove ones that aren't essential to your site. Are all the extensions compatible with Magento 2? To avoid issues, hire expert Magento developers to audit your extensions without sacrificing functionality.
Optimize Images and Media Files
Unoptimized images can make your checkout page load at a snail's pace. Fortunately, there are image compression tools that produce manageable files without compromising quality. Delay image loading until the customer scrolls past it or lands on the relevant page.
What’s more, you can compress or remove large video and sound files that may slow your loading speeds. Keep in mind that Magento 2 has built-in lazy loading capability to assist with image and media file optimization.
Implement Magento Caching Strategies
Cache the whole page to avoid excessive HTML requests. Alternatively, implement block caching on your checkout page. This can greatly reduce render time. Configuring block classes with keys and tags is the best way to implement block caching.
Optimize Magento Database Performance
Do you have a process in place to clean your database regularly? Archiving or deleting unused data can reduce the burden on your server. Optimizing your configuration page and indexing your site will improve performance and speed database queries on the purchase page. In addition to improving the UX on your checkout page, this can make your website easier to find and improve your SERP ranking.
Techniques to Improve Magento 2 Checkout Speed
Magento 2 checks to see if the buyer is a registered customer. A registered user has created a customer account including their personal information. Along with helping you retain and convert customers, registration information can streamline the checkout process. The system loads a customer's shipping and payment preferences automatically.
This is just one of the techniques you can implement to ensure fast service for your buyers. Let’s look at 4 more.
1. Optimize Your Hosting Environment
Your hosting provider forms the foundation of your site's performance. A slow server guarantees a slow checkout, regardless of other optimizations.
Invest in a Magento-optimized hosting solution, such as a dedicated server, VPS, or a robust cloud hosting plan. Implement a full-page cache (FPC) with Varnish Cache to serve static pages and drastically reduce server load. A Content Delivery Network (CDN) serves static content like images and CSS from geographically closer servers, which reduces latency.
2. Streamline the Checkout Process
Simplify the checkout process by removing unnecessary steps and fields. A word of caution here. This may mean offering fewer choices to customers. Eliminating title fields (Mr./Ms./Mrs.) is just one way to eliminate a nonessential field. Remember, every field you delete can potentially improve performance.
You can also eliminate an unused shipping method. For example, our team recommends populating the shipping date and delivery date in the cart. This provides important information for customers looking to receive the product by a certain date. It can also help prevent bottlenecks on the checkout page by pre-qualifying users.
3. Reduce the Number of Checkout Steps
average cart abandonment rate is nearly 70%, and 24% of users leave because a site forces them to create an account.
To fix this, simplify everything. Enable guest checkout and remove unnecessary form fields. Use a single-page solution like the OneStepCheckout extension to combine all steps onto one page, which makes the process faster and easier for the user.
4. Implement One-Page Checkout
Retail giants such as Walmart and Amazon use this method to improve the user experience and produce faster results. One-page checkout reduces the time and effort required to submit a purchase. Users can see the contents of their cart, payment method options, and shipping information simultaneously. Make your checkout page mobile-friendly and responsive to maximize the benefits of this convenient layout.
5. Optimize JavaScript and CSS
Heavy, unoptimized scripts and styles are a primary cause of slow page rendering, especially in the JavaScript-heavy checkout.
Minify all CSS and JavaScript files to remove unnecessary characters. A critical step is to audit how JavaScript loads. Third-party modules for payment and tax services (e.g., Klarna, Vertex Tax) often add render-blocking scripts. For non-critical scripts, implement async or defer attributes, and use JavaScript bundling to combine files and reduce HTTP requests. Inline Critical CSS for faster visual rendering and ensure no external resources block the main thread.
6. Leverage Caching Effectively
The dynamic nature of checkout often prevents full-page caching, but you can cache other parts to reduce server processing time.
Use block caching for static elements like the header and footer. Also, ensure all applicable Magento built-in caches remain enabled and properly configured.
7. Optimize the Database
A slow database can cripple checkout performance, as every step involves multiple queries to update the cart and calculate taxes.
Schedule regular database cleaning to remove log files and old quotes. Set Magento indexers to "Update on Schedule" to prevent database locks during customer actions. Continuously monitor for and optimize any slow SQL queries that execute during checkout, as they create a major bottleneck.
