If you are a small business, you will already face challenging times, trying to compete against larger companies while remaining profitable can be difficult. However, your customers want to have a simple and straightforward process to do business with you. For this reason, you should be considering making your payment methods easier for your customers. Not only will it make them happier, it will also make things easier for you.
Make Your Site Easier to Navigate
Although some customers like to browse websites to see what they want, the majority just want to choose their product and pay. It could be that they have clicked on a link to a special offer, or they know your products and know what they want. If you make finding and paying for products difficult or confusing, your customers will look elsewhere. Make your product pages easy to see and uncluttered; also, make the payment option clear. You should also ensure that the payment process is as easy and has a few steps as possible.
Give Your Customers Options
It might sound obvious that companies should offer a range of payment options, but there are some who only offer one or two including cash. While it might seem easier, a survey showed that around 56 percent of customers expect to have a variety of payment options. That doesn’t mean that you need to provide every type of payment, but having a good variety is what your customers want. You can have bank transfers, credit cards, cash and PayPal if needed, that will satisfy many of your customers. It can be easy to set up these payment options if you haven’t so far. Even if your bank refuses you a merchant account, there are still companies such as High Risk Merchant Account LLC that can often help.
Payments Without an Account
If you require your customers to set up an account before placing an order, is it necessary for your company? Although you want to keep your customers details and it’s also good for email marketing, many customers are suspicious of it. They think that if they create an account, they will be flooded with junk mail. Many also don’t understand why online stores ask for it while high street shops don’t. By negating the need to create an account, you are making it easier for your customers and attracting those you might have put off before. If you want email addresses for your marketing, ask the customer for it when they join the site or after their transaction. You might be surprised by the number of people who will provide it if asked instead of compelled to do so.
Other things can also improve your company’s payments such as making customers services easier to contact in the event of an error and trying not to redirect customers during the payment process. If you can achieve these things, then you will be making your customers lives a lot easier.
