In this day and age, it’s essential for any storefront to have an online store. But there are a ton of components that go into payment processing, each one with its own price tag and requirements. It can make the entire online store feel like a hassle, instead of being a quick and easy solution. Here are a few ways you can pare down this process to streamline your online payments and make it easier for everyone involved.
Go With a Hosted Checkout
One big way many smaller store owners waste a lot of money is by opting for a custom-build checkout or shopping cart. Instead, to streamline your online payments, you could go with a hosted cart or checkout process. Typically, this option will be cheaper, increase support, and will be more secure than anything you could build from scratch. Generally, this process looks like generating a checkout button that is coded into your store’s website. The customer clicks that button and is redirected to the provider’s payment portal.
This is where it’s vitally important for your provider to be thoroughly vetted and secure. If the customer doesn’t like the looks of the payment portal, they might abandon the purchase entirely. With a purchased shopping cart, you’ll get a ton of great features like an Istio service mesh that allow you to customize the process to your liking. It’s sort of the halfway point between a third-party portal and your own, self-built payment process.
Combine Online and In-Store Processes
A big complication of moving your store online is that you’ll most likely have multiple merchant service providers along with your online payment gateway. This makes it a lot harder to track transactions and can get extremely tricky. For example, a customer purchases something online and wants to return it in-store, this will cover 2 systems/providers. To eliminate this problem, and to streamline your online payments, you could switch to a combined service that can handle both transaction formats.
No Forced Registration
When thinking from the customer’s perspective, the transaction process should be all about simplicity and functionality. Each road bump along the way to payment processing is getting that customer closer to quitting the transaction and leaving items in their cart indefinitely. To streamline your online payments, eliminating the need for registration can be a huge help. Sure, having people sign up for an account is a great way to keep them coming back.
But it’s most often the case that a customer may not be ready to sign up for an account with their first purchase. Instead, they will wait to see if they like the product. Rather than forcing a sign-up, then, offer a guest check-out option. Include information about incentive programs around signing up (i.e., 15% off their first order or a points system). A guest check-out can do the work of getting the customer’s email address without forcing them to enter all their info right away.
Send a Receipt
Ending a transaction with a “Thank you!” message on the screen can be a wasted opportunity. Customers appreciate an emailed receipt as confirmation of their purchase and a sign that they’ll be getting consistent interactions about their purchase. The receipt should include any information the customer needs to track their order or request assistance. On your side, this emailed receipt can be an opportunity to advertise other products they may be interested in. Additionally, you can offer discount codes for future purchases.
Use New Payment Methods
Payment methods are being updated all the time. Many customers expect to be able to use Apple or Google pay at the checkout. It shouldn’t be a hassle for customers to enter payment info. Rather, they should be able to see multiple options that are viable for them to complete the transaction. One-click options are always going to be more popular than the grueling effort of entering card information with every purchase.
Streamline Your Online Payments: Conclusion
By ensuring that your checkout experience is streamlined, you’re giving your store the best possible chance of closing every sale it begins.
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