How-to › Checkout, orders and customers
How to Set Up the One-Page Checkout
Put the whole checkout on one page, let shoppers change their order without leaving it and add express wallet buttons. Then see exactly what shoppers get. 15 parts.
Quick links
Where to find it:WP Admin › EasyCart › Settings › Checkout › Checkout flow
Before you start
What you are building
What you need and what shoppers get.
How the one-page checkout works
What you need and what shoppers get
What you need. WP EasyCart PRO or Premium with an active license. The one-page checkout is a PRO setting: the free plugin shows it locked and keeps the classic checkout, which takes shoppers through its steps one page at a time.
What shoppers get. The whole checkout on your cart page, with no reloads: contact, address, shipping method and payment on the left, and the order summary on the right, where it stays in view as they scroll on a wide screen. You choose one long page or steps, the cart first or straight into checkout, and whether shoppers can change their items in the summary.
The steps: choose the checkout flow, turn the one-page checkout on, add express buttons if you take wallets, then test it. The last part of this guide walks through what shoppers see, piece by piece.
💡 Note: Not on PRO yet? Locked features in the free plugin carry a Start free trial link, and a trial unlocks the one-page checkout and the wallets while it lasts.
Set it up
Four steps
Choose the flow, turn on the one-page checkout, add express buttons and test.
Step 1. Choose how shoppers check out
Settings › Checkout › Checkout flow
Open EasyCart › Settings › Checkout and find the Checkout flow card. Two switches shape every checkout, free or PRO.
Guest checkout: shoppers can order without creating an account. Leave it on. Downloads, subscriptions and gift cards still require an account.
Skip the shipping method step (advanced): shoppers go straight from their details to payment and the first available shipping method is used. Use it only when you offer one shipping option.
With Guest checkout off, or with a download or a members-only page in the cart, the checkout starts with the shopper’s email and opens the rest once it is settled. See Signing in and creating an account, below.
Step 2. Turn on the one-page checkout
Four switches, all PRO
One-page checkout leads the Checkout flow card. Turn it on and its three choices show under it. Switches save as you change them.
One-page checkout: the whole checkout on a single page without reloads.
Show one-page checkout as steps: when the order ships, the page is split into steps under a breadcrumb trail: Cart, Information, Shipping and Payment. Leave it off for one page.
Show the cart before the one-page checkout: the cart page opens on the cart, and its Checkout button starts checkout. Off takes shoppers straight into checkout, and the cart is one click away under Edit Cart.
Items can be changed on the one-page checkout: each line of the order summary gets − and + buttons and a bin to remove it. Off, the summary shows each quantity on the product picture.
Step 3 (optional). Add express buttons
Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link and PayPal at the top of the checkout
When your gateway offers wallets, or PayPal’s express buttons are on, an Express checkout row with an OR divider sits at the very top, above Contact. A wallet shopper pays in a tap and never types an address. Every wallet option is PRO.
The buttons line up as one even set: Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal’s buttons share one height and one corner shape, sit side by side on a wide screen, split into balanced rows when there is less room, and stack on a phone.
Stripe. In Settings › Payment press Manage on Stripe and open the Payment methods tab. Turn on Apple Pay and Google Pay and, under it, Show them on the cart page, which puts the buttons in the Express checkout row. Link lets returning Link shoppers pay with their saved details: a shopper who is not signed in gets Link’s email box in place of the email field. Press Save at the foot of the panel.
Square. In Square’s settings turn on Apple Pay, Google Pay and Microsoft Pay and fill in Merchant name, shown in the wallet sheet.
PayPal. With PayPal as your checkout button and PayPal on the cart page on, in its Buttons group, PayPal’s buttons sit in the Express checkout row, whichever card gateway you use, or none. Shoppers who choose PayPal under Payment get its buttons there too, and can switch back to a card and tick the terms box again.
Required phone and terms. Express buttons skip the checkout form. When Settings › Checkout requires agreement to your terms, the terms box sits above the buttons and they wait until it is ticked. When a phone number is required, a phone box sits beside it where PayPal’s buttons show; Apple Pay and Google Pay ask for the phone in their own sheet. Every order records whether the shopper agreed to the terms.
