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5 Common Mistakes in Online Payment Systems That Can Kill Your Conversion

5 Common Mistakes in Online Payment Systems That Can Kill Your Conversion
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

5 Common Mistakes in Online Payment Systems That Can Kill Your Conversion

Many online merchants lose significant revenues because of online payment mistakes. It is high time that these e-commerce mistakes are rectified, or else e-stores will keep facing repeated incidents of abandoned carts and incomplete purchases by customers. Some of the oft-ignored e-commerce mistakes committed by online merchants are:

  1. Redirection can be counterproductive: Some merchants get it completely wrong when it comes to the gateway for online payment. They redirect the customers to an external payment website with payment gateway charges and a different company logo. This is a big put off for many customers, who might abandon the transactions as they have security concerns about the new portal or might not be willing to pay additional charges. It is always best to have a single website where a customer can smoothly navigate through till the end of the transaction and the checkout process. This would result in higher chances of the purchase transaction being completed and reduce the loss of customers to competition.
  2. Mandating account creation: This might work counterproductively, especially in the case of first-time customers or customers who intend to purchase a small quantity of products. Creating an account involves time and prolongs the entire purchase process. This could result in customer frustration and even possible withdrawal by the customer before completion of the transaction. It is advisable to provide the option of buying as a guest user. Post the purchase, one can subtly encourage the customers to create an account through offers of promotional discounts or price benefits by email or SMS. Customers prefer shopping on e-commerce sites where they can exercise their choice.
  3. Expecting excess information: The transition to the payment gateway should be smooth for the customer to make the online payment and be able to close the transaction with minimum lag time. Asking for additional information with extra fields would delay the buying process. It may also increase chances of error while filling out the form, causing unnecessary frustration and might result in abandonment of the transaction. A good user experience on the e-commerce website can result in higher sales conversions and higher probability of return customers. It is prudent to have auto-fill options for forms that only ask for information relevant to successful payment, namely card number, name of the cardholder, expiry date and CVV. In the case of a website with a multi-step checkout process, it is recommended to have a progress indicator so that the customer is aware of the remaining steps before the transaction is completed.
  4. Assurance on security: This is critical in every digital transaction. With growing incidents of data breach and leak of confidential information, every customer would like to be reassured on the safety aspect of the online purchase. Thus, it is imperative to have secure online payment systems wherein the customers’ card data remains secure. It would be useful to indicate that the website follows the regulatory framework prescribed for data security and encryption standards. This includes security badges, the merchant logo prominently displayed on every webpage, SSL certification and PCI compliant payment gateway.
  5. Absence of customer support: Many times, the customer is unable to proceed with the payment or faces a problem completing the online payment. In such instances, it can be extremely frustrating for the customer if he can obtain no assistance or response on the toll-free number. Immediate support with 24*7 availability should readily address the customer issues and resolve the problem. Provision of timely help to the customer works as a strong customer retention strategy.

Don’t shoot yourself in the foot and kill conversion with these e-commerce mistakes. Following the above mentioned measures to correct them would result in better user experience for the online customer and higher sales conversion for the e-commerce merchant, truly a win-win situation for both.

6 years ago
Increase your revenue from existing customers
Mohab Customer Experience 0

Increase your revenue from existing customers

Strategies to boost sales from existing customers

Merchants are often faced with the problem of stagnant or worse, diminishing revenues from existing customers. Constantly reinventing and innovating one’s service offerings, cross selling and reducing the customers’ pain points are key strategies to enhance revenue realisation from existing clients. We shall look into some of the winning strategies that can help merchants improve sales conversion from their existing customer base:

