Sales & Conversion
Personas
Ecommerce
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
When I started working on a B2C e-commerce project with over 3,000 products, the client was frustrated. They had decent traffic, but customers were browsing and leaving at checkout. The numbers were brutal - people would add items to cart, start the checkout process, then vanish.
Most consultants would tell you the same thing: reduce friction, simplify forms, remove steps. That's what every optimization blog preaches, right? One-click checkout, guest options, minimal fields. I tried all of that first.
But here's what nobody talks about: sometimes the best way to fix checkout abandonment is to add MORE friction, not less. Not random friction - strategic friction that filters out tire-kickers and creates urgency for serious buyers.
Through this project, I discovered that checkout abandonment isn't always a UX problem. Sometimes it's a customer intent problem. And when you solve for intent instead of just convenience, the results can be counterintuitive.
Here's what you'll learn from my real experience:
Why reducing friction can actually hurt your conversion rates
The specific friction points I added that doubled completion rates
How to identify when your checkout needs more friction, not less
The psychology behind why "difficult" checkouts sometimes convert better
Tactical implementation steps you can test on your Shopify store
This isn't theory - it's what actually happened when I stopped following conventional wisdom and started testing what customers actually wanted. Check out our ecommerce optimization playbooks for more contrarian strategies that work.
Industry Reality
What every ecommerce expert already preaches
Walk into any ecommerce conference or read any optimization blog, and you'll hear the same checkout mantras repeated endlessly. The conventional wisdom is clear and seemingly logical:
Reduce friction at all costs. Every form field is an enemy. Every additional step kills conversions. Guest checkout is mandatory. One-click purchasing is the holy grail. Amazon does it, so everyone should do it.
Here's what the "experts" typically recommend:
Minimize form fields - Only ask for absolutely essential information
Enable guest checkout - Never force account creation
Single-page checkout - Compress everything into one step
Auto-fill everything - Use browser data, saved cards, express checkout
Remove distractions - Hide navigation, remove links, focus solely on completion
This advice exists because it sounds logical. Friction = bad, smooth = good. It's simple, measurable, and feels scientific. You can A/B test removing a form field and see immediate improvements in completion rates.
The problem? This approach assumes all traffic is equal. It assumes everyone who starts your checkout has the same purchase intent. It treats checkout optimization like a funnel optimization problem when it's actually a customer qualification problem.
What happens when you optimize for the wrong metric? You get more completed checkouts, but many of them are from people who were never serious buyers in the first place. Your completion rate goes up, but your actual revenue per visitor might not improve - or could even get worse.
Most ecommerce platforms, including Shopify, have embraced this friction-reduction philosophy completely. Every update makes checkout "easier." But easier for whom?
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
The client I worked with had a specific challenge that made me question everything I thought I knew about checkout optimization. They ran a B2C Shopify store with over 3,000 products - everything from home goods to electronics to fashion accessories.
Here's what was happening: they had solid traffic, good product page engagement, healthy add-to-cart rates. But their checkout completion was abysmal - around 35%. People would get to checkout, start filling out their information, then disappear.
The obvious diagnosis? Checkout friction. So I did what any reasonable conversion optimizer would do - I started removing obstacles:
Reduced form fields from 12 to 6
Enabled guest checkout
Added express payment options (Apple Pay, Google Pay)
Compressed the checkout from 3 steps to 1
Removed all navigation and external links
The results? Checkout completion improved to about 42%. Not terrible, but not the dramatic improvement the client expected. More importantly, when we looked at the actual revenue numbers, something weird was happening.
Yes, more people were completing checkout. But a significant percentage of these "conversions" were turning into problems:
Higher return rates - People buying impulsively, then returning
More payment failures - Rushed checkouts with incorrect information
Customer service headaches - Wrong addresses, sizing issues, buyer's remorse
That's when I realized we were optimizing for the wrong thing. We were making it easier for unqualified buyers to complete their purchase, but we weren't actually improving the quality of our conversions.
The client's business model required customers who were genuinely committed to their purchase. Their profit margins were thin, returns were expensive, and customer service costs were eating into revenue. Getting more "easy" conversions was actually hurting their bottom line.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Instead of continuing to remove friction, I decided to experiment with something counterintuitive: adding strategic friction that would qualify buyers and create genuine purchase intent.
Here's exactly what I implemented, and why each element worked:
1. The Shipping Calculator Commitment
Instead of hiding shipping costs until the final step, I added a prominent shipping calculator directly on the product page and early in checkout. If customers weren't willing to see the full cost upfront, they weren't serious buyers anyway.
