How do I purchase online?

You've filled your cart, you're ready to buy, and then — a surprise shipping fee, a forced account signup, a checkout form that never ends. You close the tab. You're not alone: according to Baymard Institute research averaging 50 studies from 2006 to 2025, roughly 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned before the purchase is completed.

Some of that is natural window-shopping — 42% of US shoppers say they were "just browsing." But most of the rest, as Baymard notes, "can be fixed purely through design changes." In other words, the majority of lost sales aren't lost because the customer changed their mind. They're lost because the checkout got in the way.

The research identifies the top fixable reasons shoppers walk away:

• Hidden costs — 40% abandon when extra fees for shipping, tax, or service appear late, and 12% quit because they couldn't see the total cost up front.
• Forced account creation — 18% won't buy if they must register first. Shoppers actively scan for the word "guest."
• Long, complicated checkouts — 17% give up on forms that drag on. The average US checkout has 23.48 form elements; a well-designed one needs only 12–14.
• Trust concerns — 19% abandon because they don't trust the site with their credit card details.

Payment expectations raise the stakes further. Shopify's checkout research found that 62% of shoppers will abandon a purchase on the spot if their preferred payment method isn't offered. And the mobile problem compounds everything: 73% of commerce now happens on phones, yet Stripe's checkout data shows mobile shoppers abandon carts at higher rates than desktop users — every extra field and surprise fee hurts most on a small screen.

The good news is that these losses are recoverable. Baymard estimates better checkout design could unlock $260 billion in lost orders across the US and EU, with conversion improvements of up to 35%. The fixes are straightforward: show the full total early, allow guest checkout, keep forms short, and display familiar, secure payment options.

That's the standard a good buying experience should meet — and it's the standard we'll use as we walk through the purchase steps on an AI Business Sites e-commerce site, where costs are visible up front, guest-friendly checkout is the default, and card payments run through Stripe directly into the merchant's own account.

Buying something online should take less time than making coffee — and on most well-built stores, it does. The standard purchase flow follows a well-documented sequence: browse, add to cart, enter contact information, provide shipping details, review the total cost, choose a payment method, and confirm the order. Knowing what happens at each step helps you move through checkout quickly and spot the points where things commonly go wrong.

The journey starts on the storefront, where you browse products, menus, bookable services, or event tickets depending on what the business sells. Once you've found what you want, you add it to your cart. This is also where many purchases quietly end: roughly 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned, though a large share of that is simply people browsing without intending to buy yet.

From the cart, checkout begins. The documented sequence at this stage is consistent across most e-commerce sites: contact information, then shipping details, then payment method, then order review and confirmation. Here's what to expect at each step:

• Contact information — your email or phone number so the business can send your receipt and updates. Good checkouts let you continue as a guest; nearly one in five shoppers abandons an order when forced to create an account.
• Shipping or delivery details — your address, or a pickup option where offered. Many stores offer delivery zones with fees and order minimums, so check whether your address qualifies before proceeding.
• The total cost — this is where taxes, delivery fees, and tips appear. Watch for surprises here: 40% of shoppers abandon carts over unexpected extra costs, and 12% leave because they can't see the full total upfront.
• Payment — card entry or a digital wallet. Wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay now account for 56% of global e-commerce transaction value, so many checkouts let you skip typing card details entirely.

The final step is review and confirmation. Before you click confirm, scan the order summary: items, quantities, delivery method, and total. After payment, you'll receive a confirmation and receipt by email. Payment itself is handled securely — on an AI Business Sites store, for example, checkout runs through Stripe with the business's own account, so your payment goes directly to the merchant.

Friction tends to appear at predictable spots: long forms, hidden fees revealed late, and missing payment options. The average online checkout contains over 23 form elements, while the ideal checkout needs only 12 to 14 — so if a checkout feels bloated, that instinct is backed by research. On a well-designed store, the whole flow from cart to confirmation takes just a few minutes.

One last note: on some sites, checkout isn't the only path. AI Business Sites stores, for instance, also let customers place orders conversationally through the site's chat or voice assistant — a useful alternative if you'd rather just ask for what you want.

The payment screen is where most online purchases quietly fall apart — and it's rarely about the price. It's about whether the buyer sees their preferred way to pay, trusts the form in front of them, and knows the full total before committing.

The numbers back this up. Digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal now account for 56% of global e-commerce transaction value, compared with just 20% for credit cards, according to Shopify's checkout research. And payment preference isn't negotiable for most shoppers: a DHL survey of 29,000 shoppers found that 62% would abandon a purchase immediately if their preferred payment method wasn't available.

For buyers, this means checking what a site accepts before you invest time in a cart. On AI Business Sites storefronts, card payments run through Stripe Checkout directly into the merchant's own Stripe account — the business you're buying from receives the money, not a middleman — and some merchants also offer cash-on-delivery alongside card payment. You may even be able to order by chatting with the site's assistant instead of using a form at all.

