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The importance of knowing your customer

The importance of knowing your customer
Mohab Customer Experience 0

The importance of knowing your customer

Whenever we are given a chance to describe our customer, the first thing we think of is demographic traits. 22 – 55, single, female living in a particular location. But is a statistical summation good enough to make business decisions? While this was true for the early days of eCommerce, things are different today.

Thanks to social networking sites, we are also privy to behavioral trails like their interests, hobbies and shopping patterns. That’s as far as the data available goes. But what about interpreting that data? How can we understand what is driving this person behind the computer to buy or not buy our products?

Several companies create an inside-out customer-first culture for their business. It’s a difficult trait but here are some points to help you get started:

  1. Map your customer’s journey

Your customer may visit your store and buy the product online or shop from your app. To do this, they may have either watched your TV commercial, heard about you on the radio, read about you in the papers or seen a social recommendation from a friend. In the era of omni-channel marketing, you’ll have to cross align channels with the phase your customer is in to see if each channel is working optimally.

The steps in the sales funnel for eCommerce include Discover, Explore, Gain Interest, Purchase intent, actual purchase and after sales support. When a customer reads about you on social media, they could be any one of the above phases. You’ll have to step back to see if your social messages are catering to customers in each segment equally.

  1. Listen to uncover insights

Survey tools have evolved over the years to go beyond the simple Google form. Instead, they now pop up at the right stage in a customer’s journey to gather valuable feedback. The only caveat is that you need to be able to ask the right questions.

If you ask your customer what they think of a new product line you’ve launched, you’ll probably get many answers that you want to hear depending on how you’ve framed the question. Instead, if you actually look for purchase patterns and interpret analytical data, you’ll get to know what your customers are actually doing. Listening to these patterns will allow you to tweak your product offering.

  1. Leave assumptions in the hallway

Even if your eCommerce business is successful, there is always room for improvement. There is always the issue of cart abandonment. You’ll still have to figure why only a fraction of your traffic goes on to become your customer and what happens to the rest.

The only real way to get your answers is to speak to the customer. You’ll have to zero in on a group, go in without fixed questions and let them do the talking while you walk away with insights that can be converted into action points.

  1. Go beyond heat maps

The analytics heat maps from your eCommerce website tends to show you a rough picture of where your customers are looking. But what does it tell you about their real time navigational choices? How are they examining products and charting their decision making journey. Which part of the cart is throwing people off? Are the taxes or shipping charges coming as a surprise? Are people unable to use their coupon code? Is your payment gateway (link) working as it promised?

To know answers to such questions observe how customers work in a focus group rather than just historic data.

Conclusion: After connecting data points with individual behaviour, the ongoing thing that you need to do is keep talking to your customers and check for feedback. The proactive approach to understanding your customer will be the difference between you and your nearest competitor.

7 years ago
PayTabs Wins Best Global Online Payments Solution of the year
Mohab Global Events 0

PayTabs Wins Best Global Online Payments Solution of the year

Every once in a while there comes a brand that disrupts the old way of working and replaces drudgery with excitement. Most entrepreneurs behind such brands have been told that their ideas are implausible. And yet, here they are, not only revolutionizing our lives but also empowering businesses, generating jobs, skilling workforce and changing perceptions. Such brands were recognized and awarded at the World Payment Congress on 14th February 2018.

The World Payment Congress recognizes players in the fintech industry who are working to create the next level of possibilities in payments. Globally, 35% internet users buy online from outside their home country. The cross-border market value is expected to surge to 994B in 2020. With a 27% YoY growth in eCommerce, India offers huge profits and potential opportunities to players worldwide.

For entrepreneurs who are looking to sell outside India, having a single payment interface across countries and currencies was a must. It had to be easy to use for merchants and hence a lot depended upon the global appeal of a clean and easy to use UX. Besides, changing times required the latest and most secure way to conduct transactions. All these requirements pushed PayTabs to create a new system that could change the way transactions were conducted internationally, especially by Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Keeping their focus on SMEs proved to be a game changing strategy for PayTabs. They leveled the playing field between larger enterprises and SMEs thus creating a Blue Ocean for themselves and their customers. In addition to developing features that were in clear demand, PayTabs also understood several latent needs that existed in the market. They allow users to create and send online invoices, use API plugins to integrate with your website and even create an online store. They also allow instant global activation and don’t require an on ground local establishment.

PayTabs agility is demonstrated by the fact that they are quick to recognize local payment preferences and adapt their system to mimic these effectively. This ensures that people don’t have to step out of their comfort zone to use PayTabs. This also became a governing factor on why merchants adopted PayTabs with ease.

