Traffic campaigns bring strangers to your catalogue. Payment screen optimisation works on people who already chose a product, filled a basket, and started entering their details. That is the most expensive audience you have, because you paid to acquire them and they got most of the way to a sale.
Cart abandonment sits above 70% across published studies, and the checkout itself is where most of it happens. Fixing the final screen costs nothing per visitor. It multiplies the return on every other marketing pound you spend.
How to Optimise the PrestaShop Payment Screen?
Work through the changes in order. The first affects the layout customers see, the second affects who is allowed to pay, and the third affects how they pay.
Method 1: One Page Checkout PrestaShop
This module collapses the default multi-step PrestaShop checkout into one screen. Customers review their basket, address, delivery and payment together, so nothing is hidden behind a step they might abandon.
Step 1: Install and Open the Module
You cannot change what customers see until the module is active on your store. Installation takes seconds and does not touch your theme files.
Navigate to Modules -> Module Manager, search for "One Page Checkout" in the search field, then click Install on the result.
You should now see a Configure button on the module card, which opens the settings panel you will use in the next two steps.
Step 2: Set the Checkout Layout and Behaviour
This is the change that actually collapses the funnel. Every option here decides how much of the order a customer sees at once.
In the module's configuration panel, review these settings:
- Enable One Page Checkout: turns the single-screen layout on for your live store. Leave it off until you have finished testing.
- Guest Checkout: lets a first-time buyer complete an order without creating an account.
- Address and Delivery Display: controls whether the address form and carrier choice appear inline on the same screen as payment, rather than on separate steps.
- Order Summary Position: decides where the basket recap sits, so customers can confirm what they are buying without scrolling away from the pay button.
Tip: Test on a mobile viewport before switching the layout on. Most PrestaShop stores see their largest share of abandoned sessions on phones, and a single-page layout behaves very differently on a narrow screen.
You should now see a single checkout page in preview, with the address, carrier and payment blocks stacked on one URL.
Step 3: Configure the Payment Block and Order Button
A short checkout still fails if the pay button is unclear or the payment icons do not load. This step controls the final push.
In the same configuration panel, adjust the payment area settings:
- Payment Methods Display: picks which active payment options are shown on the single page. Keep this to the methods your customers actually use.
- Order Button Text: sets the label on the final button. A clear, specific label beats a generic one.
- Payment Icons: shows card and wallet logos beside the button so buyers recognise their method instantly.
- Terms and Conditions Position: places the acceptance checkbox where it does not push the button below the fold.
Warning: Never enable a payment method here that is not already configured and live in your PrestaShop payment settings. A visible icon that fails at the final click is worse than not offering it.
You should now see the payment block rendering with your chosen methods, icons and button label on both desktop and mobile views.
Step 4: Save, Test and Go Live
Skipping a live test is how stores lose real orders to a setting nobody checked. Place a genuine order before you switch the layout on for everyone.
Click Save at the bottom of the configuration panel. Then:
- Open your storefront in a private browser window with no saved login.
- Add a low-value product and complete the checkout as a guest.
- Confirm the order appears in Orders -> Orders and the payment registers correctly.
- Enable the layout for all visitors once the test order succeeds.
Tip: Test with each payment method you enabled in Step 3, one at a time. A single broken gateway will not show up if you only ever test with one card.
You should now see a live single-page checkout processing real orders end to end.
Method 2: Enable Guest Checkout in PrestaShop
PrestaShop supports guest ordering without any module or code. If a forced account creation step is standing between your customer and the pay button, this is the fastest fix available to you.
Step 1: Turn On Guest Checkout
By default, some stores require an account before payment. Removing that requirement is a two-click change, and it applies immediately.
Navigate to Shop Parameters -> Customer Settings, then open the Guest checkout section.
- Enable guest checkout: set this to Yes so first-time buyers can pay without registering.
You should now see the registration form disappear from the payment step for visitors who are not signed in.
Step 2: Offer Account Creation After Payment
You do not have to choose between guest orders and building a customer list. PrestaShop can invite the shopper to register once the order is confirmed, so they convert first and become a customer second.
