# Dropping the email field from checkout: +5.8% checkout rate

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Checkout (SaaS)
- Elements: Form fields
- Test run by: [PayU](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/payu/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://wingify.com/success-stories/payu/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/payu-checkout-drop-email-field/

Removing the email field from PayU's hosted payment checkout, and asking only for a phone number, raised checkout completion by 5.8%. PayU ran the test itself, and it was published as a VWO case study. The result was reported as statistically significant.

## Result

**+5.8% checkout rate**

- Checkout completion: +5.8%, reported as statistically significant.
- The email field was dropped for good after the test.
- No sample size or duration was shared.

## Control

The checkout page asked customers for both an email address and a phone number before paying.

## Variant

The email field was removed, so customers only entered a phone number.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Form analytics showed that asking for both email and phone caused drop-offs at that step.
- Many of PayU's customers in India had a phone number but no email address, which PayU later confirmed by contacting customers.
- Local rules required a receipt to be sent through only one channel, so the second field added effort without being needed.

## Caveats

This is a payment gateway's hosted checkout used by many merchants, not a sign-up flow. The finding depends on an audience where many people lack email, so it may not travel to other markets.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we ask for one contact field instead of two at checkout, then more customers will complete payment because there is less to fill in and fewer people get stuck.
- Primary metric: Checkout completion rate
- Guardrail: Receipt delivery success
- Guardrail: Failed or disputed payments
- Guardrail: Customer support contacts
- Who should test it: Payment, fintech and SaaS products whose checkout asks for both email and phone, especially in mobile-first markets. It probably won't help if you need email for account access, invoices or product delivery.

---

Credit: PayU ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/payu-checkout-drop-email-field/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.