Competing for customers has become a growing challenge for online retailers. Online shopping now accounts for 30% of total UK retail sales, with mobile becoming the dominant channel – 80% of visits to retail websites were made on smartphones in Q2 2025, according to Statista. However, nearly eight in ten of these users did not complete an order. In today’s attention economy, with social media apps, pop-up notifications and targeted advertising pulling consumers from one site to another, retailers need to set the bar high in terms of fast, easy payment experiences.
In today’s attention economy, retailers need to set the bar high in terms of fast, easy payment experiences
Online checkout flows have become more streamlined, with the introduction of transaction tools such as digital wallets, biometric recognition systems such as Face ID, and website auto-fill functions. But these solutions still have issues, and can cause customers to abandon their carts.
“Autofill forms can prefill information that is inaccurate, it can be quite clumsy to change that,” said Joel Brimmell, senior go-to-market manager at PayPal, speaking at the eCommerce Expo 2025 in London in September. “You still have to add your CVV at the end when you have the payment method – so if you don’t have your card on you and you don’t remember it, it creates a churn.”
Research commissioned by PayPal shows that 93% of UK consumers now expect a frictionless checkout experience online, and a survey by Littledata found the majority prefer to use guest checkout rather than be forced to create a store account.1 In fact, excessive data collection was cited by 68% of UK shoppers surveyed as a reason for them to abandon their carts.
However, guest checkout experiences can be slow, laborious and clunky, Brimmell explained, typically taking two to four minutes. Instead, accelerated software solutions such as Fastlane by PayPal can provide a universal, fast guest checkout experience that automatically fills in online shoppers’ information without the need to log in or remember a password.
Automatically recognising customers
Available for online merchants that enable PayPal payments, retailers can leverage PayPal’s existing customer network to automatically recognise shoppers, and allow them to checkout in one click.
When an existing Paypal customer reaches checkout on a Fastlane-enabled website and enters their email address, they receive a one-time password (OTP) code via text message to the phone number associated with their PayPal account. They enter the verification code, and Fastlane pre-fills their shipping and payment information.
Non-PayPal customers will be prompted to create a Fastlane profile on their first checkout when they choose to pay by card and enter their details. For future checkouts, they will be recognised when they enter their email address, and their details will be pre-filled again after entering a verification code.
Customers can also edit their shipping or payment details during checkout, rather than having to log into a Fastlane account. This ability to “edit the information natively” helps keep conversion rates high, said Brimmell, and the changes are saved for the next time that person shops somewhere.
This means millions of retailers globally can use PayPal’s existing network of more than 400 million customers and rely on its reputation as an established payment platform, building customer trust. The use of centralised data brings the guest checkout experience down significantly, said Brimmell, whose live demo showed completion in under 30 seconds.
Driving conversions to help increase revenue
PayPal’s research has found that Fastlane shoppers have been shown to convert at checkout 22% more often than regular guest shoppers.2
As well as generating revenue, this helps save merchants money and makes the most of the investment they have already made through avenues like advertising, Brimmell said.
“Checkout conversion is critical for your business,” he said. “You spend money on search, marketing campaigns, you create amazing product services. Once customers get to that checkout page, you do not want to lose them at that point.”
Simple integration and success tracking
Fastlane is simple and cost effective for merchants to integrate into their platforms as there is no development work required, Brimmell explained.
The software is provided as a turnkey solution for PayPal-supported eCommerce platforms such as Commerce, meaning it is a fully functional service that is ready for immediate use. It can be integrated through simply clicking the “Fastlane by PayPal” checkbox within the payments section of the Commerce dashboard. Merchants also have access to a real-time analytics platform, so they can immediately start measuring how Fastlane is performing in terms of conversions and return on investment.
Reaching international customers
Fastlane is currently available in eight major markets, including the UK, US, Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Spain and Austria. It will be available across all PayPal card processing markets by next spring. Linking up to PayPal’s global network allows for cross-border use – for example, a US-based customer shopping on a UK website will have the same streamlined checkout experience as a UK customer. This can help UK online merchants reach an international audience, and customers around the world can buy their goods.
Checkout conversion is critical for your business
One UK clothing store, Peter Christian, has seen positive results from integrating Fastlane. Speaking at the eCommerce Expo, Max Alderton, marketing director at Peter Christian, said that it was a “massive error” for retailers not to offer customers “simple solutions” at checkout. A streamlined payment process needs to sit alongside other smart checkout strategies, he added, such as offering a variety of preferred payment methods, being transparent at checkout about delivery and return fees, and auto-applying discount codes.
“Conversions aren’t going down – customer expectation is going up,” said Alderton. “So we’ve been working quite hard at making sure we capture the buying intent from our customers as much as possible.”
Since introducing Fastlane in March, Peter Christian has seen 35% faster checkout speed3and conversions increase by 38%.4 Accelerated checkouts are crucial to capturing and keeping consumers’ attention, Alderton said. “Checkouts are just admin – it’s dull, it’s boring and customers want to do something else,” he said. “They’re on the internet while you’re trying to capture their checkout, and they’ve got notifications going off.
To be successful in today’s busy digital landscape, retailers have to make a concerted effort to ensure their customer experience is as simple, fast and stress-free as possible. Driving website visits is only the first step – merchants need to use all the tools at their disposal to ensure customers stay there and complete a purchase.
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1. Littledata, Based on survey conducted by Littledata across 2,049 stores in September 2022
2. Based on PayPal internal data from June 1, 2025 to July 31, 2025. (UK Pilot Merchants).
Comparing Fastlane accelerated shoppers vs. non accelerated shoppers for merchants that have integrated Fastlane.
3. PayPal/Peter Christian internal data (August 2025). In the three months to 29 August 2025, checkout conversion was 38.31% higher for customers using Fastlane compared to non-Fastlane transactions
4. PayPal/Peter Christian internal data (August 2025). In the three months to 29 August 2025, checkout conversion was 38.31% higher for customers using Fastlane compared to non-Fastlane transactions.
Competing for customers has become a growing challenge for online retailers. Online shopping now accounts for 30% of total UK retail sales, with mobile becoming the dominant channel – 80% of visits to retail websites were made on smartphones in Q2 2025, according to Statista. However, nearly eight in ten of these users did not complete an order. In today’s attention economy, with social media apps, pop-up notifications and targeted advertising pulling consumers from one site to another, retailers need to set the bar high in terms of fast, easy payment experiences.
In today’s attention economy, retailers need to set the bar high in terms of fast, easy payment experiences
Online checkout flows have become more streamlined, with the introduction of transaction tools such as digital wallets, biometric recognition systems such as Face ID, and website auto-fill functions. But these solutions still have issues, and can cause customers to abandon their carts.
