How diversifying payment methods can improve your conversion rate
Online shopping is hardly a new trend. But the preference for digital shopping has grown substantially over the course of 2020, spurred by the pandemic and social isolation we’ve all experienced.
In this crisis, many have started transforming their shopping habits to buy everything online, in a contactless, efficient manner, from groceries, to pharmaceuticals and wearables. By the same token, brands have had to keep up with the demand and the changing customer behavior, in an attempt to retain their relevance and make sure their conversion rates would keep improving.
One particularly prominent trend brands have noticed in the past several months is the preference among customers to have a multitude of payment options for their online purchases. Why? Because people now have many types of credit cards, digital banks, and buy now, pay later programs to rely on for all their needs.
Here’s why this diversification helps you boost your conversion rate and inspire more people to come back to your online store.
Securing return customers
Customer acquisition is far costlier and more difficult than customer retention. Simply put, once you’re finally able to land a customer for your store, the job of keeping their loyalty is easier on your budget and your marketing as well as your sales teams. Payment diversification greatly helps in inspiring long-lasting loyalty among your customers, since their first successful and seamless purchase will certainly play a role in getting them back to your store.
If you offer their preferred payment options, and they can easily repeat the purchase even more quickly than the first time since you have their information, they’ll be all the more likely to buy again. Also, they want to know they are in safe and trusted hands, so once they verify that they can trust you through their chosen payment solution, you will likely see them come back to your store.
Simplifying checkout for your buyers
Your conversion rates are often affected by your checkout process, and that includes the availability of different payment providers at the checkout page. Of course, you can show the badges and logos of all institutions that you work with across the website, not exclusively during checkout. However, by making sure that they can choose early in the process, you help them decide quickly if they want to buy from you.
If you make sure that the entire checkout is simple, straightforward, and easy to complete in a matter of just a few clicks, you’ll create a winning checkout strategy that appeals to your audience. The deciding factor in the process will always be your customers’ ability to choose how they pay!
Attracting a specific demographic
Different groups of people, especially depending on their location will use specific payment solutions that are available in their own local banks and digital providers. In highly developed and digitally savvy societies such as Australia, customers also appreciate another crucial payment option: the famous buy now, pay later version that enables installments.
What this means for businesses targeting this region is that they will accept providers such as the humm90 interest free credit card in Australia to appeal to the local audience and give them enough payment flexibility. Such an approach allows you to tailor-make a strategy that will appeal to specific regions of the world and embrace payment methods and structures that are appreciated by that audience.
You’ll quickly find yourself boosting conversion rates for that region, simply because you’re giving them precisely the options they need.
Boosting your reputation
Payment providers all have their own sets of criteria by which any online store needs to abide. If your business meets these standards and you’re able to ensure safe purchases at every touchpoint, different providers will be easier to integrate with your online store. In a very significant way, the fact that they want to associate their carefully built brands with your store gives credit to your business.
In the eyes of your customer, the fact that these payment providers trust you with their clients means that your store is secure, and thus your reputation strong. When you are trusted by banking institutions and payment providers, your customers will be far more likely to trust you with their payments, too.
Inspiring positive reviews
When a customer constantly comes across roadblocks online and then finally discovers your brand, the brand that gives them the option to use their desired payment method – they’ll appreciate the option.
Even more so, they’ll be likely to leave a positive review after such an amazing experience, and it turns out, research has shown that for products with over 50 reviews, brands have seen a 4.6% increase in conversions. An added Yelp star can lead to anywhere between 5% to 9% increase in revenues, and almost 90% of customers trust reviews as much as they do personal recommendations.
All that combined creates a simple, but vital image of a target audience that wants to know whom they can trust. If you work on obtaining a decent number of strong reviews, which is far more possible when you provide diverse payment methods and thus appeal to a wider demographic, you’ll use that same success as a way to attract others to your store.
Remember, payment methods are not just a means to an end in the eyes of your customer. They showcase how well you recognize the changing payment trends, as well as specific subgroups among your demographic, and those who prefer to use specific providers over all others.
Making things more convenient is today’s mantra for many successful companies, and that convenience extends to payments. If you’ve managed to get your customers as far as checkout and they are ready to wrap up the purchase, this is the defining moment of your digital strategy to make sure they come back.