Before you enter card details, scan for these trust signals:

• HTTPS and a padlock icon — visible HTTPS and familiar payment marks help shoppers recognize a secure checkout, per Shopify's guidance.
• Transparent totals — taxes, fees, and delivery costs shown early. Stripe's checkout best practices note that early cost visibility lowers abandonment and builds customer trust.
• Recognizable payment marks — logos you know (Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Stripe) signal a legitimate payment processor.
• No forced account creation — guest checkout should be available and prominent.

These signals matter more than most people realize. Baymard's cart abandonment research found that 19% of shoppers abandon because they don't trust a site with their credit card information, and 12% walk away because they couldn't see or calculate the total order cost upfront. Visa similarly advises merchants to prioritize security measures like TLS encryption and CVV checks to accept payments online safely.

If a checkout hides the total until the last moment, demands an account before showing the payment form, or lacks any recognizable security indicators, treat that as a reason to pause. A well-built checkout — like the ones AI Business Sites sets up for merchants who sell products, food, bookings, or tickets — shows you the full price, accepts your card securely, and confirms your order with a receipt email the moment payment clears.

Most online purchases fail at checkout, not at the product page — and knowing what a well-built checkout looks like helps you buy with confidence. Roughly 70% of shopping carts are abandoned, often because of hidden costs, forced account creation, or overly complicated forms, according to Baymard's aggregated research. A store built on an AI Business Sites e-commerce site is designed to avoid exactly those friction points.

The flow follows the standard pattern you already know: browse the catalog, add items to your cart, enter your contact and delivery details, see the final total, and pay. What differs is how the pieces are handled behind the scenes. Card payments run through Stripe Checkout, paying directly into the merchant's own account — your money goes straight to the business you're buying from, not through a middleman. And you won't be forced to create an account first: guest-friendly checkout is standard, which matters given that nearly one in five shoppers abandons an order when account creation is required.

Depending on what the business sells, the catalog takes one of four shapes:

• Products — physical goods with delivery or pickup options
• Services — bookable appointments with real time slots and capacity
• Menus — restaurant ordering with pickup, delivery, or dine-in, plus order-ahead and tips
• Tickets — dated events with seat-counted availability

At checkout, you'll see your total cost — including delivery fees and taxes — before you commit. That transparency matters: Stripe's own checkout guidance notes that unexpected fees are among the biggest drivers of abandoned orders, and 12% of shoppers walk away when they can't calculate the total upfront. If a slot or event is sold out, many stores offer a waitlist you can join in one step rather than losing the sale.

Payment options include card checkout via Stripe and, where the merchant offers it, cash on delivery — both can run side by side. That flexibility reflects a real consumer reality: 62% of shoppers will abandon a purchase if their preferred payment method isn't available.

One thing unique to these sites: you don't have to use the storefront at all. The site's chat assistant and voice agent both have access to the catalog, so you can browse, order, or book a service conversationally — by typing or simply talking to the website. Once payment is confirmed, the order is verified automatically and your receipt arrives by email.

Most people don't abandon a purchase because they changed their mind — they abandon it because the process makes them work too hard. That's why an increasing number of shoppers are skipping the checkout screen entirely and simply telling a website what they want.

On an AI Business site, ordering doesn't have to happen through a cart at all. The site's FAQ bot and its built-in voice agent both have access to the full product catalog, so a customer can browse, order, or book by typing a message or by speaking out loud in the browser — no forms, no clicking through product pages. A restaurant customer can place a pickup order through chat. A salon client can ask the voice agent what times are open and reserve a slot mid-conversation. The order lands in the same system as any website order, so nothing gets lost between channels.

This matters because conversation removes the friction that causes lost sales. The average documented cart abandonment rate sits at just over 70%, and much of that loss comes from checkout friction itself — complicated processes, unexpected steps, and forced account creation, most of which can be fixed through design. When a customer can simply say "I'd like two of the Tuesday special" and confirm, those failure points never appear.

It also reflects how people actually behave online. A peer-reviewed study of shopping cart abandonment found that consumers value ease of use, convenience, and safety above almost everything else — yet frequently report not experiencing them. And with mobile devices now driving the majority of e-commerce traffic, typing a short message is often easier than tapping through a multi-screen checkout on a phone.

There's a third path worth knowing about, too: the waitlist. On an AI Business site, a full appointment slot or a sold-out event doesn't have to mean a lost customer. Instead of leaving the site, the shopper joins the waitlist in one step and is first in line when a cancellation frees the spot. For businesses running services or ticketed events, that turns "sorry, we're full" into a future booking rather than a goodbye.

What these options share is a simple principle:

• Meet the customer in whatever way is easiest for them — typing, talking, or clicking.
• Remove steps that don't add value; every extra screen is a chance to lose the sale.
• Never let "sold out" or "fully booked" end the conversation — capture the demand.
• Keep every order, booking, and waitlist entry in one place so nothing slips through.

The broader shift is clear: with most consumers now making online purchases regularly, the businesses that win are the ones that make buying feel effortless. AI Business sites are built around that idea — the store, the booking calendar, the chat bot, and the voice agent all work from the same catalog, so however a customer prefers to reach you, the answer is yes. If you're curious how that would look for your business, a free 30-minute strategy call is a good place to start.