Is your e-commerce site suffering from shopping cart abandonment? Not sure what is causing buyers to tail off from making the purchase? Statistics show that payment security concerns, long checkout process, poor customer support, website crashes, and creating a new account were the leading factors in the abandonment of shopping carts. The payment gateway is a critical process in a buyer’s journey. Retailers need to ensure a seamless checkout process to ensure customers feel the personalised experience from the landing page to the checkout. A good payment gateway features seamless technology integration, customisation, and business solutions. Here are some essentials to ensure you get your payment gateway right:
Payment Flow
Understand your customers’ needs and choose a payment gateway your customers are familiar with, whether redirected payment, onsite payment, or online checkout with online payment off-site and facilitate these preferences. For instance, older generations tend to be more risk-averse in their online activities and prefer to follow what they already know. At the same time, Millennials are far better connected and receptive to different payment methods. You are not bound to commit to one gateway, and you can stack multiple gateways to ensure maximum coverage.
Security
Elevate your brand image and product trustworthiness by providing a safe and secure payment option. Firstly ensure the payment gateway follows The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance. By selecting a certified provider who complies with the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, you guarantee a system of standards to uphold security and protect customer data and payment details.
Secondly, provide a seamless transaction even if you temporarily redirect customers to a third-party website. Some payment gateway allows customisation to reflect brand colours, logos, and typeface, which will enable you to maintain brand aesthetics throughout your buyers.
Additionally, you should have a merchant account to receive funds through the payment gateway as an additional layer of security and funds management for both sellers and buyers.
Easy Checkout
Retailers must assess the payment gateway option that provides a flexible checkout experience. The increasing popularity of mobile payments means payment gateway providers allow buyers to transfer money using their mobile phones. With over 79% of buyers using their smartphones to make online purchases, you must optimise the payment gateway for different devices and network types. The rise of digital wallets changes how buyers respond to flash sales and promotions. Often buyers are on the go, with over 61% of retail traffic coming from mobile. Your e-commerce site should intuitively adapt to provide the most user-friendly experience throughout special deals, events, and promotional activities.
Effortless Integration
Opt for a payment gateway system that integrates easily with popular e-commerce platforms such as Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, etc. A shopping cart abandonment often occurs when payment processes lag and ruins the website’s UX. You should select a payment gateway that is easy and practical for the customers to make payments. Keep in mind if your business needs to scale up in a couple of months or years as you set up your e-commerce site. Your payment gateway should provide a global solution and accept several credit cards, debit cards, digital wallets, and currencies. The payment gateway should support various tax systems, including charging VAT and other taxes. Provide recurring billing options for subscription-based plans and services.
Simple Solutions
Studies show that the impact of checkout abandonment is high when there is no “guest” checkout. Additionally, requiring customers to register an account to complete their purchases adds to the hassle of a seamless checkout. It would be best to allow first-time buyers a more straightforward checkout process to prompt repeat purchases and inspire brand loyalty. Customers should feel their checkout process is effortless and hassle-free with electronic invoicing, text or email notifications, and cashback management under one checkout process. Eliminate all redundancies requiring customers to fill in billing and shipping information, even when postal codes are the same.
By: Avinash Sagran
