Our checkout had five steps and a drop-off at every one of them. We assumed the fix was fewer steps, so we built a one-page checkout. Conversion did not move.
Four prototypes that did not work
- One-page checkout: same conversion, more scrolling.
- Guest-first flow: helped new customers, hurt returning ones.
- Upsell removal: fewer abandons, lower order value.
- Progress bar: no measurable effect at all.
The change that mattered
Session recordings showed people leaving at the pickup-time picker. The default was ASAP, but the estimate was hidden until the final step. Customers who discovered a 45-minute wait at the end left.
People don't abandon forms. They abandon surprises.
We moved the ready-time estimate to the top of the cart and kept it live as items changed. That single change accounted for almost all of the 11% lift.