What is One-Click Checkout? How to Add It To Your Store (2023)

Full name. Email address. Shipping address. Delivery options. Your small business needs a lot of information when processing a customer’s order. 

While it takes many steps to take payment info and ship a package, the path from browsing to buying can be arduous. Additional clicks in the checkout process cause friction and that stands in the way of paying customers who want to do business with you. 

One-click checkout makes the path more straightforward for customers, resulting in fewer abandoned carts and, ultimately, more revenue. Here’s how to offer it to your customers. It’s time to make speedier sales.

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What is one-click checkout?

One-click checkout happens when customers visit their online shopping cart and purchase items within a single click.

Customers only need to fill in their information once. Their name, email address, and shipping location is stored within the payment processor for future use, allowing them to breeze through the online checkout experience with one click when returning to the same website. This eliminates the clunky experience of being forced to navigate to a separate payment screen and manually enter personal information.

S’wheat, for example, offers one-click checkout on its online store using Shop Pay. When you click the cart button on its ecommerce website, your payment details and billing address are already filled in. You click only one button to complete the order.

Example of Shop Pay in use on S’wheat’s website

The concept of one-click checkout started in 1999, when Amazon patented the concept. The brand made a fortune on its patent, suing Barnes & Noble for implementing a similar technology and leasing its own one-click button to Apple’s iTunes store in 2000. 

The patent, once valued at $2.4 billion per year, expired in 2017. One-click checkout is now free for any merchant to use through its ecommerce platform.

What are the benefits of one-click checkout?

Higher conversion rates

One-click checkout closes the gap from browsing to purchasing by creating a streamlined experience. Shoppers can go from casual browser to paying customer in just a few seconds.

Baymard Institute reports that the average cart abandonment rate is around 70%, and one of the reasons cited for abandonment is a long and complicated checkout process.

If consumers can buy with one click using a preferred payment method they’ve already checked out with before, it’s more likely they’ll convert.

Streamlined checkout process

Fewer steps in the checkout process leaves less time for customers to dwell on their purchasing decision. By using one-click checkout, you can take a slice of the $314 per month the average consumer spent in 2022 on impulse buying, according to a Slickdeals survey.

Higher customer retention

With a one-click checkout, the purchasing process is simplified, leading to improved customer satisfaction. According to the Baymard Institute report, 24% of customers would abandon a purchase if they were forced to make an account first. By removing this obstacle, one-click checkout can lead to increased customer retention.

More mobile purchases

As mobile commerce continues to grow, a seamless mobile checkout experience is crucial. Data from Statista indicates that in 2022, 65.7% of all ecommerce retail sales took place on a mobile device. A one-click checkout can make the process easier on these smaller screens.

Is one-click checkout right for your products?

Merchants benefit when their products are easier to buy. Enabling one-click is a smart option for retailers with a high returning customer rate—shoppers don’t have to re-enter their personal information each time they make an order. It’s automatically saved and prefilled next time. 

It’s also worth considering one-click checkout if you sell low-ticket items through your ecommerce store. It’s easier for shoppers to impulsively buy a $15 product with a single click than a $1,500 one. 

“Since we sell smaller items like spices, pottery, and kitchen wares, it makes sense to encourage impulse purchases while tempering one-click checkout with a generous return policy,” says Sylvia Fountaine, CEO and founder of recipe blog and kitchen goods store Feasting at Home. “We carry small inventory and sell mostly local goods, so there is usually a demand for returned, non-edible items like pottery and books.” 

But not all products lend themselves to impulse buying. Daniel Hedegaard, head of press at shipping and labeling company CoolParcel, says, “If you sell specialized hardware or complex B2B solutions, one-click checkout may be unappealing to your buyers, who always deliberate before making a purchase. 

“On the other hand, merchants who sell necessities of life or eye-catching novelties may discover that instantaneous ordering is exactly what their customers want.”

What are the best one-click checkout options?

Ready to offer one-click checkout on your ecommerce store? Here are some options to consider.

  1. Shop Pay
  2. CartPop
  3. Instant Checkout
  4. Link with Stripe
  5. PayPal One Touch
  6. Meta Pay (formerly Facebook Pay)

Shop Pay

Example of Nomads using Shop Pay

Shop Pay is the one-click checkout system exclusively available to Shopify merchants. 

New customers can use one-click checkout on your ecommerce store—even if they haven’t purchased there before. The app saves, encrypts, and autofills checkout fields on other Shop carts, making items ready to buy in one tap. 

