×

Posted on

How Payment Orchestration Platform Helps Travel and Tourism Businesses Minimize Abandoned Bookings and Increase Conversions

Payment Orchestration Platform Helps Travel Businesses
Mohab Payment Orchestration 0

Payment Orchestration Platform Helps Travel Businesses

The UAE’s travel and tourism sector contributed more than USD 45 billion to its GDP in 2022. By 2028, this contribution is likely to reach USD 62.8 billion. Hence, if you are running a tour agency, it’s time to ride the wave of growth and take your business to new heights. Enhancing customer experience is crucial for that though. A payment orchestration platform for the travel industry can especially make a difference.

Such platforms help you to coordinate and manage numerous online payment gateways, processors, services, networks, and methods, so that operations become more efficient, costs are minimized, transactions become seamless, checkout becomes simpler, and customer satisfaction improves. After all, happier customers translate to fewer instances of abandoned bookings and a higher conversion rate. Let’s understand how a payment orchestration platform can transform your game in the dynamic travel landscape.

Importance of Payment Orchestration Platform for Travel Industry

Your travel agency offers intangible services to customers, which is different from selling physical products. Moreover, someone can choose to travel to any country, even in the remote pockets of the world. Apart from booking flights or arranging for visas, you also need to handle accommodations and activities. Since the prices of every aspect of a trip can fluctuate based on the season, demand, availability, and related factors, a platform that ensures payment optimization for the travel industry can go a long way in easing your life.

Here are the top benefits of embracing orchestration:

  • Increased Authorization Rate – One of the biggest advantages is that every payment request gets automatically routed to the most suitable processor, so that more transactions get authorized. This not only implies greater customer satisfaction, but also more conversions.
  • Multiple Payment Methods – A platform that facilitates payment orchestration for travel industries allows you to offer various payment methods, including credit and debit cards, digital wallets, buy now pay later schemes, cash on delivery, bank transfer, and mobile payments. When shoppers get more options and flexibility, they are less likely to abandon their bookings and more likely to check out.
  • Multiple Currencies – The best payment orchestration solutions for travel businesses support multiple currencies, so that customers from any corner of the world can transact smoothly and comfortably. Being able to pay in their local currency helps a customer to trust your business more. Also, you can easily expand your reach beyond the UAE this way. Orchestration platforms also ensure transparency with their currency conversion feature, whether a UAE resident plans to fly to another country or a foreign national decides to visit the UAE.
  • Security – Orchestration of payment processes for travel agencies strengthens the security of sensitive data related to transactions and customers. Robust fraud prevention measures and multi-layer authentication mechanisms instill confidence in your customers, thereby boosting the conversion rate.
  • Compliance – It is essential to comply with payment regulations in the UAE as well as other countries in which you conduct business. Payment orchestration for the travel industry makes it easy to do so, thereby building customer trust and driving more people from the consideration to the purchase stage. In other words, you witness a significant jump in the revenue through payment orchestration.
  • Mobile Optimization – In the UAE, more and more consumers are using their mobile devices to make purchases. This is mainly because of the high penetration of such devices as well as the affinity Gen Z and millennial shoppers feel towards technology. Payment Orchestration for Travel Industry can optimize your web store for mobile devices and simplify the checkout experience. This lowers the chances of a customer abandoning their bookings at the last moment due to technical glitches.

Adopt Payment Orchestration to Go Places with Your Travel Business

By now, you surely realize why your revenue through payment orchestration is bound to shoot up. Remember that as a travel agency owner, you need a platform that is easy to integrate with your website and set up for action. It should also align with your specific requirements and budget. With the right platform, you can leverage automation smartly, maximize efficiencies, minimize expenses, and enhance the customer experience like never before. A provider like PayTabs can particularly help with the latest AI-powered technologies and tailor-made solutions.

1 year ago
Paying in Installments
Mohab Ecommerce 0

Paying in Installments

Running a successful business in the Middle East largely depends on how smooth, seamless, safe, and efficient you can make your customer’s experience. And offering payment flexibility can go a long way in ensuring the same. By allowing shoppers to make installment payments, you can improve their satisfaction while securing your own revenue. In fact, the buy now pay later (BNPL) model is gaining increasing popularity in the region due to a surge in ecommerce and the widespread usage of mobile devices for payments and banking. In KSA and UAE, internet penetration is close to 100%.

