Multi-Step Forms That Reduce Abandonment

More pages can feel like progress. Baymard’s 26 June 2024 checkout benchmark says the number of fields hits people harder than the number of steps. A multi step form that keeps every field and adds a click does not reduce form abandonment by itself.

These pages do not promise a completion lift from steps alone. They do show which fields to cut and how to group what remains.

Fields first, then steps

Baymard defines a checkout step as a distinct phase. Examples include an account and shipping and billing and payment. In 2024 the average flow for a new shopper was 5.1 steps, from the cart through the review. Most checkouts sat at 5 to 6 steps. Flows of 8 and 9 steps were fading. Flows of 1 or 2 steps were rare.

The same article says a rise in form fields goes with a drop in checkout performance. The step count matters less, up to a point. After 8 or more steps, usability suffers. The 2024 average was 11.3 fields. That was 11.8 in 2021 and 12.7 in 2019. Baymard says most sites need 8 fields.

Stripe’s 29 June 2025 checkout article uses those 2024 figures. It says most purchases can be finished with 8 fields. It tells you to drop a review screen that repeats what the person saw. It tells you to use a progress indicator when checkout spans pages. That indicator is one way to reduce form drop off when the path is long. A multi page form with a progress mark shows where they are. It does not shrink the work if the fields stay.

Baymard’s cart page states an older benchmark beside the 70.22 percent average. An ideal flow there is 12 to 14 form elements, or 7 to 8 fields. The average US checkout in that passage shows 23.48 elements by default, or 14.88 fields. Baymard says many checkouts can cut 20 to 60 percent of the elements on the default path. Use the 2024 count of 11.3 fields and 5.1 steps when you judge a current checkout. The 14.88 figure is the older line on the cart page.

Among shoppers who were not browsing, Baymard’s cart page lists these reasons.

• Extra costs such as shipping and tax and fees: 40 percent
• Slow delivery: 20 percent
• Did not trust the site with the card: 19 percent
• The site wanted an account: 18 percent
• A long or complicated checkout: 17 percent
• The site had errors or crashed: 17 percent
• Returns policy was not satisfactory: 13 percent
• Could not see the total up front: 12 percent
• The card was declined: 10 percent
• Not enough payment methods: 9 percent
• The person did not know: 7 percent

42 percent had abandoned because they were browsing or not ready to buy. Design will not catch most of that group. The 17 percent on a long checkout is the group a shorter form can help. Stripe’s 2025 article says 18 percent of US shoppers abandoned in 2025 because checkout was long or complicated. The two shares are close. They are not the same study. Cite the year you mean.

Baymard estimates that solvable checkout issues can raise the conversion rate 35.26 percent at an average large ecommerce site. That is a checkout form conversion rate estimate from Baymard’s testing. It is not a promise for a short intake form on a small site.

What to cut before you add a step

Baymard’s 26 June 2024 article lists five cuts from its tests.

One name field. People treat a name as one unit. In testing, 42 percent typed a full name in the first-name field at least once. With one full-name field, 4 percent hesitated and none had the retyping problems of the split fields. 89 percent of benchmark sites use more than one name field. On a phone, a wrong field means more taps. Baymard says every extra field feels longer on a small screen.

Hide address line 2. 30 percent of participants stopped at that line. People who need an apartment know to open it. 75 percent of sites do not hide it. A link such as “Add apt” keeps the line available.

Hide the coupon box. 70 percent of sites have a promo field. Among sites with one, 35 percent show it by default. Some testers left checkout to search for a code. Baymard says the chance they do not return rises once they leave. Put the box behind a link.

Hide billing when it matches shipping. 24 percent of sites show a separate billing address by default. Baymard says to check “billing matches shipping” and hide the second address. Show it when the person clears the check. A gift shop or a business seller with many different addresses is the exception Baymard names.

Ask for the account after the order. Forcing an account adds a password and sometimes a birth date. Pushing “new customer” above guest checkout does the same. 84 percent of sites do not wait until the confirmation step. Baymard says the confirmation step can collect one or two password fields, because the person typed the rest during checkout. Tell them at the account step that they can create the account at the end. Stripe’s 2025 checkout article says the same pattern. Offer guest checkout. Make “continue as guest” easy to find. Offer the account after the purchase.

