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Providing customers with enough convenience is of vital importance for the success of any store. It’s no secret that online consumers have specific demands, needs and expectations. Being able to meet those means you’ll have more traffic and more conversions.
One of the most important factors in eCommerce is the checkout process. When consumers are ready to make a purchase, they want a seamless experience. However, the cart abandonment rate at the checkout process is very high.
The total average cart abandonment rate comes at 88.05% across various industries on a global scale. Some of the main reasons consumers abandon their carts at the checkout include high shipping costs, discount codes that don’t work and lack of payment options.
Diversity of payment options is a crucial element in providing consumers with proper convenience. If you don’t meet consumer needs when it comes to payment options, your potential customers will abandon their shopping carts. With that in mind, here are a few payment options you should consider implementing.
Payment cards and bank transfers
Credit and debit cards, as well as bank transfers, are the most common types of payment options that consumers frequent. The majority of eCommerce stores already support these options but there are still some stores that don’t.
It’s crucial that you have these three payment options available at your checkout process. The main reason is that a lot of consumers aren’t tech-savvy. Complex payment options aren’t their thing and they don’t want to be bothered with those.
They stick to what they do know, which is providing credit or debit card information or transferring the amount from their bank account. This is a pretty large consumer base and if you don’t meet their needs, you’re closing the door to a lot of potential customers.
Apple and Google Pay
Nowadays, there are more and more mobile users browsing the Internet and visiting online stores via mobile devices. These consumers have their unique set of expectations and needs. Although you can make payments using payment cards and bank transfers on mobile devices, there are a lot more seamless features that mobile users prefer.
For example, Apple and Google Pay are payment methods designed for iOS and Android users, respectively. These methods provide additional features to their users, such as making in-store and in-app payments, storing gift cards and loyalty cards, sending and receiving money and so on.
Mobile wallets are, therefore, becoming more and more popular means of payment. Which method consumers will use depends on their devices. All you need to do is set up a contactless POS (Point Of Sale) so that you can support both methods.
Cryptocurrencies
Cryptos have become very popular in recent years, especially as a means of payment. A lot of individuals and businesses alike trade using cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, for instance. You can basically trade using peer-to-peer transactions that are instantaneous and free of any fees.
lot of eCommerce stores saw a good opportunity in this. By accepting cryptos as payment, they’ve opened their doors to a whole new consumer base as a lot of people, especially members of the younger generations, utilize the best Bitcoin mining hardware to mine Bitcoins.
Their digital assets can be used to make purchases at online stores, as long as the store accepts this type of payment. So, by accepting Bitcoins as payment, you’re actually providing more convenience to your customers. You’re no longer forcing them to use alternative methods. Instead, you’re allowing them to use their preferred methods, which means more conversions for you.
PayPal
PayPal is one of the most popular digital wallets today. A lot of eCommerce stores support PayPal payments because they know how convenient this method is for their consumers. The main benefit of PayPal is that it encompasses a variety of payment options, such as credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers, PayPal balance and others into a unified solution.
Therefore, if you don’t have the funds on your credit cards, you can simply switch to a PayPal balance for online purchases. This is why so many online consumers prefer this method. That said, 32% of millennials use PayPal and they are one of the largest consumer bases today.
It’s safe to say that PayPal is an eCommerce veteran that people expect to see on the list of supported payment options on your checkout page. If not, they may strongly consider abandoning their carts and looking for another shop.
The checkout page is the place where all the conversions happen or don’t happen. Depending on the efficiency of your checkout process, consumers will either finalize their purchases or abandon their carts and bail. Having as many payment options as possible for your customers’ convenience can drastically reduce the abandonment rates and boost your conversions, instead.
The Shift to a Contactless World
Infographic created by Clover Network, a point of sale system company
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