Getting a potential customer to your website is only half the battle. Once they’re there, you’ve got to convince them to add your products to their basket then persuade them to hit the Checkout button.
That’s a super long process and far too complex to cover in one article so I’ve focused on the last stage. Specifically, I’m looking at three simple eCommerce payment mistakes that are (probably) costing you sales right now.
1. Offering the wrong payment method options
The eCommerce industry is still relatively young in the grand scheme of things. That means new approaches, techniques and technologies are still popping up every few years. PayPal, for example, came out of nowhere and quickly established itself as one of the three main online payment methods.
There are many more alternative payment methods hoping to follow in PayPal’s footsteps. In fact, Stephen Hart of Cardswitcher estimates that there are hundreds of ‘alternative’ payment options out there.
“In the UK, there are about 200 alternative payment methods. Think direct debits, digital wallets, cryptocurrencies and so on. If a customer can’t pay with their preferred form of payment, it’s likely that they’re going to leave and go elsewhere.”
Unfortunately, if you offer your customers the wrong payment methods, over half will leave your site and shop elsewhere.
The good news for eCommerce business owners is that you don’t have to offer all 200 alternative payment methods. Simply ask your customers how they want to pay and make sure those methods are integrated into your website.
2. Charging for delivery
Here’s a frightening statistic for you. Over 70% of all online shopping carts are abandoned before the shopper hits the Checkout button. Imagine if you could convert all of those potential customers — your turnover would skyrocket overnight!
So, how do you get more of these customers to the finishing line?
Well, according to eCommerce design moguls Baymard Institute, one of the leading causes of cart abandonment is extra shipping costs. If you remove them, your conversions will take a nice upswing.
When I say remove, I don’t mean offer it for free by the way. Instead, build your postage costs into the headline cost of your items. Customers are willing to pay a bit more for a product rather than pay less for the product and extra on all the ‘admin’ costs.
3. Keeping quiet about security
In the past few years, the news has been packed with high-profile hacking stories. Personally, I’m not even surprised anymore when I wake up and hear about ten million credit card numbers being stolen by digital ne’er do wells.
All this media coverage has led to consumers becoming a lot more careful with their online security, especially when they are handing over their payment details. That’s why eCommerce businesses need to have digital security near the top of their list of priorities.
However, keeping your site secure won’t necessarily improve your conversions. For that, you need to actually tell your customers how secure your site is.
An easy way to communicate your security is through trust badges. These badges a basically accreditations offered by security or payment companies to verify that your site meets a minimum level of security.
Some of the most popular ones include:
- PayPal Verified
- McAfee Secure
- TRUSTe Certified Privacy
- Norton Secured
If you include these badges in the design of your site, it helps soothe your customers’ worries and makes them more likely to trust you with their payment details.