The row stays hidden for a shopper who must create an account, for preorder and restaurant items, and, with PRO checkout fields, while a required question applies, unless that question has Ask after payment when skipped on. Stripe’s wallets also need an order of at least 50 cents in your currency.
When the classic checkout stays
One payment method that needs it
A store whose checkout button is Realex HPP (Realex’s hosted payment page) keeps the classic checkout, even with One-page checkout on. When you switch it on, a note under the switch names the method and says your store keeps the classic checkout until you use another payment method. Every other payment method works on the one-page checkout.
If your PRO license lapses, the one-page checkout turns itself off and shoppers get the classic checkout. Nothing else changes.
⚠️ Careful: Place a test order with the payment method you really use before you announce the new checkout. A shopper stuck on the wrong checkout is a lost sale.
Step 4. Test it with a real order
Test mode, a private window and a phone
Switch your gateway to test mode, then in a private window that is not signed in as an admin:
1. Add two products to the cart and open the cart page. You should land on the cart or in checkout, as Show the cart before the one-page checkout says.
2. In the order summary, press + on a line and watch the subtotal and the shipping prices change. Remove one item with the bin.
3. Fill in the form and pay with your gateway’s test card. For Stripe use 4242 4242 4242 4242 with any future date and any code.
4. Check the order confirmation page, then open the order in Orders › Orders.
5. Repeat on a phone, where the wallet buttons stack.
Then try a guest order, an order with a download using a new email, an order with an email that already has an account, and an order with a coupon. When it all works, turn test mode off.
Good to know
What shoppers see
The cart, the order summary, the messages, accounts, loading, shipping, phones and the usual fixes.
What shoppers see: the cart
The cart screen of the one-page checkout
Shoppers see the cart first when Show the cart before the one-page checkout is on, and whenever they press Edit Cart (or Cart in the steps). Each item is a card with its picture, title and choices, − and + buttons around the quantity and a Remove link.
Under the items: the Cart Subtotal, a row for each offer with what it saves (PRO Offers), a Discounts row for other savings, and an Estimated total after them whenever a discount applies. A note says shipping, taxes and discount codes are calculated at checkout. The Checkout button uses your store’s main colour on every theme, with Continue Shopping as a link under it.
While the cart loads, shoppers see an outline of it with Loading your cart… above. After 8 seconds a line adds This is taking a little longer than usual.
What shoppers see: the order summary
Changing items without leaving the checkout
Each line shows the picture, the title, the choices and the line total. With Items can be changed on the one-page checkout on, a row under it holds a − / + stepper and a bin. With it off, a quantity above one sits as a badge on the picture.
A change saves on its own and the subtotal and every shipping price update straight away. A free gift from an offer has no controls, and bundle lines, grid quantities and Deconetwork lines have only the bin. Removing the last item takes the shopper to the empty cart. Removing the only download, or the last item that ships, redraws the checkout without the account or shipping part it no longer needs.
Below the lines sit Edit Cart (on the single page), the coupon and gift card boxes and the totals.
What shoppers see: why a quantity stops
A message at the item
When a quantity cannot go higher or lower, a message under the item says why, on the cart page, the one-page cart and the order summary:
Only [stock] in stock. Where the product counts its stock as a whole, the same item with other choices already in the cart counts too: Only [stock] in stock, including [other] elsewhere in your cart. With stock hidden from shoppers it reads That’s all we have in stock.
You can buy up to [max] of this item. The product’s purchase limit.
The minimum for this item is [min]. Its minimum quantity.
Shoppers see the numbers, not the brackets. Change the wording in Settings › Language, under the cart phrases.
What shoppers see: fields, boxes and buttons
The same on every theme
On both checkouts the terms box and the newsletter box are drawn as boxes around their words: a click anywhere in the box ticks it, the ticked one is ringed in your store’s main colour, and the keyboard focus shows on the whole box. A click anywhere on a payment choice chooses it.
Checkout fields look the same on every theme: readable labels, dropdown arrows, a visible outline on the field in use, and no zooming in on phones. The checkout buttons keep your store’s colours on themes that style every button.
