How to improve your conversion rate in online payment?

Online retailers are regularly faced with abandoned carts, i.e. potential buyers not completing the checkout process after placing their chosen product in the cart. Why is that? The available payment methods and the presentation of the checkout are often the culprit. If online retailers are not satisfied with their conversion rate, they often go undertake ineffective measures and have an unnecessarily high cost and time. We'll show you how to increase your conversion rate efficiently.

Definition conversion rate

The conversion rate is a measure of online marketing. It describes the relationship between website visitors and the "conversions", i.e. the visitors who have ultimately also made a purchase, a download, a newsletter registration or similar. In general, the conversion rate is given in percent.

Conversion rate = (Number of conversions x 100%) / (Number of visits)

Selection of payment methods

The most important, and ultimately decisive, point is which payment methods the trader chooses to include in his portfolio. To do this, the payment market must be analyzed and the industry, customer target group and country included.

Payment differences per industry and customer target group

Furthermore, payment systems differ enormously, from one industry branch to another. For example, if the online retailer operates in an "high-risk" area, payment methods must be chosen with regards to their vulnerability to fraud. Among the safest payment methods are bank transfer, prepayment and secured invoice purchase.

Once the right payment methods have been selected, they must also be presented to the customer in an advantageous manner in the checkout.

Visibility of the payment methods

More often than expected, potential buyers simply overlook the offered payment methods. This case can occur due to incorrect positioning and visually weak recognition. A good solution could be to use a reduced and tabular presentation with radio buttons, which the user can quickly grasp. When customer must search, the conversion rate of the merchant decreases.

Create transparency

Trust is crucial in convincing a potential buyer to go forward with a purchase. This can be built on transparency. Customers should always have a secure feeling when making a purchase. If doubts arise, this can immediately lead to a purchase cancellation. To counteract doubts, clear process bars or call-to-actions can be used. Notes, such as "On the next page you can check your order again" help the customer to have a sense of control and encourage him to take the next step. In addition, it makes sense to once again reveal the benefits of settlement via the respective payment method. The customer must be convinced, and no questions may arise for him.

Watch competition and use tools

To give the online shop the finishing touch and optimize the conversion rate to as much as possible, there are two more options.

Competition behavior

Test purchases at online shops, which are similar to your own shop in industry, target group and destination countries, help to orientate oneself and to uncover problems in the buying process. In the best case, a product should be selected, which is also offers in your own shop and proceed with 3-4 test purchases.

Web analytics tools

It is also worthwhile to get help with external software. Web analytics tools, e.g. Google Analytics, Piwik, Hotjar or Iridion, provide data such as visitor hours or conversion rates. You can also check which ad or product is clicked more frequently.