“We offer Shop Pay because it’s quick, secure, seamless, and accepts all major card providers, so it makes things a lot easier for everyone,” says Sophie Gibson of S’wheat. “The majority of our transactions are through Shop Pay, actually, around 90%, with the other 10% or so through PayPal.” 

Customers have a seamless buying experience with Shop, which is a part of why Shop Pay checkouts have a 1.72 times higher average checkout-to-order rate than those going through regular checkouts.

Data from Shopify showing higher conversion rates using Shop Pay

The best part? Customers can track their orders within the Shop App, alleviating pressure on your customer service teams. It’s no wonder customers who order via Shop have a 9% higher repurchase rate. 

Pricing: Free for Shopify merchants.

CartPop

Screenshot showing CartPop one-click checkout solution set up

Offer one-click payment outside of your website with CartPop, a tool that lets you create customized carts and send the link to checkout to customers. 

If you’re re-engaging those who’ve abandoned their shopping carts, for example, you can create a custom cart using CartPop. Send the checkout link in the contents of your email. Fewer steps equals less friction, increasing the chances of customers converting.

Pricing: Free plan available.

Instant Checkout

Example of Instant Checkout being used on website

Looking to incentivize impulse purchases even more? Make the checkout process faster by sending shoppers directly to your checkout. With Instant Checkout’s Buy It Now button, a shopper can bypass the Add to Cart button on a product page.

While it might not be the best solution for all ecommerce stores, the Buy Now button is worth testing—especially if customers are returning to buy the same product.

Pricing: $4/month.

Link with Stripe

Checkout screen using Stripe’s one-click payment solution

Stripe is one of the biggest payment gateways in the world. The Link feature lets shoppers store debit or credit card information within their own Stripe account. Accept Stripe on your ecommerce store for shoppers to check out in just one tap. 

Pricing: Starts at 2.9% plus 30¢ per successful card charge

PayPal One Touch

Some 81% of US consumers have bought an item online using PayPal within the past year. The payment platform stores card information for shoppers to save time on future purchases. 

Its one-click checkout solution accelerates this, giving one-click checkout options to shoppers. They don’t have to sign into their account each time. Retailers that accept PayPal One Touch payments allow customers to skip login at the checkout page and complete their purchase quickly.

Pricing: Starts at 2.9% plus 30¢ per sale.

Meta Pay (formerly Facebook Pay)

Example of Meta Pay in use
Source: Meta

More than 2.7 billion people around the world have a Facebook profile. To capitalize on its gigantic user base, the platform rolled out its own payment system, Meta Pay

Users can store and encrypt card information inside the Meta Pay system. Then, when shoppers are signed into their accounts and visit a Meta Pay–enabled store, they’re able to make a one-click payment.

Pricing: Free.

How to implement one-click checkout for your store

If you’re setting up a new store or are open to switching, choose a platform that natively supports one-click checkout, like Shopify.

Setting up one-click checkout is simple as a Shopify merchant. Here’s how it works:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to settings then payments. 
  2. In the Shopify payments section, click Manage.
  3. In the Shop Pay section, check Shop Pay.
  4. Click Save.

And there you have it! Your customers can now use Shop Pay to check out at your store.

Start offering one-click checkout today

Whether you’re encouraging impulse buys or reducing cart abandonment, the benefits of one-click checkout are clear. With software built to safely store customer information for future purchases, there’s no excuse not to offer this type of fast checkout on your online store. 

Are you a Shopify merchant? Enable one-click checkout with Shop Pay. Customers can tap to buy instantly, track their orders, and pay in installments—all within one tool.

Ready to create your business? Start your free trial of Shopify—no credit card required.

One-click checkout FAQ

What is one-click checkout?

One-click checkout is an ecommerce function in which customers can make purchases with just one click of a button. This type of checkout process is designed to make buying items online as simple and convenient as possible. It eliminates the need for shoppers to provide payment and shipping information each time they make a purchase.

How does one-click checkout work?

One-click checkout is a feature that allows customers to complete their purchases with only one click. It stores their payment and shipping information using cookies, so they don’t need to enter it each time they shop.

Is one-click checkout secure?

Yes, one-click checkout is secure. It relies on tokenization where sensitive data (like credit card information) is replaced with nonsensitive equivalents, referred to as tokens. Compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is also required to ensure the highest level of security.

How can I set up one-click checkout for my online store?

1. From your Shopify admin, go to settings then payments.

2. In the Shopify payments section, click Manage.

3. In the Shop Pay section, check Shop Pay.

4. Click Save.

Which payment methods are supported with one-click checkout?

The payment methods supported by one-click checkout vary depending on your ecommerce platform. Popular options include Shop Pay, PayPal, digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, and credit and debit cards.

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