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3 ways to boost the online checkout experience

Simplifying the online checkout process can be fairly simple and benefit your business in the long term as it makes customers happy.

April 20, 2016

By Sarah Blanchard

Your pay-per-click campaigns attract potential customers. Your website is easy to navigate. Your customer is ready to make a purchase. But during checkout, they become frustrated and quit, instead choosing another competitor which offers a streamlined payment process.

Don't let your business fall victim to this trap. Simplifying the online checkout process can be fairly simple and benefit your business in the long term.

How to streamline merchant payment processing

Managing the payments process for a business is not an easy task. However, a little research goes a long way. Taking a few basic steps will help prepare your business for inevitable issues that arise from customer refunds, chargebacks, and fraud. Online proprietors will need to examine their options to find solutions that work for their business and customers. Follow these three tips for streamlining your online checkout process and keep your monthly revenue consistent.

1. Find the right credit payments processor

Every business will have its own needs. While the vast majority of merchants will have an easy enough time finding reliable online payment processing, others will not be so lucky. For businesses classified as "high risk" due to poor credit or involvement in certain industries, securing a merchant payment processor can be incredibly difficult. If your company has had trouble securing enough processing volume or been dropped by past processors, the business might be considered high risk. The best solution in this case is to find an online payments processor that specifically handles high risk merchants. High risk businesses that attempt to work with mainstream processors can lose the ability to accept credit and debit cards as payment, resulting in lost revenue and future potential customers. Additionally, processors that cater to low risk clients often focus on retail locations. The result is that many of these processors do not integrate ecommerce tools into their services.

2. Billing support services

Failure to communicate with customers ultimately alienates them. If they do not believe their issues are being addressed, customers take their business elsewhere. They might also even seek refunds or chargebacks for previously purchased goods. Business owners that decide to manually handle their receipts are bound to make mistakes. This potentially catastrophic situation can be avoided by using a billing support service. To put it simply, a billing support service provides automated receipts and accounting of a customer’s order. After inputting their payment information, a receipt is generated and the revenue is logged. When implemented properly, billing support services can help businesses lower chargeback rates and decrease requests for refunds. These programs can also maintain customer loyalty and help with remarketing efforts for new products.

3. Minimize the fields

Increasing sales conversions is one of the more useful benefits of a streamlined checkout process. As a rule, businesses need to eliminate as many input fields during their payment process as possible. If your processor doesn’t require an address or a CVV/CVC code in order to complete payment, then eliminate the fields. Merchant payment processing systems that are ideal for ecommerce will incorporate tools for A/B testing, which gives businesses insight into what consumers prefer while shopping.

Sarah Blanchard is a Houston-based author concentrating on the payments industry.