Fast One-Click Purchase: Payout and iStores Case Study

Overview

Fortunately, there is a modern solution that can make these challenges easier for e-shops: electronic wallets. According to data from JP Morgan, mobile purchases in the US account for 75% of all online transactions, and e-wallets are the second most commonly used payment method. Although the European market has not yet been completely penetrated by mobile payments, there are countries where pocket devices are used in more than half of online transactions.

In this blog, we explore how e-wallets are not only a secure and easy way to pay, but also how they can significantly improve the entire shopping process. Features such as replacing traditional checkout and offering a choice of delivery and billing addresses make e-wallets indispensable for modern e-commerce.

We implemented Apple Pay payments for our client iStore. The decision to use only Apple Pay was dictated by our analysis of a specific customer profile. More than half of purchases are made by customers using Apple Pay, and 47% of traffic comes from devices running the iOS operating system.

We implemented Apple Pay payments directly at the product level for our client iStore. The decision to use this payment method was motivated by our analysis of the specific customer profile. More than half of transactions are made by customers using Apple Pay, and 47% of traffic comes from devices running the iOS operating system.

Is a shopping cart really necessary?

At Payout, we strive to make payments as fast and convenient as possible for customers. That's why we considered whether it's really necessary to go through three separate steps before actually paying. Currently, customers must add an item to their cart, go to the cart page, and only then can they begin the ordering process.

From the customer's point of view, however, the whole process begins with the first click on the "Add to cart" button on the product page. If the customer wants to purchase only one item, these two additional steps seem unnecessary.

Moreover, Apple Pay does not require the creation of a real cart before initiating payment. We can collect all the necessary product information directly on the product page. So why not allow customers to start the payment process by adding an item to their cart? This would simplify the interaction to two steps: initiating the payment transaction and authorizing the payment via Apple Pay.

In order to simplify the payment process, we decided to try implementing a one-click payment option directly from the product page. Our intention was to add a "Checkout with Apple Pay" button next to the usual "Add to Cart" button. Eligible customers will then be able to use this button instead of the traditional shopping cart and checkout process.

We encountered two significant problems, but we were able to resolve them within one working day and implemented a feature that allows individual products to be purchased directly from the product page.

The first problem is that Apple Pay requires immediate initialization as soon as the user interacts with elements on the page. This limitation means that it is not possible to perform a background API request with data about adding items to the cart.

The second problem is that some plugins do not allow multiple active carts in a single session. If the customer already has some products in their cart, the Apple Pay checkout (initialized directly from the product page) would process all items at once.

However, this solution has certain disadvantages. While it significantly improves the speed and simplicity of the shopping process, it simultaneously limits the number of items in the cart to one. For stores that aim to maximize the average cart value or have a low percentage of carts containing only one item, this could pose a threat. Although not ideal for the entire product range, it can still be beneficial for rare items or high-value products that are more often purchased individually. In our specific case, where more than half of transactions are single-item carts, this solution makes sense.

Another disadvantage is the inability to use promotional codes—Apple Pay does not have a field for entering coupon codes. This means that any marketing campaign offering promotional codes could effectively drive customers away from making a purchase.

Article Author

Martina Hanusová

Chief Sales Officer