David Mainayar on | 7 min read
In this post, we’ll explore the benefits of removing checkout fields from your WooCommerce store and show you how to do it.
According to a study by Baymard Institute, some of the most common reasons for cart abandonment include a long and complicated checkout process, unexpected extra costs, lack of trust to share credit card information, and lack of enough payment methods.
While some cart abandonment reasons are out of your control as an eCommerce business owner, making changes to your checkout process is an easy step to take that could be very beneficial for your business. Here are just some of the reasons why removing excess checkout fields from your WooCommerce store can help to reduce cart abandonment:
Improve checkout usability - Providing better checkout usability is among the best ways to improve the shopping experience for your customers and reduce cart abandonment rates. A study by the Baymard Institute has found that better checkout design can improve the conversion rate of the average large-sized eCommerce store by as much as 35.26%.
Reduce shopping frustration – Asking customers for too much information at checkout can make them feel frustrated and make them abandon the cart. For instance, you don’t need to ask for the shipping address or postal code if the product is not for shipment (e.g for digital products). As an eCommerce business owner, your job is to minimize shopping frustration as much as possible, and the best way is by removing unnecessary fields from the checkout page.
Reduce friction and distractions – At a time when there’s so much competition for the customer’s attention, you want to help them finish shopping as fast as possible. For instance, a simple pop-up advert or email notification is enough to distract the customer from completing the shopping process. A faster checkout process enhances customer satisfaction and can significantly improve your conversion rates.
Enhance customer loyalty – A simple checkout process will benefit your business by laying the foundation for a long-term relationship between you and your customers. The better the shopping experience, the higher the customer satisfaction, which yields customer loyalty. Your previous customers will come back to shop from your site if they didn’t feel frustrated with the checkout process or if you didn’t waste their time asking for too much unnecessary information.
Once you activate your WooCommerce store plugin, a default checkout page is automatically created for you, through which your customers will make payments for the goods they purchase on your site.
The default WooCommerce checkout page is simple and works well for most eCommerce businesses. However, it has multiple fields, some of which you may not need depending on the nature of your business.
The checkout page includes fields for:
These checkout fields enable the customer to provide the necessary details to complete payment and for the website to process their payment details.
The screenshot below shows how the default WooCommerce checkout page looks:
However, most of these details neither help to increase conversions nor reduce cart abandonment. There are also many instances where you wouldn't need to collect all the details. For example, you might already have the customer's details stored, and you don’t need to collect the information every time they shop.
You may also be selling digital goods like software or eBooks that don’t need to be delivered physically. In this case, you don’t need the address fields to collect the customers’ physical addresses.
Your customers will feel frustrated if the checkout page asks them for unnecessary information and will be more likely to abandon their carts.
The WooCommerce checkout page is just a default, but you can always edit and modify it to suit your business. As mentioned, removing irrelevant checkout fields can create a better user experience, improve conversions, and reduce cart abandonment by reducing the friction between customers and purchases.
It also makes it easier for customers who prefer to use direct payments rather than creating an account on your website or going through multiple steps while checking out.
How do you remove checkout fields from your WooCommerce store or not display some checkout fields?
If you decide to modify your checkout page to improve the shopping experience for your customers, there are three main ways you can use to remove unwanted fields:
Read on to learn how you can use each method to customize your checkout pages to achieve higher conversions.
One of the most common methods you can use to remove checkout fields is by using code.
Though technical, it’s a great way to edit your site files and personalize your eCommerce site the way you want. Coding provides more freedom and flexibility in customization as compared to other methods.
If you’re an experienced developer or coder, you can create a child theme and use codes to override the existing core fields. You can also set up redirects or remove fields altogether. WooCommerce has a good guide that explains how to customize checkout fields using actions and filters.
If you decide to code on the parent theme instead of creating a child theme, be careful to back up your site in case something goes wrong.
You can use your site functions.php file together with filters like WooCommerce billing fields or WooCommerce checkout fields to manipulate the fields the way you wish. This allows you to override or remove WooCommerce checkout fields you like – the WooCommerce guide includes a full list of the fields you can change or remove.
However, this customization method is somewhat limiting since not every eCommerce business owner is a professional site developer familiar with coding.
