How to Increase Payment Conversion: 12 Fixes That Sell More

The fastest way to sell more is to stop losing shoppers who already decided to buy. Learning how to increase payment conversion starts with separating checkout conversion, the share of checkout starters who finish, from payment success, whether your processor approves their payments.

A shorter form won’t fix a bank decline, and a new gateway won’t fix surprise shipping charges. Identify where shoppers leave, then change the setting responsible rather than redesigning your entire checkout.

This guide covers checkout design and payment failures, with practical settings for Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce. We’ve been testing and reviewing ecommerce platforms hands on since 2012, and we set up test checkouts and payment settings on each platform for this guide.

Key Takeaways 🔍

Measure two separate rates: Checkout conversion and payment authorization reveal different problems. Use tactic 1 to decide which needs attention first.
Put express wallets first: Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and Link remove typing and make mobile checkout easier.
Remove avoidable barriers: Make guest checkout obvious, shorten forms and show the full cost before shoppers reach the payment step.
Choose methods by demand: Local payments and buy now, pay later work where buyers expect them. Check BNPL fees against your margin.
Recover legitimate buyers: Over-strict fraud rules, unnecessary authentication friction and unresolved soft declines can turn away customers who still want to pay.

1. Measure Checkout Conversion and Payment Success Separately

Two stores can lose orders at checkout for opposite reasons: one confuses shoppers, while the other declines their cards. Check both before changing anything.

Store conversion covers the whole shopping journey. Checkout conversion focuses on shoppers who start checkout; payment authorization measures approval of attempted payments.

Which conversion number to watch

Metric	How to calculate it	Typical range	What a drop usually means
Store conversion rate	Orders ÷ sessions	Varies by niche; track your trend	Traffic, product page or pricing problems
Checkout conversion rate	Orders ÷ checkouts started	Often around half complete	Costs, forms, account walls or missing methods
Payment authorization rate	Approved payments ÷ payment attempts	Commonly 85-90% for domestic cards	Fraud rules, authentication failures or issuer declines
Decline mix	Each decline type ÷ total declines	Compare with your processor baseline	More soft declines may mean recoverable payments; see tactic 11

Multiply the ratios by 100 for percentages. Compare authorization against your processor’s baseline, not a universal target.

Shopify: Open Analytics and inspect the checkout conversion funnel.
WooCommerce: Compare checkout tracking with failed payments in your gateway dashboard, including Stripe or WooPayments.
BigCommerce: Use Analytics alongside your processor’s payment reports.

Check the processor’s declined or failed payments list weekly. Use the same reporting period for your payment success rate and checkout figures.

Why shoppers abandon at checkout, and the fix

These rounded shares cover US shoppers who abandoned checkout, excluding those just browsing.

Reason shoppers give	Approx. share of abandoners	Fix	Tactic
Extra costs too high	40%	Show full cost early	5
Delivery too slow	20%	Show delivery dates	5
Distrust with card details	19%	Wallets and nearby trust cues	2, 8
Forced account creation	18%	Guest checkout by default	3
Long or complicated checkout	17%	Fewer fields and autofill	4
Site errors or crashes	17%	Test on real phones	9
Card declined	10%	Tune fraud rules; recover declines	10, 11
Too few payment methods	9%	Match methods to buyers	6, 7

Use this table to choose a fix, not predict its uplift. If checkout conversion looks healthy but attempted payments fail, start at tactic 10. If shoppers stall before the pay button, start at tactic 2.

2. Add Express Wallets Above the Card Form

Let shoppers reuse saved payment and address details instead of typing them again. Express wallets are the best first checkout improvement for most stores.

Shop Pay: Included with Shopify Payments at normal processing rates, without a separate fee. Shopify claims up to 50% higher conversion than guest checkout; treat that as a ceiling.
Apple Pay and Google Pay: Visibility depends on browser and device support. Test Apple Pay in Safari.
PayPal and Fastlane: Fastlane recognizes returning guests by email. PayPal claims 51% higher conversion for accelerated shoppers versus conventional guest checkout.
Link by Stripe: Available through WooPayments express checkout. Stripe claims over 7% higher conversion for logged-in Link customers.

Show two or three relevant express buttons above the card form and on the cart where supported. More buttons crowd mobile screens.

On BigCommerce, Fastlane is guest-only. Use a supported gateway with Optimized One-Page Checkout, and check country and currency eligibility.

