How better payments improve customer satisfaction (and profits)

You have customers lined up and ready to give you their money, it should be the simplest thing.

After all, why would you make it difficult for someone who wants to give you money to do so?

But some businesses do.

In fact, according to one retail report, 45% of customers have abandoned in-store purchases and 32% abandoned an online purchase because of payment difficulties.

Customers want the entire shopping experience to be hassle free and businesses that not only streamline the payment process will reap the rewards.

In this guide we’ll look at the way introducing better payments can improve customer satisfaction.

Offering multiple payment methods satisfies more customers

The options that customers have today when it comes to paying for items almost rivals the variety of products they have to choose from.

Cash, Chip & PIN, contactless cards, eWallets and digital payments, Pay by Link, over the phone - there’s a lot to choose from.

As a business you should offer as many of the different payment methods available as you can. You’ll open yourself up to as large a customer base as possible and avoid losing customers because they can’t pay the way they want to.

Adding security improves customer confidence

Online security is always a big issue, especially when it comes to customers and trusting that you’ll keep their sensitive payment information secure.

Demonstrating your security credentials, whether it’s PCI DSS compliance, or SSL certificates on a website that accepts payments reassures customers their information is secure, reducing the chances of them walking away from a purchase.

Reducing the steps to payment

It’s not just the payment technology or platform you use that can improve the customer experience and increase the chances of a customer going through with a purchase.

One of the biggest problems with payments that customers experience is the amount of steps they have to go through in order to make a payment in the first place.

Ideally you should have an option that allows a customer to bypass the basket page and go straight to a payment - or at least have a process of no-more than two steps from any page to a payment page.

Creating smooth communication on payment status

Your job isn’t done as soon as a customer hits the pay button.

At this point you should communicate with them as quickly as possible about the status of their payments and where their orders are up to.

There’s nothing worse than making a payment on an item and then waiting around with no information as to whether the payment worked or where the order is now up to.

Create better payment processes to increase the customer experience

The payment experience can make or break your customer experience.

As good as the experience has been up to the point of paying, it can quickly be ruined by a complicated payment process that leaves a customer confused or frustrated.

When it comes to payments, you need to make it as easy as possible.

Whether it’s having a card machine in-store to accept Chip & PIN, contactless card payments or newer digital payments like Apple Pay, accepting online payments or payments over the phone, you need to adapt the process around your customer.

By offering as many payment options as possible and creating a simple, secure environment for customers to quickly pay and move on, you can use payments as part of your customer service and increase profits.