How to Increase Revenue by Optimising the Payment Experience

Despite the time and expertise, a company invests resources along the way and decides which ones to use. From web design to brand awareness, every aspect of the customer experience is taken into consideration. Based on the final success, the focus is on conversion.

Moments were critical in determining the outcome of the sale during our analysis. Customers may hesitate due to obstacles that arise at a given moment. The payment experience involves the decision to abandon the purchase.

The final step in the purchase journey, but one that is often overlooked. To acquire customers, costs tend to increase over time. The growth of e-commerce has slowed, causing a shift in the market. The cost of abandoned carts can be significantly increased. Recently found by Stripe, a study showed that businesses using Stripe payment elements saw an average 10.5% increase in revenue compared to previously recorded data.

To create something cutting-edge, technology is key. Businesses can take advantage of a smooth payment process with sporadic and unique text reorganisation. Remove and reposition words throughout the paragraph so that they still convey the same information but sound more distinctive. Use words that are not too strange to cause confusion.

Not only that, but you will also see a double-digit increase in overall revenue. This applies both internationally and in national markets. Sophisticated process optimisations should be implemented to improve efficiency. Maximising revenue through payments is a challenge, but not an impossible one.

How to optimise the payment process

What is an optimised payment experience?

To be successful worldwide, businesses must satisfy people's desire for secure, fast and easy transactions that exceed their expectations. One way to generate revenue is to improve the payment experience, which could attract more customers. However, some reasons why people might abandon their purchase are unwanted account creation, limited payment options or lengthy payment procedures.

This means that if payments are not optimised to meet these standards, there could be a decrease in revenue. Stripe suggests that businesses focus on four key features to improve their payment experience: fast, secure, simple and diverse payment options:

1. Brevity: a clear and concise purchase path that is easy to follow.
2. Personalisation: a payment process that presents the most relevant payment methods for each customer and recognises repeat customers.
3. Responsiveness: a responsive design designed for both mobile and unified commerce.
4. Extensibility: an infrastructure that supports complex revenue models, including subscriptions.

We have found that prioritising these principles when designing your payment process is a great way to increase revenue, regardless of how you approach the project.

Shortening the transaction process on a website is crucial, as evidenced by the fact that 60% of customers will abandon their purchases if the process takes longer than two minutes. Shorten payment methods and make purchasing easier: this can be achieved by making the purchasing process more unique and less conventional.

1. Brevity: shorten the purchase path

Increase the likelihood of purchase

Relevant information may already be presented by companies. To maximise sales during the early stages of the process, optimisation is key. Return policies must be communicated to customers in advance, especially in certain countries; the purpose behind their creation is to eradicate uncertainty.

When trying out a new item, customers often have a specific location in mind. This could be due to various factors such as comfort, familiarity or convenience. However, trying out products is a vital part of the modern shopping experience. Inform customers about deferred payment options. At the beginning of the process, it is preferable to recognise partial payments.

Shipping costs and product fees: display the estimated cost and shipping dates on the shopping cart page to avoid surprises at checkout.

Set up an express payment method

Customers can have a more efficient payment experience with the help of integrated one-click or quick payment buttons. Simplifying the payment process is possible through an express payment option.
On average, the payment process was made 40% faster thanks to OpenAI's use of Link, Stripe's one-click payment experience, which automatically saves and fills in payment and shipping information.

The same approach was also adopted by Italic, which used Link. The payment experience was improved, resulting in a 34% increase in conversions and a 37% increase in average order value.
To speed up the payment process, we recommend integrating widely used global wallets such as PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay.

Simplify the experience

Allow personal and payment information to be stored for future use once entered by the customer in the form fields. Including pre-filled payment fields can save time and reduce unnecessary requests.

For example, in Europe, having a field for a telephone number is rare for e-commerce, unlike in the United States and Asia-Pacific. Real-time validation of payment fields can also reduce the likelihood of transaction errors.

Protect personal information

To establish trust in your business, it is essential to safeguard customer identity information and financial data. A proven strategy is to display security credentials and payment logos on all transaction completion pages.

