OneStepCheckout Magento Extension Review

Today, we are going to shed light on the most popular one page checkout solution for Magento. Although there are tons of reliable extension designed to simplify the default checkout procedure (you can see all of them here: The Best One Step / Page Checkout Extensions For Magento), the most successful one is OneStepCheckout. Below, you will find our review on this vital for every ecommerce merchant tool.

Download / Buy OneStepCheckout Magento Extension

Before we begin, let’s figure out the necessity to replace the default checkout procedure of Magento with any a third-party solution. The biggest problem of the Magento checkout is its complexity. It consists of too many steps and pages, so customers often don’t even want to start filling in the data or never complete the process. That’s why there are lots of one step/page checkout solutions available in the Magento ecosystem. As for the OneStepCheckout tool, it is fully described below.

As other similar tools, OneStepCheckout is designed to increase conversion by reducing your customer abandonment rate. The core principle behind the extension is combination. Instead of splitting all options into 6 steps, as the default Magento procedure does, it gathers everything into one. Furthermore, the OneStepCheckout Magento extension fully utilizes AJAX, so all data is updated without reloads. Dynamical changes mostly affects prices and totals. Thus, the default checkout procedure becomes as fast and easy as possible. Besides, it remains fully responsive, so users on all devices get the seme shopping experience. To illustrate the reliability of OneStepCheckout, we should mention the number of its users: it already surpassed the milestone of 19 thousand installations and 200 trusted partners.

Just take a look at the following core features:

• One checkout step instead of 6 default;
• User-friendly interface with improved customer experience;
• No need to go through confusing registration;
• Admin-friendly configurable backend;
• AJAX features (price updates);
• The ability to disable certain fields;
• Newsletter subscription can be added.

As for testimonials, here are some of them:

Note that there are two versions of the OSC magento extension: Standard and Enterprise. Below, we describe both.

OneStepCheckout Standard Edition

The OneStepCheckout Standard edition better suits for Community Edition websites. It can be used only on one domain name (but on multiple subdomains; separate domain is available only for testing and development), so if you are running several installations or an Enterprise Edition website, skip this section.

The OSC Standard Edition comes with 6 months of free upgrades and all features of the OSC Enterprise edition. The only exceptions are GeoIP and account registration features. The extension supports all Magento 1 Community versions. As for the price of OneStepCheckout Standard License, it is €245.

The full list of the OSC Standard edition features include:

• Single page checkout;
• Checkout right in shopping cart;
• Ability to disable fields (fax, telephone, company, region, zip, city);
• Ability to set default shipping and payment methods;
• Newsletter subscription checkbox;
• Popup with terms and conditions checkbox;
• Customer comments about orders during checkout;
• Delivery to additionall address (not billing);
• Can be customized for your existing layout via CSS (includes PSD files);
• Ability to set new checkout titles and descriptions;
• AJAX update of prices and totals after a customer chooses a new shipping or payment method;
• Ability to hide link to registration and login;
• Order gift messages.

OneStepCheckout Enterprise Edition

The OneStepCheckout Enterprise license is suitable for all Magento 1 versions. It supports both Community and Enterprise Editions and can be installed on multiple domains but within one legal entity (company) only. So it is impossible to share OneStepCheckout with partners or clients.

This version of OSC suits good for big Magento projects with large volume of transactions. After purchasing the OneStepCheckout Enterprise edition, you get free lifetime updates and support on issues and customization. The OSC company is always ready to implement your custom features. You can get the license for €590. As for features, they are:

• Single page checkout;
• Checkout right in shopping cart;
• Ability to disable fields (fax, telephone, company, region, zip, city);
• Ability to set default shipping and payment methods;
• Newsletter subscription checkbox;
• Popup with terms and conditions checkbox;
• Customer comments about orders during checkout;
• Delivery to additionall address (not billing);
• Can be customized for your existing layout via CSS (includes PSD files);
• Ability to set new checkout titles and descriptions;
• AJAX update of prices and totals after a customer chooses a new shipping or payment method;
• Ability to hide link to registration and login;
• Order gift messages;
• User registration while placing a new order;
• GeoIP technology that detects user country automatically.

Additional Features

There are also some additional features that can be purchased along with the OneStepCheckout Magento extension. If you already use the OSC Standard license, it is possible to upgrade to the Enterprise edition for €395. Alternatively, you can purchase and additional Standard license, to use the OSC Magento module on another domain. This feature costs €122.

If you don’t know how to install the extension or don’t want to spent time doing this, it is possible to purchase the installation service for €60. You only have send you Magento installation login details to the OSC team, and qualified developers will do everything within several hours. Note that the module is delivered in a ZIP archive – just as a standard Magento module.