Where to Switch These On: Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce

Setting	Shopify	WooCommerce	BigCommerce
Express wallets	Settings > Payments: Shopify Payments wallets; PayPal separately	WooPayments: Payments > Settings > Express checkouts	Settings > Payments; Fastlane needs BigCommerce Payments, Braintree or PayPal
Guest checkout	Customer accounts settings: make accounts optional	WooCommerce > Settings > Accounts & Privacy: “Allow customers to place orders without an account”	Checkout settings
One-page checkout	Default on Basic, Grow and Advanced; layout in checkout settings	Block-based checkout	Optimized One-Page Checkout is default
Address autocomplete	Settings > Checkout > checkout and accounts editor: “Use address autocompletion”	Theme or extension dependent	Check checkout settings
BNPL	Shopify Payments or provider apps	WooPayments options or provider extension	Payment provider settings
Multi-currency	Shopify Markets	WooPayments or an extension	Currency settings

WooPayments enables Apple Pay and Google Pay together; its express options also include Amazon Pay and WooPay.

Compare the best payment gateways for Shopify or choose a compatible WooCommerce payment gateway before adding another integration.

Wix Apple Pay requires Wix Payments and the express checkout “Show button” toggle; it supports Stores, Bookings and Events. Squarespace lists Apple Pay among its payment options; check your store’s payment settings for plan requirements.

💡 Top Tip! Test on an iPhone in Safari and an Android phone in Chrome. On WooCommerce, let only one plugin control express buttons to avoid conflicts.

Start here if you use Shopify Payments or WooPayments. Skip adding more than three express buttons.

3. Make Guest Checkout the Default Path

A shopper with a full cart shouldn’t have to create a password before paying. Even when guest checkout exists, a small grey link can make registration look compulsory.

Make the guest route unmistakable before asking buyers to sign in. Keep account benefits available without turning them into a condition of purchase.

Make guest the primary button: Put sign-in beside it as a text link rather than making returning-customer login the dominant choice.
Offer an account after payment: Use the thank-you page or a follow-up email, with details the shopper has already entered.
Keep email first: This supports the recovery sequence in tactic 12 and recognition through Shop Pay or Fastlane.

Use the settings table in tactic 2 to make accounts optional. WooCommerce subscriptions still require an account, so test subscription products separately rather than assuming every order can follow the guest route.

💡 Top Tip! In WooCommerce, disabling both guest checkout and account creation makes Apple Pay and Google Pay shoppers face a login prompt. Keep guest checkout enabled when your products allow it.

For ordinary one-time purchases, payment should come before an invitation to register.

4. Cut Checkout Fields and Turn On Autofill

The average checkout still asks for around 11 fields when about eight can do the job. Remove unnecessary questions before debating whether your checkout needs a different layout.

Work through this checklist within your platform’s customization limits:

Use one name field: Replace separate first and last name boxes where your platform allows it without breaking order handling.
Hide optional address details: Put company and address line 2 behind a link.
Reuse the shipping address: Default billing to the same address, with an option to change it.
Remove card-type selectors: The card number identifies the brand without another dropdown.
Make phone optional: Require it only when your carrier needs it, and explain why.

For custom WooCommerce themes or headless checkouts, use appropriate autocomplete values such as cc-number, cc-name, cc-exp, cc-csc, name and address-line1. Use inputmode="numeric" with a text input for card numbers; don’t split card or phone numbers across boxes or use expiry widgets that break autofill.

In Shopify checkout, open Settings > Checkout, enter the checkout and accounts editor, and enable “Use address autocompletion.”

Layout	When to keep it
One-page	Start with the default on Shopify Basic, Grow and Advanced, or BigCommerce
Three-page	Keep it if your own completion data supports it

Shopify one-page checkout won’t compensate for unnecessary fields. Shorten the form first, then compare layouts against your checkout conversion rate.

5. Show the Full Cost Before the Payment Step

Extra costs are the most common reason shoppers abandon checkout. A shipping charge revealed after someone enters their address can undo everything your product page did to win the sale.

Move the cost explanation earlier so buyers reach the card form already knowing what they’ll pay.

