Understanding the checkout experience

An overview of what your customers experience at WooCommerce checkout, from cart to confirmation.

Checkout is the most important part of your store. It's where customers go from browsing to buying — and it's where they most often leave without purchasing. Understanding how it works helps you spot problems and make improvements.

Quick summary

The WooCommerce checkout process has a few standard steps: cart review, entering contact and shipping details, choosing a shipping method, choosing a payment method, and placing the order. A confirmation page and email follow. A smooth, simple checkout gives customers fewer reasons to give up part-way through.

The standard checkout journey

Here's what a customer sees from start to finish:

Cart page. The customer reviews the items they've added, updates quantities or removes products, adds a coupon if they have one, reviews shipping options, and clicks Proceed to Checkout.

Checkout page. The customer fills in their details — name, email, billing address, and shipping address (if different). Returning customers can log in to fill these in from their account.

Shipping selection. The customer chooses from the available shipping methods for their address (if you offer more than one option).

Payment selection. The customer chooses how to pay (credit card, PayPal, etc.) and enters their payment details.

Order review and confirmation. The customer checks the order summary and clicks Place Order to complete the purchase.

Order received page. The customer lands on the order confirmation page, with their order number and order details.

Confirmation email. WooCommerce emails the customer confirming the order details.

It's usually one page, not five screens

On the block checkout — the default for stores started since late 2023 — the details, shipping, payment and order summary all sit on a single page. The steps above describe the order a customer works through them, not separate pages they click between.

What affects checkout completion

Customers leave checkout for many reasons. Ones we see often:

Reason	What you can do
Unexpected shipping costs	Show shipping estimates earlier; offer free shipping thresholds
Forced account creation	Enable guest checkout (WooCommerce has it on by default)
Too many form fields	Only ask for what you truly need
Confusing payment step	Offer trusted options (Stripe + PayPal); show security badges
Slow page load	Optimize your site speed — see the performance guides
No trust signals	Add SSL certificate, security badges, return policy link

Guest checkout

By default, WooCommerce allows customers to check out without creating an account. WooCommerce itself marks this as recommended, and requiring an account puts some customers off.

To verify guest checkout is enabled:

Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Accounts & Privacy.

Check that "Enable guest checkout (recommended)" is ticked, under Checkout. This lets customers buy without an account.

Click Save changes if you had to change it.

Guest orders aren't tied to a WordPress user account. Two things to know: subscriptions still require an account, and in recent versions a customer who later creates an account can confirm their email address and link their earlier guest orders to it.

The order received (thank you) page

After a successful order, the customer lands on the "Order received" page (also called the thank-you page). WooCommerce calls it the order confirmation page, and it shows the order number and the order details.

It isn't a page you can open in the WordPress editor. It's an endpoint — an extra part added to the Checkout page's URL. You can still add content to it with code or a plugin, so we can put tracking codes, upsell offers, or delivery instructions here.

The thank-you page is also used for tracking

If you use Google Analytics with e-commerce tracking, or Facebook/Meta pixels for purchase tracking, they fire on this page. It's important that this page loads correctly for every successful order.

The checkout page itself

The checkout page is a regular WordPress page holding the WooCommerce Checkout block. Stores that still use the older classic checkout have the [woocommerce_checkout] shortcode here instead. Do not delete or heavily edit this page — if the block or shortcode is removed, checkout will break.

If your site uses a block theme, you edit the Checkout template through Appearance → Editor → Pages, rather than through Pages.

See the guide on your store's key pages for more.

Common questions

Can I add custom fields to checkout?

Usually yes, but it takes an extension. WooCommerce sells an official one, Checkout Field Editor for WooCommerce, for adding, removing or rearranging fields. Extensions that add custom checkout fields by hooking into the classic checkout normally need extra work to support the Cart and Checkout blocks, so check compatibility before you buy. Ask us to add fields if you need them.

Can I skip the cart page and go straight to checkout?

There's no core setting that sends customers straight to checkout when they click "Add to cart" — WooCommerce's built-in option is to redirect to the cart page instead. Extensions can do the straight-to-checkout version, which suits single-product stores and small catalogues. Ask us and we'll find one that works with your setup.

What is a 'checkout block' vs. the old checkout shortcode?

WooCommerce has two versions of the checkout: the classic shortcode version and the block-based checkout. The blocks have been the default for stores started since WooCommerce 8.3 in November 2023, and WooCommerce describes them as a lower-friction checkout built for conversion. We can move you to the block checkout if you're still on the older one. One thing to check first: an incompatible payment gateway or extension may not work with the blocks, and the cart and checkout have to be moved together.

What happens if a customer's payment fails?

The order is recorded as "Failed," which means the payment was declined or unsuccessful and no money was taken. WooCommerce keeps the order in your dashboard, and if stock had already been reduced for it, that stock goes back into inventory. The customer sees an error and can try again. Most failed orders are just abandoned attempts, but it's worth opening one and reading the order notes — they often carry the gateway's reason, and a run of them points at a configuration problem.

Need a hand?

If you're stuck, email support@chykalophia.com and we'll help. Include your website address and a screenshot if you can.