Enhanced Checkout Error Reporting

Usability experts agree, and studies clearly show that when shoppers make a mistake at checkout, they need extra help and attention to show what needs to be corrected. The fact is, people just don't read anything that's on the screen, plain and simple. What's more, if the error message is long, they notice it even less. When shoppers don't know what's wrong but can't continue the checkout process, they get frustrated and may simply leave their shopping cart - costing you business.

In any yahoo store, when you make a mistake or leave something out on the shipping or billing page, you get a yellow box with red text explaining what you did wrong. In addition, every field that needs attention gets a small red asterisk next to it. There are, however, three problems with the built-in error reporting:

1) The error messages are small
2) The error messages are long
3) The asterisks marking the error fields are small and easy to miss.

Our Enhanced Error Reporting tool overcomes all of these limitations. It makes the error message text larger so it's easier to notice. It shortens the error messages, showing your customer just the essential information, i.e. the problems to be corrected. And finally, it removes the miniscule asterisks and instead, puts a noticeable red border around all the fields that require the shopper's attention.

You can try how this tool works right here in our Y-Times store. Simply put something into your shopping cart, begin the checkout, and try submitting an order without providing some required information such as the credit card number.