2. Personalisation: localise the experience with the most relevant payment options

Different currencies and locations can affect the popularity of payment methods, making it difficult to determine what customers find most convenient during their shopping experience. Customer preferences also tend to change over time, further complicating the issue of predicting the most popular payment methods. By providing the payment options that are customary in their respective regions, businesses have seen a gradual increase in their sales of 40%, according to our study. Businesses that analyse electronic payment methods are more likely to benefit from them.

When merchants create a customised payment option that takes into account various factors such as country, industry, browser type, currency, and purchase amount, the chances of customers actually making a purchase increase significantly. The payment experience can get you some conversions. To attract more customers, many businesses offer numerous payment options during checkout. However, this technique may not always be the most effective. In fact, expect the opposite to happen.

A customer may struggle with the paradox of choice when presented with a long list of payment options instead of a curated selection. It's easy to understand how difficult it can be for a European customer to navigate payment options aimed exclusively at North America.

Bodum, the Danish kitchenware manufacturer, adopted 23 countries and 18 new payment methods when it decided to expand its e-commerce business. To understand how to best serve each customer, the company relied on Stripe's flexible ordering capabilities. This allowed Bodum to determine the most relevant payment options based on specific factors, such as local preferences and suitability.

Adapting to local preferences during its expansion into the Netherlands, Bodum successfully incorporated payment types such as iDEAL and Bancontact, which account for the majority of transactions (83%). Without overwhelming customers with irrelevant options, the company demonstrated its ability to personalise its offering.

For businesses and their customers, it is crucial that platforms use complex data models that accurately show the appropriate payment methods. A platform such as Ticket Tailor is a good example of this. Belgium and the Netherlands were key expansion targets for a UK ticketing organisation whose payment processes were carefully crafted.

Having the ability to quickly launch local payment methods to meet customer needs in both countries was critical to Ticket Tailor's success. Founder and CEO Jonny White revealed that the company has seen a 100% increase in sign-ups over the past year, thanks to the introduction of local payments in these markets. Faced with a myriad of payment options or a lack of perfect ones, consumers often feel overwhelmed, leading them to abandon their purchase altogether.

3. Responsiveness: optimise for mobile and unified commerce

We found that in Asia-Pacific, most customers who took part in our study preferred to use smartphones over desktop devices for shopping. Most surprisingly, 80% of these customers made purchases solely through social media platforms.

The effects of this shift are being felt across all markets. By 2024, Insider Intelligence predicts that 63% of e-commerce purchases in the UK will be mobile transactions. In terms of conversion rates, mobile devices present new challenges due to their much lower rates.

Shopping via mobile is the way of the future, but the process can be very distracting, warns Bodum's management. When it comes to purchasing items, customers have to decide and make their choice on the go. Accessing a mobile website puts the purchase at significant risk if a notification is received afterwards. Mobile payment can be optimised with three key practices known to increase conversion rates and improve the user experience.

• Responsive design: Screen size should dictate the automatic resizing of your design, especially in the field of smartphones, which are the most widely used devices.
• Digital wallets: For many customers, entering credit card details on a smartphone or computer is a hurdle, and digital wallets such as Google Pay, Apple Pay and PayPal are now the preferred method of payment on tablets. Their main function is to prevent shopping cart abandonment, a problem that plagues many online retailers.
• Numeric keypads: By automatically displaying a keypad, leading payment tools on mobile devices facilitate quick transactions. Without the need to switch keyboards, customers can enter payment information using credit or debit card numbers.

4. Extensibility: native subscription support

Managing recurring revenue requires an even more complex payment structure. Businesses need to secure payment, billing, and shipping information by charging precise amounts at predetermined intervals. Completing transactions is made easier for customers with one-click payment experiences such as Link, which fills in saved payment information, addresses, and phone numbers. Additionally, wallets can also minimise barriers during payment.

The likelihood of a customer committing to a subscription can be increased by offering free trials. Subscriptions can be tough, and businesses face many challenges, one of the most frustrating being involuntary churn. Is there anything worse than failed payments due to expired cards, insufficient funds, or outdated information?

Customers often find themselves frustrated by the revenue loss caused by these. Companies lose up to 50% of their subscriptions due to errors. Over time, retention can be improved by incorporating payment methods such as automatic wallet updates for new bank charges and card details.