In the same Customer Settings page, review the account creation options:
- Allow account creation after order confirmation: shows the registration prompt on the confirmation page rather than before payment. The shopper has already paid, so the form no longer blocks a sale.
- Newsletter opt-in position: keep the newsletter checkbox away from the payment button so it never competes with the final click.
You should now see a confirmation page that offers registration without forcing it before the order completes.
Step 3: Trim Unnecessary Address Fields
Fewer required fields means fewer chances for a customer to give up mid-form. Trim the address form down to what you genuinely need to deliver an order.
Navigate to Shop Parameters -> Customer Settings, then open Address Settings and mark fields as optional where your carriers do not demand them:
- Company: mark optional unless you sell to businesses that need an invoice name.
- Address line 2: mark optional, since most residential deliveries do not use it.
- Phone number: required only if your carrier needs it to arrange delivery.
You should now see a shorter address form on the payment step, with only the fields your carriers actually use still required.
Step 4: Clarify the Guest Option on Screen
Customers often register by accident because they never noticed a guest option existed. A short message above the form removes that confusion without changing any settings.
Use PrestaShop Custom Cart and Checkout Messages to place a line above the checkout form telling shoppers they can pay without creating an account. This module also lets you flag delivery thresholds and accepted payment methods at the same point, so customers do not have to hunt for that information elsewhere.
You should now see a guest message rendered above the checkout form, on both desktop and mobile.
Step 5: Test the Guest Path End to End
Guest checkout removes a registration step, but it also removes the account record you would normally use to trace an order. Verify the whole path works before you leave it live.
- Open your store in a private window and add a product.
- Complete checkout without signing in, using a different email from your admin account.
- Check the order appears in Orders -> Orders with the guest email attached.
- Confirm the confirmation email reaches the customer address you used.
You should now see a completed guest order in the back office with no customer account created.
Change 1: Let them pay as a guest (or sign in with one click)
Look at the step right before payment. In most underperforming PrestaShop stores, it is an account creation form: first name, last name, email, password, confirmation password, date of birth, newsletter opt-in. The shopper has already chosen the product, checked the delivery estimate and accepted the total. Then you hand them homework.
The fix takes one afternoon. Go to Shop Parameters -> Customer Settings and check the Enable guest checkout option under the account creation settings. This lets a first-time buyer complete an order with nothing but an email address. Existing customers still sign in as normal; you have not removed accounts, you have removed the obligation to create one before paying.
- Guest checkout: on by default. Turn it on and leave it on.
- Account creation after payment: PrestaShop can offer registration once the order is confirmed, so the shopper converts first and becomes a customer second.
- One-click social login: a softer alternative for returning visitors who genuinely want an account but cannot face another password.
Social login is worth adding because it removes typing on mobile, where the on-screen keyboard is the slowest part of any checkout. A shopper taps Google, Apple or Facebook, approves the consent screen, and their address details arrive pre-filled. Registration happens behind the scenes without a form.
Both settings are pure configuration. There is no theme surgery, no template override, no developer invoice. If your payment screen still greets a ready-to-buy customer with a registration wall, that wall is the single most expensive form on your site.
Every field you delete before payment is a field that can no longer cause an abandonment.
You can go further and trim the address form itself, hiding fields you do not actually need for delivery. Pair this with clearer messaging at the top of the page using PrestaShop Custom Cart and Checkout Messages so guests understand they can pay without an account, rather than hunting for the option.
If you want fewer steps rather than just shorter ones, One Page Checkout PrestaShop: Fast, Simple & Conversion-Optimized Checkout collapses the whole journey into a single screen, priced at $48.99, so guest checkout and payment sit side by side instead of behind separate clicks.
Change 2: Where should the pay button actually sit?
Most PrestaShop themes split the final stage into two columns: the delivery and payment options on the left, the order summary and totals on the right. On a laptop, that works. On a phone, the two columns stack, so the customer scrolls past the summary to reach the payment options and then scrolls back up to check the total before confirming. That back-and-forth is where hesitation creeps in.
The fix is to keep three things inside one screen without scrolling: the amount due, the delivery cost, and the primary action button. Everything else can move below the button or disappear entirely.
