SureCart Express Payments: The easy way to optimize WordPress checkout

Offering express payment in your eCommerce store delivers more user convenience and should result in more conversions and lower cart abandonment.

The simpler you make something, the more likely someone is to do it.

In the case of online stores, the easier you make checkout, the more likely someone is to purchase.

Express checkout enables customers to save time by not having to enter contact, payment, and shipping information.

It should be enough to make more sales and more profit.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to add express payment to your website using the SureCart eCommerce plugin.

This will allow your customers to check out faster using Apple Pay or Google Pay, speeding up the entire process.

If you are just starting out and want to know more about express payment, let’s cover the basics first.

What is express payment?

Express payment has transformed the purchase experience.

Customers no longer have to fill in lengthy checkout forms. It speeds up the checkout flow and makes it frictionless, which leads to more conversions.

You may come across a number of different names such as express payment, one-click checkout, instant payment, click to pay and others.

They all aim to achieve a single goal: let customers purchase with the least number of clicks.

Typically, you can add express checkout to your eCommerce store in two ways.

1. Automatic data entry for returning customers

This is one of the oldest methods to help returning customers complete a purchase faster.

Customers enter their information once and the website automatically fills in the form for future visits.

The next time a customer visits the store, their information shows up automatically after they sign in.

For loyal customers, it is very convenient to check out this way.

It’s used extensively in stores like AliExpress where customers return regularly.

2. One-click payment method

What if you haven’t purchased from a merchant before and still want to check out quickly?

This is where express payment comes in.

With this checkout method, customer information doesn’t come from prior purchases.

Instead, you’ll use a Google Pay or Apple Pay button and everything is linked to your payment account.

If you have a card associated with a service, you can purchase with just one-click.

No forms to fill, no delays in purchase.

It’s simple, frictionless and very effective

You, the merchant, receive customer information from the service provider (Google and Apple).

The customer gets fast, simple checkout.

It is this second method we will use on our test website using the SureCart eCommerce plugin.

Just in case you don’t have SureCart installed, let’s install it.

How to install and configure SureCart

SureCart is a lightweight, highly customizable eCommerce plugin you can use to boost your eCommerce game.

You can install SureCart on your website and integrate it with the most popular payment processors in just a few minutes.

Here’s how:

Install SureCart

You can install SureCart by navigating to Plugins > Add New and searching for SureCart.

Install and activate the plugin when the options appear.

If you are using the Astra theme on your website, you can also access and install SureCart from Astra’s dashboard.

Astra isn’t mandatory for SureCart to work. But we thoroughly recommend it if you’re looking for a WordPress theme. One of the main reasons for this is that Astra works seamlessly with SureCart.

It’s the most popular multipurpose theme in the world and ideally suited for any eCommerce website.

It’s fast, secure and fully customizable!

You can create any website in a few clicks. Select a pre-designed template from the Starter Templates library and install it.

There are over 240 professionally designed templates for you to choose from, including many for eCommerce stores.

Set up your store

Once SureCart is installed, go to the SureCart menu and press the Get Started link to activate the configuration wizard.

The wizard starts with a welcome message and asks you to set up a store.

Press the Set Up My Store button to begin.

You will be asked to register with SureCart on the next screen.

By registering, the plugin can connect to the cloud server so it can do the heavy lifting.

The setup wizard includes several steps: setting up a store on its server, connecting the site with the server, integrating payment processors and a number of other things that we will deal with shortly.

Enter the store information on the next screen and press the Create Store button.

Connect with payment processors

After setting up your store, it’s time to connect it with payment processors.

SureCart works perfectly with Stripe and PayPal out of the box. You can also use Mollie in the beta and other payment processors are coming soon.

The payment processor is different to express payment, so choose the most relevant options.

You’ll need to enable Stripe at least for express payment.

On the next screen, choose and connect with the desired payment processor and press the Next Step button.

Connect the SureCart server with WordPress

Connecting your website to the SureCart cloud is the final step and doesn’t require technical knowledge.

