A compilation of the top 100 internet retailers has been put together to determine what characteristics and tactics lead to good internet sales performance.
The Ecommerce Checkout Reportidentified 23 checkout characteristics which affect customer experience in relation to speed and ease of use, security and confidence and profit enhancement.
The report raised questions about the length of checkout in relation to customers seeing their purchase through to the end, as well as other options facing an internet retailer, such as the effect of confirmation screens and live chat.
It was found that 36 per cent of the top 100 internet retailers offer alternative methods of payment such as PayPal or Google Checkout, but conversion rates were notably higher for retailers who did not offer alternative payment methods.
Jason Billingsley, of Elastic Path Software who was principal researcher on the report, said: "Our goal with this report is to give online retailers a yardstick for comparing the effectiveness of their own checkout strategies.
"Hopefully, it will give them incentive to start testing tactics that seem to be most effective for increasing conversions."