- Amount due and delivery cost stay visible above the payment fields, so the customer never has to remember a total they saw two screens ago.
- The primary button sits immediately after the payment fields, not buried under terms and conditions, newsletter checkboxes, or a second summary block.
- Non-payment content (cross-sells, trust badges repeated three times, delivery date pickers for orders that ship in a week) moves out of the payment step.
In PrestaShop, this is largely a template decision rather than a settings toggle. Check how your theme renders the order summary in the payment step, and whether the button appears before or after the optional extras your theme injects. If you want the whole checkout collapsed onto one page instead of fighting a two-column template, One Page Checkout PrestaShop: Fast, Simple & Conversion-Optimized Checkout replaces the multi-step flow with a single-page layout where the summary and the pay button share the same viewport. It costs $48.99 and is built specifically to reduce the scroll-and-recheck loop, particularly on mobile.
Payment authentication is not the enemy here. Since PSD2, 3D Secure and SCA checks usually trigger after the customer clicks pay, inside a bank or card issuer window. That means the authentication step no longer needs to occupy space on your page before the click. What you remove from the screen is the clutter merchants added years ago to warn customers that a redirect was coming, not the security itself.
One more thing worth checking: if your theme shows a second "update cart" or "apply" button near the totals, remove it. The PrestaShop Update Cart on Checkout module is the cleaner way to handle cart refreshes, so the shopper never re-opens a decision they already made.
Change 3: Add Apple Pay or Google Pay above the card form
Mobile shoppers hate typing card numbers. Sixteen digits, an expiry date, a CVV, a billing address: all of it thumbed in on a screen the size of a chocolate bar, usually while standing in a queue or half-watching television. Express wallets remove that entire ritual. Apple Pay and Google Pay let a returning customer confirm a purchase with a fingerprint, a face scan, or a double tap on the side button.
On a phone, the difference is not cosmetic. A card form asks for around a dozen individual inputs. An express wallet button asks for one gesture that the device itself validates. That gap is where most mobile baskets quietly die, and industry research attributes a meaningful slice of abandonment to friction at exactly this stage, with around 13% of shoppers citing website performance issues and slow or clumsy flows as their reason for walking away.
Where to switch on express wallets in PrestaShop
PrestaShop handles wallets through payment modules rather than a single global toggle, so the setting lives wherever your payment provider has placed it. The usual path is Modules, then Module Manager, where you search for your payment module and open Configure.
What you will typically find and adjust:
- Enable Apple Pay, Enable Google Pay, or similarly named checkboxes inside the module's settings panel, depending on which provider you use.
- Button position or Display express checkout, which controls whether the wallet buttons render at the top of the payment step or further down near the standard card fields.
- Button style or Theme, which sets the black, white, or outlined variant so the button does not clash with your payment page design.
If your provider's module does not expose wallet options, the wallet is either not supported for your account or not yet activated on the provider's side. Check your payment account dashboard before assuming it is a PrestaShop problem.
Put the wallet button above the card fields, never below them. A shopper who starts typing a card number has already stopped looking for a faster route.
One caveat worth knowing: express wallets shine on mobile and matter far less on desktop, where a saved card or a browser's autofill already handles most of the typing. If your traffic splits heavily toward desktop, treat this as a mobile conversion fix first and a general one second.
Position matters as much as availability. A wallet button buried under the card form competes with fields the customer has already begun filling in. Placed at the top of the payment step, it becomes the obvious, effortless option. For stores running a heavily customised payment page, pairing this with clearer on-screen guidance using PrestaShop Custom Cart and Checkout Messages keeps the instructions and the wallet button visually consistent, so neither one looks bolted on.
And if the wallet still fails for a shopper, remember that a completed basket is only half the battle. Catching the ones who leave anyway is a separate job, which is what PrestaShop AI Abandoned Cart Reminders is built for.
Troubleshooting
- If guest orders fail to appear in the back office, check that Enable guest checkout is still set to Yes and clear the PrestaShop cache under Advanced Parameters → Performance.