What shoppers see: signing in and creating an account
Without leaving the checkout
Signing in. Beside Contact, Already have an account? Log in opens the sign-in fields, with Forgot your password and SIGN IN. While it works the checkout shows Signing you in…. Shoppers do not have to find it: when the email they type already has an account, the checkout says You already have an account with this email. Sign in for a faster checkout. with a sign-in button, and an email whose domain looks mistyped gets Did you mean [email]? with the likely address. A signed-in shopper sees a small card with their name and email and Not you? Sign out.
When the order needs an account. With Guest checkout off, or a download or a members-only page in the cart, Contact starts with Your order needs an account. Start with your email: if you already have one, we’ll ask for your password. The address, shipping and payment follow once the email is settled. An email with an account asks for its password and signs in. A new email asks for a password for the new account; with New customers choose a password after paying on, in the Checkout form card, it goes straight on and the shopper sets the password after paying. Every password box has Show, and Change goes back to the email. The new account keeps the addresses from this first order as its billing and shipping addresses.
💡 Note: Registration options, email confirmation and spam protection for these accounts are in Settings › Store › Accounts.
What shoppers see: loading and placing the order
The page always says what it is doing
While the checkout loads, an outline of it shows under Loading your checkout…. When Edit Cart or a step loads, a veil with a small card covers the checkout and says Loading…. Every wait adds This is taking a little longer than usual. after 8 seconds, so a slow server never looks stuck.
The order button reads PLACE ORDER AND PAY, so shoppers know they are committing to pay, as EU and UK consumer law requires. Pressing it shows Placing your order with each stage in turn: Checking your order…, Processing your payment… and Completing your order…, above Please keep this page open.
What shoppers see: shipping and the card form
Live shipping choices, and one ZIP code
Shipping choices follow the address the shopper typed last, and a quantity or coupon change updates the subtotal and the price of each choice straight away. Products with shipping off bring up no shipping choices.
The card’s ZIP or postal code comes from the billing address, so the two always match. With Stripe the card form does not ask for it. With Square it is filled in for the shopper, and a different one typed into the card form stops the payment with The ZIP / postal code in the card form must match your billing address, so they correct one of them.
What shoppers see: on a phone
The summary folds into a bar
On a phone the order summary sits above the checkout as a Show order summary bar with the order total. A tap opens the same lines, with the − / + buttons and bin when items can be changed, and Edit Cart. Fields use a 16px size, so phones do not zoom in while shoppers type.
If it does not work
The usual reasons, and what the messages mean
Shoppers still get the classic checkout. Look for the note under One-page checkout: Realex HPP keeps the classic checkout. Then check that your PRO license is valid and active on the Registration page.
An express button shows a message instead of paying. The terms box above the buttons is not ticked, or the phone box is empty. The message under the box says which.
No express buttons. Check the wallet switch and, for Stripe, Show them on the cart page. The row is also hidden for a shopper who must create an account, for preorder and restaurant items, while a required checkout question applies, and for a Stripe order under 50 cents.
Shoppers cannot change items in the summary. Items can be changed on the one-page checkout is off, or the line is a free gift, a bundle, a grid or a Deconetwork item.
Your order total has changed. Please review it, then place your order again. Shipping, tax or a discount changed the total while the shopper was on the page. The summary refreshes and they press Place order and pay again, so nobody pays a price they did not see.
Something went wrong. Please check your details and try again. A final check found a problem, such as stock, a minimum order or a shipping zone, and the message under the button names it. For a card payment that keeps failing, look in Settings › Log entries.
A cached site. The one-page checkout always loads its contents after the page, so a page cache never shows one shopper another’s cart. Still exclude the cart page, as Caching and WP EasyCart explains.
Keep going
Related panels
Every option on the Checkout settings page.
Connect Stripe, Square or PayPal and their wallets.
What shoppers see after they place the order.
Your own checkout questions, and express buttons.
Ready to run your store on WP EasyCart?
Everything in this guide works with the free plugin. PRO and Premium add subscriptions, memberships, wholesale pricing and more. Try every PRO feature free for 14 days.
