A lot can go wrong in the final seconds of a purchase. The product’s right, the price is fair, and the shopper is ready—then the checkout falls apart. It could be a clunky form, an unexpected shipping fee, or just too many steps on a small screen. Most of these failures are easy to avoid, but only if you know where to look.

Below, you’ll find a detailed guide to the full checkout process, including how it works, where it tends to break, and what to fix.

What’s in this article?

• What is the checkout process?
  
• What are the core steps involved in a checkout process?
  
• Where do common checkout process failures happen?
  

What is the checkout process?

The checkout process is the sequence of steps a customer takes to complete an online purchase, from clicking “Checkout” to receiving confirmation that their order went through. Typically, this process involves:

• Address collection and validation

• Tax and shipping calculation

• Payment method selection and authorization

• Fraud detection and prevention checks

• Backend handoffs to inventory, fulfillment, and analytics systems

On the surface, checkout might seem like just a handful of straightforward screens: enter shipping and billing information, provide payment details, and hit confirm. But from a business standpoint, this sequence involves a lot of heavy lifting. It’s where customer intent is either captured or lost, and where revenue is either realized or left on the table. Checkout needs to work quickly, clearly, and reliably—often across devices, languages, and payment methods.

Many businesses invest in prebuilt payment forms or UI components—such as Stripe Checkout or Stripe Elements. These tools handle security, localization, and multidevice responsiveness. A high-performing checkout signals reliability, shortens decision cycles, and sets up the kind of customer experience that earns repeat business. Done right, the checkout process can be a growth lever.

What are the core steps involved in a checkout process?

Online checkouts tend to follow a shared anatomy: a set of steps that take a shopper from decision to confirmation. The specifics shift depending on the business model (e.g., digital goods versus physical goods, subscriptions versus one-time purchases), but the fundamentals remain consistent. Here are the core steps in checkout and what they actually involve behind the scenes.

Cart review

This step is where the customer sees a summary of what they’re buying—items, quantities, pricing, discounts, estimated tax, and sometimes shipping. This step should include a clear breakdown of product cost, applied discounts, tax, and shipping (if known), and the ability to adjust the quantity or remove items.

Account login or guest checkout

Customers are prompted to sign in (if they have made a previous purchase), create an account, or continue as a guest.

Shipping information

For physical goods, the customer needs to provide a shipping address and delivery method. This step often pulls in:

• Address auto-completion and validation

• Real-time shipping rates from carriers

• Estimated delivery windows

Billing information

The billing address is used for payment authorization and verification. This section might include the option to select “Billing same as shipping” ahead of time.

Payment details

This step occurs when the customer enters their payment information (e.g., credit card number).

Order review

Before the customer hits “Place order,” they see a final review of products and quantities, delivery details, and the total cost—including tax and shipping.

Confirmation

Once the order is placed, the customer should immediately see a confirmation message, an order number or receipt, and a summary of what happens next (e.g., email confirmation, shipping time frame).

Where do common checkout process failures happen?

Checkout failures often come from a handful of small, avoidable missteps that add up. If your checkout process is leaking conversions, it’s likely due to one (or more) of the following reasons.

Forced account creation

Requiring shoppers to create an account is a common but fixable misstep that deters conversion. It creates additional work for the customer, and many shoppers just don’t want to create an account—especially if it’s for a one-time purchase.

Offer guest checkout by default and prompt customers to create an account after purchases have been made.

Hidden costs

Surprise fees at the last second can make a shopper abandon a purchase fast. Customers make it all the way to payment, then discover unexpected shipping, tax, or service charges.

Be transparent from the beginning. Show estimates on the cart page, not just at checkout. Use live tax calculations (via tools such as Stripe Tax) so there are no surprises. Cost clarity can help keep customers from quitting right before the finish line.

Overly long checkout forms

Lengthy forms can cause a slow leak in your conversion funnel. Having too many required fields, asking for information that isn’t strictly necessary, and failing to optimize for autofill or device responsiveness can hold your business back.

Keep it short, prefill fields when possible, and cut anything that doesn’t directly support payment or delivery. Every additional keystroke is an opportunity for a customer’s doubt or distraction.

Limited payment options

You can have the best checkout user interface (UI) in the world, but if a customer can’t use their preferred payment method, your UI might not matter. If you only accept credit or debit cards, but your customer wants to use a digital wallet; buy now, pay later (BNPL); or a bank transfer, you might lose the sale. Similarly, if you don’t support saved credentials, the customer might move on.

Offer a wide range of payment methods, ideally based on customer geography and device. A provider such as Stripe can help make it easy to integrate and manage multiple payment options.

Technical failures

Even one slow-loading page or error message can cause customers to abandon the process for good. Page timeouts, broken discount codes, bugs with autofill or form validation, and payment processor outages are all common issues.

Monitor and test your checkout flow regularly across browsers, devices, and traffic conditions. Implement fail-safes, such as autosave cart state; show clear error messages; or offer retry options. If the checkout process doesn’t work right away, customers might not try again, so use infrastructure designed for reliability. Stripe, for example, maintains a high uptime.

Poor mobile experience

Checkout on mobile has unique requirements. Some mobile-specific issues might include tap targets that are too small, keyboards that cover form fields, and customers who have less patience for typing. If the checkout doesn’t support mobile-native payment methods, customers might move on. Traffic from mobile devices drove about 75% of visitors to ecommerce sites in early 2025. A poor experience here can mean a business losing potential revenue.

Craft a responsive, mobile-first design and incorporate payment methods, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, that require minimal input. Make use of touch-friendly buttons, autofill support, and minimal scroll.

Lack of trust cues

Even if everything in your checkout process works well, a customer might hesitate to complete the transaction if they’re not certain it’s secure. Checkout pages without HTTPS, unfamiliar or outdated design, and a lack of visible payment security badges or indicators can raise concerns.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) padlocks, clean UI, and concise reassurance (e.g., “All payments are encrypted”) can help signal reliability. Brand recognition (i.e., when a customer recognizes the platform processing the payment) also can help keep customers at ease.

Each of these failure points can be avoidable. And the payoff for fixing them is real: correcting common checkout user experience (UX) issues can lift conversion rates by up to 35% for large ecommerce sites. Practices such as improving checkout forms and incorporating the right payment methods can make a significant difference for businesses.