8. Optimize Shipping and Payment Methods
Payment methods increase the load on servers. Turn off seldom used methods to gain speed and simplify the purchase experience. If you only ship domestically or to certain countries, eliminate unused countries. This clarifies shipping availability for customers and gives your servers less information to process.
Instead of offering a long order comments box, consider using a dropdown menu or limiting the number of characters allowed for faster processing times.
Magento 2 Checkout Optimization Extensions and Tools
To successfully implement Magento checkout customization, investing in e-commerce development services can be a wise decision. Experts can help you find the best optimization tools and extensions. These tools allow you to leverage powerful extensions to improve page performance and user experience, transforming your checkout from a generic process into a branded, high-converting asset.
Single-server deployment works well for modest data loads and it can decrease your hardware costs. Find out how you can leverage checkout extensions and tools to configure the Magento checkout process and improve page performance.
Here are a few other tips and tricks that may make your checkout process faster than the competition.
Leverage Magento 2 Checkout Optimization Extensions
Magento 2 1-Step Checkout is a high-end extension that adapts responsively and uses GeoIP to autofill address information when a customer is creating an account. It starts at around $2,000.
Looking for a cheaper option? Amasty’s Magento 2 One Step Checkout starts at $209 and gives you full control over your checkout. This gives you an idea of the array of options available. Work with your development team to choose the best extensions for your implementation.
Utilize Customer Checkout Field Manager
The Checkout Field Manager extensions for Magento 2 allow you to easily delete unnecessary fields, rename existing ones, and add custom fields to gather additional information, such as special delivery instructions or customer preferences.
Prices for Checkout Field Manager extensions vary based on their features and provider, so work closely with your development team to find an option that aligns with your business objectives.
Implement Checkout Success Page Customizer
Customer service doesn't stop when you ship your product. With the checkout success page customizer, you can encourage repeat business and establish customer loyalty. The Checkout Success Page Customizer extension allows you to turn the default "Thank You" pageinto a dynamic, branded experience that can foster long-term customer relationships.
This level of customization reinforces your brand’s identity and can lead to higher retention rates and increased customer lifetime value. The extension’s pricing and features, again, can vary, so it's essential to evaluate options that best fit your business strategy and goals.
Key Takeaways for a Faster Checkout
From creating an account to finalizing a purchase, the user experience is everything. Implementing the strategies in this article will help you streamline the checkout process. Remove obstacles that can deter a shopper from becoming a buyer and optimize your checkout page for mobile users to improve your conversion rates.
Transform Agency is here to help you build trust and authority with high-performing checkout pages. We also offer SEO services and audit advice to help you maintain your page performance over time. Contact Transform Agency for expert assistance in optimizing your checkout page and e-commerce site.
FAQ:
How Can You Identify Slow Checkout Pages?
Use a Magento-specific tool to monitor page speed. It will provide pre- and post-calibration results. You can also use Google PageSpeed Insights to measure checkout page performance. Keep in mind, this is a universal tool, not specifically designed for Magento 2 websites. Emulate mistakes to imitate common user areas to see how they affect page speed.
What Are the Common Causes of Slow Checkout?
Unoptimized images and media, complicated code, complex price rules, and outdated extensions can slow your customer's checkout speed. Customize checkout designs, keeping them to promote high performance.
How to Optimize Checkout Performance?
To optimize your Magento 2 checkout page, reduce the steps needed to buy your products. Implement a one-step checkout extension and remove unnecessary fields. Additionally, you can optimize your site for mobile usability.
How to Measure Checkout Speed Improvement?
Chrome's Developer Tools track how long it takes for a customer to complete the checkout process. Calculate the conversion rate and compare it to your abandonment rate before and after you make changes. This provides insight into how effective your changes have been.
Written with the assistance of Sergey Girlya
Adobe Commerce Business Practitioner | Certified PSM & PSPO at TA
Sergey ensures project success by validating business cases, defining success metrics, and identifying sustainable benefits. His proactive approach leverages existing systems, processes, and data to deliver additional value. Serge excels in planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling all aspects of the project lifecycle, ensuring meticulous attention to detail and strategic oversight.
Sergey ensures project success by validating business cases, defining success metrics, and identifying sustainable benefits. His proactive approach leverages existing systems, processes, and data to deliver additional value. Serge excels in planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling all aspects of the project lifecycle, ensuring meticulous attention to detail and strategic oversight.
