If you run an eCommerce payment system, you know that the struggle is real. You need to target the right audience, have a suitable range of products, and on top of that, payment options should be top-notch.
If you think this is too much to manage, don’t stress! In this article, we’ll cover how you can ensure the payment systems on your eCommerce site are easy to use and effective. This will help you to set up an easy checkout process for your customers, drive more sales, and ultimately make your business more successful.
1. Have Multiple Payment Methods
We cannot stress enough how essential it is to offer your customers several ways to complete a payment. Imagine offering a single payment option, but your customers don’t have access to this type of payment system. You are bound to lose customers and sales in this scenario.
While you should try to include as many payment options as you easily can, don't overdo it by offering each and every available payment method on the face of the earth. Instead, assess your target audience and the primary payment methods they like to use. By including all these options, you will be catering to the majority of people who visit your online store. This will give you the maximum benefit for the minimum cost and fuss.
2. Don’t Force Users to Create an Account
All too often, eCommerce payment pages force customers to sign up and create an account for that specific website. While that may be good and help you build a database, this can also be a major conversion killer.Â
Most customers avoid creating account because they’re afraid of being spammed with emails. Moreover, creating an account seems like too much work. Instead they find somewhere else to shop and you lose the sale.
Offline stores don't require their clients to create an account, so why should you? It's time to remove this extra hurdle for your customers – you’ll thank us later!Â
3. Make Returns and Refunds Easy
Many people dislike shopping online because returns and refunds can be painful. There is also the added doubt of whether they would will like the product since they can only see it virtually.Â
Let your customers be in complete control of the payment journey, and make returns and refunds as smooth and easy as possible. By doing so, you will not only have a happy customer but likely also enjoy repeat business.Â
When the customer has confidence that refunds and returns are pain-free, they are bound to come back to your site. They might even experiment and take the risk of buying something new!
3. Standardise Device and Browser Support
With password management in place, your customers’ credit card information will be stored across various browsers and devices. They even automatically supply information whenever prompted by the website or an application.Â
This greatly increases user experience, making it quick and easy for your customers to shop with you. And what will this mean? You guessed it – more sales and more repeat business!Â
4. Pay Attention to Design
Your site’s design is not only an important part of your branding and marketing, but it is essential to good payment processes. You should ensure to use the same fonts, colours, and design on your checkout page as you do on all the other pages of your website. Across all pages, the design should be aesthetically-pleasing, on-brand, and essential encourage your customers to buy your products.
How will this help? Well, first of all, it will improve your business’ brand recognition. Clients will equate your business with specific colours or motifs, which is a great way to expand your customer base.Â
Secondly, having a payment page that doesn’t look the same as the rest of your website might raise customers’ concerns over authenticity. Consumers these days are very conscious of identity thefts and privacy, and a random-looking check out page is a red flag. A consistent design therefore boosts consumer trust and makes your customers feel safe to shop with you.
5. Do Not Redirect your Customers
Redirect messages coming up when your customer is ready to finalize their payment not the best look. If they’ve got this far, your customer has already stayed on your website for a long time and there is absolutely no reason for you to send them away!
Services such as Paypal are effective but take people away from your ecommerce website, which can negatively affect your website's profitability. Ensure that the payment process is done entirely on your portal. By doing so, you will leave a good impression on your customer and avoid last-minute cart abandonment.
6. Resolve Errors Immediately
Humans make mistakes, and perhaps more so in the digital world. They might overlook a pin code, or mistype their email address. In any case, quickly identifying and resolving errors is essential
Moreover, the resolution should be quick and easy. If you already have an error message system, try to make it as easy for the customer to resolve as possible. Sometimes, you enter the wrong value in a form and get an error message. But the error message doesn't say what went wrong, so you have to scroll through the whole page to figure it out.
Why not cut out all this work and try to make your site more user-friendly? Make sure you display an error message right next to the field with the mistake. This will cut customer stress and make the payment faster and more manageable.
Also, try to ensure that the form saves the information your customer already entered. This means that the next time they start the payment process, all the info will be auto-filled, helping to boost your conversion rates!
7. Reassure your Customers
Digital payments are still a weak area, with many customers having concerns about making online payments. With so many security risks and stories about scammers, it’s not surprising that many consumers hesitate in the regard.
As an online business, it’s important to go out of your way to reassure your customers that their personal information is safe and secure. We know that many people drop out at the final stages of the purchasing process because they are concerned about payment security.
The biggest tip here is to have a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate for your website to ensure a secure connection and the credit card information is encrypted. Modern consumers a pretty savvy, and many know to look for sites that have an SSL certificate.
You also want to ensure to comply with all PCI Security Standards Council standards. These represent the industry best practices for secure payments and handling confidential customer information, for credit card companies and eCommerce businesses.
Summing Up
As the world is becoming increasingly digitalised, online payments are part and parcel of modern shopping. If you run a successful eCommerce business, you know how essential the checkout process is in the sales cycle. By implementing these simple tips to making your payment systems more user-friendly, you are bound to see a change in customer behaviour, meaning more sales and more revenue, in a game-changer for your business!
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