As more customers actively shop online for Black Friday, it could mean that their first interaction with an SME is the business’ website and therefore it is important to create a frictionless, user-friendly environment that gives your customers a pleasant experience. What’s more is that a business needs to convert the number of visitors on their site to sales, to avoid pumping resources into an asset that isn’t helping to grow their business. Online customers expect to find what they want and get their hands on it as quickly as possible. But they also expect the online experience to be seamless and stress-free.
Creating this seamless payment experience requires businesses to optimize their payment facility.
According to a Visa Consulting & Analytics report titled Accelerating the shift to eCommerce, 81% of customers say they are willing to pay more for a good customer experience. If small businesses can provide easy access to information, frictionless payments, a simple returns policy, and personalized shopping options, they are likely to have an immediate advantage in the marketplace. The impact of a bad payment experience can be devastating. When a shopper abandons an online shopping cart due to checkout friction, the data shows that 67% end up leaving for a competitor or never complete the purchase anywhere, and 59% say they are less likely to shop with that same retailer again.
Most small businesses (60%) have taken bold steps to prepare for the seasonal sales activity that kicks-off with Black Friday, including changing their infrastructure, digitizing their business, and extending their working hours. This digital transformation by small business comes in the wake of a rise in adoption of e-commerce activity and online shopping in Sub-Saharan Africa due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Visa is helping small businesses and merchants to maximise their revenues by offering frictionless payments and optimising the customer journey during the seasonal sales period that kicks off with Black Friday, says Aldo Laubscher, Country Manager for Visa South Africa.
In the current climate and with the emphasis on social distancing, there seems to be an increased appetite for contactless payment options and eCommerce among consumers. A customer’s experience is the sum of interactions that occur between a customer and a business throughout their relationship. These interactions occur at all stages of the customer lifecycle – including the payment stage.
“At Visa we can help merchants to maximize their revenues by recommending improvements to the authorization processes, for example, or completing a full assessment of the entire customer journey. In addition, we help them identify and address any performance gaps that could adversely impact the customer journey – resulting in, reduced friction, a better customer experience, and increased revenues, “adds Laubscher.
Overall, a seamless payment experience means small businesses must provide; different ways to pay, fast payments and integrated payments. “Convenience and a variety of payment options are essential to today’s consumers. They expect to be able to personalize their shopping experience. And this includes having the freedom to decide how to pay each time they do business with you. Once a consumer has decided to make a purchase, they want to complete it quickly. Any errors or declines at the point of payment, especially if they are repeated, can almost guarantee an abandoned shopping cart. It is rare to find a customer who has the time or patience to deal with a complex system or multiple declines. The faster a transaction can be completed, with the fewest clicks, the better. Finally, if you direct your customers to a payment gateway, make sure they feel secure by providing a seamless, reassuring redirection experience,” concludes the report.