Is your checkout conversion-rate optimised?

When a user clicks on your display ad, there is a 0.72% chance she will convert and click through to the next stage. If that user then clicks through to the landing page, then the product page and so on, by the time she gets to the payment page, there is an 80% or higher chance of her converting, according to PPRO data. 

It stands to reason then, that if you’re going to invest time and money in optimizing your conversion rates, the place to begin is your payments page. 

Since lockdown began, up to 75% of consumers have tried a new brand or retailer. That’s a massive and unprecedented dislocation of consumer habits and preferences. It could be years before these fully settle down again. We have to assume these consumers are up for grabs, unless we give them the customer experience they demand. 

Customising the payment page 

Before considering in detail how you can optimize your checkout, it’s worth remembering that locally preferred payment methods (LPMs) are the foundation for any strategy that aims to optimize conversion rates in global markets. 

Globally, consumers pay for around 70% of all online transactions not with credit cards but with payment methods including e-wallets, bank-transfer apps and even cash and voucher schemes. Most of these LPMs are local to one or two markets. But they’re also highly trusted in those markets.

According to PPRO’s own stats, if you don’t offer the payment method people in a market want, you’ll see abandonment rates as high as 80%. So, the first step is to ensure that you know the payment methods each market wants and offer them at checkout. 

Optimising the integration 

Even with the right mix of payment methods at the checkout, sometimes conversion rates aren’t as high as they should be. This may be because of a technological problem. A single misconfiguration, and an option unchecked in the backend, can cause payments to time out or fail. 

In many cases, the issues depressing the conversion rate may not be entirely technical. Often, a poor user experience causes unnecessary cart abandonment. For instance, poor language localization, offering a local payment method to shoppers in a country where this is not available, a confusing layout on the payments page or even relatively simple things — for instance, only telling a user about a surcharge when she reaches the final payments screen — can all depress the conversion rate.

Troubleshooting the problem

The team responsible must have visibility of the entire payment process and access to all stakeholders, internal and external, in the payments chain. It must also have the technical, UX and other skills and knowledge required to fault find across the entire process.

Watching conversion rates rise 

One way in which merchants and payment service providers (PSPs) can lift conversion rates is by integrating targeted services. These might range from white-labelling, allowing the whole payment process to be seamlessly merchant-branded, or by adding extras such as payment-status updates, and even chargeback facilities. 

If you – or your payment partner has the technical knowledge and market expertise – it’s possible to tailor your checkout and payment experiences precisely to the preferences of the local market. 

About Jose Martinez-Benavente

Jose Martinez-Benavente is an accomplished payments specialist with more than 25 years international commercial experience within global companies and venture-backed start-ups. As a dynamic team leader recognized for driving marketing & sales profitability, he is working with senior executives, building organizational momentum and growing business in Germany, Austria, Benelux, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and US. 

About PPRO

PPRO is the top global provider of local payments infrastructure, powering growth for payment service providers and enterprises with payment platforms. Companies at the forefront of payments technology leverage PPRO's unified platform, expert services, and local payment methods to boost sales in over 100 e-commerce markets worldwide. In 2020 alone, PPRO processed over $11 billion for its customers, including companies such as Mollie, PayPal, Worldpay, and many others.