From pilot to growth: how bol.checkout builds outside the platform
E-commerce is not just about findability and product range, but increasingly about what happens at the moment of checkout. During Emerce Live, Tanja Wilming, Product Marketing Manager at bol, took partners through the origin of bol.checkout. Why is the moment of checkout becoming increasingly important? And how does this increasingly determine whether a visitor truly becomes a customer?
One customer expectation, everywhere
Customers are used to convenience. They want to check out quickly and go through as few steps as possible. But the experience differs per webshop. When customers repeatedly have to enter their details, they start to doubt reliability and therefore drop off faster. This leads to missed opportunities in conversion.
Building outside the platform
This led to the question: how can we use bol's expertise and trusted checkout outside the platform? Not exactly a logical step. But it is a solution for a clear problem for partners and customers. One that ensures less friction and more trust during checkout.
We opted for a pilot approach: start small, learn quickly, and improve based on customer behavior.
In practice
The first version of bol.checkout was simple: customers automatically filled in their details via their bol account. Without explanation, the solution was immediately used.
Partners quickly saw the effect:
- fewer drop-offs in the checkout
- fewer errors in data
- higher conversion
An important driver turned out to be the trust in the bol brand. Recognizable for customers, which made them proceed to payment faster.
Technology and trust
In the development phase, it became clear that it's not just about functionality, but also about trust. A good balance must be created between the recognizability of bol and that of the partner webshop.
This requires continuous improvement of design, flow, and user-friendliness. Because every adjustment, no matter how small, can make a big difference in behavior.
From pilot to scalable item
Bol.checkout has since been developed into a complete checkout solution. Customers check out via their bol account, and get a trusted and fast experience.
This ensures:
- less doubt
- faster checkout
- higher conversion
- new customers for partners
And the solution continues to grow. More and more partners are joining and the results remain positive: customers use the checkout intuitively and partners see a clear impact on their conversion. At the same time, simplicity remains key. Every extra step or ambiguity immediately leads to drop-offs.
What does this mean for you?
The most important lesson? The moment of checkout is an opportunity to grow. That's where trust arises, or doubt. By investing in a strong checkout experience, you reduce that doubt and increase the chance of conversion. And sometimes that requires looking beyond your current approach and daring to experiment.
More information about bol.checkout? Check out our Partnerplatform page and get started yourself!