Collection of Continue Shopping Buttons

Published: May 1, 2009

Updated: August 9th, 2020

continue shopping buttons

In previous posts, I created a collection of checkout buttons and progress bars. This time I thought that you will find it useful to look at the Continue Shopping collection (from over 100 websites).

One of the things I looked at, was the naming of the call to action. There were no major surprises: 85 websites named the button “Continue Shopping”.

Only a few websites will use different names such as return to shopping, or back to shopping.

I’ve looked for specific elements – i.e., the color of the button, or the presence of arrow icons. I tried to identify a pattern that would help designers develop more usable buttons. That pattern does not seem to be possible, simply because business rules need to be taken into consideration when you decide on this button/link. However, I can advise on two things:

A. if you want to use an arrow in your button/link, the arrow should be positioned on the left side of the button and it should point to the left. You need to provide a strong sense of direction to your visitors. Usually, when you click on the continue shopping button you will be taken to either the home page or the previous page (which actually means going back).

B. always name this call to action button Continue Shopping

You can view the collection after some statistics:

1. Button Color (there is no rule you need to follow here). You need to take into consideration the color scheme of your brand and what you want to achieve on that page. Business objectives should be taken into consideration when you choose the color: i.e. do you want to force users to click on this button? Then, use strong and contrasting colors.

Note: The majority of the link buttons use the color white. All % are rounded to integers.

Black – 4%

Blue – 19%

Brown – 4%

Green – 7%

Grey – 27%

Orange – 3%

Red – 4%

White – 33%

Yellow – less than 1%

2. Text Color. Again, choosing the color of this element should follow the defined business rules. Depending on what you want the users to do next, increase or decrease contrast on the text. However, the text should be easy to read. Do not use the same color for the background and the text (i.e. white text on white background).

Black – 17%

Blue – 16%

Brown – 2%

Green – 3%

Grey – 7%

Orange – 4%

Red – 5%

White – 47%

Purple- less than 1%

3. Call to Action text – there is no doubt here. You should use Continue Shopping, not resume shopping or just continue

Back to Shopping – 3%

Continue – 2%

Continue Shopping – 85%

Keep Shopping – 3%

Resume Shopping – less than 1%

Return to Shopping – 6%

Shop More – 2%

4. Link or Button? The answer – again –  depends on your micro-goal (move users one step closer to purchasing). If you want to push your customers to continue shopping, then you will display a button. If you want them to start the checkout process, then have display this CTA as a link. Some etailers will use multiple text links pointing to various pages on their website. The purpose is to improve page usability (fewer clicks to reach the destination).

Buttons – 84%

Links – 18%

5. Arrows or no arrows? Arrows are used to provide a sense of direction. Use them, but no need to enforce it too much.

Use arrows – 44%

Don’t use arrows – 56%

6. Arrow pointing to left or right? Definitely, left.

Left – 25%

Right – 17%

Down – 4%

Note: % is relative to the 102 websites

7. Arrow position. The arrow should be positioned on the left side of the button.

Left – 29%

Right – 16%

For web designers, numbers are not saying much (just kidding…), so here is the collection:

checkout button 1800 Contactscheckout button 1800 Flowerscheckout button 1800 Pet Meds
checkout button AbeBookscheckout button American Eaglecheckout button Alibris
checkout button Applecheckout button Art.comcheckout button Avon
checkout button Bass Procheckout button Bath and Body Workscheckout button Bed Bath and Beyond
checkout button Bath and Body Workscheckout button Blaircheckout button Bloomingdale-s
checkout button Blue Nilecheckout button Barnes and Noblecheckout button Buy.com
checkout button Cabelascheckout button Cafe Presscheckout button CDW Corporation
checkout button Chadwickscheckout button Circuit Citycheckout button Cold Water Creek
checkout button Comp U Pluscheckout button Comp USAcheckout button Costco
checkout button Crate and Barrelcheckout button CVS Pharmacycheckout button Delias
checkout button Dellcheckout button Disney Shoppingcheckout button Domestications
checkout button Drs Foster and Smithcheckout button Drug Storecheckout button eBags
checkout button eCostcheckout button eFolletcheckout button eTronics
checkout button Foot Lockercheckout button FTDcheckout button The Gap
checkout button Hallmark.comcheckout button Harry and Davidcheckout button Hickory Farms
checkout button Homeclickcheckout button Home Depotcheckout button Hewlett Packard
checkout button I Buy Digitalcheckout button JC Penneycheckout button J Crew
checkout button JC Whitneycheckout button J Jillcheckout button Lands End
checkout button Lillian Vernoncheckout button Liz Claibornecheckout button LL Bean.com
checkout button LL Bean.comcheckout button Lowescheckout button Macy's
checkout button Major League Baseballcheckout button Musician's Friendcheckout button New Egg
checkout button Nieman Marcuscheckout button Nordstromcheckout button Northern Tool
checkout button Office Depotcheckout button Office Maxcheckout button Omaha Steaks
checkout button Orientalcheckout button Overstockcheckout button Palm.com
checkout button PC Connectioncheckout button PC Mallcheckout button Pet Smart
checkout button Ralph and Lorencheckout button QVCcheckout button Radio Shack
checkout button REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.)checkout button Ritz Camera.comcheckout button Saks
checkout button Scholastic.comcheckout button Schwanscheckout button Sears
checkout button Sephoracheckout button NBCcheckout button Smart Bargains
checkout button Sony Stylecheckout button Spiegelcheckout button Sportsman's Guide
checkout button Staplescheckout button Talbotscheckout button Target.com
checkout button Toys'R'Uscheckout button Tiger Directcheckout button Urban Outfitters
checkout button Victoria's Secretcheckout button Vista Printcheckout button Walgreens
checkout button Walmartcheckout button Williams Sonomacheckout button Zappos

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