If you’re running an online business such as an e-commerce store, it is essential to give payment processing consideration as much as the shopping experience. After all, the checkout is your customer’s last stop, and this is where they’ll finally pay you for your products and services. The last thing you want is for customers to leave your site because it’s such a pain to pay you.
So, if you want the payment process to become quick and easy, here are the ways you should follow:
1. Provide a Number of Options.
It is essential to offer a variety of payment options, ranging from debit and credit cards, ACH and wire transfers, payment gateways such as Payoneer and PayPal as well as eCash and mobile wallet payments. While it’s not necessary to offer every type of payment method there is, you should at least zero in on a few options that customers are likely going to use.
Try to do an informal survey of which payment method is being used most and add a few more that’s more popular among your target audience.
2. Only Require Important Information.
Customers can easily get overwhelmed with a long list of information they need to provide just to pay you. Keep your required information to only what’s necessary, so that people can get over the checkout and done within just a few seconds. Don’t overburden your customers with the toil of filling up a long payment form. Otherwise, it can kill your potential for conversion.
For instance, if you’re allowing international wire transfers, you’ll mostly need the account name, account number, and swift codes. For credit card holders, you’ll need their type of card such as Visa or Mastercard, account name, account number, security code, and expiration date.
3. Consider Getting a Third-Party Payment Processor.
Getting a third-party payment processor is another fantastic option for smooth and streamlined payment processing from and to your customers. This idea is particularly appealing to small online businesses who don’t want to set up a merchant account with financial institutions like banks. With a third-party payment processor, your customers can make swift and easy payments through processing systems like Amazon Pay and PayPal.
Additionally, third-party payment processors make the entire payment process simple and stress-free using just one service.
4. Enable Guest Checkout.
It’s unappealing for many customers to sign up and create an account on your website just to be able to shop and pay for purchases. The burden of creating yet another username and remembering another password is sometimes too much for them that they’d rather leave and take their business where it’s so much easier to pay.
Give guest customers the option to check out instantly without requiring them to sign up. Allowing them to check out as guests make for a more seamless and straightforward shopping experience, and customers are bound to remember how easy it was to shop at your store.
5. Make Customers Feel Secure.
Most customers are always wary of doing business with an unsecured website. After all, they are putting their hard-earned money on the line, and it only makes sense if they want to make sure that your payment process is as safe and secure as possible.
As the business owner, you can retain customers by making them trust you. Apart from a seamless checkout page, customers appreciate the extra protection you have in place such as a secure sockets layer (SSL). Also, displaying your security accreditations is useful in giving customers the confidence to pay you.
6. Provide Specific CTAs.
Call-to-actions or CTAs are statements that generate a response from the audience. CTAs are very beneficial in guiding your customers in the entire shopping process right until they finish checkout. It is essential to craft specific CTAs so that customers are well aware of the next step, so saying “Proceed” won’t be as effective as saying “Proceed to checkout” or “Upgrade” is vague while “Upgrade to free trial” is more specific.
Final Thoughts.
Every customer is a potential sale. You want to give them a happy, comfortable and painless shopping experience, so they’ll always remember you next time and even refer your business to other people. If you overlooked how important payment processing was in the past, chances are, you’re not attracting new customer and retaining the old ones, and you’re losing potential sale each time.
Make payment processing for your online customers as smooth and seamless as possible with the tips above, and you’ll build a great relationship with them. If you were in their shoes, you’d also abandon your cart if it’s too complicated and stressful for payment to get through.
