Why do most customers leave my site in checkout process?

I am wondering now which kind of check out process is the most welcomed.

I use google to track site traffic.
According to the report, in every 100 customer who signed in and go to checkout_shipping page, only 14 persons complete the whole check out process and place order at last.

Like when 100 customers get to checkout step 1(checkout shipping), only 86 customers continue to checkout step 2(checkout payment), and only 74 customers continue to checkout step 3(checkout confirm), then 53 customers will press 'confirm checkout' button and go to paypal.com checkout page. And at last only 13 customers successfully checkout and get back to my site checkout_success page.

That means when 100 people tried to check out, only 13 of them pay at last.

Why do other 87 people leave in the check out process?

A 13% conversion rate puts you in some pretty good company.

Check this thread:

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106934

I would have to question the numbers at the end, though. 53% click the Confirm Checkout button, and only 13% actually pay at PayPal? Doesn't seem right, unless they're seeing something they don't like at PayPal's site. Have you tested the process yourself?

conversion rate is not 13%.
That's just 13% conversion rate of those who already started checkout.
The actual sale conversion rate is about 0.05%. like I have 1000 visitors a day, only 0.5 will buy.

And 53% click the Confirm Checkout button, and only 13% actually pay at PayPal.
This is according to google's analysis report.

I tested myself. Everything is ok.

But as I know, the paypal page varies for different country visitors.
As I am from China, I see Chinese paypal payment page, and I am not able to pay with credit card.

1st guess:
I am not sure if it's because most people still prefer to pay directly with credit card than register a paypal account.
So those who can't see how to pay with credit card leave.

2nd guess:
Or is credit card payment option restricted to certain states of USA? that means customers of certain states are not able to pay with credit card but have to creat a paypal account.

3rd guess:
My paypal account is not a business account. For some reason I downgrade the account from business account to premier account. As a result when people get to paypal payment page, the title is not my site business name, but the paypal account's email address. I didn't custom a payment page but use paypal's default payment page.

Many customers complete payment on the PayPal page and then close their browser before returning to your store. Thus your analytics software won't see the return back from PayPal.

A more accurate approach to verifying the purchase/conversion rate of PayPal-paying customers would be to compare the number of visitors who go to PayPal ... and then you get their payment (rather than who comes back to checkout_success). I realize Google can't give you that. You'll have to dig that information up on your own.

The "guesses" that you mentioned may be other related factors causing customers to abort completing their payments.
But don't focus on returns to checkout_success as the sole verification that they completed "conversion". Check your payment receipts as well.

DrByte:

Many customers complete payment on the PayPal page and then close their browser before returning to your store. Thus your analytics software won't see the return back from PayPal.

Thanks for advise.
I understand that. I checked google and my sale report.
The data is 80% accurate. Maybe 80% of those who actually paid returned back to checkout_success page.

And I supposed that people should be redirected automatically back to checkout_success page after they complete payment.

Another question is:
Anywhere can I find how much different payment options can help increase conversion rate?

I am only using paypal modul at this moment on my site.
I don't know if I add google checkout or authorize payment method, can I get better conversion rate?

ericgu:

I don't know if I add google checkout or authorize payment method, can I get better conversion rate?

Yes.

You and I know that you don't need a paypal account to use paypal, but many of your customers won't know this, see Paypal only, and bail.

If your shipping isn't free, I'd also like to see you add free shipping just for a month and study the effect. This is a big factor for many online shoppers.

Good luck,
swguy

Did any event happen in USA in last 2 weeks?

I found sale decreased a lot. but traffic nearly the same as before.
And no competitor movements visible

You must be overseas. Wall Street and the US stock exchange have been taking massive hits. The economy here is facing big trouble. Some would say we're already in big, big trouble... some would say a crisis, a lot are saying that. This is creating a consumer panic, etc. Especially this week with the massive stock exchange plummets, bank bankruptcies, buy outs, bail outs, the big rise in foreclosures, the recent drop in mortgage rates, etc. Take your pick, consumers here are worried and wallets will be tight until there is a sign of light at the end of the tunnel.

Then again, spending should go back up soon, hopefully. It won't be consumer crazy and time soon, but once the panic calms down there should be some adjusting back a bit.

thanks for your advise