Moreover, according to a Deloitte report, since BNPL complies with Sharia law, Middle Eastern consumers are more comfortable about adopting it vis-à-vis credit cards. By 2028, the total addressable market for BNPL is likely to reach USD 3 billion in KSA. So, the time is right for you to grow your venture through payment flexibility. The following write-up explores the advantages of paying in installments for consumers as well as business owners like you.

Why Customers want to Pay in Installments

Listed here are the key benefits of installment payments for consumers:

  • Easy Budgeting – Being able to pay in installments allows customers to manage their monthly budget better. They can spend on what they want without having to compromise on rent, essentials, or utility bills. This is particularly helpful for young shoppers, homemakers, or those who have retired.
  • Saving for Emergencies – Installment payments allow consumers to protect their cash reserves and avoid exhausting everything in one go. This means, they can always set aside some money for rainy days or unforeseen events.
  • Buying Premium Items – Paying in installments gives customers the power to own limited edition or expensive items that they would have foregone if they had to pay in full at once. By spreading out the total amount over several months, it becomes easy to afford designer clothes, jewelry, accessories, sophisticated gadgets, and more.
  • Flexibility – With an installment or BNPL model, paying in incremental amounts is another benefit. Hence, if their situation permits (for example, if they receive a bonus at work or earn good returns on an investment), customers can pay off more with each installment and become debt-free fast.

Benefits of Installment Payment Plans for Merchants

By offering consumers installment payment flexibility, you can benefit in the following ways:

  • Better Shopping Experience – When you provide customers an installments payment system on your e-store, they end up purchasing what they want without worrying about the total bill value. There are fewer instances of cart abandonment and shoppers appreciate the flexibility you offer them, which improves their trust and confidence in your brand.
  • Improved Conversion Rate – The option to pay in installments encourages more site visitors to transition from the consideration to the purchase stage. And higher the conversion rate, the more sales you make.
  • Higher Average Order Value – Customers manage to buy pricey items and spend more than usual with installment payments. Even strictly budget shoppers can buy what they desire affordably. This boosts the average order value, and consequently, your total revenue.
  • Widened Consumer Base – Providing the option of installment payments also helps in expanding the base of customers by attracting those who probably hesitated to shop from your store before, owing to the pricing. You get to tap demographics like millennials and Gen Z shoppers.
  • Upfront Payment – Offering the installment purchasing feature doesn’t impact your cash flow negatively, since you receive upfront payment from the customer’s bank. This means, you don’t have to compromise on your financial stability as a business while enhancing the customer experience.
  • Enhanced Customer Loyalty – Since the installment financing feature eases the customer’s journey on your ecommerce store, they tend to refer your brand to others and keep coming back themselves for more shopping in the future. In the long run, this pattern improves retention and loyalty.

Make the Most of Installment Payment Plans

By now, you can see why embracing installment payment is the way to go for modern businesses. Besides offering more flexibility to consumers, such payment plans empower them to own the products they want and live a better life than what their immediate financial circumstances permit. As a merchant, you get to benefit from improved brand image, higher conversions, more sales and revenue, and an enhanced bottom line. If you are wondering how to get started, picking an online payment gateway like PayTabs can make your life easy. Integrating it with your website and app can take your customer’s checkout experience to a whole new level, while ensuring you receive payments on time, securely, and without any hassle.

FAQs

1. What are the advantages of paying in installments?

As a customer, making installment payments helps you to enjoy flexibility, buy what you want without worrying about money, own even premium products right away, manage your budget easily, and keep aside emergency cash. As a merchant, when you allow customers to pay in installments, it improves their shopping experience, gains their trust, drives more conversions, and boosts loyalty in the long run.

2. Are installment payments available for all purchases?

Installment financing might be available on all or some purchases, depending on the type and size of business, their policies, and nature and price of the product. Usually, most merchants offer the installment payment option for electronics, furniture, high-end jewelry, clothes, fashion accessories, vehicles, etc.

