In today’s digital world, you either innovate or fall behind.
Welcome to the global payment gateway, where payments feel natural and invisible. Pay for whatever, whenever, wherever. It’s a world where payments are easy, customers are happy, and payments are a natural extension of ordering products and services rather than a process at the end of a purchase.
There’s been a shift in how businesses view payments. Traditionally they compared fees and chose a provider based on costs. Today ease of use and speed are the new black. Payments are no longer commodities where costs matter most. They’ve evolved to become a valuable and differentiating feature of customer experiences.
According to an industry study by JP Morgan and Forbes, the top characteristics of payment systems are (in order of importance) easy to use, frictionless and quick; able to use internationally; secure; stable; tailored to customer needs, and low fees.
Offer multiple payment methods
One of the main reasons customers abandon their carts is limited payment options. Customers want to pay in the currency they want, on the device they prefer and receive their goods in good order overnight. Providing customers with alternative payment methods gives them access to ‘locked’ funds that would otherwise not be available. It improves CX and ultimately increases usage resulting in more sales. Cater to accept payments online, in-app, and in person.
Think mobile first
Customers use different devices to browse and shop. Various smartphones, tablets, and desktops with different operating systems can create friction at checkout. Ensure you cover compatibility with all the operating systems when you design your ecommerce website, particularly the payments page. Test and optimise payment pages for the more than two billion people who shop via mobile yearly. Added benefits of mobile payments are they use biometric authentication, are contactless and often use digital wallets to complete transactions. It makes them highly agile, secure and future-proof.
Go native
If you adopt native methods for each platform you reduce friction for the end user. When the user shops using Safari, offer ApplePay as a payment option. If they browsed and shopped on Chrome, offer Google Pay or a credit card saved to the user’s Chrome profile. A simplified checkout option you provide customers is Masterpass from Mastercard, where users don’t have to enter card and address details over and over again. Support native device mobile payments in-store. It saves shoppers digging in their pockets for cards.
Transaction limits
As payment technology evolves, so do fraud techniques to overcome them. One way to limit fraud is to offer the ability to set limits per vendor. Customers choose a pre-loaded amount they are willing to spend on your site. If a fraudster somehow hacks the card, there’s a limit to the damage they can do. It will not stop fraud but at least give customers time to cancel their cards and avoid astronomical losses. These limits should be flexible to allow customers to adjust their limits when they want to buy high-ticket items.
Machine learning, AI and the importance of data
Use machine learning and AI to monitor transaction trends in real-time. You can stop cybercriminals before they get hold of sensitive data to exploit. Machine learning and AI are critical in automating repetitive tasks on your shopping site. Use this technology to suggest alternative products. By analysing historical shopping data, you can recommend ‘if you like this, then you’ll like that’ products. It saves shoppers time and effort to find the products they are interested in buying. A close look at your data will also help you predict future trends, manage supply chains and plan promotions.
Payments without borders
As you expand your ecommerce business globally, you’ll find different geographies favouring different payment methods due to socioeconomic and cultural reasons. Whilst digital and contactless payment methods are the order of the day in Europe, they might not be as prolific in underdeveloped countries. Conversely, some underdeveloped countries prefer mobile to card payments for security reasons. Should you offer globally accepted payment methods or go as local as possible? A uniform approach is a challenge. Offering global payment options in local markets won’t win you any customers. Customer expectations are different, technology infrastructure limited, and the regulatory environment varies from country to country. Instead, meet the local needs of each market.
To do this, you need a proficient payment provider that can adapt to local and global markets. Speak to Truevo. We offer flexible payment solutions, for multiple channels, in over 150 currencies. You can easily set up faster payments with complete security in local and global markets. We can’t wait to think global and shop local with you.