Add a cart-page shipping estimate: Use a calculator or display your actual free-shipping threshold. Don’t advertise free shipping without its conditions.
Show delivery dates: Explain when the order should arrive, not just whether the service is called standard or express.
Clarify taxes and duties: Show tax-inclusive prices where buyers expect them, including the EU and UK, and estimate cross-border duties.
Remove last-step surprises: Disclose additional fees before shoppers begin entering payment details.

Check your Shopify shipping rates against the promise shown in your cart. The displayed estimate and checkout charge should match.

Card networks cap surcharges, and several US states restrict or ban them. Check your processor’s rules before adding one. For small stores, building card costs into prices is usually simpler than adding a separate charge at payment.

If you can only change one thing this week, put a shipping estimate on the cart page.

6. Offer the Payment Methods Your Buyers Already Use

Adding every payment logo can bury the option shoppers actually want. Start with a compact mix, then use processor reports to decide what deserves space.

For most small stores, prioritize:

Cards: Keep the standard card form available.
One or two wallets: Choose options that suit your customers’ devices and saved accounts.
PayPal: Give buyers who prefer it a recognizable alternative.

Order methods by actual usage where your platform allows it. Comparing Stripe vs PayPal helps distinguish gateway capabilities from the buttons customers see.

When Buy Now, Pay Later Pays Off

Cost: BNPL merchant fees typically run around 4-6% per order, compared with roughly 3% for cards. Check your actual quote.
Fit: Higher-value purchases can justify installments. Low-ticket, low-margin products leave less room for the additional fee.
Vendor claims: Afterpay says retailers can see up to 58% larger orders. Treat that as a ceiling, not a forecast.
Measurement: Compare conversion and order value with BNPL messaging enabled and disabled over comparable periods. Don’t rely only on a before-and-after increase.

Shortlist suitable buy now, pay later apps, then compare Afterpay vs Klarna against your market and margin.

💡 Top Tip! After adding a method, run a test checkout and confirm existing options remain visible. An accelerated checkout can push another method out of view.

As a starting rule, consider BNPL for orders above roughly $100 with healthy margins. Skip it for low-ticket consumables unless your own results justify the cost.

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7. Add Local Payment Methods and Charge in the Buyer’s Currency

Cards aren’t the default everywhere. Where shoppers normally pay through bank transfers or payment apps, a card-only checkout can miss their preferred way to buy.

Choose methods for the markets already visiting your store rather than enabling every international option.

Regional payment methods to add first

Market	Method shoppers expect	What to know
Netherlands	iDEAL, co-branded iDEAL \| Wero	iDEAL is becoming Wero, with migration planned through 2027. Follow your gateway’s instructions
Belgium	Bancontact	Familiar option for Belgian cardholders
Brazil	Pix	Instant bank transfer; around four in ten online payments by value
India	UPI	Well over half of online payment value
Germany/Nordics	PayPal, Klarna and bank-based methods	Check your gateway’s local options
Wider Europe	Wero	Rolling out across Europe; check availability

Match the payment method with local-currency pricing. A familiar button doesn’t remove uncertainty if the total changes currency when the buyer reaches payment.

Use the settings table in tactic 2 to locate your currency options. Set rounded local prices where supported, and check your processor’s foreign-exchange charges before enabling conversion. Compare the displayed price with the amount presented at payment in a test checkout.

💡 Top Tip! Enable local methods through your existing gateway first, such as Stripe, Shopify Payments, Mollie or Adyen, where supported. Keeping payments together makes refunds and reporting easier than maintaining a separate plugin for each method.

For Dutch sales, follow your gateway’s iDEAL migration instructions rather than treating Wero as an unrelated addition. For other markets, confirm the method supports your store’s country and checkout currency before promoting it.

As a rule of thumb, prioritize a local method when its market already sends around 5-10% of your traffic.

8. Put Trust Signals Next to the Pay Button

Roughly one in five checkout abandoners distrust the site with their card details. Put reassurance beside the payment decision, not only in a footer shoppers may never read.

Keep the message specific to what your store actually offers:

Show recognized payment logos: Display only methods you accept, close to the card form.
Link your return policy and delivery promise: Summarize them in a short line above the pay button.
Explain redirects: Keep checkout on your domain where possible, or say “You’ll confirm with PayPal” before sending shoppers elsewhere.
Show real contact options: Make your email address or available chat easy to find during checkout.
Skip fake badges: Don’t add generic security seals that imply certification you don’t have.

A return-policy link answers a different question from a PayPal button, so don’t expect one to replace the other.