Chances are, debugging and compatibility support is not enough, so you can purchase an additional consultancy hour with OSC specialists. Each one costs €70.

And if you need more updates (the Standard license offers only 6 months of free updates), OSC offers 6 and 12 months of upgrades for €50 and €75 respectively.

Frontend

Before exploring the OneStepCheckout Magento extension, we’d like to draw your attention to the default checkout procedure. As mentioned above, it consists of 6 steps. Each step is available on a separate tab and contains lots of fields that must be filled.

Everything looks complicated and time-consuming, so it is not surprising that some people leave an ecommerce storefront before even trying to complete all these steps. Now, take a look at how the OSC extension revamps the default procedure:

You can see 3 core sections: Billing Address, Shipping Method, and Payment Method. There is also the Review Your Order section that displays ordered products, their quantity (you can change it right there), subtotal, shipping rates, and grand total. Everything is updating via AJAX. Below, you can apply a coupon, leave comments, and subscribe to newsletter.

The Billing Address section looks as follows:

It allows creating a customer account. Tick the corresponding option, enter a password, and confirm it.

There is also an opportunity to ship the order to another address. Untick “Ship to the same address” and enter new shipping details.

The Shipping Method section provides the ability to add delivery information to the order. Thus, it is possible to specify delivery date and slot as well as place some notes.

In Payment Methods, the OneStepCheckout Magento extension enables you to choose what payment method should be used. In case of Credit Card, additional options appear.

Backend

The OneStepCheckout backend contains lots of options gathered in the following sections: General, Exclude/include fields, Registration, How did you hear about us?, Ajax update shipping/payment methods, and Terms and conditions.

The General section contains extension’s serial number, provides the ability to activate OSC, and lets you choose default country and shipping/payment methods. Note that it is also possible to hide both default payment and shipping methods. The review order section will automatically have totals that includes the rate, so inform your customers first. Next, you can set custom title and description for the checkout, choose a skin. The two available skins (layouts) are Generic OneStepCheckout skin and Magento look and feel. Choose one depending on your website appearance. Besides, you can enable buyers to use different shipping address and activate gift messages (don’t forget to activate them under System -> Configuration -> Sales -> Gift messages). Another important option (available in Enterprise license only) is GeoIP. Activate it and choose a GeoIP database. In the OSC manual, it is recommended to use a database from maxmind.com. There are both free and paid solutions. It is also possible to hide non-free payment methods for zero value order. Thus, you won’t confuse customers who order free items. Show product options is another useful feature that display product options in the same way they are displayed in a cart. Display amounts incl. tax – a feature that allows you to show amounts in the “Review your order” section with tax included.

The next section of settings lets you include/exclude the following fields from the checkout page: City, Country, Address, Region, Discount Code, Zip/Postcode, Telephone, Company Name, and Fax. These are the default fields from the standard Magento checkout. Besides, the OneStepCheckout allows you to include/exclude such specific fields as Comment and Newsletter checkbox. Both are available with the module only.

The registration section allows you to choose among 5 modes:

• Require registration/login – login or a new customer account are required while placing the order;
• Disable registration/login – a link for logging in is hidden, it is impossible to create an account while placing the order, all orders are saved as “Guest” if a customer is not logged in;
• Allow guests and logged in users – both guests and registered users place orders, a login link is displayed, a new account can be created;
• Enable registration on success page – a proposition to create a new account is removed from the checkout page to the success page;
• Auto-generate account for new emails – a new customer account is generated automatically and a password is sent to user via email.

The Register on account without password option enables customers to place orders on a existing account without requiring a password. Useful for Require registration/login and Auto-generate account for new emails modes.

The How did you hear about us? section allows you to display the corresponding field in the checkout, add the Other option, and specify certain values.

In AJAX update shipping/payment methods, you activate dynamic AJAX updates and choose fields that trigger the update if a customer changes something there. Besides, it is possible to update payment methods is a shipping method is chosen.

For further information, check the manual.

Final Words

Launched in 2000, OneStepCheckout rapidly became the #1 solution in the whole Magento ecosystem. Its simplicity made it the most popular tool and the standard for other competitors. Adidas, Benetton, Lamborghini and dozens of other market giants are among happy OCS customers. The extension is installed on more than 19 thousand websites and the number of its users is constantly growing. You no longer have to scare customers away with the standard Magento checkout. Simply install the OneStepCheckout module and you and your customers will forever forget about terrible 6 steps of the standard procedure. One time investment will help you get more money since the OSC Magento extension will decrease abandonment rate increasing loyalty of customers.

Download / Buy OneStepCheckout Magento Extension