If you’re not familiar with coding, you have another option. You can use the WooCommerce customizer from WP-admin to remove three checkout fields:
To remove these three fields from the checkout page, navigate to Appearance > Customize > WooCommerce > Checkout.
From the drop-down menu, select the ‘Hidden’ option for the Company name field, Address line 2 field, and Phone field, then click the Publish button.
If you go back to the checkout page, these three fields will no longer appear, and you’ll have made the whole checkout experience simpler for your customers.
The downside of customizing your checkout page using the WooCommerce customizer is that it’s only limited to these three fields. It does not offer any other customization option if you want to hide more fields.
For instance, if your site only sells digital products, you might want to remove all the physical address fields and only collect email addresses. The WooCommerce default customizer will not allow you to do that, and you’ll have to find another option.
The third and most effective way to remove checkout fields on your WooCommerce store is to use a third-party WooCommerce customization plugin like PeachPay.
With PeachPay, you can hit two birds with one stone – it not only enables a simpler and more streamlined checkout experience for new users but also makes checking out effortless for returning customers through its passwordless one-click checkout.
When a customer checks out for the first time, their billing, shipping, and payment details will be automatically saved, meaning that when they next make a purchase via PeachPay, they won’t need to input this information again – they can simply checkout with one click.
PeachPay gives you complete customizability over the whole layout design of your checkout window. You can customize all aspects of the WooCommerce checkout button and window to give your customers a well-optimized experience, and you can also customize your button fields, language settings, and multicurrency settings.
Additionally, it adds an ‘Express checkout’ button to your WooCommerce store, to make the checkout experience faster and more convenient for your customers. You can customize the button in terms of color, size, placement, or even the button text – simply navigate to ‘Button preferences’ in the PeachPay settings.
Removing checkout fields on your WooCommerce store with PeachPay couldn’t be simpler.
The plugin has a lightweight WooCommerce checkout form customizer which you can use to delete ‘Coupons’ and ‘Order notes’ from your express checkout window. Customers rarely use these buttons, so there’s no need to complicate the checkout process by having them there.
Under PeachPay settings, click the ‘Field Editor’ button and uncheck the box against Coupons and Order notes as shown below:
These two fields will no longer appear on your checkout pages, and your customers will love you for simplifying the checkout process.
Aside from removing unnecessary checkout fields, you can also use PeachPay to add additional fields if you need to. The WooCommerce default customizer, like many other third-party plugins, does not allow you to add more checkout fields.
With PeachPay, you can add a plain-text field on the checkout page without going through the hassle of coding.
PeachPay has all the features you need to customize your WooCommerce checkout fields and give your customers a better shopping experience.
Unlike other customizer plugins, which only help to reduce the number of fields on the checkout form, PeachPay does more by enabling you to optimize the checkout flow for both new and repeat customers.
For your new customers, the plugin will enable you to give them a simple first-time checkout experience, which is likely to make them come back to your store. Repeat customers, on the other hand, get an effortless repeat purchase experience through the one-click checkout made possible by PeachPay.
Other unique features that make PeachPay give the best checkout experience compared to other checkout field customizer plugins include:
An express checkout button – PeachPay’s fully customizable express checkout button provides the easiest method for your customers to checkout without having to provide lots of unnecessary details, helping to reduce cart abandonment and increase conversions.
Diverse payment options – Many customers abandon carts because they cannot find their preferred payment method from the menu. PeachPay supports 13+ top payment methods, including PayPal, Stripe, Square, Google Pay, and Apple Pay.
__User-friendly checkout window __– PeachPay makes it easy for customers to make changes to their cart, add coupon codes, and see any discounts or fees within the checkout window before making a purchase. This makes the checkout experience more transparent and user-friendly.
Password-less one-click checkout – Returning customers don’t like filling out their billing, shipping, or payment information every time they checkout. To prevent this, PeachPay automatically stores this information for first-time customers and then enables password-less checkout for returning customers, making it as easy as possible for them to make purchases.
PeachPay is the best solution you can use to customize and remove checkout fields on your WooCommerce store to give your customers the best checkout experience.
If you want to reduce cart abandonment on your WooCommerce store, increase conversions, and enhance customer retention, get PeachPay today and enjoy the benefits.
The best part is that you don’t need to pay anything for the plugin – it's entirely free to use.