Ecommerce: optimize the online payment experience

The online payment experience is critical. It is « the key element in the customer journey¹ ».

To make this experience as good as it can be, you need to know what shoppers want in terms of payment options: varied payment methods, installment payment, quick and easy checkout process… and strive constantly to meet these demands.

Businesses making these efforts can increase their conversion rate by 35%².

Read just how important the payment experience is in the customer shopping journey and our tips for making it as good as possible.

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The importance of the online payment experience

Shoppers have high expectations when it comes to making a payment. They want the process to be quick, frictionless, practical…

If your payment system doesn't deliver, they won't hesitate to abandon their purchase³, or look towards your competitor.

To avoid this, it is crucial to optimize the payment process⁴ for shoppers and to remove any potential friction: necessity to create an account (37%⁵ ), lengthy process (28%⁵ ), lack of confidence in the payment process (19%⁵)…

Our tips for optimizing the payment experience

Offer a variety of payment options

Shoppers tend to have preferred payment methods and 59% of shoppers⁶ who don't find theirs among your options will abandon their shopping cart.

To avoid this, businesses have to provide a variety of payment options including digital wallets⁷ (e-wallets) for example: PayPal, Google Pay, Apple pay… They are becoming increasingly popular among shoppers and represent 49% of global eCommerce payments⁷.

Providing a variety of payment methods is essential and for 40% of shoppers⁸ it also inspires confidence in your business.

Installment payments

In today's context of inflation, paying by installments is increasingly popular: 90% of shoppers⁹ are more likely to repeat a purchase on an eCommerce site if they can pay in 3 or 4 installments.

To make this possible, businesses have to integrate installment payment possibilities in their eCommerce site and use payment solutions that include the option to « pay by installments » such as PayPal Checkout¹⁰. They should also communicate and add web banners to indicate this option.

The possibility to pay by installments is fundamental as 48% of shoppers¹¹ use this solution to make purchases that don't initially fit into their budget.

Simplify the payment process

Shoppers are increasingly impatient and expect to experience an easy, frictionless, and speedy checkout. 21% of shoppers¹² have already abandoned an online shopping purchase due to a complicated payment process.

To make this simpler, businesses should provide a « guest mode » option to avoid shoppers from having to create a customer account: 30% of shoppers¹³ will abandon their cart if they have to create an account for their purchase.

Shoppers should also have access to simplified and speedy payment options such « One Click » payment which saves the client's payment information¹⁴ during an initial purchase (tokenization¹⁵) to avoid them from having to reenter their data for subsequent purchases. This payment method can increase a business's conversion rate by 5%¹⁵.

Reassure shoppers

When shoppers buy online, security plays an important role in the process. 64% of shoppers¹⁶ are more likely to buy from a business that stores their payment information safely.

This means that businesses must reassure shoppers as much as possible: activate the HTTPS protocol, apply strict rules for passwords, limit the number of authentication fails, provide various verification methods (SSO, 2FA, OTP…)…

Provide a detailed payment page

The payment page is important for consumers. It is the final stage¹⁸ in their shopping journey.

To inspire confidence it should be clear, precise, and detailed¹⁹ and inform shoppers about prices, shipping costs, product returns policy… Lack of clarity¹⁹ in this information is one of the main reasons for cart abandons. This page should also clearly present a summary and full price of the purchase. 21% of shoppers²⁰ will abandon their cart if this amount is not clearly presented.

To take it further, a business can use a PIM (Product Information Management) solution. With a PIM you can design high quality payment pages providing all the information shoppers expect to find, and manage this information as needed: prices, special offers, product returns policy… With PIM a business is equipped with a tool to present shoppers with content that is rich, detailed and up to date before they complete their purchase.

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² Reasons for cart abandonment – Why 68 % of users abandon their cart. (2016, September 21). Baymard Institute.
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²⁰ Amazon Pay. (2020, February 5). 10 moyens de réduire l'abandon de panier sur mobile. ecommerce-nation.fr.