Usability Studies of E-Commerce Checkout Process: A Perspective from Thailand

Shopping cart abandonment is one of major problems that can affect conversion rate for e-commerce. A complex or ambiguous checkout process can result in customers discarding their purchase transactions. This research examined Thai online buyers’ experience with a checkout process of e-commerce websites and m-commerce applications. Usability studies were conducted with three different sample groups. They were asked to use two different types of e-commerce platforms to purchase either retail or technology-based products. A working age group with general knowledge about technology tested retail m-commerce applications. Another working age group who was tech-savvy tried out e-commerce websites selling technology products. The elderly group performed a test on retail m-commerce applications. Similar usability issues were found among the three user groups. A violation of visibility principle was a major factor causing unsuccessful task completion in the usability tests.