5 Payment Tips to Improve Your Checkout Process

Customer satisfaction is directly connected to a business’s performance and growth. Brands that prioritize their customers stand to increase user trust and boost sales. Today, e-commerce has become faster, and with it, consumer demand for speed, accuracy, and security has grown too. In the hyper-connected world that we live in, people are increasingly looking for faster checkout process and a seamless shopping experience.

Why People Prefer an Optimized Checkout Process

Globally, cart abandonment rates remain high – an average of 71%. Slow and complicated checkouts still account for significant cart abandonment, with 9 out of 10 shoppers saying they will abandon a site if it is too slow. In Europe, one in five online shoppers abandon their shopping cart because of long checkout processes. 17% percent say long and complicated checkout is a reason to cancel an order.

Poor checkout can lead to a significant drop in overall sales. Basic errors in the checkout process can confuse customers and make it difficult for them to complete their purchases. Inaccurate product description, poor mobile optimization, slow load times, absence of guest checkout option, etc., can be immensely frustrating, causing customers to abandon their shopping carts.

How Payments Help to Improve the Checkout Process

Payment is a critical touch point in the checkout process, and in turn, the customer experience. Convenience, speed, and security are what consumers demand. Optimizing the payment process can reduce friction and draw in more shoppers, while keeping repeat ones engaged. By allowing your customers to feel safe you win their trust, which influences them to buy from you more often. A customer-centric approach helps you to make your customers feel seen and heard, boosting loyalty and driving repeat purchases.

5 Payment Tips to Improve the Checkout Experience

Many times, the reasons for shopping cart abandonment are beyond a merchant’s control. But there are some basic steps you can take to offer the best customer experience.
So, here are five payment tips to help you optimize the checkout experience and boost your conversions.

1. Integrate a Reliable Payment Gateway

To be able to sell online and accept various types of digital payments, you need to integrate a reliable payment gateway. A payment gateway lets you accept online payments from anywhere in the world, in multiple currencies. At the same time, it ensures your business is compliant with all financial laws and regulations such as PCI DSS and PSD2. With the right payment gateway, the entire payment process becomes smooth, secure, and easy to use.

Using a payment gateway that lets you accept payments in multiple currencies and payment methods is vital. The gateway must also be easy to integrate into your website and business systems. This will help you to offer a seamless and secure payment experience. Different payment gateways are designed to suit different business needs and are also priced differently. Before selecting one for your business, understand the needs of your customers and your business, and choose a gateway that best addresses these needs.

Read more: How to Add a Payment Gateway to Your Online Store

2. Offer 1-Click Checkout

9 out of 10 shoppers abandon their carts if the checkout process is too slow or complex. One-click checkout solves this problem by allowing your customers to checkout faster, with just a click of a button. It limits the amount of info customers have to share when they shop with an online merchant.

One-click checkout helps increase your overall conversion rate and improve customer experience.

This is how it works:
Payment and billing/shipping info that customers share on their first purchase is stored in encrypted form for future use. This process is called tokenization. Tokenized payment data allows repeat customers to complete payments with just one click without re-entering their info each time they visit your store. One-click checkout also lets a customer complete a purchase directly from the page without having to add products to the shopping cart. Thus, 1-click payment reduces almost 90% of the steps required in a standard checkout process. This helps you create a seamless shopping experience that encourages customers to shop with you more often.

Learn more: 4 Ways How Tokenization Makes E-commerce Checkouts Smoother

3. Offer the Right Mix of Payment Options

Customers may not complete a purchase if they do not find their preferred payment method at the checkout. This can get more complex in cross-border e-commerce. While you may be offering a variety of payment methods, it may not have what the customers of a specific country prefer to use. Offering a mix of alternative payment methods and traditional ones works great for e-commerce businesses as it helps to cater to a wider audience. You may not be able to support everyone’s choice, but understanding your customers helps you make an informed decision and offer the right mix of secure, cohesive, and popular payment options.

Read more: Five Payment Methods Every Growing Business in Europe Should Adopt

4. Optimize for Mobile Payments

Mobile payments account for almost 50% of all online sales in Europe. And this will grow over the next 5 years. Customers today prefer shopping from brands that allow them to pay with their mobile devices, like a smartphone or smartwatch, or a tablet. Because everyone carries a mobile, paying with it becomes a natural option for shoppers. For merchants, it is a great way to boost sales and increase conversions.

As a business, you need to optimize your checkout to include mobile-based payments because it gives more control and flexibility to all users. Think digital wallets, QR codes, Tap on Phone. Mobile payments are simple, secure, cost-efficient, and easy to set up. Plus, shoppers enjoy a fast and contactless checkout, making the entire experience seamless.
Mobile payments also use multi-factor authentication, which helps you remain compliant with all security laws in Europe, including PSD2.

5. Start Accepting A2A Payments

Account-2-account or A2A payments are 3 times faster than traditional payment methods. Fewer steps are required to complete a payment, and without the need for extensive data sharing. Thus, a customer gets to enjoy speed, clarity, and security. A2A payments are great for e-commerce businesses as they offer instant payment settlement and significantly lower processing costs. They are a viable and cost-effective alternative to traditional payment methods because they remove the need for payment guarantees or card processing fees. At the same time, A2A payments use open banking APIs which reduces the need for excessive data entry. Moreover, A2A payments are SCA compliant and use multi-factor authentication, meaning there is a much lower chance of fraud and chargeback-related issues.

Know more: Account-to-Account Payments: What Merchants Need to Know

How Can Novalnet Help

An efficient and optimized payment system helps improve the checkout experience. Customers prefer payments to be part of a seamless end-to-end journey, rather than a separate process. Knowing this makes it easier for you to offer the best checkout experience. Novalnet is a global PSP with decades of experience in helping Europe’s leading brands process their payments. We can help you design a payments experience that will delight your customers and boost your brand. From our instant payment plug-ins to our AI-based risk management tools, we have the resources to get you up and running with your payments in a short time, and with minimal coding.
Reach out to us today to know more about how we can help

Jose Augustine

Jose Augustine is the Chief Business Development Officer at Novalnet with extensive experience in European payment industry and a knowledge powerhouse.