Prioritize recognizable wallet buttons over decorative trust badges. Wallets provide a familiar payment route as well as reassurance, without requiring shoppers to type card details into your form.

9. Build the Payment Step for Phones First

Spend ten minutes checking payment on your own phone before installing another checkout app. A desktop preview won’t show whether the bank-app handoff returns correctly.

Run this mobile checklist after changing payment settings:

Keep the pay button reachable: Avoid placing a long order summary between completed fields and payment, or use a supported sticky button.
Check numeric keyboards: Card and phone fields should open a suitable keyboard.
Confirm wallet buttons render: Test iPhone Safari and Android Chrome, not just desktop browser emulation.
Complete bank authentication: Check that 3D Secure or the bank app returns to your store and completes the order.
Place errors beside fields: Don’t make shoppers scroll to the top to discover what’s wrong.
Test on mobile data: Remove unnecessary heavy apps or scripts from checkout.

We run test checkouts on phones as well as desktop when testing platforms. Browsers and wallets now fill saved cards, so prioritize their compatibility over adding card-scanning tools.

Finish a mobile checkout yourself before asking customers to use the updated flow.

10. Tune 3D Secure and Fraud Rules to Stop False Declines

A good customer blocked by a fraud rule never reaches your completed-orders list. Review rejected payments alongside suspicious orders, rather than treating every block as successful fraud prevention.

Frictionless 3D Secure approvals have been falling, which means more shoppers face a bank challenge. In the EU and UK, strong customer authentication applies; let your gateway request eligible low-value or low-risk exemptions instead of trying to bypass required checks.

Send complete, accurate checkout data through your integration so the gateway can assess the payment. The EU’s next payments rules, PSD3 and the Payment Services Regulation, keep strong customer authentication; until they take effect, today’s PSD2 rules apply.

Review medium-risk orders: Use Shopify’s order risk analysis or your gateway’s tools, and contact the buyer where appropriate instead of automatically cancelling.
Check blocked payments weekly: Inspect Stripe Radar or your gateway’s fraud tool. Returning buyers on new devices, international customers and VPN users can trigger false positives.
Reconsider blanket country blocks: Don’t reject an entire country you actively ship to without examining the orders affected.
Authorize now, capture later: Where supported, use manual capture for orders that need verification before taking payment.

💡 Top Tip! Consider manual payment capture during a review period so you can verify suspect orders before capturing funds. Check your processor’s capture deadlines and fee terms rather than assuming every cancellation is free.

To reduce false declines, change the rule responsible for legitimate rejections rather than weakening every safeguard. Compare blocked-payment patterns after the change with the baseline from tactic 1, and keep required authentication intact.

11. Recover Declined Payments Before the Shopper Leaves

A declined payment isn’t always a final refusal. Soft declines, such as temporary insufficient funds or an unavailable issuer, may succeed after the underlying problem clears. Hard declines require corrected details or a different payment method.

Give the buyer an immediate next step instead of an error code.

At checkout:

Use plain language: Try “Your bank declined this payment. Try another card, PayPal or Apple Pay,” showing only methods you accept.
Keep alternatives nearby: Let shoppers switch methods without losing their cart or completed form.
Don’t repeat hard declines: A lost or stolen card won’t become usable through repeated attempts.

In your gateway:

Enable network tokens where available: They replace stored card numbers with network-managed credentials. Visa says network tokens improve authorization rates.
Check card account updater: It refreshes expired or reissued stored cards, particularly useful for repeat purchases and subscriptions.
Review adaptive acceptance or routing: Stripe says large businesses may see a 1-2% authorization uplift from Adaptive Acceptance on eligible payments.
Use subscription retries appropriately: Stripe Billing can retry failed renewals automatically, but hard decline codes require action rather than another automatic attempt.

These features overlap. Don’t add their claimed gains together or assume subscription recovery settings apply to one-time checkout payments.

💡 Top Tip! Rewrite your decline message today where your platform allows it. Give shoppers a usable next action instead of a technical code.

Prioritize network tokens and account updater if you sell subscriptions or serve repeat buyers with saved cards. For one-time shoppers, start with clear messages and visible alternatives, then track your payment success rate.

12. Win Back Abandoned Checkouts With Recovery Emails

Recovery emails reach shoppers after they’ve left, when checkout changes alone can no longer help. Start with a link back to their saved checkout, not an automatic discount.

