Benefits of Improving The Online Payment Experience
Online payments are a quickly growing industry that has the ability to transform how online shopping is done. The convenience and speed of this type of transaction offer benefits to both businesses and consumers, not just when it comes to making purchases but also as a way to reduce staff workloads.
As more and more people adopt online payments, the need for a better customer payment experience becomes apparent. Customers demand convenience and simplicity, and if businesses cannot meet their needs, they will go elsewhere. This article will explore how to improve the online payment experience as well as the benefits of such improvement for both customers and merchants.
What Are Online Payments?
Online payment is a way to transfer money from a debit or credit card, customer’s bank account, or digital wallet into a merchant’s bank account in exchange for products, services, or subscriptions. While transferring and receiving funds, several steps occur. And these steps require software to complete the transaction successfully. Payment gateways or payment service providers facilitate such payments.
To accept payment from credit cards, debit cards, or Internet-based payment services, online merchants can use Solidgate. This unified payment processing platform offers protected online purchases and optimized payment infrastructure. You can easily enable card acquiring and local payment methods globally to grow the business and increase revenue.
Who’s Shopping Online?
To better connect with shoppers, online businesses need to step up their digital game. This means improving the online payment experience for mobile users. After all, millennials make up to 40% of shoppers who make online purchases using their smartphones or tablets and nearly 30% of those who purchase online using a computer or laptop.
It’s hard to believe, but there are a lot of customers under 55 who shop online instead of purchasing in offline stores. This shift leads all age groups to expect additional features that will make their online shopping more enjoyable.
Why The Shift to Online Shopping?
While the shift to online shopping has been gradual, the coronavirus pandemic has ensured a rapid transition to digital to ensure health safety and minimize the number of infections due to offline shopping. Moreover, older people started buying online. Even if shoppers could not avoid going to an offline store, they tended to minimize their time there by choosing to pay online or pick up their goods options.
In the three months of 2020, offline store pickup service grew by 5 percent from 10 to 15 percent. Other digital options, which include product availability tools, contactless payments, pre-orders, or mobile wallet payments, also grew.
However, the flexibility and convenience of online shopping allow merchants to retain customers online. After all, if it were inconvenient, most users would go back offline as soon as the coronavirus pandemic subsided. That said, it’s incumbent on every merchant to create a seamless online shopping experience and offer customers multiple payment options to choose from.
Customers Need Convenience
Although every retailer tries to create the most convenient conditions for customers, online stores have done it better than anyone else:
- When shopping in a supermarket, you have to go around long rows to find the right item. The online store has a convenient search, and the products are one click away.
- Many shoppers often need help choosing a product, while the Internet often allows you to ask a question in online chat instantly, read customer reviews, and study the detailed photo and video instructions.
- If you can’t find the product you want in an offline store, you’ll have to go to the next store and continue your search there. The online store will tell you when the next item will arrive and offer replacement options or ship the item to your home address when it becomes available.
These and other digital features have made online shopping more satisfying for customers than the classic shopping experience. However, this makes shoppers more spoiled, forcing online merchants to develop new features to attract new customers and retain existing ones.
How To Improve The Online Payment Experience
In order to improve the online payment experience, there are a few things that retailers can do:
Make The Checkout Page Easier
One of the biggest reasons customers don’t use online payments is that it is too complicated. They have to fill it with their contact information, bank details, billing address, and product information. Often, checkout pages are overwhelmed, and no matter how hard you try to make things easier, many customers still prefer mailing in paper payments.
Offer Alternative Payment Methods
Instead of relying on the payment method linked to their card, it’s best to offer a few alternative payment methods for them as well. Many customers prefer paying with local card schemes or other convenient ways. That’s how you can personalize your checkout experience for every customer and ensure that every step of the payment process works well, no matter what choice they want.
The Bottom Line
Online payments are a great way to reduce the paperwork retailers have to deal with. More and more people are shopping online as well as paying their bills online, so it is time to get on board. The benefits of doing so are numerous, and they will eventually pay off in the future.
The number one benefit of using an online payment service is its convenience for both customers and retailers. But as with any payment method, for this to work properly, a few things need to be managed well. This includes a smooth checkout process, having the right amount of different payment methods available, and not asking customers to enter card details unnecessarily.
Keeping these things in mind, stores can immediately improve their online payment results and gain more customers.