Stripe’s 2025 payment-form guide says each extra field can raise drop-off. Ask whether you need a full billing address or the postal code. Ask whether a title next to the card name does any work. Do not ask for the email twice if a prior step collected it. Card fields go in this order. Name. Number. Expiration. Security code. Postal code. Stripe says the security code before the expiration breaks the usual order and can raise errors. Validate as they type. If the card is declined, say so. Do not wipe the other fields. Stripe says retyping the form can make the person quit. Stripe says this payment guidance is general information and not legal or tax advice.

How to group a long form

The Manifest tells you to sort the questions you keep into groups such as contact or payment so the form is easier to scan. That grouping is the useful core of multi step form design. A step by step form gives each group its own page. A progressive form keeps the next field hidden until the answer calls for it. Baymard does that with the second address. Typeform describes logic that shows a question when the person needs it.

Long form best practices from these sources look like this.

• Cut fields until 8 cover a checkout, or until you can defend each one.
• Keep the flow under 8 steps. Baymard says usability suffers past that line.
• Show progress when the form has more than one page. Stripe recommends the indicator.
• Remove a page that repeats the last page.
• Show shipping and tax before the last step. Baymard’s list gives 40 percent to extra costs and 12 percent to a hidden total. Stripe says a fee that appears at the end can end the purchase.
• Skip ads and add-on pitches on the form. The Manifest found 11 percent abandon because of ads or upselling. Stripe says to keep last-minute upsells off the checkout page.

Typeform’s welcome screen research sits on the first page. A welcome line that states the action was tied to a 5 percentage point higher completion rate. Typeform compared that wording with a welcome line that asks a question. A number on that screen was tied to 7 percentage points. Gift or reward words were tied to 5. Lines such as “be the first” or a members line were tied to 10. URL details on the welcome screen were tied to 16 percentage points. URL details anywhere in the form were tied to about 5. Typeform compared forms of similar length for the email result below. It does not say these welcome lines work on every checkout.

Typeform’s time estimate belongs on that first screen when the form is short. Its help page says people are more willing to finish when the estimate is under 7 minutes. At 7 minutes or more, turn the estimate off or split the work into shorter forms. The page says people are more willing to start when they can see the time. It does not publish a rate for that claim.

The first step and the follow-up

Typeform found that asking for email at the start was tied to a 9 percentage point higher completion rate than forms of similar length and features. The Manifest’s practical reason matches. If the first step has a way to reach them, you can write when they stop.

In that 2018 survey, 67 percent abandon the process when complications arise. 20 percent follow up with the company in some way. 13 percent delay and then come back. 19 percent return if the company makes contact. 12 percent said they would finish after an email. 7 percent said they would finish after a phone call. 11 percent received no contact after they filled out a form. A note helps the share who said they would return. It does not bring back the 67 percent who leave the process.

After a finished form, 44 percent said they get a receipt. 38 percent get an email check. 22 percent get promotional mail. 21 percent get a copy of their answers. A receipt or a copy shows the form landed. A promo email is a different message. The Manifest’s abandonment list puts ads at 11 percent, so keep the pitch out of the form itself.

The Manifest’s question check is four lines. What are you asking? Why do you need it? How does it help the customer? What format do you need? The Manifest quotes Ian Everdell. He says irrelevant questions produce data that does not help. 10 percent abandon when the reason for the information is unclear. Say the reason on the step where you ask.

Security is the top reason in that survey at 29 percent. The Manifest’s list is an HTTPS certificate and encrypted storage and a look at GDPR and an email check. It names form tools such as Jotform as a place where encryption can be turned on in settings. Stripe says to use HTTPS on every payment page and to show a secure-checkout label or a lock. Do not store a full card number or a security code. Baymard’s card-trust share is 19 percent among the non-browsing cart reasons. These are different studies. Both say doubt about the card or the data pushes people out.

