The count
Baymard Institute went through checkouts at large US stores and counted. The average showed 23.48 form elements, meaning things to fill in, tick or pick. Their testing says a good checkout needs 12 to 14, which works out to about 7 or 8 actual fields.
So the average store asks for nearly twice what it needs. Every extra box is one more chance for someone on a phone, on a bus, with one thumb, to give up.
The usual suspects
The crossed-out list in the reel is ours, not Baymard's. Baymard gives the counts. These are the boxes we see most often that can go or hide.
- Confirm email. Double the typing, and it catches very little a confirmation email would not.
- Title, like Mr or Ms. Ask yourself when you last used it.
- Company name. Hide it behind "Add company name".
- Address line 2. Same, hide it behind a link.
- Create password and confirm password. Move account creation after payment.
- Name on card. Most of the time it matches the shipping name, so prefill it.
- Coupon code, gift message, newsletter tick. Collapse or move.
Hiding counts as cutting, mostly. Baymard found that fields behind a small "Add address line 2" link get read as optional, and people skip them without thinking.
TRY THIS TODAYCount every box, tick and dropdown on your checkout today. If it is over 14, pick the two that the fewest buyers need, and hide them behind a link. Confirm email is our first pick.
The rest of the research on checkout fields is in why people abandon checkout.
What the reel said
ON SCREENThe average checkout asks for 23 things. About 12 would do.
ON SCREEN11 of them crossed out: title, confirm email, company, address line 2, phone, create password, confirm password, name on card, coupon code, gift message, newsletter tick.
ON SCREENWhich of yours could go?
Asked a lot
- How many fields should a checkout have?
- Baymard's testing suggests 12 to 14 form elements, about 7 or 8 fields. The average US checkout shows about 23.
- Should I remove the confirm email field?
- Usually yes. It doubles the typing and catches little that a confirmation email would not.
Sources
- Cart abandonment rate statisticsBaymard Institute, updated September 2025.
- Checkout optimization: 5 ways to minimize form fields in checkoutBaymard Institute, Edward Scott, June 2024.
- Address line 2Baymard Institute, Edward Scott, October 2022.