Checkout

Checkout is the set of steps a customer goes through to complete an online purchase, from the moment they decide to pay for what is in the cart until the transaction is confirmed. It typically includes the order review, entering shipping and billing details, choosing the delivery method and payment through a gateway. It is the last stage of the conversion funnel and, for that reason, the most commercially sensitive.

In practical terms, checkout is where the business gets paid: every bit of added friction (an extra field, a mandatory sign-up, a surprise shipping cost) translates into sales that never happen. That is why it is treated as a piece of design and data, not just a screen. When the sale happens through conversational channels, this same process moves into the chat and is part of what Sellium orchestrates so that an order started on WhatsApp closes without jumping to another platform.

The metric watched most closely here is the abandonment rate: the share of people who reached checkout but did not complete payment. Reducing that number usually has more impact on revenue than attracting new traffic.

How checkout works, step by step

A standard e-commerce checkout breaks down into an ordered sequence. First, the customer reviews the order summary (products, quantities, subtotal). Then they enter or confirm their contact and shipping details, choose the delivery method and see the final cost with taxes and freight included. Finally, they select a payment method and the transaction is processed through a payment gateway or a payment link. Only when the transaction is approved is the order confirmed and logistics triggered.

Each of those steps is a point where the customer can leave. That is why checkout discipline comes down to removing everything that is not essential to getting paid, and leaving the extras for later (creating an account, joining the loyalty program, asking for feedback).

Why it matters so much for the business

Checkout concentrates most of any store's purchase abandonment. According to the Baymard Institute, which averages 50 studies, the documented cart abandonment rate is around 70%: most people who add products never complete payment. A good share of that abandonment happens precisely at checkout, and not for lack of interest, but because of avoidable friction: unexpected costs, a required sign-up, a long form or distrust at the moment of paying.

In a market like Argentina, there are local factors that weigh heavily on this step:

• Local payment methods: offering cards, bank transfers, digital wallets and, above all, installments is often decisive. A checkout that does not show the installment plan clearly loses sales.
• Shipping cost and delivery time: showing them late, already inside checkout, is one of the main causes of abandonment. It is better to show them early.
• Trust: security seals, a visible return policy and a recognizable brand reduce hesitation at the moment of payment.
• Tax data: depending on the type of invoice (Argentina's type A or type B invoice), checkout may need the buyer's tax ID (CUIT) and VAT status, which adds fields that are best handled in the least intrusive way possible.

A concrete example

An apparel store with a shop in Buenos Aires finds that 65% of its carts are abandoned at the payment step. When it analyzes the problem, it sees two causes: the shipping cost only appears on the last screen, and shoppers have to create an account before paying. It enables guest checkout (no prior sign-up), shows the estimated shipping cost from the cart onward and adds the option to pay in card installments. Abandonment drops several points without spending an extra peso on advertising. This shows why checkout is considered a high-return revenue lever.

Common mistakes

• Forcing sign-up before paying, instead of offering guest checkout.
• Hiding costs (shipping, taxes, fees) until the end.
• Asking for too many fields or information that is not needed to get paid.
• Not showing security signals or a clear return policy.
• A checkout that does not work well on mobile, where most traffic happens.
• Having no plan to win back the customer who abandoned (see below).

Web checkout vs. conversational checkout

With the growth of conversational commerce, payment no longer lives only on a web page. More and more transactions start and close inside a WhatsApp chat, where "checkout" takes another form.

Neither fully replaces the other: they coexist depending on how each customer buys. What does not change is the underlying principle: less friction at the moment of payment means more completed sales.

What to do with the abandoned cart

Checkout does not end when someone leaves without paying. A recoverable share of those sales can be rescued through abandoned cart recovery: a timely reminder, sometimes with an incentive, that invites the shopper to pick up the purchase where they left off. In the conversational channel, that follow-up is especially direct, because the conversation already exists.