- If the pay button still sits below the fold on mobile, revisit Step 3 and move the terms checkbox, then retest in a private window at a narrow viewport width.
- If wallet buttons never render, confirm the payment module is still active and that Apple Pay or Google Pay is switched on in your payment provider's own dashboard, not only in PrestaShop.
Why not just measure the result?
Configuring a change feels like progress. Measuring it is what proves it. In Google Analytics 4, go to Explorechoose the Funnel exploration template, and build a closed funnel that ends on purchase with the step before it set to begin_checkout. That single pair of steps shows how many customers reached the payment screen and how many finished. The gap between them is the money you were losing, and it is the only number worth trusting here.
Ignore total revenue for this exercise. Sessions from paid campaigns, seasonal spikes and returning buyers will swamp a change that lifts completed checkouts by a few points. The funnel step comparison isolates the behaviour you actually touched.
Split the report by device before you read anything else. The Device category breakdown almost always tells a two-part story: mobile customers tapping a payment button that sits below the fold, desktop customers sailing through. If your mobile completion rate moves and desktop stays flat, the layout fix worked and the guest checkout fix did nothing yet, which is useful information rather than a disappointment.
Then change one thing at a time, and give each change a clean window. PrestaShop's Advanced Parameters > Performance page and your module configuration both make it tempting to bundle three edits into one evening. Don't. If you enable guest checkout, reposition the button and add express wallets in the same hour, you will never know which one earned the uplift, and you will not be able to defend the result to anyone.
Finally, watch the small trust signals alongside the conversion rate, because they explain the number when it moves:
- Bounce rate on the payment step specifically, not site-wide
- Form error events, which reveal fields customers abandon mid-entry
- Average time on the checkout page, which usually falls when friction drops
- Mobile versus desktop completed purchases, tracked week by week
If the funnel still leaks after your changes, check whether customers are dropping before payment or during it. The first points to basket-stage friction, and a module such as PrestaShop Custom Cart and Checkout Messages can flag delivery thresholds and payment options earlier. The second points to the screen itself, and a single-page layout such as One Page Checkout PrestaShop removes the step-by-step structure that causes most mid-payment exits.
A payment screen change you cannot measure is just a redesign. Set the funnel up first, then configure, then compare.
The 20-minute audit to run before you ship anything
Before you touch a single template or module, run this audit on your own store. You are looking for the specific points where your payment screen loses people, and you only need a phone and a private browser window to find them.
- Open your store on a real phone using mobile data, not office Wi-Fi. Your phone on 4G behaves like your customer's phone; your laptop on fibre does not.
- Switch to incognito or private mode so no saved login or cookie is helping you through.
- Add a product and reach the payment step. Watch for a forced account creation form. If you cannot get to payment without registering, that is your first leak.
- Count every tap from basket to order confirmation. More than a handful means you have friction to remove.
- Check whether the pay button is visible without scrolling. On a small screen, if you have to scroll to find it, many customers will not.
- Confirm the order total, including delivery, sits next to the payment fields. A total that appears only further up the page makes people scroll back to check it, and some leave instead.
Now pick the easiest item on that list and ship it today. In PrestaShop, the guest checkout toggle and the One Page Checkout PrestaShop module are both afternoon-sized jobs, and either one removes a tap or a form field that is currently costing you orders. You do not need all three changes live by Friday; you need one of them live by tonight. Test again on your phone once it is done, then decide whether the next change is worth your time.
Conclusion
You have now closed the three biggest openings on a PrestaShop payment screen: the registration wall, the multi-page flow that hides the total, and the card form that asks a thumb to type sixteen digits. None of it required a theme rebuild, and all of it is reversible from the back office if a test order ever goes wrong.
The remaining work is discipline, not configuration. Keep the GA4 funnel running, change one setting at a time, and read the mobile numbers before the desktop ones. That is the loop that turns a one-off fix into a checkout that keeps converting as your traffic changes.
Start with the single change that collapses the most steps at once: install One Page Checkout PrestaShop: Fast, Simple & Conversion-Optimized Checkout for $48.99, run a guest test order on your phone, and switch it on for live traffic the same afternoon.