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Review

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Review steps have all but disappeared from ecommerce checkouts, thanks to the movement towards tight flows with minimal steps. This does NOT apply to Shopify checkout, rather to platforms that give you full control over your checkout steps and UI. This section is noticeably shorter than most, and only applies if you choose to include a final review before order submission.

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❓FAQ

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❓Should you have a Review step?

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Many checkouts today have eliminated the Review step, even for multi-step checkouts — typically to ease the perceived length and difficulty of the flow. If it’s working for you and you’re not getting a high percentage of customer service tickets around bad addresses or unexpected charges, it’s perfectly fine to omit it. But don’t have a Review step that’s not actually a review! What baffles me is how many merchants simple repeat the Order Summary (cost totals), without showing the Address, Shipping method, Payment type and last 4 digits and Contact info for one last look over (with the opportunity to edit — which is the entire point of the review). Sure, shoppers are lazy and many won’t double check. Yes, you can argue repeating such info again clutters the page and may distract users from pulling that Place Order trigger. It’s another one of those 🧪 “consider testing it” items, if your commerce platform allows.

💡 Ideas and tips

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Summarize each step for final review

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Many checkouts skip the Order Review step entirely, or simply display the Order Summary. For example:

🙃 A checkout Review step that merely summarize items and cost

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Providing a true Checkout summary allows customers to review their information one last time before submitting payment.

🧘🏿‍♀️ Lululemon provides a last chance to review and make edits before submission can help catch errors (even though many users will not take the time to review)

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Use the right headline for your review step

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Some customers may misinterpret Review or Review Summary as “order complete,” leading to premature abandonment. Make sure your heading is bold and instructive, rather than simply “Review” or “Review your order.” ”Review Your Order” is a clear directive, but you can also try the following: You’re almost finished!

Almost there!

You’re almost done!

Please check your information

Please review your information

Almost done! Please review

Review and place order

Review your order details

Final review

Review and pay

Verify your info

Ready to place your order? Let’s make sure everything’s right. (via Apple)

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Make sure all sections are easy to review without expanding

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You want customers to be able to quickly review all entered inputs, with the exception of their full credit card number (for security), including full shipping and billing addresses

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Consider supporting delivery or special handling instructions

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Customers with non-standard or difficult to access addresses may wish to add delivery instructions for the carrier or courier, such as “leave on porch” or “basement suite.” Similarly, your customer may have special requests about the order or other instructions (especially for specialty/handmade or B2B orders). This is a special use case that not all operations teams can handle — use this at your discretion.

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Enable inline editing without leaving the Review step

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It’s critical to enable editing within the Review step that doesn’t kick the user backwards (which can disorient them)!

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Provide customer service contact options

📞 JCPenney provides live help and their telephone number for customers with questions about checkout

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Use “Place order” or “Pay” as your button copy

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Why use “Place order” or “Pay” rather than “Submit”? It’s friendlier tone, and more clear that it’s a final action.

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Add a lock icon 🔒 to your Place Order button

🔒 JCPenney adds a lock to its Place Order button to communicate secure processing. For many large, well-known brands, the subtle approach has been shown more effective than plastering trust seals all over the checkout. Your mileage may vary - it’s worth testing

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