Ecommerce Tips: How To Make Payment Easier For Your Customers

For an eCommerce business, having user-friendly payment methods is crucial for success. If you’re setting up your business, prioritize payment methods. Explore the many options online and see which one best suits your business.

Customers need to know from the get-go how to make payments after a purchase. Therefore, make it clear how payments should be made and provide multiple options on your site.

The upside of having a secure, friendly payment option is that you can grow your client base. Here are some tips that will improve your customer’s payment experience.

1. Accept a Variety of Payment Methods

Because clients’ preferences differ, offering them several options at checkout makes the payment more manageable. Therefore provide many tools such as credit or debit cards, virtual currency, or even loyalty points.

The catch here is to keep in mind that the payment methods should sync with your customer trends. Find out which strategies they prefer by either doing market research or a survey. For instance, a customer may choose an eCheck because it reduces their costs, unlike paper checks.

2. Offer the Mobile Option

If you want instant payments, providing mobile payment options can be a great way to make your customers’ lives easier. On this front, Apple Pay can be an ideal way to help increase conversions from your mobile customers as an eCommerce entrepreneur. The best part is that if you’re using it for BigCommerce, you can always seek expert advice and consultation to make the most out of the mobile payment option. 

Mobile payments provide a convenient alternative to your customers because they can make payments from anywhere. Whether they are shopping online or ordering food, they can pay their bills immediately from their phones. Additionally, mobile payments are secure due to features such as biometric scanning.

3. Use Online Credit Card Payments

Add a payment form that accepts online credit cards. You can outsource this mode to a payment service provider. The provider will host the payment mode and process the payment securely. They also store payment records securely to capture return clients as long as they give their permission.

You can also use a merchant gateway such as PayPal or Stripe. When choosing a service provider, consider their fees and fraud protection levels.

4. Stop Redirecting Customers

Ensure sales and payments happen on one website. Redirecting customers to another site for payment can cost you business. Payment platforms like PayPal are secure, but turning customers from your website might make the payment process cumbersome. Apart from making your customer’s work lighter, retaining them on your website longer can keep them shopping around for more products or services. If the payment process for your eCommerce business involves redirecting customers, you might want to rethink it. 

5. Avoid Prodding Too Much

So, your customer has made a purchase and is ready to pay, but there’s a long-form waiting for him to fill at check-out. Having to fill lengthy forms can make a customer abandon a sale. If you must collect information, limit it to the essentials.

Requesting unnecessary details is a hurdle to purchases, and customers don’t like challenges when shopping.

6. Reassure Customers about Privacy

Most people fear making online purchases due to fraud. Customers become skeptical if a website asks for personal information. Therefore, they need to know they can trust you with their details.

One way to do this is to have a Secure Sockets Layer certificate, which means information such as credit card details, IDs, and passwords are encrypted. Having a secure website can also boost customer trust, and ultimately their loyalty. Data security and privacy are paramount. 

Here are some moves you can make to help assure customers of their privacy and payment security on your site:  

• Create a privacy policy page on your website and make sure it’s visible to the customer
• Ask for consent before using cookies or tracking customers online
• Encrypt data that is being transmitted over public networks like Wi-Fi hotspots so that no one can intercept it
• Use SSL certificates to encrypt your customers’ data
• Disable the ability for customers to enter personal information on your site
• Consider a secure checkout process that doesn’t require a customer’s credit card or other sensitive info
• Give customers the option of opting in or out of sharing their contact information with you
• Allow customers to delete their account and all personal data from your site at any time

7. Upskill Your Staff

You might have brilliant technology and equipment, which staff can’t operate. If this is the case, train your team to handle such equipment and answer queries related to online payments.

They should also know how to resolve issues like failed payments or hitches during transactions. Train your staff on this whenever you upgrade to a more advanced payment method such as a mobile wallet.

8. Improve Your Purchasing Experience

It’s one thing to have a website that is super good and which customers enjoy visiting. It’s another to ensure they can make payments from wherever they are and whichever device. 

Ensure your check-out process is straightforward. One way to do this is to offer a seamless payment option even on mobile devices. You can also assure clients that your payment methods are secure by displaying a privacy statement on your website.

Making payment easier is not the only thing you need to increase conversions on your eCommerce site. Apart from streamlining the checkout process, other things you can do to improve the customer purchasing experience include the following:

• Provide adequate information about products
• Use high-quality images to showcase your products
• Have a variety of colors and sizes available for customers to choose from
• Display the price in an easy-to-read format, such as $10 or 10% off
• Offer free shipping on orders over $50
• Allow customers to return items if they are not satisfied with their purchase within 30 days

The success of your online business is not solely dependent on your product. Having a cumbersome payment method could make you lose business. For a safe and friendly payment experience, ensure your customers can use several options. You should also prioritize security and privacy to build customer trust. On top of this, avoid sending customers away from your site. Remember to train your staff on new technology whenever you upgrade.