  1. Customer engagement: Interactions with the e-commerce merchant influence client perceptions. Superior post purchase support and FAQs on the website about the products are some examples. It is also a good idea to have a payment gateway process that includes easy grievance redressal for chargebacks. The feature should ideally ensure that the customer can provide the necessary documentation and the complete transaction details available with the merchant are also accessible. This would facilitate transparency and improve the credibility of the merchant.
  2. Winning customers’ loyalty: Merchants often face declined payments in case the customer fails to update his/her card data, resulting in card expiration issues. The payment solutions company can ensure smooth transaction processing with automatic data updating facility.This would also go a long way in improving customer experience and reduce order cancellation.
  3. Omnichannel payment option: Merchants can allow multiple payment options including digital payments via mobile applications, thus enabling 24*7 transactions. Thus, time and space will no more be limiting factors in online purchases.
  4. Quick authentication: A BCG survey estimates that the average e-commerce website requires shoppers to click 23 times before a purchase is completed. Merchants need to revamp the shopping experience and enable a one-click checkout with secure online payment systems. This would drastically reduce cart abandonment and revenue losses.
  5. Local payment solutions: Some customers would prefer to pay with familiar, local payment modes. Thus, the merchant should integrate a payment platform that supports alternative payment methods in local currency as well. This would help retain local customers, who might not be aware of global digital payment trends.
  6. Product differentiation: Merchants and payment providers can offer personalised recommendations to customers based on the data repository of past transactions. For example, in case of multiple saved cards, the website could suggest one of them as the primary card option based on the historical usage. Further merchants could also enable better site selection options, so that the customer undergoes minimum navigation through the website before purchase completion.
  7. Cross selling: One can also offer innovative payment features like instant financing, and flexible payback terms to encourage big ticket and frequent purchases
  8. Rewarding customers’ loyalty: A loyalty program with item discounts or freebies would positively impact website visits and sales size. The merchants can promote the benefits program by sending targeted -mail campaigns to existing customers with details of customized rewards and points status.
  9. Low cost payment option: A charge for using the payment gateway is often a big put-off for customers. Thus, merchants should integrate a convenient ‘plug and use’ payment portal, which is free of charge for the customer.
  10. Secure payment option: This is a critical aspect to ensure return customers. Merchants must ensure that the payment gateway and the e-commerce portal can securely store card tokens and confidential customer information. This would speed up the transaction time as the customer would not have to re-enter all the details each time before a purchase transaction.
  11. Expert advice: To further enhance customer appeal, one may also consider the inclusion of a knowledge section or blog with practical information on the transaction steps and the payment process. An educated customer would be more willing to return again for additional purchases.
  12. Keeping one’s ear to the ground: It might be a good idea to include an optional pop-up survey or a quick questionnaire to extract customer opinions or reviews on the ease of online operations and the product experience. This way one could address any shortfalls and win customers’ confidence.

With growing competition in the digital space, it is imperative that along with new customer acquisition, merchants devise innovative and strong strategies to grow business from existing customers. Providing excellent quality of payment experience, fostering customer trust through improved ease of online purchases, and winning a higher share of the customers’ wallet with quality products and service offerings are crucial for higher sales conversion from repeat customers.

6 years ago
How to retrieve your money from a not-so friendly fraud
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

How to retrieve your money from a not-so friendly fraud

A friendly fraud is probably a misnomer. In reality, it can be a harrowing experience for the merchant, who completed the transaction. Friendly fraud occurs when a cardholder files a chargeback instead of requesting a refund from the merchant for a legitimate purchase. It can be filed by mistake by the customer or even intentionally in some cases. While such incidents of disputed transactions are on the rise with the predominance of digital transactions, the following are the ways in which the merchant can mitigate the risks:

  1. Switch to a fool proof secure payment solution: It would be prudent to adopt a secure payment processor, which offers a comprehensive, multi-level risk protection to detect any fraud incidents or outliers and red flags the issue in a timely manner. Incorporation of verification tools like fingerprint, facial or retina recognition to work on mobile applications would also go a long way to prevent fraud risks.
  2. Adopt a 3D Secure authentication: Under this online payment platform, the customer’s card is promptly validated by the issuing bank, prior to the transaction. Thus, it’s extremely difficult for the customer to later claim any unauthorized charges. Some merchants are reluctant to adopt this approach owing to the fear of reduced sales conversion or cancellation of the transaction due to the customer being kept waiting for the bank confirmation.
  3. Keep the communication channels open: It is advisable to offer 24*7 support to customers for post sales services. A good business rapport would help clear any potential differences or misunderstanding with the customer. The merchant could also negotiate a lower chargeback charge or its cancellation by the customer and reduce potential monetary losses. One should also regularly apprise the customer before charging for recurring payments.
  4. Establish a solid return policy and delivery tracking mechanism: It is a good practice to make the customer aware in prior of the return, cancellation and refund policies. This would reduce the chances of chargeback filed by mistake. The merchant could also have a software to track the delivery status of the product, with a signed customer confirmation upon receipt of the product by customer at the shipping address.
  5. Maintain adequate data trail: Documentary evidence is key when it comes to validation of online transactions. This should ideally capture details of product description, agreed pricing and the date of transaction. This is vital as in many cases the chargeback is claimed on frivolous or false grounds like non-delivery of the products, delivery of counterfeit or wrong items, non-cancellation of recurring charges by the merchant inspite of customer requests and the original transaction was unauthorized in the first place. Hence the need for retention of sufficient papers to support the online transaction.
  6. Distinguish between accidental and intentional fraud: This identification is crucial. While the former can be settled by talks with the customer, the latter, being malicious in intent is a different ball game. The merchant is not in a very advantageous position as far as the law goes with limited power to get the chargeback reversed. Similar to a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ situation. This is because in most cases, it is likely that the bank would side with the customer than the merchant.

To conclude, in case one does land in the soup and has to face monetary losses from chargeback charges, loss of shipping costs and transaction processing fees, it is best to hold one’s ground. In case, the quantum of money is huge, it is best to get professional, legal advice. Further, repeat transactions with such errant customers should be absolutely avoided as the adage goes “once bitten, twice shy.”

6 years ago