The SureCart setup wizard automatically generates an API key to connect the two sides.

After you are done with the payment processor connection, you will find the key on the next screen.

Once there, copy the API token key and press the Back to WordPress button.

Paste the key on the following screen and press the Complete Installation button.

Add a product

In order to have a fully functional checkout form, we need to add a product.

You can add products to SureCart from SureCart > Products.

Press the Add New button and enter the product details on the following screens.

Add a product name.

Add the product and as much detail about the product as you need to help it sell.

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Select the blue Save Product button once done to create your first product.

Repeat as many times as you like to set up your store.

Once you’ve got everything ready, it’s time to add express payment to your checkout form.

How to add express payment with SureCart

SureCart connects with Stripe, PayPal and a number of other payment processors.

With Stripe enabled, you can enable express payment easily.

Here’s how:

Add express payment in a new form

SureCart automatically adds an express checkout method to every form you create.

To create a form, go to SureCart > Forms and press the Add New button.

Once inside the form editor, name the form by choosing a title.

For this tutorial we will use the title Express Checkout.

Next, we need to select one of the premade checkout form templates.

By using a template, you can have an impressive layout ready in a few clicks.

We will select a Two Column layout for this tutorial which looks modern and user friendly.

Press the Next button to proceed.

Here we need to associate a product with our checkout form.

As we’ve already created a product, we will add it to the form and press the Create button.

On the next screen you will find our final checkout form. This also shows the express payment button at the top of the second column.

Press the Publish button to finalize the form creation process.

Now we need to add this form to a checkout page for users to interact with.

We will do that by creating a page which you can do from Pages > Add New.

Inside the editor, choose an appropriate title for the page. We suggest something similar to the checkout form you just created.

This is good practice to keep the names similar to avoid confusion when working with multiple checkout pages.

Don’t forget to press the “eye” icon in the top left corner to hide the page title from users.

Now we need to insert the checkout form we created earlier.

Click inside the first block and press the blue Toggle Block Inserter button to search for the Checkout Form element.

Clicking on it will show a box for adding a checkout form to this page.

When the box appears, press the Select Form button to select the desired form from the list.

In our case, we will click on the Express Checkout form and press the Choose button to move on.

Once the form layout is selected, press the Publish button to publish the page with the checkout form embedded.

Now, open this checkout page on the live website and find the express payment button at the top. The Pay now button shows that express checkout is active on your website.

Whenever a Google Chrome user opens your checkout page, they will see a G Pay (Google Pay) button on their screen.

In Safari, users will see an Apple Pay button.

Add express payment to an existing form

If you want to add an express payment option to an existing form, the process is very simple.

We created a checkout form earlier with a two-column minimal layout. With SureCart you can design a checkout form however you want.

If you want more from your checkout form to boost sales, these design tips can give you a great start.

We can edit this form in multiple ways.

Open it from SureCart > Forms or access it from Pages > All Pages and open the relevant page the form is associated with.

Inside the page edit mode, click where you want to add the express payment field.

We will click the first column and press the Add Block (+) button to add the Express payment block item.

We can see SureCart added it at the bottom of the first column.

Use the arrow icons on the item toolbar to position this field wherever you want.

Press the Update button in the top right corner to save your changes.

Now open this checkout form in Google Chrome or Safari to see the results.

In Chrome

In Safari

This is how you add express checkout in WordPress with the SureCart eCommerce plugin!

Your users will be able to see this one-click payment option on any device that supports Chrome and Safari.

Final Thoughts

Express payment methods are a sure-fire way of offering quick and easy checkout, which should result in higher conversions and more profits.

With the SureCart plugin, you can easily integrate express payments into your checkout forms.

As mobile commerce becomes more dominant, having Google Pay and Apple Pay active on your website means your checkout page is ready for a wider audience.

Have you tried SureCart in your store? Are you using express payment methods? We would love to hear from you in the comments.