Although Shopify is a powerful eCommerce platform itself, many merchants opt to migrate to Magento 2. The primary reason is that Magento offers unparalleled flexibility, customisation, and control. Of course, migrating to Magento 2 is no guarantee for success. There’s a need to customise the store according to your requirements and target audience preferences.
Only then can you enjoy the best of what Magento has to offer. When it comes to customisation, we believe that ensuring that the checkout process is line with the business requirements and adds value to the buying process takes priority above everything else. Therefore, one of the first things you should consider after completing the migration is to implement custom checkout fields.
Before we elaborate on the importance of Magento 2 custom checkout fields, it is pertinent to understand that the default Magento 2 checkout system is quite robust itself. However, the default fields may not align with every business nor create value for the customers. Therefore, it is imperative for businesses that they customise the checkout fields to meet objectives such as:
Let’s delve into the reasons in more detail.
The top reason merchants implement custom checkout fields is because they wish to offer a more tailored experience to their users. Suppose that a user wishes to add specific delivery information or order comments during the checkout process. By default, such fields are not available. The only option for the user is to contact the support team or leave an email.
Even then, the information may end up lost as the support agent may fail to pass it to the relevant team. In case the user requested the item delivery at a specific time, it is likely that the product would be returned due to the customer’s non-availability. Thus, to avoid such issues and provide a seamless experience to the users, merchants need to implement Magento 2 custom checkout fields.
You may have heard the phrase ‘data is the new oil’. In today’s digital world, the quality and quantity of data determines an organisation’s success. By default, Magento 2 only allows you to collect standard information which serves little purpose. With custom checkout fields, you can collect additional data related to demographics, preferences, or behaviour. This allows merchants to hyper personalise the experience of their users. There are various tools for managing large datasets that can make data management efficient.
In some cases, adding additional fields is necessary for compliance with legal obligations. For example, alcohol and tobacco products are not available to those under 18 (21 in some states and countries). If your store sells such items, it is mandatory to have a checkbox that the user is 18 or 21 and they are legally authorised to buy the items. This shifts the legal burden from the store to the buyer.
Product returns due to failed delivery undermine a store’s profitability. At the same time, they cause inconvenience for the customer. They must ensure their presence during the time of delivery which is not practical considering they may have a job or any other commitment. By offering a custom checkout field which allows the users to specific the delivery date and time, such issues are avoidable.
A customer may want the product to be delivered in special packaging or want a customisation such as name engraving or anything similar. Such requests can be made through a custom checkout field. Such offerings can go a long way in enhancing the user experience and fostering brand loyalty. When users feel that a business is trying its best to accommodate their wishes, they reward it with repeat purchases.
By gathering specific information from customers through custom checkout fields in Magento 2, merchants can enhance the quality of decision-making. Instead of making decisions based on whim or conjecture, they can rely upon data. This reduces the instance and cost of poor decision making.
The first step is to decide which custom fields you wish to implement during the checkout process. Remember, if you add too many fields, the checkout process will become quite tedious. Users may end up frustrated and abandon the cart altogether. The below statistic shows the reasons for cart abandonment.
Source: Statista
As you can see, too long/complicated checkout process account is responsible for 22% cart abandonments. Therefore, you need to balance your business requirements and user experience. You will need to undertake A/B testing to determine which checkout fields to retain or discard. Also, determine when the checkout fields appear i.e. during shipping, billing, or order review steps.
There are two options.
First option is to create a custom module. The reason is that Magento 2 does not have any in-built feature to add custom checkout fields. This option is feasible if you have the budget to hire a Magento development company to develop the module or have the technical know-how to create a module yourself. If you have neither, then the most practical option is to use an extension.
If you search around, you’ll notice that there are countless extensions available to add custom checkout fields in Magento 2. They are a much more cost-efficient alternative to custom development. Our research tells us that most of these extensions are less than $100. Given the value they add to your store, $100 is well worth the investment. We are not going to mention any specific extension since that is for you to decide.
However, are going to list a few features that every custom checkout field extension must have. This will help you make the right decision.
The extension should allow you to select from a number of pre-built fields such as Text Field, Dropdown, Date, Yes/No and Multi-Select.
As the store admin, you should be able to add the custom field to any stage of the checkout process, be it shipping information, payment information, or review order.
The custom checkout fields can be made available to a select few customer groups or be restricted based on the store views.
Another must-have feature is that the extension allows the admin to attach custom fields to specific products or categories. For example, customisation option should only be made available for products that allow customisation. It makes no sense to have the option for products which are not customisable at all.
The admin must have the option to determine which checkout field appears at 1, 2, 3, and so on.
This concludes our article on how to implement custom checkout fields in your Magento 2 store after migrating from Shopify. As the discussion shows, custom checkout fields are a great way to boost sales and enhance the user experience. We highly recommend that you use an extension for this purpose since hiring a Magento development company or creating the module yourself is quite resource intensive.
