Over time, e-commerce has evolved into a massive enterprise, with projected revenues expected to reach a market volume of $5 billion in 2028. In this circumstance, online payments have become the backbone of e-commerce transactions. With the increasing popularity of online shopping, businesses must prioritize providing fast and seamless payment experiences to their customers. From optimization concerns to user experience, several factors should be considered when optimizing online payment processes. In this blog post, we’ll delve into strategies to ensure smooth and efficient online payments in e-commerce.
Importance of Frictionless Online Payment Step in E-Commerce
The online payment step is the final step in the customer’s journey, making it crucial for businesses to prioritize a seamless experience. So, this experience is also essential for your customers because they will decide whether to pay or not accordingly.
Here’s why streamlined online payments matter:
- Enhanced User Experience:
A smooth payment process ensures customer satisfaction and encourages repeat purchases. To increase repeat purchases, you should design your checkout page following the essential user experience rules. You may follow our tips for reducing card abandonment and boosting your conversion rates.
In addition to performing such validations, to develop a better user experience in your digital platforms, you can consider using different online payment features such as Card Storage, Closed-Loop Wallet, or Pay by Link.
To elaborate a little bit, for example, with a closed-loop wallet solution, you can define a wallet account that your customers can only use on your website. Thus, you can send instant gifts to their wallet accounts with loyalty programs or membership campaigns and maximize your customer experience. Furthermore, by using Craftgate’s PCI-DSS-compliant Card Storage feature you can eliminate the need for customers to re-enter their card information for future transactions. You can also provide different payment methods to enhance your customer retention.
- Reduced Cart Abandonment & Boost Conversion:
According to a study conducted by the Baymard Institute in the US, 18% of online shoppers abandon their purchases due to payment. Complex or slow payment processes often lead to cart abandonment and loss of income. Other important reasons for cart abandonment include payment providers’ downtimes, payment errors, and website validation deficiencies.
If you are facing that kind of problem, your conversion rate might be affected negatively which also means loss of income. For this, you should consider using a well-structured solution. For example, Craftgate has different solutions to eliminate that kind of problem. In the event of any downtime, Autopilot deactivates the relevant payment service provider and allows payments to pass through another one. When the problem is solved, it reactivates the relevant provider. Thus, merchants can receive payments 24/7 and avoid potential loss of turnover.
- Secured Payment Step:
Since ensuring the security of your online payment step is a “must-have”, you should pay attention to security protocols and legislation such as PCI-DSS, GDPR, or related regulations in your country.
Why You Should Offer Different Online Payment Options?
For e-commerce companies, shopping cart abandoners can be a real problem and cause a loss of revenue. Thus, according to a study by Stripe, 85% of e-commerce shoppers abandon the cart when they don’t see their preferred payment method as an option.
Offering a diverse range of options is essential to enhancing the overall consumer journey, as each user may have distinct preferences regarding payment methods.
With the developing technology and changing consumer habits, there are more payment methods such as digital wallets, BNPL, or APMs. Allowing consumers to choose their preferred payment method by providing as many options as possible, drives more conversions and will bring user satisfaction. Helping various online payment methods also allows you to reach the broadest potential target audience.
At this point, you may struggle with different integration processes with each payment method. To eliminate this burden, you should use a payment orchestration platform to reach all of them from a single point.
Gain Flexibility For Your Online Payment Process to Expand Globally
For the companies expanding operations across borders presents a valuable opportunity to receive payments from abroad, playing a pivotal role in their growth strategies. Exporting goods and services and accepting international payments unlock avenues for accessing new customer bases, boosting revenue streams, and securing a competitive edge. However, navigating the complexities of international payment acceptance demands comprehensive knowledge and expertise.
Before you decide to expand your business globally, you should ensure your online payment process is flexible enough to adapt to new markets.
For brands looking to expand their operations abroad, learning the cultural habits of consumers in the target market is the first step they can take to draw the right payment strategy. Another crucial factor is for companies to consider frequently preferred payment methods when receiving payments abroad. In accepting payments abroad, working with global online payment providers such as Klarna, Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, Payoneer, Afterpay, and Alipay offers various advantages for businesses.
On the other hand, processing different integration transactions with each provider may require operational burden and time. You should consider working with a payment orchestration platform to access different global online payment providers from a single panel. For example, Craftgate’s merchants which want to expand their business globally, can easily work with international payment methods.
Summary
By implementing these strategies and following the checklist, you can ensure fast, secure, and seamless online payments, fostering customer loyalty and driving e-commerce growth. Remember, prioritizing the payment experience is not just about completing a transaction but also about building trust and relationships with your customers in the digital landscape.
If you would like to learn more about this and strategize the process, you can contact our experienced team here.
To share our experience and knowledge in the payment field, we regularly publish content on the Craftgate Blog.
