AJAX World Magazine picked up the press release Elastic Path Software Announces AJAX-Powered One Page Checkout for Online Stores about Elastic Path’s new AJAX-i-fied One Page checkout tool.

While the technology which drives the software is cool and innovative, the increased functional utility to the customer is what really makes One Page an exciting announcement for Elastic Path. Even the analysts agree.

“When retailers provide simple and streamlined web sites, with hassle-free checkout, online shoppers are much more likely to buy,” said Alex Fletcher, lead industry analyst at The Entiva Group.

“While consumers are not necessarily aware of the driving technology behind an ecommerce site, they appreciate capabilities such as dynamically updated totals and an easier shopping experience that are made possible by an AJAX-powered checkout. Elastic Path’s One Page technology will reduce shopping cart abandonment for its customers as online shoppers are more apt to buy if the process is quick, easy, and forthcoming.

Well that’s nice, but exactly what is it that One Page actually does to reduce abandonment and increase conversions?

Elastic Path One Page provides customers with a constant snapshot of order details. The contents of the shopping cart can be adjusted at any time without losing existing data, enabling customers to see the effect of an applied promotion code without ever leaving the checkout process.

Additionally, by maintaining a small size footprint, Elastic Path One Page loads in under half the time of competing flash-based offerings, enabling retailers to provide an optimal shopping experience without demanding the presence of finicky browser plug-ins.

Exciting stuff - small, responsive and intuitive. Fortunately, eager and progressive retailers only have to wait until November 2006 to get their hands on it.