You know how important it is to use a payment processing solution. In a world where more and more people are handling the majority of their transactions with credit or debit, accepting these kinds of payments is a must.
But you also need to offer your customers more flexibility and freedom. That’s why you need to adopt alternative payment methods.
The Click of a Button
Thanks to mobile technologies, the world is now at people’s fingertips. Customers no longer need to walk into a physical store, pick a product up off a shelf, and ring it through at the cash. Some retailers don’t even have physical stores anymore! Busy customers on the go can shop and pay from almost anywhere—whether it’s at home on their living room sofa, or at an airport before their next flight, or while they’re at their desk at work.
Customers now expect ease and convenience in their shopping experiences. For example, many customers become frustrated if they walk into a physical shop and don’t find the merchandise they saw online. Online shoppers, especially those using mobile devices, can be easily discouraged by long or complicated purchase processes. Businesses that make shopping as easy as clicking a button often earn customers’ loyalty—in part because it is so simple and convenient to shop with that company.
How Do You Get Ease and Convenience?
One of the first things merchants must do to make the shopping experience easy is to offer multiple ways to shop: online, on the go, or in-store. This allows customers the freedom to shop at any time, from anywhere in the world, when it suits them. The next thing is that the checkout process must be quick and simple—the “click of a button” attitude.
Why? Mobile shoppers are notorious for abandoning their carts; the average rate for cart abandonment hovers somewhere around 70%. That’s a lot of lost sales for a business! If your checkout process requires customers to sign in or go through multiple steps to make a purchase, they’re more likely to abandon their carts. Avoid this by partnering with a provider that helps you offer your customers a quick and easy way to pay.
Adopting Alternative Payment Methods
“Alternative payment methods” can mean a few things depending on who you ask. Some people may simply mean that you offer your customers different options, such as the ability to pay on the credit card of their choice.
The term can mean the option to pay now or pay later. The pay-now model is the most common method of payment offered, especially for online retailers. That’s beginning to change now, however, as pay-later options have become more and more popular with merchants.
Why Pay-Later?
The answer is easy: Pay-later options are convenient for your customers!Don’t force that busy customer, who has about five minutes to place their order, to jump through several pages and enter lots of payment data. Instead, they can simply hit a button, select pay later, and finish their order. They can send payment details later when they have more time.
While this is clearly good for customers, it’s also good for businesses: It can help cut that high drop-off rate for mobile customers. You don’t want to lose 70% of the sales you could be making; few businesses can afford to lose those sales. Instead, offer a pay later option to entice customers to complete their transactions.
Getting Alternative Payment Methods
The best solution for a merchant is to find a provider who offers pay-later options as part of their services. That means it can be bundled with other payment methods, such as credit and debit payment processing. That gives your customers even more choice and freedom.