3. Can I pay off my installment plan early?

Yes, usually you can pay off your installment plan early by clearing any remaining balance. However, check if there are any penalties or fees associated with such payments. It is generally a good idea to use any extra money you have to pay off a purchase completely and become debt-free soon.

1 year ago
PayTabs Simplifies Payments during Ramadan
Mohab Global Events 0

PayTabs Simplifies Payments during Ramadan

The blessed month of Ramadan is just around the corner and the Middle East is ready to step into another festive season of praying, fasting, and engaging in charitable acts. Ramadan is also when people shop more, be it clothes, home décor items, groceries, or gift hampers. Hence, as a merchant, you must make your customer’s experience seamless to earn their trust, build brand value, and attract repeat business. And since checkout is a crucial part of the shopping journey, you need the smartest payment solutions during Ramadan to make transactions safe, efficient, and fast. Luckily, PayTabs can help.

By integrating PayTabs with your e-store or mobile application, you can offer customers ample choice and flexibility in payment. They can pick from multiple methods and currencies, meaning you can sell across the Middle East and anywhere else. PayTabs’ payment orchestration services can also handle large transaction volumes and improve the payment acceptance rate, which means greater customer satisfaction. Now, let’s explore the challenges merchants face during Ramadan and how payment gateway providers make life easy.

Common Retail Challenges

While consumer demand spikes during the holy month, retailers grapple with:

  • Overwhelming traffic – Both offline and online stores deal with excess traffic, which poses a high risk of cart abandonment whether shoppers have to stand in long queues or your website is unable to handle large transaction volumes. In either case, customers might get frustrated and decide against checkout.
  • Limited options for payment – Long gone are those days when cash payment was the norm. Today, unless you provide ample options, in the form of cards, digital wallets, internet banking, and such, you might lose a lot of business.
  • Delayed fund credit – Since banks often operate for limited hours during Ramadan or stay closed on certain days, accepting payments the traditional way (like checks or demand drafts) might mean that funds will take time to get credited in your account.
  • Inefficient invoicing – Not sharing correct invoices or not sending them on time might lead to customer dissatisfaction, delayed payments, and poor cash flow.

So, how can payment gateways transform the Ramadan experience for merchants in different sectors?

Booking

Many people visit families or plan holidays during the holy month. Hence, companies offering flight and hotel bookings or travel packages need to accept payments without hassle. A payment gateway provider like PayTabs can make transactions smooth, whether you have people from the Middle East travelling abroad or foreign nationals visiting the Middle East for a unique experience. Even if your website sells tickets to movies, theaters, or sports events, you will find the demand surging as more people want to relax in the evening after hours of fasting. With the right gateway, you can handle this increased demand, route payments to suitable processors, and improve sales.

Retail

Retail shopping witnesses a sharp uptick during Ramadan. Whether you sell apparel, accessories, cosmetics, or appliances, you need a payment solution that can cater to customers any time of the day. Integrating PayTabs with your app or website can do the trick as shoppers can make purchases even late at night or during early morning hours. Being able to make digital payments securely and easily also means they can stay home and focus on praying, fasting, and spending time with loved ones. In case of luxury goods, shoppers can even opt for instalment payment.

Food

Whether you run a restaurant, home delivery service, or grocery store, you are likely to experience increased demand during the holy month. After all, in the Middle East, Iftar and Suhoor meals are usually lavish affairs. Hence, to make sure you don’t lose a single customer, you need the best digital payment solutions during Ramadan. For instance, PayTabs can ease the checkout process in the food industry by minimizing errors even during rush hours. You can also send customers invoices with payment links so they can do the needful from their mobile devices.

Charity

Donating to the needy is an integral part of Ramadan celebrations. So, if you are in charge of an Islamic center, charitable trust, or mosque, you would want to make it easy for people to make donations even if they can’t visit you. With PayTabs, you can enable donors to make payments via any method they like and track it all as well. Since such payment gateways support multiple currencies, you can accept donations even from those who are situated in distant parts of the world.

