Express Payments: How one‑click checkout accelerates conversions

The cost of checkout friction in eCommerce

Imagine you’ve spent weeks debating a purchase — a pair of shoes, a new gadget or that item that finally caught your eye on Instagram. You’ve reached the product page, you’ve read the reviews and you’re ready to buy. But then comes checkout: A multi‑step maze where you’re asked for shipping info, billing details and sometimes even forced to create an account. Suddenly, the excitement fades.

For many customers, this familiar checkout friction becomes a barrier to purchase. Research shows that:

• 70% of online carts are abandoned before purchase, with mobile users especially likely to drop off due to lengthy forms and friction.
• Mobile abandonment rates can reach 85%, far higher than on desktop.
• 22% of shoppers abandon their carts because the checkout process takes too long.
• And 48% of consumers report that having multiple payment options is essential to complete a purchase.

Put simply, if the checkout isn’t fast, intuitive and convenient, customers will walk away — often for good.

This challenge has become even more pronounced as mobile‑first shopping surges, making checkout optimization table stakes for any modern online retailer.

Express Payments: Reduced abandonment rates, increased conversions

Express Payments is a friction‑slashing feature that lets customers complete purchases instantly with a single click, directly from the product detail page or cart. Instead of forcing shoppers through a multi‑step checkout flow, Express Payments plugs in standalone buttons (like Apple Pay, PayPal and Google Pay) that leverage stored payment and shipping data to complete transactions without forms or delays.

Picture this:

• A customer browses a product, sees the Apple Pay button prominently displayed, clicks it and the order is complete — all in less than 10 seconds.
• Another shopper on a desktop hits “PayPal,” skips the entire checkout flow and is already watching their confirmation screen before most checkouts have loaded.

The benefits for merchants include: 

Reduce cart abandonment

By moving away from traditional checkout flows, ready-to-buy customers can buy instantly and frictionlessly. Shoppers don’t need to create an account or fill out any forms, as the payment — as well as the shipping information — flows through the wallet payment provider. 

By consolidating multiple pages into a single click, Express Payments minimizes drop‑off at the moment that matters most. 

Boost conversions across devices

Customers are increasingly shopping on mobile devices, where typing long forms is frustrating and slow. Simplified, one‑click options reduce perceived friction and boost conversions. 

Meet consumer preferences

Consumers decide to buy not only based on product and pricing, but also on how they pay. As shoppers increasingly adopt digital wallets globally, it’s now expected that retailers offer Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal as options for payment. According to a recent study: 

• 52% of online shoppers in Europe now favor digital wallets over legacy payment methods for eCommerce checkout.
• Nearly 70% of US online adults use digital payments. 
• Global digital wallet users are projected to reach 5.2 billion by 2026, representing over 60% of the global population.

With retail giants like Amazon making checkout and payments easier and faster than ever, customers now expect similar experiences when shopping online. 

Improve customer loyalty and satisfaction

A smooth checkout experience goes beyond today’s sale — it increases repeat purchases and brand affinity. Brands that remove unnecessary friction can retain customers who might otherwise abandon transactions and never return.

Express Payments with commercetools

With Express Payments, you can render standalone buttons for digital wallet providers, such as PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay. These buttons let your customers complete their purchase directly through the respective provider’s interface, bypassing the multi-step checkout process. 

You have full control over where these buttons appear; however, we recommend adding them either on the Cart page next to the primary checkout button or on the Product Detail Page for maximum visibility.

Express Payments is built into commercetools Payment Hub with flexibility and extensibility in mind: 

• Use only what you need: Express Payments can be used alongside our out-of-the-box Checkout (Complete Checkout or Payment Only), or adopted independently. This flexibility means merchants can keep their existing, custom checkout experience and simply leverage commercetools to power Express Payments without a full checkout overhaul.
• Minimum effort: Merchants can render Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and other express payment buttons without custom integrations or heavy development work.

Merchants can set up Express Payments on commercetools in three main steps: 

1. Configure a payment connector with Express Payments enabled for the chosen provider (for example, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay for Adyen).
2. Configure Checkout in the Merchant Center (commercetools’ business tooling) by enabling and managing Express Payment within your Checkout application.
3. Render the Express Payment buttons on your storefront using the Checkout Browser SDK. Merchants have full control over placement, with recommended locations being the Cart page or the Product Detail Page for maximum visibility.

Get started with Express Payments

In a world where every extra click costs money, one click can make all the difference.

For merchants looking to stay competitive, streamlined checkout is essential. With Express Payments powered by commercetools, you can remove friction where it hurts most and enable purchases in the moment of intent.

Want to discover more about one-click checkout with Express Payments? Contact our experts today.