Within an hour: Send a straightforward reminder with a direct checkout link. Make returning easy without immediately cutting your margin.
The next day: Address objections about shipping or returns, and remind buyers about available wallets or installment options.
Optional final message: Offer an incentive only where the product margin supports it. Don’t make a discount the default answer to every abandoned cart.

After a failed payment, send a payment link or an “update your payment method” link instead of a generic reminder. The customer needs a way to solve the failure.

Shopify: Use abandoned-checkout emails in marketing automations.
WooCommerce: Add an extension or use your email tool.
BigCommerce: Check whether your plan includes abandoned-cart emails.

The early email field from tactic 3 makes identification possible. Without a captured address, you can’t send a recovery message.

Set up the no-discount reminder first, then add follow-ups that answer the reasons buyers leave.

How We Test Checkout and Payment Settings

We’ve been testing and reviewing ecommerce platforms hands on since 2012. We constantly test these platforms hands on, including the checkout controls that shape your customers’ payment experience.

Checkout setup: We build test stores and check guest checkout, one-page layouts and address autocomplete in the platform admin, noting customization limits.
Payment methods: We enable supported wallets, PayPal, BNPL and local methods through available integrations, then check visibility on desktop and phone.
Fees and plan limits: We compare processing charges, additional gateway fees and feature restrictions against platform pricing information.
Fraud and decline tools: We examine the risk controls, payment-capture options and retry settings each platform and gateway exposes.

We use these checks to distinguish native settings from features that need an extension or a different payment provider. Vendor conversion claims remain labeled so you can separate product promises from the settings available to your store.

Payment Conversion Summary

The practical answer to how to increase payment conversion is to fix the point where your buyers stop. Simplify checkout when shoppers leave before payment; inspect approval failures when they try to pay but can’t complete the order.

Use the diagnosis from tactic 1 to prioritize:

This week: Record checkout conversion and authorization rates. Enable express wallets and guest checkout, then add a cart-page shipping estimate.
This month: Cut unnecessary fields and enable autofill. Review blocked payments, improve decline messages and set up recovery emails before adding more checkout apps.
When you sell abroad: Offer local payment methods and local-currency pricing for your strongest markets. Check currency-conversion costs before switching them on.
Test before you add: Compare BNPL and additional methods against a control period, including their effect on margin rather than order value alone.

Don’t replace your payment gateway before checking the features already available in your current setup. The settings table in tactic 2 gives you a starting point without adding another integration.

Open your checkout funnel and processor dashboard today, and identify whether your biggest loss happens before or after a payment attempt.

FAQ

What is payment conversion rate?

Payment conversion rate is the share of payment attempts that become successfully completed payments. Some dashboards instead use checkouts reaching the payment stage as the denominator, so check the definition before comparing figures. It differs from store conversion, which measures orders against sessions, and authorization alone doesn’t necessarily mean payment was captured. See tactic 1 for the measurement breakdown.

What is a good payment authorization rate?

A good payment authorization rate is best judged against your processor’s baseline for similar payments, not a universal target. The domestic-card range in tactic 1 is a rough reference rather than a formal benchmark. Compare like-for-like traffic and payment methods over time. If approvals fall, inspect issuer declines and authentication failures before assuming your checkout design needs changing.

What is the difference between a soft and hard decline?

A soft decline is temporary and may succeed after the problem clears; a hard decline requires corrected payment details or another method. An unavailable issuer is a soft-decline example, while a lost or stolen card is a hard decline. Don’t repeatedly submit hard-declined payments. See tactic 11 for checkout messages and gateway tools that help buyers recover.

Does adding buy now, pay later increase conversion?

Buy now, pay later can improve conversion and order value, but its higher merchant fees can outweigh the benefit. It is most worth testing for higher-value purchases with healthy margins, rather than low-ticket consumables. Compare results against a control period and calculate the effect on margin after fees. See tactic 6 before choosing a provider.

Why don’t Apple Pay and Google Pay buttons show on my WooCommerce checkout?

Missing wallet buttons can result from browser or checkout compatibility problems. Confirm the wallet is enabled and test on a supported device. Check that only one plugin controls express buttons, Apple Pay domain registration is complete, and your theme supports the required hooks. Product-page restrictions and block-checkout placement can also affect where buttons appear.