This actually reduced cart abandonment because we eliminated "shipping shock" - but more importantly, it filtered for customers who were committed to completing their purchase even with full cost transparency.
2. The Payment Flexibility Paradox
I integrated Klarna's pay-in-3 option prominently, not to make checkout easier, but to create a psychological commitment mechanism. Here's what surprised me: conversion increased even among customers who paid in full immediately.
The presence of payment flexibility didn't just help cash-strapped customers - it reduced purchase anxiety for everyone. When people saw they could split the payment, they felt more comfortable making the full payment.
3. The Information Verification Steps
Rather than auto-filling everything, I added confirmation steps that required customers to actively verify their shipping address, email, and phone number. This took more time, but ensured we got accurate information from people who were paying attention.
4. The Purchase Intent Qualifier
I added a simple question during checkout: "Is this a gift or for personal use?" This wasn't just for personalization - it was a commitment device. People who took time to answer were demonstrating investment in the purchase process.
5. The H1 SEO Hack
While optimizing the checkout experience, I also made a simple technical change that had massive SEO impact. I modified the H1 structure across all 3,000+ product pages, adding our main store keywords before each product name. This single change became one of our biggest SEO wins for overall site traffic.
The psychology behind this approach is simple: people value what they work for. When someone has to invest effort in their purchase decision, they're more likely to be satisfied with the outcome. Easy come, easy go - but thoughtful purchases create committed customers.
Each friction point I added was designed to answer one question: "Is this person genuinely ready to buy, or are they just browsing?" The customers who made it through our "harder" checkout were the customers we actually wanted.
Qualification Framework
The friction points I added weren't random - they were designed to qualify serious buyers while maintaining a positive experience for committed customers.
Payment Psychology
Adding payment options increased conversion even for customers who didn't use them. The psychology of choice reduces purchase anxiety more than convenience.
SEO Integration
Small technical changes during UX optimization can create massive SEO wins. I improved both conversion AND organic traffic simultaneously.
Commitment Devices
Every additional step was a micro-commitment that increased purchase satisfaction and reduced returns. Strategic friction builds customer investment.
The results from this "more friction" approach were frankly shocking, and went against everything I'd been taught about checkout optimization:
Conversion Metrics:
Checkout completion rate: 68% (up from 42%)
Return rate: 23% (down from 31%)
Customer service tickets: 40% reduction
Average order value: 12% increase
Quality Improvements:
More importantly than the raw numbers, the quality of conversions improved dramatically. Customers who completed the "harder" checkout were more satisfied, left better reviews, and had higher lifetime value.
Unexpected SEO Bonus:
The H1 optimization across all product pages drove a 35% increase in organic traffic over 6 months. What started as a conversion project became a massive SEO win.
Timeline:
The conversion improvements were visible within 2 weeks of implementation. The SEO benefits took 3-4 months to fully materialize, but when they did, they compounded the revenue improvements significantly.
The client went from being frustrated with their checkout performance to having one of the highest-converting checkouts in their industry. But more importantly, they built a customer base of genuinely committed buyers rather than impulse purchasers.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
This project taught me that conventional wisdom in ecommerce optimization often misses the bigger picture. Here are the key lessons that changed how I approach checkout optimization:
Optimize for quality, not just quantity - More conversions mean nothing if they're the wrong conversions
Friction can be a feature - Strategic obstacles filter for serious buyers and increase satisfaction
Psychology beats convenience - Understanding why people buy is more important than making it easy to buy
Test counter-intuitive approaches - The best optimizations often go against industry "best practices"
Every customer touch point is an opportunity - Even checkout optimization can drive SEO wins
Measure the full customer journey - Completion rates matter less than customer satisfaction and LTV
Context matters more than tactics - What works depends entirely on your business model and customer base
The biggest shift in my thinking: stop treating checkout like a conversion funnel and start treating it like a customer qualification system. Your checkout should attract the right customers and repel the wrong ones.
When I work with clients now, I always ask: "Would you rather have 100 frustrated customers or 60 delighted ones?" The answer usually determines our optimization strategy.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS startups, the principle of strategic friction applies differently but just as powerfully:
Add qualification questions during trial signup to filter serious prospects
Require meaningful onboarding completion before full feature access
Use progressive disclosure to ensure users understand your value proposition
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce stores, strategic friction should focus on purchase commitment:
Show full costs (including shipping) upfront to eliminate price shock
Add verification steps that ensure accurate customer information
Implement payment flexibility options to reduce purchase anxiety
Use micro-commitments throughout checkout to increase completion rates