On receiving the award, PayTabs CEO Abdulaziz Al Jouf said, “At Paytabs, we are honored to accept the Best Global Online Payments Solution of the year award. Coming from World Payment Congress, this prestigious award is a recognition of the hard work from the entire team, without whom we couldn’t have grown to where we are today. We are thankful to our customers who’ve walked with us through the years, put their trust in our brand. We would also extend our gratitude to all our partners who made it possible for us to extend this solution to 17 countries. We look forward to making PayTabs a brand that people can use to build their businesses in the coming years.”

For PayTabs, the award is yet another feather in our cap. It validates our efforts in providing seamless B2B solutions in multiple currencies across multiple markets. It gives PayTabs added credibility as a service provider. If you would like to take your business to a global audience, do check this out to see how PayTabs can help you.

7 years ago
One-on-One interview with Abdulaziz Al Jouf – Founder of PayTabs
Mohab Ecommerce 0

One-on-One interview with Abdulaziz Al Jouf – Founder of PayTabs

Evrim Persembe from Startups Middle East interviews Abdulaziz Al Jouf

At 4AM when most of the world is still snoozing, Abdulaziz Al Jouf wakes up without an alarm. By 8AM, when everyone is just about awake, Jouf has already tackled his most pressing problems for the day and is ready to handle all that comes his way in true entrepreneurial spirit.

Entrepreneurship isn’t new for him. He founded seven companies including eCommerce ones. During this time, Jouf realized that all online companies faced a common problem when it came to payments. The market was painfully slow in its execution. It took six months just to get to the bank to set up the gateway and a year to start your first transaction.

Jouf had the idea brimming at the back of his mind since 2010. No company existed at the time to fulfil this market gap. Those who did weren’t scaling beyond limited geographies. By the beginning of 2013, Jouf became sure of his idea and started working on a prototype.

A few months later Jouf chanced upon a meeting with someone who showed a lot of interest in his product. The meeting extended to four hours and several cups of coffee. Only next day did he discover that the person he met was a part of Wa’ed Ventures.

Even though Jouf had prior entrepreneurial experience, funding was new because he had always been bootstrapped in his startups before. It was like this was a story waiting to happen. Once the funding came, new hires helped build the rudimentary system further and by December, they had their first transaction.

During the initial days, PayTabs had to hard-code every merchant who joined. They had to spend hours to convince the bank that this technology was set to disrupt the way transactions were being carried out online. By the end of the month, they had 300 requests in their hand. Jouf knew that this was good, but how scalable would the technology really be? He found his answer when in a month’s time the company processed quarter million dollars.

In fact, working with banks to execute this entire system has been PayTabs’ biggest challenge. During his initial days, Jouf met a banker with 20 years of experience. The banker outright disapproved of his idea and refused investment. He said it would either kill Jouf or take forever to execute. Jouf walked out of the meeting thinking it was probably then a good idea! Anytime you try being in disruptive technology, it is generally met with resistance as people have a comfort zone with what is currently working. It turns out that the same reason is also why PayTabs has very few competitors who can match up numbers.

The investment almost sounds like cake walk to outsiders but Jouf knows the hard work he had to put in for 13 months before he got his first investment cheque of 2.5M. If he were to do the whole thing again, the one thing he would do differently would be to raise his second and subsequent rounds of funding as quickly as possible.

Speaking about the start-up ecosystem in Saudi Arabia, he said that things are encouraging now with many more investors than before. But his advice to budding entrepreneurs is to not be greedy and push for a clean evaluation from potential investors before talking money on the table. Earlier investors would wait for the company to show proof of market, but now they are much more open to even funding the idea and the entrepreneur’s execution capabilities. Entrepreneurs, in turn, shouldn’t be avaricious, and look to work with investors who have domain expertise.

On a parting note, Jouf humbly mentions that he still has a lot to learn about finance. For a company that has changed the way transactions are done in 17 countries, we keep our fingers crossed to see how things pan out in the next few years.

Listen to the podcast on the following links:

1. iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/bh/podcast/startups-middle-east-with-evrim-persembe/id1347175812

2. Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/startups-middle-east-with-evrim-persembe

3. Website: http://startupsmiddleeast.com

4. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/startupsmiddleeast/

7 years ago
Top 3 things to consider while choosing a payment gateway for your business
Mohab Ecommerce 0

Top 3 things to consider while choosing a payment gateway for your business

Whether you are selecting a new payment provider or looking to replace your existing one, you would want an efficient, versatile product that fits your budget. You do not want a provider who regularly gives you problems and puts extra workload on your support team. Overall, your choice of an online payment gateway could impact the overall customer experience on the website and also the way you receive money from customers. So lets look at what are the main things to consider while finalizing on a payment gateway.

