Every form field is a question you should have to earn

Good to see you,

Somewhere along the way, someone decided your checkout needed a field for a company name, a second address line, a title, a date of birth and a phone number "in case". None of those people had to fill the form in themselves. Your customer does, on a phone, with cold hands, wanting to be done.

I treat every field like a cost, because it is. Each one adds effort, and effort at the point of purchase is precisely where you can least afford it.

Ask yourself two things about each field

Before a field earns its place, it has to survive two honest questions.

• Do we genuinely need this to fulfil the order?
• If we don't, will we ever actually use it?

If the answer to both is no, cut it. A phone number you never call is not worth a single lost sale. A title dropdown does nothing but slow people down. Be ruthless, because your customer certainly will be.

Every field you remove is a small gift of time and goodwill. Customers can't tell you why the shorter form felt better. They just finish it.

Make what remains effortless

Some fields have to stay. Your job then is to make them painless.

1. Use address lookup so a postcode fills most of it in
2. Match the keyboard to the field, numbers for numbers, email for email
3. Show clear, kind errors that don't wipe what they've typed
4. Let people see and edit everything on one screen, no hidden steps

The goal is a form that feels like it respects the person filling it in. That respect converts, because it removes the low hum of irritation that pushes people to "I'll do this later" and then never.

Go and count the fields in your own checkout right now. I'd wager at least two could go today with no downside at all. If you'd like a second opinion on which ones, start with a FREE call and we'll trim the form together.