When it comes to eCommerce stores, payment process is of paramount importance. If the payment process is messed up, you are sure to have closed business sooner or later - and most probably it would be sooner unless you have deep pockets. For the simplification of payment process, having a secured payment gateway is not enough. You need to reassure the customers that their financial and personal information is safe and secure; offer them tons of payment options; and offer them guest checkout. Let's have a look at the factors that can make the payment process as painless as possible for your visitors.
Offer multiple payment options
Offering one or two payment options is not enough. According to an infographic from Milo, 56% of the respondents said that they expect variety of payment options on the checkout page. So have a closer look at your target audience and offer a range of payment options accordingly. Usually, direct bank transfers and payments from all major credit cards should satisfy your customers' requirements. Still do proper research and include all payment methods that your target audience would like, including PayPal and Google Wallet.
Accept payments without requiring an account
Customers hate to register on each and every store. Also, customers avoid getting registered on all the stores they shop because they expect to be flooded with promotional emails. If the registration is compulsory for checkout, most probably they will abandon the cart if they aren't in the dire need of the products they have selected. Make the checkout process smooth by offering guest checkout. Many of the eCommerce stores have already started doing so. Don't be left behind and lose sales.
Offer consistent checkout experience
Keep the checkout process smooth and consistent. This means, same colors, fonts and designs should be used on the checkout pages as on the rest of the website. This will also improve the brand image of the store. If you are using third-party payment gateway, make sure that they offer you the frontend ready made as well as 100% control over the look and feel of the checkout page.
No redirection
The worst thing you can do during the checkout process is to redirect customers from your store to other websites for the completion of the process. This means, if you are using services like Paypal which redirects people from your website to their checkout page, you will most likely lose a sale. Consequently, it'd make more sense to use a payment gateway which doesn't require customers to be redirected to any other website than your own.
Errors should be easy to fix
It may happen that while filing up the required information, customers may forget to fill certain information boxes such as email address or zip code. In this situation, to make the payment process simple, point out the errors. Once the customers are aware of the errors, they will be able to complete the payment process quickly.
Ask for minimum information
Customers hate to provide long, detailed information due to several reasons. The reasons range from security issues to fear of barrage of promotional emails to sheer laziness. So make sure you are asking for minimum information which is required to complete the transaction.
Offer reassurances for security and privacy
Another thing customers deeply hate is lack of reassurances. If they aren't satisfied about the safety and security of the transaction, they will abandon the shopping cart in a jiffy. Offer adequate security and privacy reassurances on the checkout page to reduce cart abandonment rate. Usually, having a SSL certificate on the website is enough to reassure customers.
Offer multiple payment options
Offering one or two payment options is not enough. According to an infographic from Milo, 56% of the respondents said that they expect variety of payment options on the checkout page. So have a closer look at your target audience and offer a range of payment options accordingly. Usually, direct bank transfers and payments from all major credit cards should satisfy your customers' requirements. Still do proper research and include all payment methods that your target audience would like, including PayPal and Google Wallet.
Accept payments without requiring an account
Customers hate to register on each and every store. Also, customers avoid getting registered on all the stores they shop because they expect to be flooded with promotional emails. If the registration is compulsory for checkout, most probably they will abandon the cart if they aren't in the dire need of the products they have selected. Make the checkout process smooth by offering guest checkout. Many of the eCommerce stores have already started doing so. Don't be left behind and lose sales.
Offer consistent checkout experience
Keep the checkout process smooth and consistent. This means, same colors, fonts and designs should be used on the checkout pages as on the rest of the website. This will also improve the brand image of the store. If you are using third-party payment gateway, make sure that they offer you the frontend ready made as well as 100% control over the look and feel of the checkout page.
No redirection
The worst thing you can do during the checkout process is to redirect customers from your store to other websites for the completion of the process. This means, if you are using services like Paypal which redirects people from your website to their checkout page, you will most likely lose a sale. Consequently, it'd make more sense to use a payment gateway which doesn't require customers to be redirected to any other website than your own.
Errors should be easy to fix
It may happen that while filing up the required information, customers may forget to fill certain information boxes such as email address or zip code. In this situation, to make the payment process simple, point out the errors. Once the customers are aware of the errors, they will be able to complete the payment process quickly.
Ask for minimum information
Customers hate to provide long, detailed information due to several reasons. The reasons range from security issues to fear of barrage of promotional emails to sheer laziness. So make sure you are asking for minimum information which is required to complete the transaction.
Offer reassurances for security and privacy
Another thing customers deeply hate is lack of reassurances. If they aren't satisfied about the safety and security of the transaction, they will abandon the shopping cart in a jiffy. Offer adequate security and privacy reassurances on the checkout page to reduce cart abandonment rate. Usually, having a SSL certificate on the website is enough to reassure customers.
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