Things to consider before choosing your payment provider

  • What matches your business needs – classic or modern-

The basic difference between the two types of gateway is the merchant account. While the classic payment gateway requires you to have a merchant account so that it can transmit money into your account, a modern payment gateway does not. The modern ones draw funds directly from the customer’s bank account or credit cards and after validating them, deposits it directly into your account. Even though the modern payment gateways require you to do very less in order to use them and receive money from your customers, they mostly charge a larger transaction fee and also drive customers another website for making the payment, which could lead to lesser conversion. Also classic gateways are considered to be much safer and secure, hence a better choice for bigger businesses. They also charge a lower transaction fees. Find out what aligns with your business first.

  • Which payment modes and currencies do you want your payment provider to support?

You most probably know which countries you are selling to most and the currencies that your customers like to pay in. So the first thing to check is – does your payment gateway support alternative payment methods such as Sadad in the Middle-east. It only makes sense to choose a payment gateway that makes it easier for customers to pay through a mode which they are most comfortable with. Hence check which are the payment methods that the payment gateway of your choice support. A gateway like PayTabs supports multiple currencies and offers several alternative payment options.

  • How secure is the payment gateway?

Every online and ecommerce business that accepts online payments faces the risk of fraud and chargebacks. Both of these can hurt the business and hence it makes sense to go with a payment processor that offers secure transactions. This is probably the most important factor that should make you for or against a payment processor. Fraud is the first thing you will want to fight and want to protect your customers against. Hence make sure your payment gateway is secure, very secure. This means it should at least comply with PCI Data Security Standard and must be integrated with 3D secure. Level 1 PCIDSS compliance means that the gateway has achieved the topmost level of security and deals with more than 6 million transactions every year.

Apart from implementing these market research tips, you should also look at fee structures of major payment gateways. Make sure there are no hidden charges. Check for their transaction failure rates as well.

Conclusion

Your payment provider is the “better half” of your online store. You should use your customer’s needs, your business needs, and general essential security requirements to select a payment services provider for your eCommerce site. It goes without saying that choosing the right payment gateway can go a long way in helping your business. If you have any further questions about which payment gateway is the best for your business, mail us at [email protected]

7 years ago
Four Pillars of a Solid eCommerce Customer Experience
Mohab Customer Experience 0

Four Pillars of a Solid eCommerce Customer Experience

Is there a thing like loyalty when it comes to online shopping? In a world driven by discounts, sales, comparison shopping and endless scrolling, it is difficult to grab customer attention. The same sellers present their wares across multiple sites. So people move to check each site to see where the particular product is available at the best discount. In such a scenario, does customer experience really matter?

It matters more than you think. Imagine this – discount can’t be a competing factor because everyone is offering a lot of it. What matters then is customer experience. In fact, customer experience is considered to be a product in its own right.

In order to decipher what type of experience your customers are looking for, it is important to understand their journey and understand what they need at each touch point. Most companies try to concentrate on the customer life cycle which is a complex task, especially with omni-channel marketing. Instead, experts now suggest keeping focus on one customer journey at a time.

Here are the four pillars of a customer experience journey

  1. Make it simple to use

Buying from an eCommerce website should not feel like rocket science. You need to make it intuitive for customers to browse through your product range and get to a sale point. Most eCommerce shops follow a set pattern from discovery to the sales funnel to after sales service.

But a new app on the horizon – Elanic, is doing things differently. It has included an intuitive chat feature that allows buyers and sellers to interact before closing the sale. The chat is pre-programmed with common questions from the buyer like quality, size, condition of the product and more. This strategy is also followed by sites like OLX which sells seconds. In addition to the public comment feature, the site also allows customers to make an offer. The whole process is intuitive and automated which makes it easy to handle. Many sellers vouch that this feature has helped them close sales effectively.

  1. Make it personal

This strategy goes beyond knowing your customer’s name and saying ‘Hey xyz’ in your email. According to Campaign Monitor, 96% visitors to your website aren’t ready to buy. But they’ve shown some basic interest in what you have to offer and may probably come back if you communicate properly. Use retargeting to encourage users to pick up from where they left off. And don’t forget to inform them when the products they want are on sale.

  1. Stop them from abandoning cart

In 2016, as much as 69% of carts were abandoned! Can you imagine the billions lost because eCommerce portals did not work hard enough to push the sale? Constantly use A/B experiments to test what makes users stick or leave your website. In case they still abandon cart, make sure you send them a customized email reminder to pull them back

  1. Use the right payment gateway

Other than being secure, the right payment gateway will allow customers to pay in their own currency, using the wallet they prefer without making them work too hard. And of course, it should aid express checkout.

Conclusion: Don’t forget to constantly ask your customers for feedback and also incentivize them for providing it. There is no better way to enhance your customer experience than listening to them carefully – after all they are the heroes and champions for your brand.

7 years ago