Structuring order forms.. 1 page, or multipage.

[galleryseek]

What is your experience with conversion ratios with order pages that list all the fields out on one page (location, billing & package info), opposed to listing all fields out on multiple pages... ie one page for package info, one page for location info, and another page for billing info...

I would imagine it's always best to keep it a multi-page system.. having 1 page might overwhelm the visitor seeing all the fields.

this obviously only applies to those who own mainstream sites, or even adult paysites.

experience?

[sixsax]

Alistapart has a good article about it. I think it's a matter of balance really, the overwhelming effect of a huge ass form is certain suicide, but on the other hand you don't want the surfer to give up because of a "Step 1 of 29" message.

[studiocritic]

for mainstream:

i've found that if you're going to handle "abandoned cart" recoveries properly and intelligently, a multistep form is ideal.

requiring the email address (and a password if applicable) on the 1st page allows you to market their "abandoned cart" to them if they should drop out on subsequent steps.

adding this to your ecommerce site, properly, can result in a 30-40% increase in sales.