Phones and errors and a test

The Manifest found that 3 percent prefer a phone. 84 percent prefer a laptop or a desktop. 13 percent prefer paper. Read that beside the sample. 56 percent were 55 or older. 24 percent were 35 to 54. 10 percent were 18 to 34. 67 percent had filled out a form within the past week. A young audience on a phone can look different. The survey does not split the device preference by age.

Baymard says typing is harder on a phone and extra fields feel longer there. Stripe’s 2025 checkout article says cart abandonment is higher on phones than on desktops and does not give the gap. Use a numeric keypad for numbers. Make buttons large enough to tap. Offer a wallet such as Apple Pay or Google Pay if you take cards. Stripe’s payment guide says saved details and autofill can turn a 30-second checkout into a 3-second one. That is Stripe’s comparison. It is not a completion study of multi-step forms.

Errors are their own problem. Baymard says error recovery matters and is separate from the step count. 17 percent of the non-browsing reasons on the cart page are a crash or an error. Stripe says to name the problem. “Your card was declined” beats a vague processing line. Leave the other answers in place.

The Manifest quotes Franznick of the UX firm Blink. He says to put your audience in the form and watch them. A lab is one path. A few people from the real audience is another. The Manifest names mouse-tracking tools as a way to see where attention goes. Watch the step where they stop. Fix that step. Do not add a page to hide it.

A week of cuts

1. List every field. Run the four questions from The Manifest. Drop a field you cannot defend.
2. For a checkout, aim near 8 fields. Use one name field. Hide address line 2 and the coupon box and the second address. Offer guest checkout.
3. Group what remains. Contact. Then the details. Then payment. Put a progress mark on a multi page form.
4. Stop before 8 steps. If the welcome estimate is 7 minutes or more, cut the form or split it. Hide that estimate until the form is shorter.
5. Put email on step one. State the reason for the sensitive question. Skip ads on the form.
6. Watch a few people use it. Note the step they leave.
7. If they leave after the email step, send one reminder. The Manifest’s 12 percent is the group who said an email would bring them back.

You can host that step by step form as a link with Jotform. The fields and the follow-up stay your choices.

Pitfalls

You add steps and keep the fields. Baymard says the field count drives the experience more than the step count.

You pass 8 steps. Baymard says usability suffers there.

You force an account before the order. 18 percent of Baymard’s non-browsing reasons are the account demand. 84 percent of sites in the 2024 benchmark do not delay account creation.

You show a coupon box in the open. Testers left to hunt for a code.

You split the name into two boxes. 42 percent typed the full name in the first box at least once.

You reveal the total on the last page. 12 percent could not see the total up front. 40 percent named extra costs.

You leave a 7-minute estimate on the welcome screen. Typeform says to turn it off or shorten the form.

You treat the 3 percent phone preference as your whole audience. The Manifest’s sample was 56 percent age 55 or older.

You send a promo in the reminder. 11 percent abandon because of ads or upselling. The reminder should point them back to the unfinished step.

Trade-offs

One page versus several. A checkout near 8 fields can stay on one page. A longer intake can be grouped. Baymard says the fields matter more either way. Extra pages add a continue click. Stripe says each added step is another place to hesitate. Use pages when a single screen is a wall of fields. Stop when the pages outnumber the decisions.

Six questions versus the record you need. Typeform’s forms with more than 6 questions had completion under 50 percent. A legal or payment form may need more than 6. Logic can hide the questions a person does not need. You may lose people. You may lose the fact. Pick the fields the decision requires. Cut the rest.

Email on step one versus a softer open. Typeform measured a 9 percentage point tie to asking for email first, against forms of similar length. Some people will balk at an email before they see the point. Put the reason on the welcome line. Then ask for the email. These sources do not test that exact pair.

A reminder versus silence. 67 percent leave the process. 12 percent said an email would bring them back. 7 percent said a call would. One email matches the larger of those two shares. A call costs more time for a smaller share. The Manifest does not say how many of the 12 percent convert.

Guest checkout versus an account. An account can speed the next order. Baymard and Stripe both say the account can wait until the order is placed. You trade a password field now for a finished payment.

What you do next

Count the fields on the form you use this week. Cut any you cannot explain. Group the rest. Put the email and the reason on the first step. Show the cost before the pay step. You choose which fields stay.