Have a Bountiful Ramadan

As you gear up for Ramadan 2024, make life easy for yourself and customers by joining hands with a payment gateway provider like PayTabs. Simple onboarding and budget-friendly fee structures will help you get started in no time. Promote happiness and goodness by offering a glitch-free shopping experience in the Middle East and beyond.

1 year ago
Women Make Strides in Payments Industry
Mohab Global Events 0

Women Make Strides in Payments Industry

In the dynamic landscape of the payments industry, a noticeable shift is underway. The fintech domain is now witnessing an incredible surge in the contribution and direction of women. The digital age continues to reform financial transactions, and women entrepreneurs are making their presence felt in key roles, steering innovation, and cracking barriers in the payment sector and beyond.

In the fintech and payments ecosystem, the last few years have seen an environment conducive to equality, with the spotlight firmly fixed on talent instead of gender. Women entrepreneurs have come to the forefront and are breaking gender barriers. Not only are women building successful careers in the financial services and technology domain, but they are also making significant contributions worldwide.

As women continue to take giant strides and make a mark in leading start-ups and establishing themselves as retailers, investors, and in the banking and payment networks, PayTabs strongly supports their endeavor and appreciates their rise to the top. The team at PayTabs believes in the empowerment of women and plays its part in supporting fempreneurs who serve as role models for others and positively impact the payments industry.

Women’s role in the payment industry is not merely a passing fad or trend but a significant transformation that has broad implications. This sector has always been synonymous with male-centric leadership and perceptions. However, women are being recognized for their diverse talents and receiving accolades for their valuable contributions.

Among the most notable aspects of women’s steady ascent in the payment sector is their leading roles in promoting innovation. Whether it is developing user-friendly interfaces or fronting leading-edge technologies, women entrepreneurs are creating solutions to enhance the efficiency and security of payment gateways.

Webpreneurs, particularly women entrepreneurs, face diverse challenges when it comes to running their businesses. PayTabs addresses one vital challenge, i.e., conforming to changing regulatory regimes and digital payment solutions.

Being technology-driven, businesses today need digital access to global markets and the ease of seamlessly accepting online payments. This is where PayTabs continues to stand by women entrepreneurs by providing payment solutions in over multiple countries and alternate currencies via a single API. This lets women focus on their businesses while PayTabs sorts out their e-payment worries.

Among the leading payment gateways, PayTabs believes in helping more women entrepreneurs lead from the front. PayTabs’ acquisition of Paymes, the largest social commerce platform in Turkey, has empowered scores of female entrepreneurs spread across the Middle East and Africa to receive payments instantly. Female entrepreneurs can create customized web stores and reach out to global markets. This feature offered by PayTabs enables a new segment of female entrepreneurs, especially those who run micro-home-based business enterprises, to sell their products on various social e-commerce platforms like WhatsApp and contribute to the economy.

The rise of women entrepreneurs in the payment sector reflects a significant societal shift towards diversity and gender equality. As more women pursue rewarding careers in fintech, their wealth of expertise and talent enriches the payments industry. This, in turn, drives innovation and helps build a more dynamic as well as more-inclusive workplace environment.

In the region, women comprise a significant chunk of the workforce, with 44% having fulfilling careers. Not only does the UAE present business opportunities for women who wish to branch out on their own and launch successful businesses, but the gender gap seen previously has also undergone a sea change. This gender gap is steadily narrowing, with 7.6% of entrepreneurs being women today as compared to 11.8% of men founders of businesses.

PayTabs’ commitment to women’s empowerment has remained steadfast over the past decade. Its 300-strong workforce has a considerable number of women employees in leading roles in technology, operations, sales, and customer support. PayTabs believes that the inclusivity of fempreneurs fosters positive social impact, bridges financial disparities, and encourages greater economic empowerment.

As women continue to emerge as a strong presence in the payments industry, PayTabs renews its commitment to remain a trusted name in payment gateways for fempreneurs. Women’s role in the payment industry is reshaping its boundaries and redefining the future of payment gateways.

As PayTabs continues to introduce new opportunities in digital transactions, women entrepreneurs can rely on the payment gateway and accept online payments securely and seamlessly across the globe. PayTabs strives to be a dependable partner in this incredible entrepreneurial journey for women.

1 year ago